What is encrypted
- Morning purpose and focus-area entries
- Daytime events and intensity ratings
- Guided event reflections
- Nightly gratitude entries
- Saved perspective text in a journal entry
PRIVATE JOURNALING, EXPLAINED CLEARLY
A private journal encrypted before it leaves your device
Your journal may hold thoughts you are not ready to share with anyone else. During your active trial or with Premium, Updraft encrypts your morning reflections, daytime logs, and night reviews in your browser before cloud storage. The database receives encrypted content rather than readable journal writing.
No credit card required.
- AES-GCM 256-bit browser encryption
- A separate journal passphrase
- Export and deletion controls
Journal protectionEncryption active
Morning Reflection
Today, I want to express my purpose by…
Saved journal content
l3Q8xJ…:mU7c9P…Ciphertext, not readable proseBEFORE STORAGE
Your words are encrypted in your browser
When you save an entry, Updraft encrypts the journal content on your device using the browser's built-in Web Crypto tools. Morning reflections, daytime events, event reflections, and night entries are converted into encrypted text before cloud storage for active-trial and Premium users.
The key used to unlock that writing is derived from your journal passphrase. It remains in browser memory while your journal is unlocked and is cleared when you sign out or refresh the page.
After the trial, Morning, Day, and Night writing is instead kept as an encrypted local draft on that device. It is deleted automatically 24 hours after its most recent update and can be exported before then.
What is operational information
Account identifiers, entry dates, timestamps, encryption setup information, and subscription status are not journal prose. Authentication providers also process the information needed to sign you in.
TWO SEPARATE KEYS TO YOUR EXPERIENCE
Your journal passphrase is separate from your sign-in
Your Google or Updraft account signs you into the service. Your journal passphrase unlocks the encrypted writing inside it.
Account sign-in
Confirms who you are and connects you with your account and subscription.
Journal passphrase
Derives the key in your browser that unlocks your encrypted journal writing.
Keep your passphrase somewhere safe.
The raw encryption key is not stored for the next session. Updraft cannot recover a lost journal passphrase, and resetting your account password will not reset or recover it.
PLAIN-LANGUAGE PRIVACY
What reaches storage
For active-trial and Premium users, encrypted journal values are stored with the identifiers and dates needed to retrieve the correct entry.
- 1You write
Add a reflection in your browser.
- 2Your browser encrypts
Journal content becomes ciphertext.
- 3Updraft stores
Full-access accounts save encrypted content with limited metadata.
- 4You unlock
Your passphrase derives the key again.
- 5Your browser decrypts
Your writing becomes readable to you.
We use the concrete description “browser-encrypted journal” because it explains what the product actually does instead of relying on a broad security label.
TRANSPARENCY MATTERS
Private does not mean anonymous
Updraft uses an account so it can connect you with your journal and subscription. If you sign in with Google, Google and Amazon Cognito participate in the authentication process and handle the account information required for sign-in.
Your journal passphrase is separate from that process. The current application does not send the passphrase to Google, Cognito, or journal storage.
Updraft does not sell your journal writing or use it for advertising.
Read the Updraft Journal Privacy Policy →
Perspective tools stay with your unlocked journal
Calm Perspective and history/pattern analysis run in your browser using local, rules-based guidance and pattern matching. They do not send journal prose to OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, AWS Bedrock, or another external language-model provider.
These features support personal reflection. They are not therapy, diagnosis, medical advice, or crisis support.
PORTABILITY AND CONTROL
Take your writing with you
Your journal should not become a trap you cannot leave. Updraft can export saved history as text, HTML, a Word-compatible document, or a printable PDF.
After the full-access trial, free users can continue Morning, Day, and Night writing as encrypted local drafts on their device. Those drafts expire 24 hours after their most recent update; current drafts and existing cloud-saved entries remain exportable.
Account settings also include a control to permanently erase stored journal entries and encryption settings. Authentication-account deletion and other privacy requests are handled separately through support.
PROTECTED AND PRACTICAL
Privacy with enough structure to be useful
Updraft is more than a locked blank page.
Sort what is within your control and choose where your energy belongs.
Save an important or stressful event while its details are fresh.
Examine your thoughts, reactions, and other possible explanations.
Notice something positive without rewriting what was difficult.
COMMON QUESTIONS
A clear start, with no surprises
Can Updraft read my journal entries?
During an active trial or with Premium, Updraft encrypts current journal content in your browser before cloud storage. The database receives ciphertext rather than readable journal writing. Your passphrase-derived key is required in the browser to decrypt the content.
Is my journal passphrase the same as my account password?
No. Your account login authenticates you to Updraft. The separate journal passphrase derives the key that unlocks your encrypted entries.
What happens if I forget my journal passphrase?
Updraft cannot recover it or decrypt the journal for you. Store the passphrase safely, preferably in a password manager.
Does Google receive my journal writing?
Google may participate in authentication if you choose Google sign-in. The journal passphrase and encrypted journal-writing flow are separate from Google authentication. Updraft does not send journal prose to Google as part of sign-in.
Is every piece of account information encrypted?
No. Journal writing is encrypted, but Updraft still stores limited operational information such as account identifiers, entry dates, timestamps, encryption setup values, and subscription status.
Do the perspective features send my journal to another service?
Calm Perspective and history/pattern analysis run in the browser using local, rules-based guidance and pattern matching. Journal prose is not sent to OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, AWS Bedrock, or another external language-model provider for those features.
Can I export or delete my writing?
Yes. Updraft offers multiple export formats for saved history and a control to erase stored journal data and encryption settings. Authentication-account deletion is handled separately through support.
Is Updraft a replacement for therapy?
No. Updraft is a personal reflection and wellness tool. It is not therapy, medical care, diagnosis, crisis support, or a substitute for professional advice.
Give private thoughts a more private place to land
Use guided reflection without giving up ownership of your writing.
No credit card required.