Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 25, 2026

Summary

NoteDrop does not send your notes or personal data to us or to any third party. Your notes stay on your Mac. Optional Apple Intelligence features run on your Mac by default; note text goes to Apple's Private Cloud Compute only if you choose that option, or as a fallback under "Prefer this Mac" (see Apple Intelligence). The only other network traffic is the update check, which the website counts anonymously (see below).

What NoteDrop Does

NoteDrop is a macOS application that creates PDF and Markdown file notes. The app:

• Reads folder names to extract project metadata (used only in the PDF/Markdown you create)
• Saves files directly to folders you choose on your Mac
• Stores your preferences (firm name, author name, settings) in macOS user defaults on your device

What NoteDrop Does NOT Do

• No note content or personal data is sent to us or to any server we run
• No analytics or tracking code in the app
• No account required
• No cloud sync
• No telemetry: Sparkle's optional system profile is turned off, so update checks carry no hardware or macOS details

Network Access

The only network access NoteDrop uses is:

• Sparkle updates: the app downloads the update feed from notedrop.serkowski.net (by default once a day) and, if you choose to update, the new version.
• Apple Intelligence via Private Cloud Compute (macOS 27, optional): only when a request is routed there, as described below.

Apple's own services may also download models NoteDrop uses — the Apple Intelligence model and the speech model for dictation — the same way they do for other apps.

Apple Intelligence and Dictation

The Apple Intelligence features in the note panel (Suggest Description & Type, Tidy Up Text, Expand Points into Note, and the optional description on save) appear only when Apple Intelligence is available on your Mac, and can be turned off in Settings → Note Panel. They process note text as follows:

• On this Mac by default. On macOS 26, and with "On this Mac only" selected on macOS 27, note text never leaves your Mac.
• Private Cloud Compute only when chosen or as a fallback. On macOS 27, with "Prefer Private Cloud Compute" selected, requests are sent to Apple's Private Cloud Compute. With "Prefer this Mac" (the default), a request is sent there only when the on-device model can't handle it. In either case, the note text in that request is sent to Apple, not to us, and Apple's Private Cloud Compute privacy guarantees apply: it is used only to answer the request, is not stored, and is not accessible to Apple.
• If your professional obligations require note text never to leave your Mac, choose "On this Mac only".
• Dictation in the note panel is transcribed on your Mac. NoteDrop asks for microphone access the first time and only listens while the microphone button is on. If your language isn't supported, NoteDrop uses macOS Dictation, which is governed by Apple's dictation settings.

Update-Check Statistics

The website runs a small Cloudflare Worker that counts update checks and downloads so we know roughly how many copies are in use. For each request it records the date, whether it was an update check or which file was downloaded, and an anonymous identifier made by hashing your IP address together with the date and a secret salt, so it changes every day. Your IP address itself is never stored, and yesterday's identifiers can't be linked to today's. Nothing extra is sent by the app for this; it only counts requests the updater already makes.

"Notify Me" Email Form

The download page has an optional form where you can leave an email address to hear when something significant ships. It is handled by Netlify Forms, our website host. We use the address only for those release notes, never share it, and will delete it on request. Downloading NoteDrop never requires it.

Data Storage

All app data NoteDrop keeps remains on your Mac:

• Your notes: Saved as PDF/Markdown files in folders you choose
• Recent notes and drafts: The Recent Notes menu and unsaved drafts keep local copies of recent note text so you can reopen or recover them. A draft is removed once its note is saved, and unsaved drafts are kept for at most 30 days
• Spotlight: Saved notes and recently used matters are added to your Mac's Spotlight index, including the note text, so you can search for them and pick them in Shortcuts and Siri. This is on by default and can be turned off in Settings › Filing › Spotlight, which also removes NoteDrop's existing entries
• Your settings: Stored in macOS user defaults (~/Library/Preferences/)
• Matters folder: One bookmark to the matters folder you choose, so it keeps working on Desktop, Documents or iCloud Drive

Third Parties

The app shares no data with third parties, apart from note text sent to Apple's Private Cloud Compute when you use that option as described above. The website is hosted on Netlify behind Cloudflare, which process requests (including the "Notify me" form and the update check) to serve the site.

Children's Privacy

NoteDrop does not knowingly collect data from anyone, including children.

Changes to This Policy

If this policy changes, we'll update the date at the top.

Contact

Questions? Email [email protected]