Privacy Policy
- No account needed. Your check-ins, private notes, tags, name, and birthday are saved on your device.
- Your private notes and tags are never shared with friends or with us.
- If you link with friends, we store only the dates and mood colors you share with them (and your first name, only if you choose).
- If you turn on device sync, your data is encrypted on your device first. We can’t read it.
- Face ID, the camera, reminders, widgets, and Siri all work on your phone; nothing from them is sent to us.
- If you turn on Apple Health, your daily mood is saved to the Health app on your phone. We never read from Health.
- No ads. No analytics or tracking. We don’t sell or share your information.
1. Who we are
Leaf a Day is a free mood-tracking website and iPhone and Android app, and part of the Leaf N Hope Foundation (“we”, “us”), a nonprofit focused on suicide awareness and prevention. This policy explains what information Leaf a Day handles, where it goes, and the choices you have. It applies to the website at mood.leafnhope.org and to the Leaf a Day app for iPhone (together, “Leaf a Day”).
2. Information that stays on your device
Most of what you enter is saved only on your own phone or computer: in your browser’s storage when you use the website, or in the app’s private storage when you use the iPhone or Android app. We never receive it:
- Your daily check-ins (the date and the mood you picked)
- Your private notes
- Your “What helps” tags (for example “Got outside”), including any tags you create
- Your first name or nickname, and your birthday (month and day only)
- Your settings (for example: leaves or squares, light or dark, color-blind mode, holiday greetings, reminder time, app lock, Apple Health)
- Nicknames you give your friends
Patterns, including “What tends to come with brighter days,” the quote of the day, and your greetings are all worked out on your device. The website also saves its own files on your device so it can work offline. Leaf a Day does not use cookies.
If you download a backup file, that file stays wherever you save it; it includes your notes and tags, so keep it private. If your iPhone is backed up to iCloud or to a computer, or your Android phone to your Google account, that backup may include the app’s data, under Apple’s or Google’s terms and your own backup settings.
3. Information sent to our server, only if you use these features
Linking with friends (Together)
When you create or accept an invite, our server stores:
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| A random 12-character link code | To connect you and one friend |
| A scrambled (hashed) version of a random secret created by your device | So only you and your friend can read or change the link |
| The dates and mood colors (1–5) you’ve checked in this calendar year | So your friend can see your colors |
| Your first name, only if you tick “Let them see my first name” | So your friend knows it’s you |
| When the link was created and last updated | To expire unused invites and keep things in sync |
Your mood colors and (if you chose) your first name are stored on our server in a form we could read, because that’s what lets your friend’s device show them. We never receive your notes, tags, birthday, or anything else, and our server only accepts dates, mood colors, and (if you chose) your first name. Each friend link is separate. Either person can tap Stop sharing at any time, which deletes that link’s stored data for both people. An invite that nobody joins stops working after 14 days, and we may delete expired or long-unused links.
Syncing your own devices
If you turn on device sync, your device creates a private sync code. Before anything leaves your device, your check-ins, notes, tags (and your list of tags), name, birthday, and your friend links (so your friends show up on every device, along with any nicknames you gave them) are encrypted with that code (AES-256). Our server stores only the encrypted data under a scrambled ID made from the code. We do not have your code, so we cannot read your synced data, and we can’t recover it if you lose every device and the code. “Delete the synced copy” in Settings removes it from our server (we keep a small marker so your other devices know sync was turned off).
Technical information
Like any website or app, your device’s internet (IP) address reaches our server when Leaf a Day talks to it, which only happens for the two features above. Our server uses it only briefly, in memory, to prevent abuse (limiting how many requests come from one address per minute), and does not save it. It does not log the contents of requests. Records that haven’t been used for about 400 days are deleted automatically. Our hosting provider (Hostinger) and our domain and security provider (Cloudflare) may keep standard technical logs under their own privacy policies.
4. Phone features (iPhone and Android apps)
These features are optional and work on your phone. None of them send information to us.
- App lock (Face ID, Touch ID, or fingerprint). If you turn on app lock, your phone checks your face, fingerprint, or passcode itself and tells Leaf a Day only whether it was you. We never receive your face, fingerprint, or passcode. While the lock is on, your days are hidden in the app switcher (on Android, screenshots of the app are blocked too), and reminder notifications don’t mention your mood.
- Camera. Leaf a Day uses the camera only when you tap “Scan QR code” to bring sync to another device (this also works on the website, if your browser allows it). The picture is read on your device to find the code; it is not saved or sent anywhere.
- Daily reminders. If you turn them on, your iPhone schedules them on the device. They aren’t sent from our server, and turning them off removes them.
- “Maybe reach out” notices. If a friend you share colors with has a few heavier days in a row, your iPhone may give you a gentle notification suggesting you check in. This is worked out on your phone from the colors you already receive from them; nothing extra is sent or stored anywhere. With app lock on, the notice leaves out their name. You can turn these off in Settings › Notifications.
- Home-screen widget. If you add the Leaf a Day widget, the app shares your recent mood colors (the last two weeks) with it through storage on your phone. The widget never shows notes or tags, and it shows no colors while app lock is on. Anyone who can see your Home Screen can see the widget, so remove it if that matters to you. If you pick a leaf on the widget, it is kept on your phone until you next open the app, which then saves it like any other day.
- Lock Screen widgets and the Check In button. These show only whether you’ve checked in (today and this week), never which leaf you picked, and nothing at all while app lock is on. The Check In button just opens the app.
- Siri and Shortcuts. You can say something like “Log a good day in Leaf a Day”. Apple handles the speech under its own privacy policy; the leaf you choose is saved on your phone the same way as a widget pick. We receive nothing.
- Apple Health (optional, off by default). If you turn it on in Settings, each day’s leaf is also saved to the Health app as your mood for that day (from “very unpleasant” to “very pleasant”). Notes and tags are never sent to Health. Leaf a Day only writes your mood there; it never reads anything from Health, and nothing from Health is sent to us or anyone else. Health data stays under Apple’s protections, and you can turn this off or delete those moods in the Health app at any time. Turning it off stops new saves; moods already there stay until you delete them.
Widgets, Siri, the Check In button, and Apple Health are in the iPhone app only. The app asks for your permission before using the camera, sending notifications, using Face ID or your fingerprint, or saving to Apple Health, and you can change these any time in your phone’s Settings.
Apple. If you’ve chosen to share analytics with app developers in your iPhone’s settings, Apple may send us anonymous crash reports, which contain technical details only (not your check-ins or notes). If you test an early version through Apple’s TestFlight, Apple shares with us what TestFlight’s terms describe, such as your email address and any feedback or crash reports you choose to send.
Google. On Android, Google Play may share anonymous crash and performance reports with us (technical details only, not your check-ins or notes), depending on your phone’s settings. If you join an early test of the app through Google Play, Google shares with us what its testing terms describe, such as your email address and any feedback you choose to send.
5. What we don’t do
- We don’t require or create accounts, and we don’t ask for your email, phone number, or location.
- We don’t use analytics, advertising, tracking pixels, or third-party scripts or tracking tools.
- We don’t sell, rent, or share your information with anyone, and we don’t use it for advertising.
- We don’t try to identify you.
6. Clover N Leaf and other linked services
Our resource finder, Clover N Leaf (clovernleaf.com), is also a project of the Leaf N Hope Foundation. It is a separate website, so its own privacy policy applies when you visit it. Leaf a Day does not send your check-ins, notes, or any other information to Clover N Leaf.
Leaf a Day also links to outside services such as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and Crisis Text Line. When you call, text, or visit them, their own privacy policies apply. If you use “Send this” to message a friend, or share an invite, your phone’s messaging or sharing app sends it.
7. Not a health service
Leaf a Day is a reflection tool. It is not medical care, and the Leaf N Hope Foundation is not a healthcare provider, so the information you enter is not covered by health privacy laws such as HIPAA. That’s one reason we keep it on your device.
8. Keeping your information safe
Leaf a Day uses secure connections (HTTPS). Friend-link secrets are stored only in scrambled form, and synced data is encrypted on your device. On iPhone, you can also turn on app lock. No system is perfectly secure, so please keep your sync code private (like a password), and only send invite links to people you know.
9. Your choices and how to delete your data
- On your device: Settings → Backup & data → Delete everything on this device. On the website, clearing your browser’s data for this site also deletes it. On iPhone, deleting the app deletes its data from the phone.
- Tags: Settings → What helps lets you turn tags off or remove them.
- Friend links: open the friend in Together and tap Stop sharing (deletes it for both of you, and from all your synced devices).
- Synced copy: Settings → Sync your devices → Delete the synced copy from all devices.
- Your name with friends: untick “Let them see my first name” at any time.
- Phone features: turn off reminders, friend notices, app lock, or Apple Health in Settings, remove widgets from your Home Screen or Lock Screen, and change camera, notification, Face ID or fingerprint, Siri, and Health permissions in your phone’s Settings (or the Health app).
Because Leaf a Day doesn’t use accounts, we usually can’t look up information by your name. If you need help, contact us and we’ll do what we can.
10. Children
Leaf a Day is intended for people 13 and older. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has shared information through Leaf a Day, contact us and we’ll help remove it.
11. Changes to this policy
If we change how Leaf a Day handles information, we’ll update this page and the “Last updated” date. For important changes, we’ll also show a notice in Leaf a Day.
12. Contact us
Questions or requests: [email protected]
Leaf N Hope Foundation · 4014 Teaberry Road, Ronceverte, WV 24970