Privacy policy

Who we are

satchel.email is an open-source email, calendar and contacts app made by David Figatner. Questions about this policy: [email protected]. The source code, which shows everything below in detail, is at github.com/davidfig/satchel-mail.

The app

What it stores, and where

• Your mail, calendars and contacts are stored in a database in your user folder on your computer. Attachments are downloaded only when you open or save them.
• Passwords and sign-in tokens are stored in your system's keychain or credential store, not in a file.
• The AI folder. The app also writes a copy of your mail, calendars and contacts as plain files to a folder on your computer (~/Satchel by default), so AI tools you choose can read it. You decide which accounts and how much history it holds, and you can turn it off in Settings › AI folder.
• Removing an account deletes its stored mail, its contacts that aren't in another account, and its saved password from your computer.

Who it connects to

• Your email providers, such as Google, Microsoft, Fastmail, iCloud or your own mail server, to sync your mail, calendars and contacts and to send what you send. Your data goes directly between your computer and them.
• GitHub, to check for updates. The desktop app checks GitHub Releases for a new version when it starts and every six hours, and downloads it from there. GitHub sees your IP address. None of your mail, calendars or contacts are part of this.
• Your system's DNS resolver, to look up senders' domains when the app checks that a message's signature is genuine. Your DNS provider can see which domains those lookups are for.
• Only when you ask: images in a message after you choose to load them, or in all mail except spam if you turn on Settings › Privacy › Always load remote images (off by default); a mailing list's unsubscribe address when you use one-click unsubscribe; and place suggestions for event locations if you turn on Settings › Privacy › Places (off by default). Place lookups send what you type in the location field to OpenStreetMap's Photon service, or to Apple Maps on a Mac.
• Nothing else. The app doesn't contact any satchel.email server, because there isn't one.

AI agents

satchel.email has no AI built in and never sends your data to an AI service. If you point an AI agent at the AI folder, or connect one over MCP, that agent can read what you've allowed it to read and propose changes. By default each one waits for you to approve it; you can choose in Settings to let an agent's proposals of a given kind apply on their own. What the agent does with what it reads, including sending it to its own provider, is up to that agent and its provider's terms, not satchel.email.

Google user data

When you sign in with Google, satchel.email asks for access to your Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Contacts so it can work as your mail, calendar and contacts app: to read, organize, search and send mail, and to show and change your events and contacts.

• Data from Google goes only to your computer, where it's stored as described above. It is never sent to satchel.email or to anyone else, except the services you ask the app to contact.
• The AI folder's copy on your computer includes it unless you leave that account out or turn the folder off. No AI tool can read it until you connect one yourself, and satchel.email doesn't send it to one.
• It isn't used for advertising, isn't sold, and isn't used to train AI or machine-learning models.
• No person at satchel.email can read it, because it never leaves your computer.
• You can remove satchel.email's access at any time in your Google account's third-party access settings, and remove the account from the app to delete its data from your computer.

satchel.email's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Microsoft user data

When you sign in with Microsoft, satchel.email asks for access to your mail, calendars and contacts for the same reasons, and treats that data the same way: it stays on your computer and is never sent to us. You can remove access in your Microsoft account's app permissions and remove the account from the app.

This website

satchel.email's website has no cookies, analytics or trackers. It's served by Cloudflare, which processes basic request information such as your IP address to deliver and protect the site. If you switch between light and dark, your choice is saved in your own browser. Downloads come from GitHub, under GitHub's privacy statement.

Children

satchel.email isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect anyone's personal information.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update it here and change the date at the top. The history of every change is in the repository.