Privacy
This page explains what Inkling collects, where it lives, and what we do — and don't do — with it. It's written to be honest rather than exhaustive. If anything here is unclear, write us at hello@inklingapp.org.
What Inkling is
Inkling is an iOS application that administers validated psychometric screening instruments — the same instruments clinicians use — and generates thoughtful interpretation of results using a large language model (Anthropic's Claude). It is for adults considering patterns in attention, anxiety, mood, trauma response, and the way they process the world. It does not diagnose, and it is not a substitute for clinical care.
What we collect
To do its job, Inkling collects the following on your device:
- An age range (e.g., "30–39"). We confirm you're 18 or older using your date of birth, then discard the exact date. Only the range is retained.
- Optional: sex assigned at birth. This refines the published reference data we compare your results against.
- What you write when describing what brought you to Inkling.
- Your answers to the screening questions you complete.
- The AI-generated interpretations of your results.
Inkling does not require an account. There is no email, no password, no profile on our servers, no telemetry, no behavioral analytics, no advertising identifiers.
Where it lives
Everything Inkling collects is stored locally on your device, in a private SQLite database inside the app's sandbox. None of it is uploaded to a server, synced to a cloud account, or shared with any third party for storage. If you delete the app, your data goes with it.
What we share
To generate routing and interpretation, the text you write in the intake and your screener responses are sent over TLS to our proxy server (a Cloudflare Worker on inklingapp.org), which forwards them to Anthropic's Claude API. The proxy server does not persist your data; it only forwards the request and returns the response.
Anthropic processes your data according to their API terms. We are working toward a Zero Data Retention contract with Anthropic that will eliminate any retention on their side. Until that contract is in place, Anthropic may retain inputs and outputs for up to 30 days for trust and safety review, after which they are deleted.
No other party — advertiser, analytics vendor, research partner, or anyone else — receives your data.
How long we keep it
On your device: indefinitely, until you delete it. You can delete everything at any time via Settings → Delete all my data.
On Anthropic's servers: up to 30 days during their trust and safety review window. This will be reduced to zero once our Zero Data Retention contract is in place.
On our proxy: not retained at all beyond the lifetime of the network request.
Your rights
Because Inkling stores your data on your device rather than in our servers, your rights are exercised directly:
- To view your data: it's in the app.
- To delete your data: Settings → Delete all my data clears everything Inkling holds.
- To take your data with you: there isn't an export feature yet. If this matters to you, write us and we'll prioritize it.
- To request deletion of data Anthropic may have temporarily held: submit a deletion request directly to Anthropic via their privacy page.
Security
iOS encrypts your entire device with your passcode, and the app sandbox prevents other apps from accessing Inkling's data. All network traffic uses TLS.
App-level encryption-at-rest (SQLCipher) and App Attest authentication for our proxy are on the roadmap before the public App Store launch. Until they ship, your data is protected by iOS's full-device encryption and Inkling's sandbox, which together provide meaningful protection in normal use.
Children
Inkling is for adults 18 years of age or older. The screening instruments Inkling uses are validated for adults; their use with minors would not produce meaningful results. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. The age gate at first launch routes anyone under 18 to age-appropriate crisis resources without entering the screening flow.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy in a material way, we will update the date at the top of this page and, during the TestFlight beta period, communicate the change to active testers. Continued use after a material change constitutes acceptance.
Contact
Write us at hello@inklingapp.org. Privacy questions can also go to privacy@inklingapp.org.