Terms and Privacy Policy for Synapse Notes

1. Service Provider and Acceptance

Synapse Notes ("the App") is provided by System By Design AB, Sweden ("we", "us"). By creating an account or using the App, you agree to these terms and this privacy policy.

The App is a workspace for notes, tasks, folders, drawings, files, links, sharing, optional Google Drive sync, optional AI features, and optional paid Pro features.

2. Account and Contact Data

You can sign in using Google or email/password where supported by the App. We process account information to provide authentication, security, synchronization, subscription entitlement, and support.

• Account identifiers: Firebase user ID, email address, authentication provider, email verification status, and basic profile information such as display name or profile image if provided by your sign-in provider.
• Security metadata: Authentication state, encrypted key material, account settings, usage limits, and information needed to protect the service from abuse.
• Support contact: If you contact us, we process your email address and the information you include in the support request.

3. Notes, Files, and User Content

The App stores user-created content such as notes, tasks, folders, filters, drawings, links, tags, folder metadata, sharing metadata, images, and attachments.

• Primary storage: User content is stored in Google Firebase services, including Firestore and Firebase Cloud Storage.
• Client-side encryption: Note content, titles, and uploaded files are encrypted on your device before cloud upload where the App's encrypted storage flow is used. We do not store your unencrypted vault password.
• Local device data: The App may store cached data, preferences, image cache, note history, and offline data in browser/device storage to make the App work offline and load faster.
• Shared content: If you share a note or folder, sharing metadata such as recipient email addresses and permissions is stored so invited users can access the shared content.

4. Artificial Intelligence Features

AI features are optional. When you use AI chat, summaries, agent actions, web research, or image generation, the App sends the prompt and relevant selected workspace context to our Firebase Cloud Functions and to Google AI services such as Gemini and Imagen to generate the requested result.

• Text AI: The App may send the current note, selected folders, task data, or other context you choose to include so the model can answer, summarize, edit, or act on that content.
• Image generation: The App sends your image prompt and style selection to generate cover images.
• Web search: If web search is enabled, the App sends the search query to a Google AI service with search grounding and may display returned source links.
• Limits and logs: We may process AI usage counts and error logs to enforce quotas, prevent abuse, troubleshoot failures, and manage service cost.
• Training: We do not use your notes or prompts to train our own AI models. AI providers process requests according to their applicable API terms and data protection terms.

5. Google Drive Sync

Google Drive sync is optional and requires your permission. If enabled, the App uses the Google Drive drive.file permission to create and manage files and folders that the App creates or that you select for Synapse Notes sync.

• The App creates or uses a "Synapse Notes" folder in your Google Drive.
• The App may upload, update, download, list, and delete synced notes, folders, Markdown files, and related files within the Drive sync scope.
• Google Drive files are stored in your Google account and are governed by Google's terms and privacy policy.
• Disabling Drive sync stops future sync actions but does not automatically delete existing files from your Google Drive.

6. Payments and Subscriptions

Synapse Notes may offer paid Pro features. Payment processing may be handled by Stripe on the web and, where required for Android distribution through Google Play, by Google Play Billing or an approved billing option.

• Subscription data: We process customer IDs, subscription status, plan, renewal/cancellation state, payment metadata, and entitlement information.
• Payment details: Full card numbers and payment credentials are processed by the payment provider, not stored by the App.
• Managing subscriptions: You should cancel or manage active subscriptions through the billing provider used for the purchase.

7. App Permissions

The Android app may request or declare permissions needed for the service, including internet access, notifications, boot completion handling for scheduled local notifications, wake locks for notification delivery, and credential/sign-in support.

Notification permission is used only for app notifications such as reminders, if you allow it.

8. Data Sharing and Service Providers

We do not sell your personal data. We share or process data only as needed to provide the App, comply with law, prevent abuse, or respond to your requests.

• Google Firebase and Google Cloud: Authentication, database, storage, serverless functions, and hosting.
• Google AI services: AI text, search-grounded responses, and image generation when you use AI features.
• Google Drive: Optional Drive sync when enabled by you.
• Stripe or Google Play: Subscription purchase, billing, tax, receipt, and entitlement handling.
• Other users: Content and metadata you deliberately share with other users is made available according to the permissions you set.

9. Legal Basis and Data Rights

For users in the EU/EEA, our legal bases include performance of the service contract, legitimate interests such as security and abuse prevention, consent where required, and legal obligations for accounting or compliance.

You may request access, correction, deletion, export, restriction, or objection where applicable. Because your primary content may be encrypted with keys only you control, the most complete way to access or export your content is through the App while you still have access to your account and encryption key.

10. Account Deletion and Retention

You can delete your account in the App via Profile -> Settings -> Delete Account. You can also use our account deletion page: synapse-notes-account-deletion.html.

• Deleted data: Account deletion removes your Firebase account, notes, folders, filters, settings, customer metadata, and files stored in our Firebase project where technically available to the deletion flow.
• Active subscriptions: If you have an active subscription, cancel it through the billing provider before deleting the account to avoid future charges. If you need help, contact us.
• Third-party copies: Files already synced to your Google Drive, exported by you, or shared with another user may remain outside our Firebase project unless you delete them from that service or location.
• Limited retention: We may retain limited records where required for legal, tax, security, dispute, or fraud-prevention purposes.

11. Children

Synapse Notes is not directed to children under 13, or under the minimum digital consent age in their jurisdiction. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

12. Security and User Responsibilities

We use technical and organizational measures to protect the App, including authentication, encrypted transport, Firebase security rules, client-side encryption for protected content, and rate limits for AI functions.

• Keep your account credentials and encryption key safe.
• Verify AI-generated output before relying on it.
• Do not upload unlawful, harmful, or infringing content.
• Do not attempt to disrupt, reverse engineer, or abuse the service.

13. Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

The App is provided "as is" to the maximum extent permitted by law. We do not guarantee that the App or AI output will be uninterrupted, error-free, or factually correct. We are not responsible for data loss caused by lost credentials, lost encryption keys, user deletion, third-party service outages, or misuse of the App.