QirtasPrivacy Policy
First version — release date: 20 October 2026. The Arabic text prevails.
1. Introduction
a. Qirtas (the “App”) is a handwriting, drawing and note-taking app for Windows, Android and the browser (the “web version” at qirtas.namari8.com/board), developed and owned solely by Yousuf Ghulam Nabi (the “Developer”). It is an independent product.
b. Unless stated otherwise, this policy applies to all versions, and differences specific to the web version are noted where they occur.
c. This policy explains what data the App processes, where it is stored, and your rights.
2. Data overview
a. The App does not require you to create an account with the Developer.
b. The Developer does not operate servers that store your boards. They are kept on your device and, if you choose, in your own cloud account.
c. The App contains no ads and no tracking tools inside it, and the Developer does not sell your data or share it with anyone.
d. Three optional exceptions, none of which runs without your permission or action: (a) problem reports and suggestions (sections 8 and 9), (b) on Windows, a relay for Google sign-in (section 10), (c) the AI assistant, which is the only feature that sends content from you to a server operated by the Developer (section 6).
e. In the web version none of the three exceptions exists: no reports, no sign-in and no AI assistant, and your boards are not sent to any server.
3. Data the App processes
a. Your board content: your handwriting and drawings, layers, colored sticky notes, tables, connectors, ready-made shapes, element rotation, typed text, equations, notebook and section names, pages of PDF files and images you add, the page templates you choose, and the paper color of each board.
b. Pen data: pen pressure and tilt values (if your device provides them) are saved with the strokes inside the board itself, and never leave your device except inside a board you export or sync yourself.
c. Your settings: colors you chose or saved, tool preferences, language and the introductory tour state, the date of your last exported backup (to show a backup reminder every 15 days for those who have not linked a cloud account), tool settings (palm rejection, snapping, selection mode, paper and background color), and the place where boards are stored if you changed it.
d. Device performance level: on first launch the App reads the device’s memory size and graphics card name to choose a suitable performance level (high, medium or light), and keeps the result and your manual choice on your device only, sending them to no one except inside a problem report you agree to send.
e. Internal clipboard: copy and paste use a clipboard inside the App that stays in memory while it runs and is never written to disk.
f. Thumbnails of your boards, created to display them in the list.
g. Voice recordings you start yourself (optional) and the timing of each linked stroke so the audio jumps to its moment. They are stored encrypted on your device and, if you enable cloud saving, uploaded with the board to your active cloud account (Google Drive or OneDrive; only one of them is active at a time).
h. Cloud saving data (optional): an access token that Google or Microsoft gives you when you sign in, kept in your device’s secure storage. Your password never reaches the App, and it cannot see your name, email or other files. A random identifier file is stored in the App’s hidden folder inside your cloud account to tell your devices apart when syncing; it is not linked to your name or email. An older copy of a board is also kept when two edits conflict, so you can choose which one to keep. The board file is compressed before upload to speed it up, without changing its content.
i. AI assistant account data (optional, not in the web version): your email and password, which reach the assistant server (section 6); only the sign-in token is kept on your device, in secure storage, and the password is not stored on your device.
j. Encryption key backup (optional): you export it to a file protected by a recovery code shown to you once. The Developer keeps no copy of it or of the code.
k. On Windows, a small file containing a random installation number, used only to detect a reinstall of the App and clear the saved cloud token then. It is not linked to your identity and is sent to no one.
l. Handwriting recognition (optional, on Android and iOS only, not on Windows): the strokes to be recognized are processed on your device and are not sent to the Developer or to Google (details in section 10).
m. Temporary files: when a Word, PowerPoint or Excel file is converted to PDF on Windows, a temporary PDF copy is created in the system temporary folder and deleted after import.
4. Where data is stored
a. On your device: your boards are saved automatically after every edit in the App’s local data folder (on Windows outside the Documents folder so they are not synced with OneDrive, on Android in the App’s private space), and the App works offline. You can choose another folder in Settings, and the boards are moved (not copied) there; they stay there if you uninstall the App on Windows.
b. In your Google Drive account (optional): if you sign in from the cloud-saving button, the App uploads your boards, their images, PDF files and voice recordings to a hidden folder of its own inside your account. These files are subject to Google’s terms and policy, and the Developer does not receive them.
c. In your Microsoft OneDrive account (optional): if you sign in with a Microsoft account, the App uploads your boards, their images, PDF files and voice recordings to its own app folder inside your account. These files are subject to Microsoft’s terms and policy, and the Developer does not receive them.
d. Files you export: a file with the qirtas extension containing your board and its images, or a PNG image or PDF file of the board. You decide where it is stored and shared.
e. Office files (Word, PowerPoint, Excel): when you choose to open one in Qirtas on Windows, the App converts it to PDF on your device using the Microsoft Office installed on it, and sends the file to no one.
f. In the web version: your boards, images, PDF files, voice recordings and settings are stored only in the browser storage on your device (IndexedDB) and are not sent to any server. This storage is specific to the browser and device you use, so your boards do not appear in another browser or device.
g. Clearing browser data or Qirtas site data, using a private window, or removing the browser may permanently delete your boards in the web version and the Developer cannot recover them; keep an exported copy (qirtas file or ZIP).
h. Cloud saving (Google Drive and OneDrive) is not currently available in the web version.
5. Signing in with Google and Microsoft and their data
a. Cloud saving is optional and uses a single permission: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.appdata, which lets the App read, write and delete only the files it created itself inside its hidden app folder in your account. The App cannot access your other Drive files, your email or your contacts.
b. We use this access for one purpose: saving, restoring and syncing your boards between your devices. We do not sell Google data, share it, use it for advertising or to train artificial intelligence models, and no human reads it.
c. Qirtas’s use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy (developers.google.com/terms/api-services-user-data-policy), including the Limited Use requirements.
d. You can revoke the permission at any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions, or by signing out of cloud saving inside the App.
e. Saving to Microsoft OneDrive is likewise optional and uses only the Files.ReadWrite.AppFolder permission, which allows the App to read, write and delete the files it created inside its own app folder in your account. It does not access your other files in OneDrive or your email. It also requests the offline_access permission so sign-in can be renewed without you repeating it each time. We do not sell Microsoft data, share it, use it for advertising or to train artificial intelligence models, and no human reads it.
f. You can revoke the permission from your Microsoft account settings (Privacy → Apps and services), or by signing out of cloud saving inside the App.
6. The AI assistant
a. The AI assistant is entirely optional and is not in the web version. It does not run in the background, and nothing is sent except when you type your question and press send.
b. Account: an account with your email and a password is required, separate from your Google and Microsoft accounts. The rest of the App stays free without an account.
c. What is sent: the text of your question and the current conversation, together with an image of what you selected on the board or of the whole board if you press “Attach the board”, or text the App converted from your handwriting on your device. The attachment is shown before sending and you can remove it. Your boards and other files are not sent. With each question only the last eight messages of the conversation are sent.
d. The relay server: requests reach a server operated by the Developer on the Render platform in a data center in Frankfurt, Germany, which checks your account and balance, forwards them to an AI service provider and returns the answer to you. The service runs on models from external providers, and the provider mark and the model name in use are shown to you in Settings.
e. What the server keeps: your email and a one-way hash of your password, a generic device name such as “Qirtas android”, your balance and its usage log (model, token count, cost and time). It keeps the text of the answer for up to 24 hours to allow retry without double charging, then erases it. It does not store the text of your questions or the board images in its database. The hosting platform may record technical connection data (such as IP address) according to its policy.
f. External providers: the provider processes the content of the request to generate the answer under its own terms and policy. The Developer does not use your content to train any model, and does not sell it or share it for any other purpose. Under Anthropic’s commercial terms its models are not trained on customers’ content in its services, and OpenAI states that it does not use API data for training by default and may retain API inputs and outputs for up to 30 days to provide the service and detect abuse. See the provider’s policy for details.
g. Payment: balance is bought outside the App by contacting the Developer, and the App does not enter or store your card details.
h. Deletion: to delete your assistant account and its data, write to yousuf@namari8.com. Signing out of the App only erases the sign-in token from your device.
i. Do not enter confidential information or other people’s personal data into the assistant.
7. Permissions
a. Camera (phone): requested only when scanning a QR code to receive a board, and no photos or videos are saved.
b. Internet: for optional cloud saving, downloading fonts, downloading the handwriting-recognition language model once (optional), reading small settings files from the Qirtas site, sending problem reports and suggestions with your permission, and contacting the AI assistant server if you use it.
c. Files: the App accesses only files you choose yourself (importing a PDF, image, Word, PowerPoint, Excel file or a board, or exporting).
d. Microphone (optional): requested at the first recording you start yourself, and no recording starts without a notice and your consent. In the web version the browser itself asks for this permission and you can withdraw it from the site settings in the browser.
e. The web version does not request the camera (QR scanning is not available in it) and accesses only files you choose yourself.
8. Problem reports
a. At the first problem in the App it shows you its type and asks you before anything is sent, and nothing is sent without your consent. If you agree and keep the option “Send future problems automatically without asking” on, the following problems are sent automatically under the same conditions described below. You can stop sending entirely at any time from Settings (Send error reports), which cancels automatic sending and brings the question back if you turn it on again.
b. At first launch on non-web devices the App shows a notice about improving Qirtas, and if you agree to it the App sends a periodic performance summary (number of slow frames, save times, board size in points and bytes, and memory use) without any content.
c. What is sent if you agree: the type of problem and the error text, the App version, the operating system type and general device information (memory, graphics card and screen size), a random installation identifier not linked to your identity, and the last lines of the run log. You can see this before agreeing.
d. In a performance problem or error the package sent may include, after being shown to you and with your consent: the session event log (which includes pointer, pen and pressure positions, stroke sizes, save and freeze counts, and does not include what you wrote) and the error and performance logs. No copy of your boards is sent with reports. Accepting or refusing to send a report is your decision alone.
e. What is never sent: your boards, passwords, sign-in data and access tokens. Long numbers and email addresses are automatically masked from the text.
f. Where it is stored: in a Google account belonging to the Developer that no one else can access, and the Developer may receive an email notification.
g. Purpose and duration: used only to fix problems, and automatically deleted thirty days after receipt. You may ask us to delete it earlier by writing to us.
h. The web version does not send problem reports or suggestions.
9. Suggestions
a. The suggestions button is optional. When you send a suggestion the Developer receives its text and a contact method if you wrote one (optional), with the system type, the App version and the random installation identifier. It is used only to reply to you and improve the App and is not shared. If a suggestion concerns the university it may be forwarded to it without your contact details unless you allow it. This button is not available in the web version.
10. External services
a. Google Drive: optional, and access is limited to the App’s hidden folder inside your account.
b. Microsoft OneDrive and Microsoft sign-in: optional, and access is limited to the App’s private folder inside your account.
c. Google Fonts: when you choose a non-default font it is downloaded from Google’s servers, which therefore see your device’s connection address.
d. Google ML Kit (handwriting recognition, optional, on Android and iOS only, not on Windows): the App uses the Digital Ink Recognition service from Google ML Kit, and recognition happens on your device. On first use the App downloads the recognition language model (Arabic or English) once from Google, which therefore sees your device’s connection address. The strokes being recognized are processed on your device and are not sent to the Developer or to Google.
e. Google Apps Script and Google Sheets: only to receive problem reports and suggestions that you agree to send.
f. The Qirtas site (qirtas.namari8.com) hosted on Netlify: the App periodically reads two small files from it (a minimum-version notice and the on/off state of some optional features such as voice recording). The App sends no data in these requests, but the hosting provider sees your device’s connection address.
g. Cloudflare (Windows only): a relay operated by the Developer to complete Google sign-in from the Windows version. The relay receives sign-in token exchange requests, adds the App’s credentials and forwards them to Google; sign-in tokens pass through it only in transit. The relay does not store your tokens or the content of your files, and Cloudflare may record general technical data about requests according to its policy.
h. Render and AI providers (only when you use the AI assistant): Render hosts the assistant relay server, and the AI provider processes the content of the request to generate the answer. Neither receives anything except what you send in the conversation, per section 6.
i. The web version: its pages and files (including the rendering engine) are served from the Qirtas site hosted on Netlify, which may record the usual connection data (such as IP address and browser type) according to its policy. The browser may also download some display fonts (such as the Arabic font) from Google Fonts when needed, so Google sees your connection address. Nothing of your boards’ content is sent in any of this.
j. Otherwise the App connects to no external service.
11. Sharing by QR code
a. The App shows a QR code on your screen when sharing a board, and the other device scans it from inside the Qirtas app. When you choose to share, your device opens a temporary direct connection inside the same Wi-Fi network with the device that scans the code, with no intermediary server. The board is transferred encrypted (AES-256-GCM), and the encryption key is inside the code itself, so show it only to whoever you want to receive your board.
b. The code is valid for five minutes, the connection closes after the first receipt, and the App accepts receipt only from local network addresses.
c. Sharing by QR code and receiving notes through it are not available in the web version, because the browser cannot open a direct connection inside the local network.
12. Data security
a. The cloud-saving token is kept in the secure storage provided by the operating system.
b. Your board files, their thumbnails, added images, added PDF files and voice recordings are encrypted on your device with AES-256-GCM, and the encryption key is kept in the operating system’s secure storage. Boards saved before this feature are encrypted at their next save.
c. Files you export, and the Google Drive and OneDrive copies, are not encrypted (they are uploaded as they are), so their protection depends on your device lock and your accounts.
d. You can export a backup of the key with a recovery code. If the key is lost and you have no backup (for example clearing the App’s data or secure storage, or resetting the device), encrypted boards that exist only on the device may become unreadable, so keep an exported or cloud copy.
e. The Android app may refuse to run on a rooted device, on an emulator, while developer options or USB debugging are enabled, or when tampering is detected. On Windows it may refuse to run when a debugger is detected in the final version, to protect your data.
f. The AI assistant account password is not stored on your device, and the server holds only a one-way hash of it.
g. In the web version your boards, thumbnails and added images are encrypted with the same AES-256-GCM, with a key the browser creates through WebCrypto and keeps in the site’s storage as non-exportable. The original PDF file and voice recordings are not encrypted in it, and everything’s protection depends on your device’s protection and the user account in its system. Anyone using the same browser on your device can open your boards from the site, so do not use the web version on a shared device.
h. No system is fully secure. Do not use the App on a shared device for private information.
13. Retention and deletion
a. When you delete a board uploaded to the cloud, the App lets you choose between deleting it from your device only or from your device and the cloud together. Deletion from the cloud is permanent and includes the board file, its older copy, its recordings and its images not used by another board, whether on your device or in the cloud. If you choose the device only, its copy stays in Google Drive or OneDrive until you delete it.
b. You can select several boards together on the home screen to delete or move them at once, and the cloud-deletion choice above applies to the whole selection.
c. A board you delete from your device moves to the “Trash” and stays there for thirty days, during which you can restore it whole or delete it permanently, then it is deleted automatically. The trash keeps your device’s copy only; deletion from the cloud is permanent. In the web version there is no trash and deletion is permanent.
d. Signing out of cloud saving stops uploading and removes the access token from your device.
e. On Android the operating system removes the App’s data when it is uninstalled. On Windows uninstalling does not delete your boards because they are yours; they stay in the Qirtas folder inside your Windows account’s local app data until you delete them yourself. The saved cloud token is cleared when the App is reinstalled on Windows.
f. AI assistant account data stays as long as the account exists, and is deleted on your request (section 6).
g. In the web version your boards stay in your browser’s storage until you delete them from the App or clear the site data from the browser settings.
14. Your rights
a. Viewing and exporting your boards at any time (qirtas file, image or PDF), and exporting all your boards at once in a ZIP file.
b. Deleting your boards from your device, and deleting their cloud copies from your Google or Microsoft account.
c. Stopping cloud saving by signing out of it, and stopping problem reports from Settings.
d. Asking us to delete your AI assistant account and its data by writing to us.
e. Submitting a complaint to us, and we reply within no more than thirty days. If it is not resolved you may apply to the competent personal-data protection authority.
15. Minors
a. Bahraini law governs eligibility to use the App. If you are under the age prescribed by law, use of the App is conditional on your guardian’s knowledge and consent, and creating an AI assistant account is conditional on their explicit consent. For details, write to us or refer to Bahraini law.
16. Security incidents
a. If we discover a vulnerability or an incident affecting users’ data, we will inform you through the App or the announced contact channels, notify the competent authorities if necessary, and release an update to address it.
17. Changes
a. For any material change we will notify you inside the App before you continue using it, and update the date of this page.
18. Contact
a. Yousuf Ghulam Nabi — yousuf@namari8.com — Phone: +973-32006002