Privacy policy
Last updated: October 30, 2026
The short version
- Your plans are yours. We store them only so they sync between your devices, and we use them only to run Fern for you.
- Your calendars stay on your device. Fern reads them there and doesn’t upload them, except for the events Fern Assistant needs when you ask it something.
- What you send Fern Assistant is used to answer you, then not kept by us. We don’t use it to train AI, and our AI provider doesn’t either.
- We don’t sell your data, show ads, or track you across other apps and websites. We count how often Fern Assistant is used, with no content and nothing that identifies you, to keep track of what it costs.
- You can export everything, and delete your account and all its data, from inside the app.
What Fern receives, why, and how long we keep it
| When | What we receive | Why | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| You create an account | Your email address, or the details Sign in with Apple shares (which can be a private relay address). | To sign you in and keep your plans in sync | Until you delete your account |
| You use Fern | Your plans: to-dos, routines, upkeep, renewals, events you add in Fern, birthdays, meals, recipes, groceries and settings | To save them and sync them between your iPhone and Mac | Until you delete them or your account |
| You turn on notifications | A notification token from Apple for each of your devices. Your reminders themselves are scheduled on each device and are not sent by us | So our sync service can send a content-free “your plans changed” signal, and your other devices update their reminders | Until you turn notifications off on that device, sign out, or delete your account |
| You use Fern Assistant or an AI feature (Plan my day, steps, time estimates, recipe import and ideas) | What you type or import, and the parts of your plans and calendar events needed to answer. Photos are made smaller first | To give you the answer | Not stored by us. Passed to Anthropic to create the reply |
| Any Fern Assistant request | Your account ID and your network address | To apply daily limits and stop abuse | 2 days |
| Any Fern Assistant request | A count of how often Fern Assistant is used, with no content and nothing that identifies you | To keep track of what AI costs us (this is the “Analytics” use on Fern’s App Store privacy label) | Up to 13 months |
| You subscribe to Fern Pro | Whether your subscription is active, its plan and renewal date, from Apple through RevenueCat. Apple takes the payment; we never see your card or payment details | To give you Pro on all your devices | While you’re subscribed, then as long as tax law requires |
| You send feedback, a problem report or a help request | What you write, the name and email you choose to give, device type, screen size and Fern version | To improve Fern and reply to you | Up to 2 years, or until you ask us to delete it |
| You join the waitlist on this website | Your email address and the link you came from | To tell you when Fern launches | Deleted after the launch email |
| You open Fern or this website | Standard request details (network address, device or browser type) seen by our host | To deliver Fern securely | Per our host’s policy, typically days |
Where the GDPR applies, we rely on providing the service you asked for (your account, sync, reminders, AI answers, subscriptions), our legitimate interest in keeping Fern secure and improving it (limits, feedback), and our legal duties (tax records).
What stays on your device
- Your calendars. If you allow it, Fern reads and adds events in the calendars on your iPhone or Mac (including Google or Outlook accounts you’ve added in your device’s settings), on the device itself. Those events are not uploaded to our servers or synced through your Fern account. The one exception: when you ask Fern Assistant something that needs your calendar, the events it needs go with that request to our AI service, as described above, and aren’t stored. You can turn calendar access off at any time in your device’s settings.
- Backups you choose to save are a file on your device or wherever you put it. We never receive them.
- Public holidays are worked out on your device from a file that comes with the app.
- Reading a recipe photo starts on your device. If Fern needs AI to understand it, the photo goes to our AI service as described above.
Who helps run Fern
These companies process data for us under contracts that require at least the protection this policy promises. They may only use it to provide their service to us.
| Company | What they do for Fern | What they get |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | Sells Fern Pro, delivers the sync signal, provides Sign in with Apple | Your purchase, notification tokens, sign-in. We never see your payment details |
| RevenueCat | Tells us which subscriptions are active | An anonymous user ID and your App Store purchase records |
| Supabase | Stores your account and plans | Your account and plans |
| Vercel | Hosts our servers and this website | Standard request details; data passing through our servers |
| Upstash | Stores AI limits, feedback and the waitlist | The items listed in the table above |
| Anthropic | Provides the AI behind Fern Assistant | Your Fern Assistant requests. Under its commercial terms it doesn’t train its models on them |
If you tap a map link, the place goes to Apple Maps or Google Maps, whichever you chose in Settings.
What Fern never does
- We don’t sell or rent your personal information, or share it for advertising.
- We don’t show ads.
- We don’t use third-party analytics or tracking tools, and don’t track you across other apps and websites.
- We don’t use your plans or Fern Assistant requests to train AI, and our AI provider doesn’t either.
- We don’t make automated decisions about you that have legal or similar effects.
Your choices and rights
- Export your plans: Settings › Account and data › Save a backup.
- Delete your account: Settings › Account and data › Delete my account and data. Your account, plans and notification tokens are removed from our servers within 30 days, including backups. Feedback you’ve sent is kept separately (see the table) unless you ask us to delete it. Deleting your account doesn’t cancel Fern Pro: cancel it separately in your iPhone’s Settings › your name › Subscriptions.
- Don’t use AI: Fern works without Fern Assistant. Nothing is sent to the AI unless you use it.
- Turn off reminders or calendar access at any time in Fern’s settings or your device’s settings.
- Delete anything else we hold (feedback, for example): email privacy@fernplan.app and we’ll delete it within 30 days, except what tax law makes us keep.
- Your rights: depending on where you live (including the EU, UK and California), you can ask to see, correct, delete or get a copy of your data, object to or limit how we use it, and withdraw consent. We won’t treat you differently for asking.
- Complaints: you can also contact your local data protection authority.
Children, security, transfers and changes
- Children: Fern isn’t meant for children under 13 (under 16 in the EU), and we don’t knowingly collect their information. If you think a child has sent us something, email us and we’ll delete it.
- Security: data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS), and at rest by our hosting and database providers, with access limited to the people who run Fern.
- International transfers: our providers may process data in the United States and other countries. Where the GDPR applies, they use approved safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses.
- Changes: if this policy changes in a way that matters, we’ll tell you in the app before it takes effect. The date at the top shows the latest version.
- Who we are: Fern is run by Ranya H Moustafa. For anything about your data, email privacy@fernplan.app.