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Privacy policy

Last updated: July 13, 2026

Fil is built to keep your thoughts yours. It is a local-first app: your thoughts (voice recordings, transcripts, text, images, links, and titles) live on your device, not on our servers. Rootcause LLC (the maker of Fil) does not run a server that collects your content, and Fil has no account to sign into.

There is one optional exception, and we want to be upfront about it: Fil Pro smart search, a paid feature that sends the text of your thoughts to an AI provider, which finds and reflects the ones relevant to a question you ask. It only runs when you choose to use it. Details are in “Smart search with Fil Pro” below.

The short version

  • We don't collect, sell, or share your personal data.
  • Your thoughts are created, stored, and searched by keyword entirely on your device.
  • The only time anything leaves your device is if you subscribe to Fil Pro and run a smart search. That sends the text of your thoughts to our AI provider (Anthropic), which picks and reflects the ones relevant to your question. It is not used to train AI models and is deleted within 30 days.
  • No ads, no analytics SDKs, no third-party trackers, no login.

What Fil stores, and where

Everything you create in Fil is stored locally on your device using Apple's on-device storage. A small amount is shared between Fil and its own Home Screen widget and Share extension through a private App Group container on your device. None of it is transmitted to us. The one exception is Fil Pro smart search, described below.

Smart search with Fil Pro (cloud AI)

Creating thoughts, storing them, and searching them by keyword all happen entirely on your device and never leave it. Fil Pro adds an optional feature called smart search: when you ask Fil a question in your own words (for example, “what am I forgetting?”), the text of your thoughts is sent securely to our AI provider, Anthropic, which picks the ones relevant to your request and returns a short reflection.

  • This happens only when you, as a Fil Pro subscriber, run a smart search. If you never do, nothing leaves your device.
  • The text is used only to answer your request. Under Anthropic's commercial terms, it is not used to train any AI models, and Anthropic deletes it within 30 days.
  • No name or account is attached; Fil has no account.
  • Free keyword search never uses the cloud and never leaves your device.

Subscriptions

Fil Pro is an auto-renewing subscription sold through Apple's App Store. Apple handles the payment; we never see your payment details. To verify that smart search is available to you, Fil confirms your subscription status with Apple. Manage or cancel anytime in iOS Settings › Apple Account › Subscriptions.

Permissions Fil asks for, and why

  • Microphone: to record voice notes. Recording only happens when you start it.
  • Speech Recognition: to turn recordings into text. Fil requests on-device transcription whenever your device supports it, so your audio stays on the device. On devices that don't support on-device speech recognition, iOS may send the audio to Apple's speech recognition service to produce the transcript; that is handled by Apple under Apple's Privacy Policy, and Fil does not receive or store that audio anywhere else.
  • Camera: only if you choose to add a photo to a thought.

You can change these any time in iOS Settings › Fil.

On-device intelligence

Fil uses Apple's on-device Foundation Models to suggest a short title for a note. This runs on your device. Your note content is not sent to us or to a cloud service for this.

Link previews

If you save or share a link into Fil, the app fetches that page's icon and title to show a preview (via Apple's LinkPresentation). That request goes to the website you linked (the same as opening the link), and the preview is stored on your device.

What we don't do

  • No analytics, no advertising, no tracking across apps or websites.
  • No IDFA, no third-party SDKs.
  • We don't build a profile of you.

Children

Fil is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect information from them.

Your control

Your data lives on your device, so you're in control: delete a thought in the app, or delete Fil to remove its data from your device. If you back up your device to iCloud or a computer, your Fil data is included under Apple's terms.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update this page and the date above.

Contact

Questions? Email mason@rootcause.ltd.