1. Summary
MarkShot is built so that your content stays with you.
Your photos, videos, notes, saved items, categories, reminders, and location information are stored on your device and, if you turn on iCloud, in your own iCloud account. We do not keep a copy.
In short:
- We do not run a service that stores your MarkShot library, and we cannot see it.
- We use no advertising SDK, no third-party analytics SDK, no attribution service, and no tracking technology.
- We do not sell or share your personal information, and we never use your content for advertising, profiling, or AI model training.
There is one exception. If you turn on the optional AI extraction feature, the address of the web page and its text are sent out so that the page can be read. We keep no page text at all. What we do keep is an access-log entry that records a hash of the address rather than the address itself, and the result we produced, cached for 7 days — neither carrying anything that says who asked. Section 7 explains exactly what is sent, where it goes, what we keep, and for how long.
2. Who We Are
MarkShot is developed and operated by Shotaro Shibata, trading as Photo&Code, an individual developer based in Tokyo, Japan ("Photo&Code", "we", "us", or "our"). We are the controller of the limited personal information described in this Privacy Policy.
Our contact details are in Section 18.
3. Information You Save in MarkShot
MarkShot lets you save and organise content such as:
- photos and images;
- videos;
- web pages and URLs;
- text notes;
- titles and categories;
- reminders;
- photo metadata, such as the date and time a photo was taken; and
- location information associated with saved content.
This information is used only to provide the features of MarkShot. Except as described in Section 7, it is not transmitted to us and is not stored on any server we operate.
4. Where Your Content Is Stored
On your device. Content you create or save in MarkShot is stored on your device. We do not operate a service that holds your MarkShot library, and we cannot access, view, modify, restore, or delete content kept on your device.
In iCloud. If you enable iCloud, MarkShot stores and backs up data in your own iCloud account using Apple's iCloud and CloudKit services. That data sits under your Apple Account, on Apple's infrastructure. We cannot access, view, retrieve, modify, or delete it. Your use of iCloud is also governed by Apple's terms and privacy policy.
If you delete content in MarkShot or uninstall the App, locally stored data may also be deleted, depending on how the data is stored and on your device settings. Content already synced to iCloud is removed according to your iCloud settings and Apple's behaviour.
5. Photos, Camera, and Media Access
MarkShot asks for access to your photo library or camera only when a feature you have chosen requires it — for example importing, saving, or capturing photos and videos.
That access is used solely to provide the feature you asked for. We do not receive copies of your photos or videos, and we have no access to your photo library.
6. Location Information
Where you choose to use features that need it, MarkShot uses Apple's Core Location services. Location information may also be read from the metadata embedded in your photos.
Location data is processed on your device to provide MarkShot's features. It is not transmitted to us, and it is never used for advertising, tracking, profiling, or analytics.
7. Web Links and AI Extraction
MarkShot lets you save web pages and URLs. We do not collect or keep a record of the websites you visit or save.
AI extraction is optional and off until you turn it on. Every other saving and organising feature in MarkShot works with it switched off. The feature reads a web page and produces a summary of it, and — where you have asked for them — picks out details such as dates and addresses.
For a page to be read, its text has to be sent. When you use the feature, MarkShot transmits the following, and nothing else:
- the URL of the page;
- the text of the page, which the App fetches on your device and sends so that it can be read; and
- the language of the request and which extraction options you have switched on.
Please note what this means. The text of the page leaves your device. If a page sits behind a login, or contains information about you or about someone else, that text is part of what is sent. Use the feature only on pages whose content you are comfortable sending.
Where it goes. The request is relayed through a server we operate on Cloudflare, which passes it to OpenAI, receives the generated result, and returns it to your device. The relay exists so that API credentials are not shipped inside the App. The connection is encrypted in transit.
What we keep, and for how long. Our relay retains three things. None of them is the text of the page, and none of them is tied to you.
| What we keep | Where | How long |
|---|---|---|
| An access-log entry: a one-way hash of the URL, the site's domain name, the language of the request, which extraction options were switched on, and whether a cached result was used | Cloudflare D1 | Deleted once it is more than 90 days old. The purge runs on the first of each month, so depending on when an entry was written it may remain for up to about a month beyond the 90 days before it is actually removed |
| The result produced for the page, so that a repeat request for the same page does not have to be sent to OpenAI again | Cloudflare KV | Expires automatically 7 days after it is stored |
| An index entry recording when a cached result is due to expire | Cloudflare D1 | Removed once it has expired |
We keep these in order to answer a repeat request without calling OpenAI again, to spot abnormal request volumes and abuse of the service, and to see how much the feature is being used.
The text of the page is never stored. It is used to answer your request and then discarded. The cached result is a summary of the page, so it reflects what the page said, but the page's text itself is not kept anywhere by us.
The access-log entry does not contain the address of the page — only a hash of it and the site's domain name, never the path, the query string, or the fragment. A hash cannot be turned back into an address, although someone who already knew a particular address could test whether it appears. We therefore keep these entries to a minimum and clear them on a schedule.
Nothing we keep identifies you. No account, device identifier, advertising identifier, IP address, or Apple Account is stored alongside any of it, nothing in it shows who made the request, and nothing ties one entry to another. We cannot tell which entries came from you, and none of it can be used to reconstruct anyone's browsing.
What OpenAI does with it. OpenAI processes the page text in order to produce the summary and any details you asked for. Under OpenAI's API data usage policies, content submitted through the API is not used to train OpenAI's models. OpenAI's own policies are linked in Section 8.
What is never sent. Your photos, videos, notes, categories, reminders, and location information are not transmitted when you use this feature.
The transmitted URL:
- is not used to identify you;
- is not combined into a browsing history for you or for anyone else;
- is not used for advertising, profiling, or tracking across apps or websites; and
- is not stored as part of any user profile — we hold no user profiles.
8. Third-Party Services
MarkShot relies on a small number of external services. This table lists all of them and what each one receives.
| Service | Provider | What it receives | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| iCloud and CloudKit | Apple Inc. | The MarkShot content you choose to sync, held in your own iCloud account | Storing and syncing your library across your devices |
| App Store and StoreKit | Apple Inc. | Purchase and subscription records | Processing purchases, subscriptions, renewals, and refunds |
| Local notifications | Apple, on your device | Nothing leaves your device | Delivering the reminders you set |
| Extraction relay | Photo&Code | The URL and the text of the page | Forwarding the request to OpenAI. Keeps a hashed access-log entry (no page address, no page text) and caches the result for 7 days |
| Relay hosting, database, and cache | Cloudflare, Inc. | The traffic and stored entries described above, as our hosting provider | Running the relay (Workers), its access log and cache index (D1), and the cached results (KV) |
| AI extraction | OpenAI, L.L.C. | The URL and the text of the page | Producing the summary and the details you asked for |
Apple's practices are described in the Apple Privacy Policy. OpenAI's practices are described in the OpenAI Privacy Policy and its API data usage policies. Cloudflare's practices are described in the Cloudflare Privacy Policy.
No other third party receives your personal information through MarkShot. In particular, the App contains no advertising SDK, no analytics SDK, no attribution or measurement SDK, and no third-party crash-reporting SDK.
9. Analytics, Advertising, and Tracking
MarkShot does not analyse your saved content, does not build advertising profiles, and does not sell or rent your information.
MarkShot does not ask permission to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies, and it does not use the advertising identifier.
We do keep the access log described in Section 7, which tells us how heavily the extraction feature is used. It records no identifier for any person, so it cannot show us what any individual did — only totals.
If you have switched on Share iPhone & Watch Analytics and Share with App Developers in your iOS settings, Apple may make aggregated crash reports and usage statistics available to us through App Store Connect. Those reports reach us from Apple in aggregated form, are governed by Apple's privacy practices, and do not identify you. You can turn this off at any time in Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements.
10. In-App Purchases and Subscriptions
MarkShot offers a paid subscription. Purchases and subscriptions are processed by Apple through the App Store and StoreKit.
We never receive or store your credit card number or other payment card details. Apple may provide us with transaction and aggregated sales information needed to manage purchases, subscriptions, renewals, refunds, and tax reporting, in accordance with Apple's own systems and policies.
The commercial terms of the subscription, including automatic renewal, are set out in the MarkShot Terms of Use.
11. Information We Do Not Collect
Apart from information you choose to give us when you contact us, and the limited transmission described in Section 7, we do not collect personal information through MarkShot.
In particular, we do not collect:
- your name;
- your email address, unless you include it when you contact us;
- your phone number or postal address;
- your contacts or address book;
- your photos, videos, or notes;
- your MarkShot categories or reminders;
- your browsing history;
- your precise location;
- advertising identifiers;
- health or fitness information;
- financial or payment card information; or
- behavioural analytics about how you use MarkShot.
If you contact us — by email, for example — we receive whatever you choose to include in your message. We use it only to answer you and to provide support.
12. Data Retention and Deletion
Because we do not operate a service that stores your MarkShot library, we do not hold your saved content.
- Content on your device is under your control, through the App and your device settings.
- Content in iCloud is under your control, through your Apple Account and iCloud settings.
- Because we can reach neither, we cannot retrieve, restore, modify, or delete your content on your behalf.
The two things we do hold are:
| What | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Extraction access-log entries — hashed, holding no page address, no page text, and no link to a person (Section 7) | Deleted once more than 90 days old, by a purge that runs on the first of each month |
| Cached extraction results (Section 7) | Expire automatically after 7 days |
| Emails you send us, and our replies | As long as is reasonably necessary to provide support, keep records, and meet our legal obligations |
13. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to ask for access to the personal information we hold about you, and to ask us to correct, delete, or restrict our use of it, to object to its use, to receive it in a portable form, or to withdraw consent you have given.
In practice we hold very little. For most users the only personal information we have is what they have sent us in an email. The extraction entries described in Section 7 carry no link to any person, so we have no way of finding "your" entries among them and cannot act on a request that refers to them — we delete them all within 90 days regardless.
You can exercise any of these rights using the contact details in Section 18. We will respond within the time required by the law that applies to you, and we will not treat you differently for making a request.
We do not sell personal information, and we do not share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising, as those terms are used under California law.
If you are in the EEA or the UK, our lawful basis for handling the limited information described here is our legitimate interest in operating and supporting MarkShot and, for AI extraction, performance of our agreement with you to provide the feature you have chosen to switch on. You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
14. Children's Privacy
MarkShot is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 — or under the higher age set by the law of your country, where one applies.
Because MarkShot does not normally send user-created content to us, photos or other information about children that a parent, guardian, teacher, or other user chooses to store in MarkShot stay under that user's control, on their device or in their iCloud account. The AI extraction feature described in Section 7 is the only exception.
If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.
15. Security
MarkShot uses the standard security mechanisms Apple provides, including the app sandbox, file-level data protection on your device, and the security of your Apple Account for content held in iCloud. Requests made by the AI extraction feature are sent over an encrypted connection.
We take reasonable measures in the design and operation of MarkShot to protect the privacy and security of user information. However, no software, device, storage system, or method of electronic transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We encourage you to keep your device secure and to keep your own backups of content that matters to you.
16. International Users and Data Transfers
We are based in Japan, and MarkShot is available to users in many countries and regions.
Our approach is to minimise the collection and transfer of personal information wherever you are. The only routine transfer is the one described in Section 7: when you use AI extraction, the URL and the page text pass through our relay, which runs on Cloudflare's global network, and on to OpenAI, whose processing may take place in the United States or in other countries where OpenAI operates. Where the law requires a safeguard for such a transfer, we rely on the safeguards offered by the provider concerned.
We handle personal information in accordance with the privacy and data protection laws that apply to us, including Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information.
17. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to MarkShot, to the law, or to our practices. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. If a change materially affects how we handle your information, we will give additional notice where that is reasonable or legally required.
We encourage you to review this page from time to time.
18. Contact Us
Questions about this Privacy Policy or about MarkShot's privacy practices are welcome.
- Developer: Shotaro Shibata (Photo&Code)
- Based in: Tokyo, Japan
- Email: photoandcodegmail.com
- Website: www.photoandcode.com/markshot/
Email is the fastest way to reach us, and we answer in English or Japanese.