Privacy Policy
QuillSpace is a book writing app for Windows and Mac, made by Nguyen Tam (A17Lab). This page explains exactly what the QuillSpace apps and the quillspace.app website collect, why, and what they never touch.
The short version
- Your writing stays on your computer. The apps never send us your manuscript, your notes, or anything else you write in them.
- No generative AI, no AI training. QuillSpace has no generative AI features, and we do not use any data, yours or anyone else's, to train AI models.
- Basic usage statistics. The apps send a small amount of usage data so we can improve QuillSpace, and our server logs your IP address when they do. Details are below.
- No selling, no ads. We do not sell data or show ads. The only advertising tools we use are the Google Ads tag on our paid-search landing pages and the Microsoft Advertising tag on our website, both described below. The QuillSpace apps contain no advertising tools.
What stays on your computer
Everything you write in QuillSpace (your projects, groups, sheets, notes, snapshots and version history) is saved as plain text files on your own computer. QuillSpace has no cloud of its own, so we never receive a copy of your work. If you choose to keep your project folder in a service such as OneDrive, Dropbox or iCloud Drive, that service's own privacy policy applies to those files.
The apps work fully offline. They only use the internet for the items listed in the next section, and for purchases and updates.
What the apps send
Welcome survey (Windows and Mac)
When you first open QuillSpace, a short survey asks what kind of writer you are and what you plan to use the app for. When you finish it, the app sends your answers (including anything you type into an "other" field), the app version and your platform. Our server stores this with your IP address, and looks up your approximate country and city from that IP address using the ip-api.com service. The server then gives the app a random survey ID, which the app keeps to label the statistics described below. The survey ID is not linked to your name or email.
Usage statistics (Windows)
QuillSpace for Windows sends usage events so we can see which features help writers and where they get stuck:
- which features you use, for example creating a project or group, turning on typewriter mode, opening your writing statistics, or seeing an upgrade prompt
- counts, such as your character count and when sheets are created (numbers only, never the text)
- the export format you choose
Each event includes a timestamp, the app version, your platform and your survey ID, and our server stores your IP address with it.
QuillSpace for Mac does not send usage statistics. It only sends the welcome survey, and feedback if you choose to send it.
License and updates (Mac, downloaded from quillspace.app)
The Mac version downloaded from quillspace.app (not the Mac App Store version) talks to our license server at api.quillspace.app:
- When you enter a license key, the app sends the key, an identifier for your Mac and your Mac's name. The identifier is a one-way hash of your Mac's hardware ID, so it cannot be turned back into the ID; the name lets you recognize your Macs if you reach the three-Mac limit. We store these with the time of activation.
- About once a week, the app sends the key and the same identifier to check that the license is still valid, and we store the time of the check.
- Choosing Deactivate This Mac removes that Mac from your license.
- Update checks: the app regularly downloads our update feed from api.quillspace.app to see whether a new version is available. The request contains the app version and nothing about you or your writing.
- Prices: the upgrade screen asks Paddle for the current prices, so Paddle receives your IP address to show prices in your currency.
Our server logs the IP address of these requests. When you buy on quillspace.app, Paddle sends us your email address and order details so we can create your license key, link it to renewals and refunds, and help you if you lose it.
Feedback you choose to send
If you use a feedback form inside the app, we receive what you write in it and, on Mac, your email address if you choose to add one so we can reply.
Purchases
Payments are handled by the Microsoft Store, the Mac App Store, and Paddle (for licenses and plans bought on our website). We never see your card details. These companies process your purchase under their own privacy policies.
When you buy on our website, we send Paddle a short note on how you found us: the first page you visited, the site that referred you, any campaign tags in the link, and whether you arrived from a Google or Microsoft ad (yes or no, not the ad click ID). This lets us see which pages and ads lead to sales.
Turning it off
The apps do not currently have a setting to switch statistics off. If you do not want QuillSpace to send anything, you can block its network access with a firewall. The app keeps working normally; you will only need the internet to make a purchase or download updates.
What the website collects
- Google Analytics measures visits to quillspace.app using cookies: the pages you view, the site that referred you, your device and browser type, and your approximate location.
- Google Ads (landing pages only). The paid-search landing pages under quillspace.app/lp/ load the Google Ads tag, which uses cookies to measure whether a visitor who arrived from one of our ads clicks a buy or store button and completes a purchase. For a purchase, the tag receives the order number, amount and currency, never your name, email address or card details. The rest of the website and the QuillSpace apps do not load it.
- Microsoft Advertising. The website loads the Microsoft Advertising Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag, which uses cookies to measure visits from our Microsoft (Bing) ads and, on the landing pages, completed purchases, and to let us show ads to people who visited quillspace.app. For a purchase, the tag receives the order number, amount and currency, never your name, email address or card details. Microsoft processes this data under the Microsoft Privacy Statement. You can opt out of personalized ads from Microsoft at account.microsoft.com/privacy/ad-settings.
- Visitors from the EEA, the UK and Switzerland. If you visit from one of these regions (judged from your IP address), Google Analytics, the Google Ads tag and the Microsoft Advertising tag are told that you have not consented to cookies. They then set no cookies on your device and send only basic, cookieless signals, and we do not use your visit to show you ads.
- Hosting and security. Our host (Hostinger) and Cloudflare process your IP address and request details to serve the site and protect it from abuse.
- Contact form. If you contact us, we receive your name, email address, subject and message, delivered to us by email through Postmark, so we can reply.
How we use this information
We use it to understand how QuillSpace is used, fix problems, decide what to build next, and reply to you. We do not sell it, build marketing profiles, or use it to train AI models, and apart from measuring and showing our own ads with the Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising tags described above, we do not use it for advertising.
Who else handles it
| Service | What for |
|---|---|
| Hostinger | Hosts the website and the database that stores survey answers and usage statistics |
| UpCloud | Hosts api.quillspace.app: Mac licenses, update checks and the Mac download |
| Cloudflare | Delivers the website and protects it from attacks |
| ip-api.com | Turns an IP address into an approximate country and city for the welcome survey |
| Google Analytics | Website visit statistics |
| Google Ads | Measures ad clicks and purchases on the paid-search landing pages only |
| Microsoft Advertising | Measures visits and purchases from our Microsoft (Bing) ads, and lets us show ads to past visitors |
| Postmark | Delivers contact form messages to our inbox |
| Microsoft, Apple, Paddle | Process purchases |
How long we keep it
We keep survey answers and usage statistics for as long as they help us improve QuillSpace, license records for as long as the license exists (so you can reactivate it and we can help you), and contact messages for as long as we need them to help you.
Your choices and rights
You can ask us what we hold about you, or ask us to delete it, by emailing [email protected]. Because the statistics are not linked to your name or email, we may need details such as roughly when you installed QuillSpace and on which platform to find them. Depending on where you live, you may have further rights under laws such as the GDPR, and you can complain to your local data protection authority.
Children
QuillSpace is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
If what the apps or website collect changes, we will update this page and its effective date before the change ships.
Contact
Questions about privacy: [email protected].