App Privacy

Effective date: July 22, 2026

Journal18 is a golf journaling app operated by Travis Zappia, doing business as Journal18. This policy explains what the Journal18 app collects, why we use it, how long we keep it, and how you can delete it.

This policy covers the Journal18 mobile app and the services that make the app work. The journal18.com store has separate store policies for purchases of physical products.

The short version

• We collect the account information, golf data, and photos you choose to provide so Journal18 can work.
• Scorecard and journal photos are processed by our servers and AI service providers. Every extracted value remains editable.
• We do not sell personal data, show third-party ads, or track you across other companies' apps or websites.
• Raw OCR processing copies are deleted within 48 hours after processing. Temporary round-linked images are deleted within 30 days after upload.
• You can request permanent account deletion inside the app. Access ends immediately after we accept the request, and Journal18-controlled account data is erased within 7 calendar days. The app gives you a request ID, and we attempt to email you when deletion is complete.

Information we collect

Account and profile information

When you create an account, we collect your email address, authentication identifier, and any profile details you choose to add, such as your name, profile photo, handicap, preferred distance unit, benchmark preference, and golf bag setup. Clerk provides authentication. Journal18 does not receive or store your password in readable form.

Golf and app content

We store the information you enter or confirm in Journal18, including courses and tees, rounds, hole-by-hole scores, fairways, greens, putts, approach and drive tracking, notes, goals, preferences, favorites, and the stats and insights calculated from that information.

Photos and OCR results

If you choose to photograph or select a scorecard, performance log, or tracker page, Journal18 uploads the image to private storage and processes it to suggest editable round data. Uploading photos is optional. You can enter a round manually instead.

We store the temporary image, processing status, extracted fields, confidence information, and review issues needed to complete the OCR workflow. Confirmed structured round data is stored as part of your account even after the temporary image expires.

Subscription information

Apple processes subscription payments. Journal18 does not receive your full payment-card information. We use RevenueCat to receive your Apple purchase status, product identifier, entitlement status, and related transaction state so we can provide Premium access.

Device, notification, and diagnostic information

If notifications are enabled, we may store a device push token and notification preferences. We use Sentry to receive crash and error diagnostics such as app version, operating-system information, route context, technical error details, and a user identifier. Sentry is configured not to collect default personal information such as email addresses automatically.

Support communications

If you contact us, we receive your email address and the contents of your message so we can answer the request, investigate an issue, or carry out a privacy request.

How we use information

We use this information to:

• Create and secure your account.
• Save, sync, display, and calculate your rounds, stats, and insights.
• Read optional scorecard and journal photos and present editable suggestions.
• Verify Premium access, restore purchases, and respond to subscription events.
• Send requested service messages, including account-deletion confirmation.
• Diagnose failures, protect the service, prevent abuse, and provide support.
• Meet legal obligations that apply to Journal18.

We do not use personal data for third-party advertising, and we do not sell or rent it.

How photo processing works

1. The selected image is uploaded to private Amazon Web Services storage in the United States.
2. Our worker sends the image to OpenAI's API for structured handwriting and page extraction. Google Cloud Vision may be used as a fallback or debugging processor.
3. Journal18 receives the extracted fields and shows them for review. You can correct any suggested value.

Journal18 does not opt in to sharing API content with OpenAI for model training. Under OpenAI's standard API data controls, submitted content can remain in temporary service logs for up to 30 days for abuse monitoring and, depending on endpoint configuration, temporary application state. Google states that synchronous Cloud Vision requests are processed in memory and the image is not persisted to disk, although limited request metadata can be logged. These processor-controlled temporary records are not available as an active Journal18 account and cannot be used by Journal18 to restore a deleted account.

How long we keep information

• Raw OCR processing copies: deleted automatically within 48 hours after processing reaches a completed, review, or failed state when the image is not being retained as a temporary round-linked upload.
• Temporary round-linked images: deleted automatically within 30 days after upload, unless you delete the upload, round, or account sooner.
• Confirmed rounds, profile information, and calculated stats: kept while your account is active, until you delete the specific content or request account deletion.
• Push tokens: kept only while needed for enabled notifications or until the account is deleted.
• Operational diagnostics: kept only for the limited retention period configured with our diagnostic provider. When an account is deleted, Journal18 removes the active account mapping, so retained technical diagnostics cannot be used to restore the account.
• Support communications: kept only as long as reasonably needed to answer the request, document the response, protect the service, or meet a specific legal obligation. You may ask us to delete them when no legal requirement applies.
• OpenAI API service records: can remain for up to 30 days under OpenAI's standard temporary retention controls, as described above. Journal18 does not retain those records as account data.

An account-deletion request overrides the normal Journal18 media windows. Journal18 does not keep account or golf data for a general 12-month period after deletion.

Deleting your account

You can initiate permanent account deletion inside Journal18:

1. Open Profile.
2. Scroll to Account.
3. Tap Delete account below Sign out.
4. Review the deletion and Apple subscription notice.
5. Type delete account and confirm the final destructive action.

After Journal18 accepts the request:

• Access to the account ends immediately.
• New OCR, insight, sharing, and notification work for the account stops.
• We permanently erase the Journal18 profile, email, preferences, golf bag, favorites, rounds, holes, shots, notes, goals, stats, insights, uploads, stored images, OCR results, share links and assets, notification records, Journal18-side entitlement and billing mappings, and other user-owned app records.
• We delete the Clerk authentication identity and the RevenueCat customer profile associated with the Journal18 account. If the account used Sign in with Apple and Journal18 has a usable Apple token or authorization code, we revoke that authorization programmatically. If no usable Apple credential exists, we still erase all Journal18 data without delay and direct you to manually stop using Apple ID with Journal18 in Apple Settings, following Apple's published account-deletion guidance.
• Deletion completes within 7 calendar days.
• The accepted-state screen provides a request ID that you can keep without relying on email. Only after backend erasure is complete, we attempt to send a completion confirmation to the account email. Whether delivery succeeds or reaches the 7-day deadline, the pending workflow then removes that email.

After completion, Journal18 keeps only a non-identifying deletion receipt containing a random request identifier, request and completion timestamps, and non-identifying outcome codes. The receipt does not include your email, authentication or provider identifiers, golf data, photos, or content, and it cannot be used to reconstruct or relink the account.

There is no blanket retention exception for account or golf data. If a law requires Journal18 to retain a specific record, we will retain only that record for the required period and disclose the reason when applicable.

If you cannot access the app, email info@journal18.com from the address associated with your account. We may verify that you own the account before acting. Once verified, the same deletion scope and 7-day completion window apply.

Apple subscriptions

Deleting your Journal18 account does not cancel an Apple subscription. Apple billing can continue until you cancel it. You can manage or cancel your subscription at Apple's Manage Subscriptions page. You may delete your Journal18 account immediately whether or not the subscription has reached its expiration date.

Apple maintains its own purchase and billing records under Apple's policies. Deleting the Journal18 and RevenueCat customer records does not erase Apple's independent transaction records.

If you used Sign in with Apple and Journal18 tells you manual authorization cleanup is needed, follow the Apple Settings steps shown after your deletion request is accepted. Manual Apple cleanup is separate from Journal18 erasure and does not delay it.

Service providers

These providers process information on our behalf under their own security, privacy, and retention terms. We require protections appropriate to the information they process. We do not authorize them to use Journal18 data for advertising.

Your privacy choices

You may:

• View and correct account and round information in the app.
• Correct every AI-extracted value before or after saving where editing is available.
• Ask for a copy of your data by emailing info@journal18.com.
• Delete individual content where the app provides that control.
• Permanently delete your account in the app or through a verified support request.

Depending on where you live, you may also have legal rights to access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of personal data, or object to or restrict some processing. We offer the core access, correction, and deletion choices to every Journal18 user. Email info@journal18.com to exercise a right or ask a question.

Data location

Journal18 is operated from the United States. Our primary service infrastructure processes information in the United States. If you use Journal18 from another country, your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States.

Children

Journal18 is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under 13 created an account, contact info@journal18.com so we can investigate and delete it.

Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect information. No service can guarantee absolute security. Contact us promptly if you believe your account or data may have been compromised.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as Journal18 changes. We will update the effective date and provide additional notice when required by law or when a change materially affects your privacy choices.

Contact

Email: info@journal18.com

Operator: Travis Zappia, doing business as Journal18