Privacy policy

Last updated: 26 September 2026

Tessera is built so that we can't read your stored notes. This policy explains what personal data we do process: on this website and waitlist today, and in the Tessera app once it launches. It's written to match how our systems actually work, and we'll update it whenever that changes.

Who we are

Tessera ("we", "us") is responsible for the processing described here. For any privacy question or request, email hello@tessera-notes.com.

1. This website

You can read this website without giving us any personal data. We don't use cookies for tracking or advertising, we don't run analytics scripts, and we don't embed third-party trackers or social media plugins.

Like any website, requests to this site pass through our hosting provider, Cloudflare, which processes technical data such as your IP address, browser type and the page requested in order to deliver the site and protect it from attacks. We don't use this data to identify you.

2. The waitlist

When you join the waitlist, we store:

• Your email address
• The platform you're interested in (Android, iOS or both)
• Your preferred language, as sent by your browser (for example en-US), so we can plan translations and write to you in your language later
• Where you came from: the campaign tag of the link you used, or otherwise just the domain of the website that linked to us (never the full address of the page), so we know which channels work
• Your consent: the version of the consent text you agreed to and when
• Status timestamps: when you signed up, confirmed your email, unsubscribed, or were invited to the beta
• A one-way hash of your IP address (keyed HMAC-SHA-256). We never store your IP address itself. The hash is used only to limit repeated sign-ups from the same connection
• A hash of your confirmation token, so we can check the link in your confirmation email without storing the link itself

Bot protection. The sign-up form uses Cloudflare Turnstile to check that a human is submitting it. Turnstile processes technical signals from your browser, including your IP address, for that check only.

Emails. We use a double opt-in: you first receive a confirmation email, and we only send beta or launch news after you click the link in it. Every email contains an unsubscribe link, and supporting mail apps also show a one-click unsubscribe button.

Why and on what legal basis

• Sending the confirmation email, beta invitations and launch news: your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR), which you can withdraw at any time by unsubscribing.
• Preventing spam and abuse of the form (IP hash, bot check, rate limiting): our legitimate interest in keeping the service secure (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
• Language and source: our legitimate interest in planning languages and understanding which channels bring people to Tessera (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). You can object at any time.

How long we keep it

• Active waitlist entries are kept until you unsubscribe, ask us to delete them, or we no longer need them to inform you about Tessera's launch.
• Unsubscribed entries stop receiving any email immediately and are deleted in our regular internal clean-ups.
• Rate-limiting records (IP hashes of recent sign-up attempts) are deleted automatically within 24 hours.

We never sell, rent or share your email address with anyone for their own purposes.

3. Service providers

We use these providers to run the website and waitlist. They process data only on our behalf and under data processing agreements:

• Cloudflare, Inc. for hosting, the waitlist database (stored in Western Europe), DNS and bot protection (Turnstile). Privacy policy · DPA
• Google and Apple, once the app launches, as sign-in providers. They process your sign-in under their own privacy policies (Google · Apple). We only receive the details listed in section 4.
• Resend for sending our emails. Privacy policy · DPA

Both are US companies, so some data may be processed outside the EU. These transfers are covered by the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where the provider is certified, and otherwise by the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses in their data processing agreements.

4. The Tessera app

The app isn't available yet. This section describes how it's designed to handle your data. We'll publish the full details, and update this policy, before the app launches.

• Signing in. You sign in with your Google or Apple account; these are the only sign-in options, on every plan. From that provider we receive a stable user ID, your email address (with Apple this can be a private relay address if you choose "Hide My Email") and, from Apple, your name the first time you sign in. We identify you by the provider's user ID, never by your email, and we never combine accounts just because their emails match. Google or Apple learns that you signed in to Tessera, but they only confirm who you are and never get access to your notes. You can link both providers to one account in Settings.
• On the Free plan, your notes never leave your device. There's no sync. Your account exists so your data belongs to you and can be exported and protected. Your notes are stored encrypted on your phone.
• With Pro, sync is end-to-end encrypted. Notes, journal entries, tasks, titles, tags and folder names are encrypted on your device before they sync. Our servers only store encrypted data. We don't have your keys and can't read, search or analyse your content.
• What our servers can see: on every plan, your account details from sign-in (above), your devices, your subscription status and how many AI requests you make (counts only, never the content). With Pro sync, also how many encrypted items you have, their approximate size and when they sync.
• AI runs on your device first, and cloud AI is optional. Cloud AI is off until you turn it on in Settings, after a screen that shows what is sent, to whom, and what is not. If you turn it on (for example for "Ask your notes"), the app finds the relevant passages on your device and sends only those short excerpts, with common personal details such as email addresses and phone numbers masked, through our servers to an AI provider. Our servers only relay the request and don't log or store its content. The AI provider never receives your name, email or account details, and we only use providers that don't train on your data. On phones that can't run an AI feature on the device, the app asks you before every cloud request and shows exactly what would be sent. You can mark notes or folders as "Never send to cloud AI", see what was sent from within the app, and turn cloud AI off at any time, after which nothing leaves your device. We rely on your consent for cloud AI, we record it, and you withdraw it by turning cloud AI off. Voice notes are transcribed on your device, and the audio never leaves it.
• Payments are handled by Google Play or the App Store. We never see your payment details; we only receive whether your subscription is active, through our subscription provider.
• Crash reports never include the content of your notes.

5. Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you and receive a copy of it,
• have it corrected or deleted,
• restrict or object to its processing,
• receive it in a portable format,
• withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting processing done before you withdrew it.

To use any of these rights, email hello@tessera-notes.com from the address you signed up with. We'll respond within one month. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, in particular in the EU country where you live or work.

6. Security

All traffic to this site is encrypted with HTTPS. We store only hashes of IP addresses and confirmation tokens, and access to the waitlist database is restricted to us.

7. Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle your data, we'll update this page and the date at the top. If the changes are significant and you're on the waitlist, we'll tell you by email.