Burn Note

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-07-12

TL;DR — Summary

The server cannot read your note contents. We do not collect any personal information.

What We Do Not Collect

The following data is never collected, either technically or by policy:

  • IP addresses
  • Cookies
  • Browser fingerprints
  • Personally identifiable information (name, email address, etc.)
  • Note contents (plaintext)
  • Encryption keys

Why It's Technically Impossible

Burn Note uses a zero-knowledge encryption architecture. All encryption and decryption happens entirely in your browser.

Encryption Flow

  1. A random encryption key is generated in your browser (AES-256-GCM)
  2. Your note is encrypted in your browser
  3. Only the ciphertext is sent to the server — the key is never transmitted
  4. The encryption key is stored in the URL fragment (after #)
  5. URL fragments are never sent to the server (by HTTP specification)

As a result, the server always holds only ciphertext, and it is technically impossible for us to recover the plaintext without the key.

Aggregate, Non-Identifying Metrics

When a note is opened and burned, we record a single coarse time bucket for how long the note existed before it was burned (for example, "less than a minute" or "1–7 days").

This aggregate signal helps us detect automated link scanners that silently burn notes before a human ever reads them. We record no IP address, no user agent, no note ID, and no note contents — the data points cannot be tied to any individual note or person, so no profiling is possible.

Law Enforcement Requests

If required by law enforcement, we can provide the ciphertext stored on our servers. However, due to our zero-knowledge design, it is technically impossible for us to provide the plaintext contents of any note.

Additionally, since notes are automatically deleted after being read or upon expiration, in most cases no data will exist to provide.