4 Rings is private by design. This policy explains, plainly, what that means.
Last updated: 16 June 2026
4 Rings has no account and no servers that receive your journal. Your entries are processed on your own device and stored encrypted on it. We — the developer — cannot see your journal, your scores, or your data.
4 Rings ("4 Rings", "we", "us") is software for macOS, iPadOS and iOS developed by Dr Johan P. de Borst. You can reach us at hello@4rings.app. This policy covers the 4 Rings apps and the website at 4rings.app.
Your journal entries, the interpretations and scores you confirm, your plans, and the dataset the app builds are created and stored on your device. They are encrypted at rest. Because there is no account and we operate no server that receives this content, we have no access to it and we do not collect, store or transmit it to ourselves or to any third party.
The on-device AI used to interpret and score your sentences runs locally on your device. Your entries are not sent to us, to the model's vendor, or to any cloud service for processing.
If you enable sync, 4 Rings stores encrypted records in your own iCloud account so your data stays in step across your Apple devices. These records are accessible only to 4 Rings running on your devices. This storage is provided by Apple and is subject to Apple's privacy policy and your iCloud settings. We do not have access to your iCloud data. You can disable sync at any time, after which the app operates entirely offline.
If you buy the Mac app from our website, payment is handled by our payment provider; we receive confirmation of a purchase but do not receive or store your full card details. If you buy or unlock the iPhone or iPad app, the transaction is handled entirely by Apple through the App Store under Apple's terms; we do not receive your payment details. Refund requests for App Store purchases are handled by Apple.
The website is informational. Our hosting provider may keep standard server logs (such as IP address and request times) for security and operation, as is typical for any website. We do not use advertising trackers or cross-site tracking. If you choose to email us or submit a form (for example, to request the white paper), we use the information you provide solely to respond to you or send the material you asked for, and we do not sell it.
Because your data lives on your device and in your own iCloud, you remain in control of it:
Depending on where you live, data-protection law (including the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR) gives you rights such as access, correction and erasure. Since we do not hold your journal data, most of these rights you exercise directly on your own device. For anything we do hold (for example, an email you sent us), contact hello@4rings.app and we will help. You also have the right to complain to your local data-protection authority.
4 Rings is intended for adults and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect information from children.
If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top and post the revised version on this page.
Questions about privacy? Email hello@4rings.app.