Privacy Policy

The short version

• Your health journal is stored on your device. Gout Journal uses Apple’s on-device storage for the information you record.
• iCloud sync uses your Apple account. If enabled, CloudKit syncs that journal through your private iCloud account.
• Your journal is not stored on our product servers. Gout Journal does not keep a separate server-side copy of your health entries.
• Anonymous usage statistics can be switched off. The app measures how its features are used — never what you record — and there is a switch for it in Settings. No advertising, and no advertising identifier.

What you can record in the app

Gout Journal is a personal diary for managing gout. You may choose to record:

• Pain/flare levels and affected body regions
• Uric acid test results (lab or self-test)
• Water intake and hydration goals
• Medications and doses taken or skipped
• Tags (your own suspected triggers) and free-text notes

All of this is information you enter yourself, for your own use.

Where your data is stored

• On your device. Your entries are stored locally on your iPhone using Apple’s on-device database (SwiftData).
• In your own iCloud (optional). If you are signed in to iCloud and have iCloud enabled for the app, your data syncs across your devices through Apple’s iCloud (CloudKit). This uses your personal Apple account — the data is stored in your private iCloud container, which we cannot access. Apple’s handling of that data is governed by Apple’s Privacy Policy.

Gout Journal does not operate a product database containing a copy of your journal.

Apple Health (HealthKit)

If you choose to connect Apple Health, the app can:

• Read and write your water intake, so your hydration stays in sync with Apple Health.
• Read your medication list and dose history (read-only) to help you log medications.

Health data accessed through Apple Health stays on your device and in your own Health/iCloud storage. It is not stored in a Gout Journal product database. You can revoke the app’s Health access at any time in the Health app or iOS Settings. Use of HealthKit data complies with Apple’s HealthKit requirements.

Purchases

Optional in-app purchases are processed entirely by Apple (StoreKit). We do not see or store your payment details. Purchase and subscription information is handled under Apple’s Privacy Policy.

App analytics

The app can send anonymous usage statistics to help us see which features are used and where people get stuck. This covers things like which screens are opened, what kind of entry was recorded and from where (the app, a widget, a reminder), and how purchases go.

It never includes your journal. We do not send uric acid values, pain levels, medications, tags, notes, dates of entries, the name you type on a doctor report, or anything else you enter. Counts are sent as ranges rather than exact numbers, and the app does not use the advertising identifier or track you across other apps and websites.

This is processed for us by Google (Firebase Analytics), in the same Google Analytics property that measures goutjournal.com, so we can see which articles lead people to the app. Google’s processing is described in Google’s Privacy Policy.

You can turn this off at any time in Settings → Privacy → Share Anonymous Usage Data. Turning it off stops collection and clears the anonymous identifier held on your device.

Articles in the app

The Settings screen lists the latest articles from goutjournal.com, and the Calendar shows a one-time banner when a new article is published. To show them, the app downloads a public list of article titles and summaries from our website when it opens. That request contains nothing from your journal and no identifier; like any web request, it reveals your device’s IP address to the service that hosts the website. Which banners you have already seen is remembered only on your device. Opening an article shows the page in an in-app browser, where the website analytics described below apply, and the link tells us the visit came from the app.

Website analytics

On goutjournal.com, we use Google Analytics 4 only after you choose “Allow analytics.” Google Analytics may process page views, interactions, referring pages, campaign information, approximate location derived from network information, and device/browser information. This helps us understand how people find the site, which content is useful, and which marketing campaigns support the app.

Website analytics is separate from the health journal in the app. We do not send journal entries, HealthKit data, medication details, uric-acid values, pain records, notes, or tags to Google Analytics. Advertising storage, Google Signals, and ad-personalisation signals are disabled in our Google Analytics configuration.

If you decline, the Google Analytics script is not loaded. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time through Analytics settings in the website footer. Google’s processing is also described in Google’s Privacy Policy.

Notifications

If you enable reminders (water or medication), notifications are scheduled locally on your device by iOS. They are not sent from any server and involve no transfer of your data.

Data you control

Because your journal lives on your device and, when enabled, in your own iCloud:

• You can edit or delete any entry at any time within the app.
• You can delete all app data with Settings → Delete All Data, which removes your journal from this device and, through iCloud, from your other devices. Deleting the app alone leaves the iCloud copy in place.
• There is no separate copy of your journal in a Gout Journal product database.

Children

Gout Journal is a general health-diary app intended for adults managing their own condition. It is not directed at children.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we will update this page and revise the date above. Material changes will be reflected here before they take effect.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your privacy? Email support@goutjournal.com.