Encrypted Diary App: Privacy & Encryption in Inwardly
Inwardly is an encrypted diary app by design, not by marketing copy. Your journal is private by default, by architecture, and by policy — including a hard line against training AI on your entries. Here is exactly how it works, in plain language.
🔐 How encryption works
Every journal entry is encrypted on your device using AES-256-CTR — the same standard used to protect financial data and classified government communications — before it ever leaves your phone.
Your encryption key is generated the first time you open the app and is stored exclusively in your device's iOS Keychain — a hardware-protected secure enclave. The key never touches our servers.
What this means in practice:
- Inwardly employees cannot read your entries — ever. Even if compelled by a court order, we do not have your key.
- If our servers were ever compromised, your entries would be unreadable gibberish without your key.
- Your entries are never used to train AI models — neither ours nor Anthropic's. Inwardly is a journal app that doesn't train AI on your data, full stop.
🛡️ Setting up a recovery passphrase
Because your encryption key is stored only on your device, if you ever reinstall the app or switch to a new iPhone, you will not be able to decrypt your existing entries without a backup of your key.
A recovery passphrase solves this. When you set one up, Inwardly wraps your encryption key with your passphrase and stores the wrapped (encrypted) version on our servers. Your passphrase is never stored — only the wrapped key is.
- 1Go to Settings → Data & Privacy → Recovery Passphrase.
- 2Enter a strong passphrase — at least 12 characters. Do not use a common password. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.
- 3Confirm the passphrase and tap Save.
📱 Syncing your encryption key to a new device
If you have set up a recovery passphrase and sign into Inwardly on a new device, the app detects that you have an existing key backup and shows a recovery screen automatically.
- 1Sign into your account on the new device.
- 2Inwardly shows the Recovery Screen, explaining that it found an encrypted key backup for your account.
- 3Enter your recovery passphrase and tap Restore.
- 4Your encryption key is restored to this device's Keychain. Your existing entries are now readable.
You can also manually trigger key sync from an existing device via Settings → Data & Privacy → Sync encryption key. This is useful if you use Inwardly on multiple devices simultaneously. If your entries ever look like unreadable gibberish, see the troubleshooting guide.
👤 App Lock (Face ID / Touch ID)
For an extra layer of physical privacy, you can require Face ID or Touch ID to open Inwardly. Enable this in Settings → Data & Privacy → App Lock.
With App Lock enabled, anyone who picks up your phone cannot open your journal without your biometric — even if your phone is unlocked.
✨ What happens to your entries during AI analysis
Inwardly+ subscribers get AI-powered weekly reviews and pattern detection. When AI features are used, your decrypted text is sent to Claude (Anthropic's AI model) via a secure proxy and immediately discarded — it is never stored by Inwardly or by Anthropic, and it is never used to train any AI model. See the AI pattern detection guide for how insights are generated. If you are on the free tier, no journal content is ever sent to any AI API.
