Security & Data Protection
A plain, accurate explanation of how InnerSight protects your journal, written by the person who built it.
On-Device Encryption
AES-256 encrypts your entries before they ever leave your phone
You Hold the Key
Your passphrase never reaches our servers, so we can't read your entries
No Backdoor
If you forget your passphrase, we genuinely cannot recover your entries
Built to Be Honest
Independently built and run, with nothing overstated about what it does
How Your Entries Are Encrypted
Encryption at Rest
- • Journal entries are encrypted on your device with AES-256 before they ever touch our servers.
- • At rest, entries are stored encrypted in our database (Supabase / Postgres) and are unreadable to us.
- • Your encryption key is derived from your own passphrase using Argon2id, a modern password-hashing algorithm. We never see your passphrase and cannot recover it.
- • Once unlocked, your key lives in the iOS Keychain, the same secure enclave that protects Apple Pay. Face ID or Touch ID can lock your journal behind your biometrics too.
Encryption in Transit
- • All traffic between the app and our servers runs over HTTPS/TLS.
- • Our database enforces row-level security, so your data is isolated to your account even within our own infrastructure.
- • There is no internal tool or admin panel that lets anyone at InnerSight browse user content.
Why We Can't Read Your Entries
We made one decision early that shaped everything else: we should not be able to read your entries, even if we wanted to, even if compelled to. Your passphrase is the only key, it exists only on your device, and we don't store it anywhere. That's also why passphrase recovery isn't possible, see below.
How Iris (Our AI Companion) Works
When you tap Ask Iris, your entry is decrypted on your device and sent over HTTPS to a server-side function we run, which forwards it to our AI provider through a comprehensive system prompt built on CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) principles. Our API key is proxied through our own backend, it never lives inside the app itself.
One honest caveat: for that brief moment, in transit, your entry exists as plaintext to complete the request. It is not stored by our AI provider, and it is not used to train any model, but "we can't read your entries" describes storage, not that specific processing step. We'd rather tell you that plainly than let you assume otherwise.
Iris conversations themselves are encrypted once stored on your device. No conversation data is retained by our AI provider once a session completes.
If You Forget Your Passphrase
We cannot recover your entries. Not "we won't," we can't. Your data is encrypted with a key derived from a passphrase that only exists in your head, and there is no override on our side.
If you reset your passphrase, the app permanently deletes your existing entries as part of that reset. We know that sounds harsh. The alternative, a way for us to recover your data on request, would mean building a backdoor. And a backdoor for you is a backdoor for anyone who phishes your account, breaches our systems, or compels us legally. A journal someone other than you can access isn't a private journal.
We strongly recommend storing your passphrase somewhere safe, like a password manager, before you need it.
Infrastructure
Where Your Data Lives
- • Encrypted entries are stored in Supabase (Postgres), with row-level security scoping every row to your account.
- • AI responses are generated via our AI provider's API, proxied through our own backend, see above for how that works.
- • InnerSight is built and operated by a single developer. We don't currently hold third-party security certifications like SOC 2 or ISO 27001, and we won't claim otherwise, our security model is designed so that strong encryption, not a compliance badge, is what actually protects your data.
Protecting Your Journal
A Few Things Worth Doing
- • Choose a passphrase you'll actually remember, and store a backup copy somewhere safe (a password manager works well), since we can't recover it for you.
- • Turn on Face ID or Touch ID for quick, secure access without weakening your passphrase.
- • Keep your iOS version up to date so device-level protections stay current.
- • Avoid unlocking your journal on a shared or unlocked device.
Security Contact
If you discover a security vulnerability or have security concerns, please get in touch:
Security Email: support@innersightjournal.com
Subject Line: [SECURITY] - Brief description of issue
Response Time: We aim to respond within 1-2 business days.
Responsible Disclosure: We appreciate security researchers who report issues responsibly, and we'll work with you to understand and fix anything you find.
Keeping This Page Honest
This page describes how InnerSight actually works today, not aspirational claims. As the app and its security practices evolve, we'll update this page to match.