Your notes stay on your device.

Scratchpad is a local-first notes app. There is no account to create and no telemetry. Nothing you write is uploaded unless you deliberately create a share link — and even then it is encrypted before it leaves, with the key held back. This page describes exactly what that means in practice.

The short version

Your notes are stored in this browser using IndexedDB. They stay on this device.
Images you attach are stored in the same browser database. They are never uploaded, not even in a share link.
If you link a folder, Scratchpad writes plain-text copies of your notes, and their images, to that directory on this device.
There are no analytics, no trackers, no advertising IDs, no third-party scripts.
While you write, read, search, import, or export, the app makes no network requests at all.
The one exception is a share link, which you create per note, one note at a time. See Sharing.
If you clear site data or use private browsing, your notes are deleted.

What we store, and where

Scratchpad stores only the local state needed to run the app and protect your work.

Your notes — kept in the browser's IndexedDB database named scratchpad, in an object store called notes. Each note holds its id, title, body, tags, pinned flag, folder, and timestamps, including Archive and Trash lifecycle dates when applicable.
Folders — kept in the same IndexedDB database, in a folders object store. Each folder holds its id, name, optional color, and sort position.
Drafts and revision history — kept in the same IndexedDB database, in drafts and revisions object stores. Drafts support unsaved-edit recovery. Scratchpad keeps up to ten saved revisions per note.
Images — kept in the same IndexedDB database, in an attachments object store. Each attachment holds its id, the note it belongs to, its file name, type, size, and the image bytes. Images are included in your backups and the Markdown ZIP, and never in a share link.
Linked folder — if you link a directory, a settings object store keeps the browser's handle for it and the paths Scratchpad has written. The files themselves live in the directory you chose, on this device. Unlinking forgets the handle and leaves the files alone.
App preferences — small localStorage entries remember the theme, first-visit state, backup-reminder timing, and sidebar layout (how notes are grouped and which folders are collapsed). They do not contain note content.
Offline app files — the service worker may cache Scratchpad's own HTML, CSS, JavaScript, icons, and manifest. Note content remains in IndexedDB and is not placed in the offline cache.

This data is scoped to this origin. Other sites cannot read it; we cannot read it. Tabs on this origin exchange note ids, timestamps, and change types so Scratchpad can detect edit conflicts, but note titles and bodies are not sent through that channel or off the device.

Storage protection

Where supported, About → Protect local data asks the browser to make this origin's storage persistent. The browser decides whether to grant the request. Persistent storage reduces automatic eviction risk, but it does not replace backups and does not prevent you from clearing site data yourself.

What we don't do

No accounts. There is nothing to sign up for. There is no identity.
No sync. Notes live only in this browser, on this device. A linked folder is a plain-text copy on the same device that you own — not a service, and not another device.
No analytics or telemetry. We don't count visits, clicks, or sessions.
No third-party scripts. Every script and stylesheet is served from the same origin as the app.
No external fonts. Typography uses platform-native fonts only — nothing is fetched from a font CDN.
No cookies. Scratchpad does not set any cookies.

Your data, your control

Use About → Export backup (JSON) for a portable copy of Notes, Archive, Trash provenance, folders, and revision history. An encrypted backup protects the same data with a passphrase using the browser's local cryptography APIs. The passphrase and encryption key are never stored; a forgotten passphrase cannot be recovered. You can also export active and archived notes as Markdown or import one or more .md files.

Archiving a note does not delete it or start a retention clock. Archived notes stay in this browser indefinitely until you unarchive, trash, or permanently erase them.

Deleting a note moves it to Trash, where it stays recoverable for 30 days. After that, Scratchpad permanently removes the note along with its drafts and revision history. "Delete forever" and "Empty Trash" remove notes immediately, with no recovery.

Use About → Erase local data and type ERASE to remove every note, draft, revision, folder, and Scratchpad preference from this browser. Clearing site data in browser settings has the same effect and also removes the offline app cache.

Sharing a note is the only feature that sends note content off your device. It is always something you start, one note at a time, from that note's Share dialog. Images attached to a note are never part of a share; the shared copy shows a placeholder.

When you create a share link, your browser encrypts the note first. What gets uploaded is:

The encrypted note — its title, text, and tags, as ciphertext.
A random initialisation vector, which encryption requires and which reveals nothing.
An expiry timestamp, set by the server to the duration you chose — 7, 14, 21, or 30 days from creation.
A hash of a revocation token, so the browser that created the link can later delete it.

What is not uploaded:

The decryption key. It is generated in your browser and placed in the part of the link after the #. Browsers never transmit that part to a server, so it does not reach our host, our logs, or our storage. We cannot read a note you have shared.
Any of your other notes, your folders, your tags, or your note history.
Any account, identifier, device fingerprint, or IP-based profile.

Shared copies are frozen. Editing the note afterwards does not change what a recipient sees. Every share is deleted automatically when it expires — at most 30 days after it is created — and you can stop sharing sooner from the same dialog. Deleting a note also revokes its links.

When someone shares a note with you, Save to my Scratchpad copies it into this browser's storage, the same place your own notes live. Saving uploads nothing.

Be aware of what a public link means: anyone who has it can read the note and can forward it. There is no password and no access list. Treat the link itself as the secret, and only send it to people you would show the note to.

We may remove a shared note from our storage — for example in response to a report of illegal content. Removal deletes the ciphertext; since we cannot decrypt it, we cannot read what we are removing.

Hosting

Scratchpad is delivered as static files from a content delivery network. The host can see the request for index.html and related assets (this is how the web works). It never sees the contents of your notes: unshared notes are never sent at all, and shared notes arrive already encrypted, without the key.

Children's privacy

Scratchpad does not collect personal information from anyone, including children. There is no account, no profile, and no contact form.

Changes to this policy

If the privacy posture of the app ever changes — for example, if an optional sync feature were added later — this page would be updated and would describe the new behavior in plain terms. Any such change would remain opt-in.

Questions

Scratchpad is built by Vinny Carpenter. If something on this page is unclear, the source code is the authoritative record of what the app actually does.