Privacy Policy
Last updated October 13, 2026
- Your courses, lessons and notes are stored on your Mac, not on our servers.
- The microphone and screen are used when you ask Veynote something (hold the right ⌘ key to speak, or tap the right ⌥ key and type), not in the background.
- To write lessons and answer you, Veynote sends the relevant content to AI providers (Anthropic, Google and OpenAI). They process it for us; they don't get it to use for themselves.
- We don't sell your data, show you ads, or use your data to train AI models.
- Email support@veynote.com to get a copy of your data or delete your account.
Who we are
Veynote is a study app for the Mac, with a companion Chrome extension and a website at veynote.com. It is run by Henry Wright ("Veynote", "we", "us"). Questions about this policy go to support@veynote.com.
What Veynote uses, and why
| What | Why | Where it's kept |
|---|---|---|
| Your Google account basics: name, email address, Google account ID | To sign you in and keep your account | Our server |
| Course content from your school's Canvas or Blackboard site: course pages, syllabi, assignments, files, due dates | To build your class pages, calendar, briefs and lessons | On your Mac. Sent to AI providers to write lessons and briefs; not stored on our server |
| Gmail (read-only, only if you connect it) | To find emails from your professors and courses that need your attention | An encrypted copy of your Gmail connection and recent course-related messages on our server; deleted when you disconnect Gmail |
| Google Calendar (only if you connect it): a "Veynote" calendar that Veynote makes, and your free and busy times | To keep your class times, deadlines, exams and study blocks in your calendar, and to find a free time when you ask | The events are in your own Google Calendar. On your Mac, Veynote keeps only the IDs of the calendar and events it made. Free and busy times aren't kept |
| Google Drive (only if you connect it): the files Veynote made or you picked for it | To make a Google Doc you ask for, and to read a file you picked | The files are in your own Google Drive. On your Mac, Veynote keeps only a list of those files' IDs and names; disconnecting Drive deletes it |
| Your voice while you hold the right ⌘ key | So you can ask Veynote questions out loud | Streamed to Google to understand and answer you; not recorded or stored by us |
| What's on your screen when you ask the companion something, and while it carries out what you asked | So it can see what you're asking about and point at the right thing | Sent to AI providers to answer you; not stored by us |
| Usage and cost records: which feature ran, which AI model, how much it cost, when | To enforce plan limits, stop runaway costs and fix problems | Our server. These records hold no course content, messages, audio or screen images |
| Steps and timings, only if you turn on "Help improve Veynote" (it's off until you choose, and Settings changes it) | To see which companion steps work and how long they take, and fix the ones that don't | Our server. Each record is only which step, how long it took, how it ended, the kind of error, and the name of a site Veynote has a map for (never a web address). Never your screen, pages, course content, email or name |
| Ways around a site that worked, only if you turn on "Help improve Veynote" | So a way that worked for several students can help others. It's shared only after it worked for at least three different students, and dropped once it fails for two | Our server. Only what was pressed, by its role and name (for example, a tab called "Customize"). Never a web address, anything you typed, or a name that could be personal |
| Problem reports, when you use "Report a problem" | To fix what went wrong | Our server. Your words (email addresses, links and long numbers are masked) and your last companion steps, in the same steps-and-timings form |
| What you teach the companion: ways around your sites and apps, and preferences you tell it | So it does things your way next time | On your Mac only, under My brain, where you can change or forget them |
| Subscription status: your plan, trial dates and renewal date | To know whether your plan is active | Our server; card details are handled only by Stripe and never reach us |
| Waitlist email and school | To invite you and tell you about Veynote | Cloudflare, until you ask us to remove it or you join |
What Veynote doesn't do
- It doesn't record you in the background. The microphone and screen are used only when you ask the companion something.
- It doesn't create, change, move or delete files on your Mac, except its own. If you turn on "Make changes to my computer" in Settings, it can change files only when you explicitly ask, and deleted items go to the Trash.
- It doesn't press submit, send, pay, delete or share buttons for you. It points at them and leaves them for you.
- It doesn't type passwords or help inside graded quizzes or exams.
- It doesn't sell your data, share it for advertising, or use it to train AI models.
Who processes your data for us
We use these companies to run Veynote. Each gets only what it needs for its part, and only to provide that service to us.
- Anthropic: writing lessons, quizzes and assignment briefs from your course content.
- Google (Gemini): the voice you talk to, reading your screen when you ask the companion, and organizing course material. Google also provides sign-in and, if you connect them, Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Drive access.
- OpenAI: some chat, transcription and organizing tasks.
- Render: hosts our server and its database in the United States.
- Cloudflare: hosts this website and the waitlist, and forwards email sent to veynote.com.
- Stripe: payments and subscriptions.
We use these AI providers through their business API services, under terms that don't let them use your content to train their models.
Google user data
Signing in to Veynote with Google shares only your name, email address and Google account ID. It never asks for Gmail, Google Calendar or Google Drive. Veynote asks Google for one of the permissions below only when you connect that service yourself, in Veynote's Connections tab. These are the only Google permissions (scopes) Veynote requests:
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly(only if you connect Gmail): to read course-related email so Veynote can sort and summarize it for you. Veynote can't write, change, send or delete email.https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.app.created(only if you connect Google Calendar): to make Veynote's own "Veynote" calendar in your Google Calendar and keep your class times, deadlines, exams and study blocks in it. Veynote can't see or change your other calendars.https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.freebusy(only if you connect Google Calendar): to see when you're busy and when you're free, as times only and never what an event is, so Veynote can find a free time when you ask for one.https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file(only if you connect Google Drive): to make the files you ask Veynote to make, such as a Google Doc, and to read only the files Veynote made or you picked for it. Veynote can't see the rest of your Drive.
Email text is sent to our AI providers (Anthropic, Google's Gemini API and OpenAI) only to produce the features you see in Veynote, such as sorting and summarizing your course email. It is never used to train AI models, and never sold or shared otherwise. The same is true of the text of a Drive file you ask Veynote to read. Your free and busy times are worked out on your Mac and aren't sent to an AI provider.
Veynote's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. In particular:
- Gmail access is read-only. Veynote uses it only to show you course-related email inside Veynote.
- Your Google data (Gmail, Calendar and Drive) isn't used for advertising, isn't sold, and isn't used to train AI models.
- No person at Veynote reads your email, calendar or files, unless you ask us to for support, it's needed for security, or the law requires it.
- You can disconnect Gmail, Google Calendar or Google Drive in Veynote at any time, or remove Veynote's access at myaccount.google.com/permissions. Disconnecting Gmail deletes the copy on our server.
The Chrome extension
The Veynote Course Companion extension reads pages on your school's course site while you're logged in, and passes them to the Veynote app on your Mac. When you ask the companion for help in Chrome, it can read and point at the page you're on. It doesn't track your browsing and doesn't send your browsing history anywhere.
How long we keep things
- Account details and usage records: while your account exists. Usage records are kept for up to 12 months for billing and cost control.
- Gmail copy: until you disconnect Gmail or delete your account.
- Google Calendar: the events Veynote added stay in your "Veynote" calendar until you delete them in Google Calendar. The IDs Veynote keeps on your Mac stay until you delete Veynote's data. Free and busy times aren't kept.
- Google Drive: the files Veynote made stay in your Drive until you delete them there. The list of file IDs and names on your Mac is deleted when you disconnect Drive.
- Steps and timings, shared ways around a site, and problem reports: while your account exists. Turning "Help improve Veynote" off stops sending more, and deleting your account deletes them.
- Voice and screen: not kept by us once your request is answered.
- Everything on your Mac: until you delete it or remove Veynote.
Your choices and rights
- Get a copy of what we hold about you: email support@veynote.com.
- Delete your account: email support@veynote.com from your account's email. We delete your server data within 30 days and confirm when it's done.
- Leave the waitlist: use the link in any email, or write to us.
- Depending on where you live, you may have other rights over your data, such as correcting it or objecting to how it's used. Write to us and we'll help.
Security
Data travels over encrypted connections. Your Gmail connection is encrypted on our server. Access to our systems is limited to what's needed to run Veynote. No system is perfectly secure, but we'll tell you promptly if a breach affects your data.
Students and age
Veynote is made for college students. It isn't meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child under 13 has used Veynote, email us and we'll delete it.
This website
veynote.com doesn't use advertising or tracking cookies. Cloudflare may keep basic technical logs, such as IP addresses, to keep the site working and secure.
Changes
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll update the date above and tell you in the app or by email before the change takes effect.