Privacy Policy

Quilly — Business Card Scanner

Who we are

Quilly ("the App") is an iOS application developed and published by Richard Baecker ("we", "us"). This policy explains what information the App handles. The short version: your business cards are processed and stored on your device, and nothing is sent to us — we operate no servers.

Data the App collects

We collect none. The App has no user account, no analytics, no tracking, and no advertising, and does not communicate with any developer-operated server. It does not use the advertising identifier and never asks for tracking permission (no ASIdentifierManager / App Tracking Transparency). In App Store privacy-label terms: Data Not Collected.

Card photos and the structured contact records extracted from them (name parts, job title, department, company, emails, labeled phone numbers, postal addresses, websites, social profiles, notes, tags) are stored only in the App's storage on your device. Card extraction — on-device Vision OCR, the optional Apple on-device model (Apple Foundation Models), the optional Gemma 4 E2B on-device language model via LiteRT-LM, and the deterministic rule-parser fallback — runs entirely on your device. The raw OCR text is kept on the card on your device for review and debugging, and a short technical extraction log (which engine was used and how long it took; it contains no card content) also stays on your device.

Contacts import

If you tap Import to Contacts, the App writes the card's contact details to your system address book via Apple's on-device Contacts framework (CNContactStore). Import is duplicate-aware: it merges with matching existing contacts and never overwrites existing contact data. Card notes are never written to the system contact's note field — they stay in the App and its exports. Accessing contacts requires your permission (NSContactsUsageDescription) and is used only when you choose to import.

Sharing

vCard, QR code, plain-text, ZIP, CSV and JSON sharing are generated entirely on your device (via CNContactVCardSerialization, CIQRCodeGenerator and a dependency-free ZIP writer) and are shared only when you explicitly share them via the iOS share sheet.

Gemma 4 model download

If you choose to install the optional on-device Gemma 4 model, the App downloads the model file once (about 2.5 GB) from a third-party file host (Hugging Face). This download request contains no personal data and no card information. The App checks available storage before downloading, the download is resumable, and after the download, extraction with Gemma 4 requires no internet connection. The model can be unloaded from memory at any time from the App's settings, and removing the App removes the downloaded model.

iCloud sync (Pro, optional)

If you enable iCloud sync, the App stores your structured card fields (names, company, title, emails, phones, addresses, websites, social profiles, notes and tags) in your private iCloud database (Apple CloudKit) so they stay up to date across your own iPhone and iPad devices signed into the same Apple ID. Card images never leave your device. Deletions made offline are remembered as tombstones so they propagate on the next sync, and conflicting edits are merged last-writer-wins. The data lives in your own iCloud account under Apple's terms — we operate no servers and can never read it, and it is not shared with other users. Sync is optional and can be turned off at any time in the App's settings. Card details already written to your private iCloud database remain in your iCloud account until you remove them (Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → Manage Account Storage → Quilly).

Backups

Backups (.quillybackup JSON files) are created on your device and are shared only when you explicitly share them via the iOS share sheet.

Purchases

The App's optional yearly Quilly Pro subscription is processed entirely by Apple through App Store In-App Purchase. We never see your payment details, your identity, or your purchase history beyond anonymous aggregate sales reports provided by Apple. The free tier includes 25 scans per month; Quilly Pro unlocks unlimited scans, batch export/import, AI follow-up suggestions (labeled "AI-suggested — review before sending"; the App never sends anything itself), iCloud sync, and tags.

Children

The App does not knowingly collect any personal information from anyone, including children under 13, because it does not collect personal information at all.

Your rights

Because all data remains on your device and in your own iCloud account under your control, deleting the App deletes the on-device data. If you have questions, contact us at ror1994@gmail.com.

Changes to this policy

If a future version of the App materially changes how information is handled, we will update this page and the App Store listing before that version ships.