Novelu privacy statement

Version 1 · 10 October 2026

Novelu helps you remember what matters to the people around you. To do that, you tell Novelu about those people. That is personal, so we are careful with what we do with it. Below is what happens to your data, where and why.

In short

• Novelu works on iPhone, Mac and Android. Everything you tell is stored encrypted on your device. Not readable by us.
• To understand your notes, Novelu uses AI from OpenAI, through Microsoft Azure in the EU. Before a note leaves your device, your device replaces the names of people with codes. The AI sees what happened, not with whom.
• This is called pseudonymisation, not anonymisation. The note may still contain details, such as a place or an employer. That is why the law still regards it as personal data, and we treat it that way too.
• We don't keep your notes on our server.
• You only use a backup and sync between your devices if you want to. They are encrypted in such a way that only your devices can open them.
• Usage statistics only if you say yes to them separately, and never what you tell.

Who we are

Novelu is a service of getdialog BV, Bargelaan 200C, Leiden, registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK) under number 73385476. We are responsible for the processing of your data as described in this statement.

Questions about privacy: support@novelu.eu.

What stays on your device

On your iPhone, Mac or Android device, encrypted (SQLCipher, with a key in your device's secure storage), are stored:

• the people you add, with what you tell about them: facts, moments, what you want to follow up, money, practical matters, relationships and groups;
• your notes;
• which code belongs to which name;
• your settings.

This data is not included in your device's backup with Apple or Google: the key stays on this one device. It moves to a new device through Novelu's encrypted backup or sync.

What never leaves your device:

• Your address book. You choose which contacts you add, and only those go into Novelu.
• What you dictate. Your device converts it into text itself; after that, only the text goes further, as described below. If your device cannot convert a language itself, you cannot dictate in that language and you type instead. Your voice never goes to Apple, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI or us.
• What the camera sees. The camera only reads the QR code of your other device when pairing. Nothing is stored or sent.
• The diagnostics log, unless you share it yourself.

What goes to the AI

When you tell a note, the app sends it through our server to OpenAI's AI model. That model runs on Microsoft Azure, in our own environment in Sweden, and the processing stays within the EU. This is how your notes are understood and how moments, reminders and things to follow up are suggested.

What is sent:

• the text of your note, with the names of people replaced by codes such as [[P7]];
• today's date;
• of the people you mention, only the code and their relation to you, such as "mother" or "colleague".

How the codes work:

• Names of people who are not yet in Novelu also become a code.
• Your own name also becomes a code.
• Groups become a code, with the codes of their members.
• Only your device knows which code belongs to which name.

When a name is not sent as a code:

• Your device does not recognise a word as a name. This can happen with a rare name that you write without a capital letter. You can mark such a word as a name yourself.
• You have indicated for a word that it is not a name.

While you type, the Tell screen shows for each name what happens to it.

Other details in your note are not replaced, such as a place or an employer.

What Microsoft does with it:

• Microsoft processes the note within the EU and stores what it keeps in Sweden.
• Microsoft and OpenAI do not use this data to train models; OpenAI does not receive it.
• We ask for the requests not to be stored (store: false). Microsoft may keep them for up to 30 days to be able to detect abuse; we have applied for modified abuse monitoring, so that this no longer happens.

What we do with it: our server forwards the note and only keeps track of how much AI allowance you use. We don't keep the text.

What is on our server

Your account:

• Your email address and password are managed by Auth0, our sign-in service.
• We never get to see your password.

Your AI allowance:

• how much you may use per month and how much you have used;
• without the content of your notes.

Your backup and sync, if you turn them on:

• What your devices share with each other, and the backup, are encrypted on your device with a key that only your devices have. Your recovery key is the spare.
• We cannot read them. We only see how large they are and when they arrive.
• To recognise your devices, the name of each device (such as "Marcel's iPhone"), the type of device and when it last synced are stored unencrypted on the server. You remove a device in Settings.
• If you have lost your recovery key and no longer have a paired device, we cannot open your data for you.

Feedback you send:

• what you write, and your email address if you give us permission to contact you;
• with "Something not right?", only if you turn it on: the note as the AI received it, with names as codes;
• the diagnostics log if you include it.

Our team only gets a notification in Slack with the type of feedback and the app version, never the text.

Our server is hosted by Amazon Web Services in the EU, in Frankfurt (Germany).

Usage statistics (only with your consent)

After the welcome screen, we ask whether Novelu may keep track of how you use the app. Yes and no carry equal weight. You can always change your answer in Settings.

What we keep track of: which features you use, such as "dictated a note", "added someone" or "ticked off a reminder". Numbers become ranges, such as "1 to 10 people".

What we never keep track of:

• names and what you tell;
• facts, moments, dates and places;
• phone numbers and amounts.

Where and how:

• The statistics are stored at PostHog in the EU (Frankfurt).
• They are linked to your account ID, not to your email address.
• Your IP address is not stored.

If you turn it off:

• Nothing more is sent, straight away.
• We have PostHog delete everything it has about you.

If you say no, PostHog is not even started on your device.

Subscriptions

You buy Novelu Pro in the App Store or in Google Play. Apple or Google handles the payment; we see no payment details.

RevenueCat keeps track for us of which subscription you have. For that, RevenueCat receives:

• your account ID (no email address), so that your subscription applies on all your devices;
• the purchase details from the store: which subscription, since when, until when, and whether it is a trial;
• general details about your device, such as the type of device, the version of the operating system and of the app, and your language.

Our server only asks RevenueCat whether you have Pro. If you delete your account, we also have RevenueCat delete your data. You cancel a running subscription yourself in the App Store or Google Play.

Why we are allowed to do this

What you tell about others

Novelu is about the people around you, so you tell about others. For you, that is personal use. We only process that data to provide the service to you, and we protect it with the pseudonymisation described above. Don't tell anything about others that you wouldn't want them to tell about you.

How long we keep data

Who processes your data for us

We have a data processing agreement with each party. For transfers outside the EU, the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or standard contractual clauses apply.

Your rights

• Access and portability: In Settings you export everything Novelu keeps about the people around you, as a file you can read yourself. The encrypted backup is a complete copy that only you can open.
• Correction: You change everything in the app.
• Deletion:
  • You delete data on your device in Settings. With sync on, this happens on all your devices.
  • You turn off your backup in Settings, and you remove a paired device under Sync.
  • You delete your account in Settings. You then choose whether everything on this device is erased too.
• Objection and withdrawing consent: You turn off usage statistics in Settings. For other questions, email support@novelu.eu.
• Complaint: If you disagree with how we handle your data, you can lodge a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens).

Security

• Your data on your device is encrypted.
• Connections to our server go over HTTPS.
• Your backup and sync are end-to-end encrypted. You pair a new device with a QR code and six digits that you compare on both devices, so that not even we can get in between.
• Our server does not keep note text.

Changes

If we change anything essential about what happens to your data, the app asks for your agreement again. Minor clarifications only get a new date. What has changed is listed at the bottom.

Versions