Privacy Policy

Effective date: August 19, 2026

The short version

What you write in Pretzel stays on your device. There is no cloud database of your journal, your story, or anything else you create — we couldn't read it if we wanted to. The only time your words leave your device is when you use the AI coach or ask for a story summary, and even then they are used once to generate a reply and are not stored. No ads, no trackers, no third-party analytics, no selling of data — only anonymous usage counts (below) that contain nothing you wrote and nothing about who you are.

What Pretzel stores, and where

Everything you create in Pretzel — your Identity Statement, journal entries, homework, your story timeline, favorites, and settings — is stored in a local database (SQLite) on your device only. There is no Pretzel server holding a copy of your content, and creating an account (see below) does not change that — accounts never sync or store your journal.

What we don't do

• No third-party analytics SDKs and no tracking of who you are — only the anonymous, content-free usage counts described below.
• No advertising, and no ad SDKs.
• No third-party trackers.
• No selling, sharing, or monetizing of your data.

The AI coach and story summaries

The coach is optional — nothing leaves your device unless you use it. When you talk to the coach, or ask for an AI summary of your story timeline, here is exactly what happens:

• Your conversation, along with relevant excerpts that help the coach know you — your Identity Statement, recent journal check-ins and homework, and your story timeline entries — is sent over an encrypted connection to our server.
• Our server is a stateless relay: it forwards the request to OpenAI, which generates the reply. Nothing is stored or logged on our server — not your messages, not the reply, not your journal or story excerpts.
• OpenAI processes the request under its API terms, which do not allow your data to be used to train AI models.

To make replies more helpful, the coach may also match your message against passages from Rabbi Yisroel Roll's books (the source of the Pretzel method) and weave relevant ideas into its answer. This matching happens on our server against book content only — no additional user data leaves your device for it beyond the message itself.

The coach also remembers you — on your device. Your coach conversations, and the short notes the coach writes for itself when a conversation ends (what came up, what helped, and a running picture of what works for you), are kept in Pretzel's local database on your device only. You can read, edit, or delete them at any time in Settings → Privacy & Data → "What your Pretzel Coach remembers", and "Delete all my data" removes them too. They are sent along with your messages each time you talk to the coach, solely to shape its reply, and — like everything else in the request — are never stored on our servers.

To prevent abuse, the server keeps a small per-day request counter keyed by a one-way cryptographic hash of the connection's IP address and the date. The raw IP address is never stored, the hash cannot be reversed, and the counters are held only in memory and discarded within a day.

Anonymous usage counts

To understand what is useful and where people get stuck, Pretzel counts anonymous usage events — which screens and features are used, and when the app is opened — under a random identifier generated on your device when the app is installed. That identifier is not your email, your account, or your device's advertising id, and it is never linked to them; the events carry no content — never your Identity Statement, journal entries, story, or anything you write — and no third-party analytics service is involved. For Pretzel Coach conversations we also note which general topic a conversation was about, chosen from a fixed list (like work, family, grief), to understand what people need help with — we never store what you wrote, and anything touching on crisis is counted only as a daily number, not tied to any identifier. "Delete all my data" discards the identifier, so nothing recorded afterwards can be connected to what came before.

Accounts (optional)

You can use Pretzel without any account. If you subscribe to Pretzel Pro on the web, an account is created so your subscription follows you: it consists of your email address and a one-way hash of your password, stored with our payment processor, Stripe, alongside your subscription. We keep no separate user database, and your account never contains any of your journal, story, or coach content.

iCloud backup (optional, iPhone)

On iPhone, where the capability is available, Pretzel can back up your data to your own iCloud account so it follows you to your next device. The backup lives in your personal iCloud storage under your Apple ID, protected by Apple's encryption; it never touches our systems and we cannot read it. You can turn it off in Settings at any time.

Purchases

• iPhone and Android: purchases are processed by Apple's App Store or Google Play. They handle payment and manage the subscription; we never see your payment details.
• Web: payments are handled entirely by Stripe. Your card details go directly to Stripe — we never see or store card numbers.

Your controls

In Settings you can, at any time, export your data (a complete JSON file, delivered through your device's share sheet to wherever you choose) or choose "Delete all my data" — this permanently erases all Pretzel content from your device. Because we hold no copies of your content, deletion is immediate and total. To delete a web account (your email and password hash held with Stripe), or for any other request, email us at the address below.

Children

Pretzel is a wellness app intended for adults and is not directed at children under 13.

Changes to this policy

If Pretzel's behavior ever changes in a way that affects your data, we'll update this policy and the effective date above before the change ships. We will never quietly weaken the promises on this page.

Contact

Questions, account deletion, or any other request: yisroel.roll [at] thepretzelapp.com

Pretzel is a wellness and self-improvement app. It is not a medical device and not a substitute for professional mental health care. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, US) or contact local emergency services.

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