Privacy Policy

Effective date: June 12, 2026

Who we are

ElderMail is a native macOS email application designed for older adults and the family members who help them. Contact: [email protected].

The short version

  • Your mail is stored only on your computer, in an encrypted database.
  • ElderMail has no servers. We cannot read, store, or receive your mail.
  • The built-in AI assistant runs entirely on your device.
  • We don't sell data, show ads, or collect analytics — there is nothing to sell and nowhere to send it.

What Google user data ElderMail accesses

When you connect a Gmail account, ElderMail requests the following OAuth scopes:

  • https://mail.google.com/ — full access to your Gmail mailbox. ElderMail is a complete, standards-based email client: it uses this scope to download and display your mail on your device, and to send messages through your Gmail account — only when you press Send.
  • openid, email, profile — your email address and basic profile information, used to identify your account inside the app.

How we use this data

  • Displaying your mail in the app
  • Sending mail you write, when you press Send
  • Organizing your contacts
  • Answering your questions about your mail with the built-in assistant, which runs entirely on your device

That is the complete list. ElderMail does not use Google user data for any other purpose.

Where your data lives

  • All messages are stored in an encrypted database (SQLCipher) on your computer.
  • Your Google sign-in tokens are stored in the macOS Keychain.
  • There are no ElderMail servers. Your mail travels directly between your computer and your mail provider.

What we never do

  • We never transfer your data to third parties.
  • We never sell your data.
  • We never use your data for advertising.
  • No human at ElderMail can read your mail.
  • Your mail is never used to train AI models.
  • We collect no analytics and no telemetry.

Limited Use disclosure

ElderMail's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

On-device AI

ElderMail includes an assistant powered by a local language model that runs on your Mac (via bundled Ollama). The content of your mail is never sent to any cloud AI service and is never used to train AI models.

Tracking protection

Remote tracking images in email are blocked by default.

Data retention and deletion

Your data exists only on your device and is under your control:

  • Disconnect an account: remove the account inside ElderMail. This deletes the locally stored credentials for that account.
  • Delete everything: remove the ElderMail app and its data folder from your Mac. All locally stored mail and settings are deleted with it.
  • Revoke Google access: at any time, visit myaccount.google.com/permissions and remove ElderMail.

Children

ElderMail is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from children.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will post the updated version on this page with a new effective date.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email [email protected].