Your account, privacy and data

What you write is encrypted on your device before it’s stored, and Maitland’s servers can’t read it.

Your password and your key

You have two separate secrets. Your password signs you in, and your encryption key unlocks your files. Maitland never sees your password and never has your key. Your password can be reset any time. Your key can’t, which is why the recovery phrase matters.

The key is made on your device when you create your account. On the iPhone it’s kept in your iCloud Keychain, which carries it to your other Apple devices. Your password also locks a copy of the key that Maitland stores but can’t open, so when you sign in on a new device with your password, your key comes along.

The recovery phrase

Your key can also be written out as 24 words, called the recovery phrase. It’s in Settings → Account. A device that doesn’t have your key will ask for it. That happens after you reset your password, because a new password can’t unlock the copy of the key the old one locked. It can also happen if you use Sign in with Apple, which has no password, on a device that doesn’t have your iCloud Keychain.

If every copy of your key is lost, including your keychain, any browser that had it, and the recovery phrase, nobody can open your files. Not even Maitland.

Using the web

You can sign in a browser without typing a password. Click Got the app? Click here to sign in with QR on the sign-in page, then scan the code from Settings → Account → SIGN IN A BROWSER on your iPhone. Only approve it if the numbers match and you’re the one using that browser.

You don’t need an iPhone. An account made on the web creates its key in the browser, which is a less safe place for it. Clearing the site’s data removes it, and a private window can’t keep it at all. Signing in again with your password brings it back, unless you’ve reset your password since. The subscription can only be bought in the app on iPhone or iPad.

Syncing

Everything syncs between your devices except private lists. If two devices change the same task, the server’s copy wins and the other version is kept too. If another device deleted a task while you were typing in it, your words become a new task. Anything that can’t reach the server stays on your device and is saved later.

What Maitland’s servers can see

The servers store your files encrypted with a key they’ve never had. They can see each file’s name and size, when it last changed, how many files you have, and which ones you deleted. They can’t see what’s in them, and nothing you write goes to an AI service.

When the app shows you an error, it sends a short report with the kind of error, the platform, the app’s version and the day. It never includes your words, file names, account or email address. Maitland has no ads and no tracking. The Security page at maitland.app/security has the details.

Export

Everything in Maitland is stored as plain text (Markdown) files that any text editor can open. If you stop using Maitland, your writing comes with you. On the iPhone you can see the folder in the Files app.

EXPORT on any list saves it as a file or copies it, ready to paste into another app or into a chat with an AI assistant. To export everything at once, use Settings → General → EXPORT EVERYTHING in the web app. Private lists are left out. A binder’s BIND IT exports the whole binder as one document in chapter order.

Maitland never imports anything. The one exception is your iPhone’s calendar, which it can show but never stores.

Signing out and deleting your account

Signing out of the iPhone removes your data from the phone. The server keeps a copy and your key stays in your keychain, so signing back in brings everything back. Anything the server doesn’t have, like a private list, is saved to the Files app first. On the web, sign out and forget the key also removes the key from that browser.

To delete your account, use Settings → Account → delete this account, on the iPhone or the web. Deleting it removes your account, the copy of your key, and your files from Maitland’s servers, and the nightly backups are gone within 14 days. An account made with Sign in with Apple is deleted in the iPhone app. Deleting your account doesn’t cancel your subscription. To cancel it, use Settings → Account → MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION in the iPhone app, or the iPhone’s Settings app → your name → Subscriptions.

A new phone

Install Maitland and sign in. Your key comes from your iCloud Keychain, or your password unlocks the copy on the server, and your files download the first time it syncs.