Privacy notice

Last changed 18 October 2026.

Retroprose is a free word processor. This notice explains what we keep about you, why, where it is kept, for how long, and what you can do about it.

Who we are

Retroprose is run by Retroprose, the controller of your data under UK data protection law (UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018).

To ask about your data, write to hello@retroprose.com.

What we keep

Your account: your email address, your password as a one-way hash (we cannot see the password itself), the date you joined, when you last used Retroprose and the last day you were counted as using it, and whether two-step sign in is on.
Your passkeys: if you add one, its public key, the name you give it, and when it was added and last used. The private part of a passkey never leaves your device or password manager, and we cannot sign in with what we keep. Your fingerprint or face is checked by your own device and never sent to us.
Sign in records: the date and time of each sign in, the IP address and the browser used. We use these to keep your account safe and to show your last sign in. They are deleted after 90 days.
When you sign up: whether the network you signed up from was allowed, and how many accounts were made from it that day. These are kept for a day, against a scrambled form of the IP address, so that trying again does not check it twice.
Your writing: your documents, your folders, up to 10 older versions of each document (up to 50 on a Zip disk or hard disk account), and export files you make.
Your settings: choices such as the screen theme, text size and key bar.
Private folders: if you make a folder private, how it opens and its password as a one-way hash (we cannot see the password itself). Which private folders you have opened is kept only in your browser's session, which ends when you sign out or after 2 hours without use.
Your word list: the words you add to spell check, so it stops marking them.
Your details for exports: if you add them, the author name, address and sign-off that fill in a template when you export.
Where a document is open: while you have a document open, which document it is, a random code for the browser tab, and the browser and system it is open in (for example "Chrome on Windows"), so Retroprose can tell you when it is also open on another device and keep each copy up to date.
Announcements you have read: when you confirmed reading each announcement we showed you, such as a change to this notice, so we know you have seen it and do not show it again.
Your writing stats: how many words you type and delete in each document in each hour, and for how long you were typing, so the stats screen can show your progress, your streak and your daily goal. These are counts only, never your words, and pasted text is not counted. Your time zone is kept with them, so days and hours are yours.

Spell check runs in your browser. Your writing is not sent to us or anyone else to be checked.

We count visits to our public pages and to pages that are not found (see "Counting visits" below). Nothing else you do in Retroprose is tracked, and nothing you write ever is. We do not use advertising, and we do not sell or share your data for marketing.

Counting visits

We count visits to the pages anyone can see without signing in, such as the home page, the sign in page and this notice, so we can see which pages are useful. We also count visits to pages that are not found, such as "Document not found", whether you are signed in or not, so we can find and fix broken links. We never count the pages behind sign in, such as the editor, your files and your account.

When you load one of these pages, our server sends our own statistics service, DigiStats, the page, the time, the website that sent you here, your browser and its language, your operating system and device type, and your IP address. DigiStats uses your IP address to work out your approximate location (town or city) and the name of your internet provider, to tell automated services such as AI agents apart from people, and to count you once a day. It cannot recognise you from one day to the next. It deletes the details of each visit after 180 days, and after that keeps only daily totals that do not identify anyone.

The count is sent by our server, not your browser. It uses no cookies, and nothing is stored on your device.

How your writing is protected

The text of every document and older version, your spell check word list and your details for exports are encrypted before it is stored, with a key made for you alone. That key is itself encrypted with a master key that is kept apart from the database. Copies of the database and our backups cannot be read without both.

File and folder names, sizes, dates, word counts and word goals are not encrypted, so that names can be searched quickly. Anyone with access to the database, such as our hosting company, could see them. Encryption does not protect against someone who takes control of the web server itself.

The admin screen shows accounts and how much storage each one uses. It never shows your writing or the names of your files. It also shows how many accounts were used each day, as a total for each day that names nobody.

Why we use it

To give you the service you signed up for: storing, showing and exporting your writing, and sending the emails that come with your account (activation codes, sign in links and two-step codes). The lawful basis is our contract with you.
To keep accounts secure, for example with sign in records and limits on repeated attempts, and to keep out accounts made by machines, for example by refusing throwaway email addresses and sign ups from servers. The lawful basis is our legitimate interest in running a safe service.
To count visits to our public pages and to pages that are not found, so we can see which pages are useful and fix broken links. The lawful basis is our legitimate interest in running and improving our website. You can object by writing to us.

Who else handles it

Our hosting company, 20i, stores the website and the database in its London data centre, and the backups somewhere else in the UK.
Our email service sends account emails to your address.
Have I Been Pwned helps us refuse passwords that are known from data breaches. When you choose a password, we send only the first 5 characters of a scrambled form of it (a SHA-1 hash). Your password and your email address are never sent.
ipapi.is, in Germany, tells us whether the network you sign up from belongs to a server, a hosting company or Tor, or is known for abuse. We send only the IP address you sign up from, and only when you sign up. Your email address is never sent. ipapi.is handles it for us under a data processing agreement, and the UK recognises the EU's protection of personal data as adequate.

Apart from the IP address sent to ipapi.is when you sign up, your data is kept in the UK.

Sign ups refused automatically

To keep out accounts made by machines, the sign up form refuses some sign ups without a person looking at them: throwaway email addresses, addresses that cannot receive email, more than a few accounts from one network in a day, and sign ups from networks that belong to servers, hosting companies or Tor, or are known for abuse. If you are refused and think it is wrong, write to hello@retroprose.com and a person will look at it.

How long we keep it

Documents and folders: until you delete them. Deleted items stay in the trash for 30 days, then they are removed for good.
Older versions: up to 10 for each document, or up to 50 on a Zip disk or hard disk account. The oldest goes when a new one is kept, and all go when the document is removed. You can turn older versions off on your account page, which removes all of them at once.
Export files: 24 hours.
Sign in records: 90 days.
An account never activated: deleted 7 days after sign up, with everything in it.
Where a document is open: until you close it, or 3 minutes after that browser tab last checked in.
Details of each visit to a public page or a page not found: 180 days. Only daily totals that do not identify anyone are kept after that.
Your account, settings, word list, details for exports and the announcements you have read: until you delete your account. You can clear your details for exports from your account page at any time.
Your passkeys: until you remove them from your account page, or delete your account.
A private folder's password: until you make the folder not private, delete it, or delete your account.
Your writing stats: until you reset them from your account page, or delete your account.
Backups: made each night and kept for 7 days.

When you delete your account, we delete it and everything in it straight away. We delete your encryption key first, so your writing cannot be read again, even from a backup. Your email address and file names can stay in backups for up to 7 days, until those backups are deleted.

On your device

The editor keeps a copy of every document in your browser's storage, so they all open with no connection or while our server is unavailable, and no writing is lost if the connection drops. You can turn this off on the account page, with "Keep all documents on this device". The editor then keeps only the documents you open. It also keeps your spell check word list, and the writing stats counted since they were last sent to us. These copies are not encrypted. It is cleared when you sign out, except for changes that have not reached us yet, which are kept so they can be sent next time. The browser also keeps the app's own files so it opens with no connection, and remembers the last document you had open.

On a shared computer, always sign out when you finish.

Cookies

We use only the cookies the site needs to work, so we do not ask for consent:

ci_session keeps you signed in and protects forms. It ends after 2 hours without use.
remember is set only if you tick "Remember me", and keeps you signed in on that device for up to 30 days.
theme is set while you are signed in, unless your screen theme is amber, so error pages show in your theme too. It holds just the theme's name, and is removed when you sign out.

Counting visits sets no cookies.

If you change the screen with the View menu on this page or the terms of use while signed out, your browser remembers your choice in its own storage, so the other page opens the same way. It is never sent to us.

Your rights

To get a copy of your data: download all your documents as Markdown files, with your spell check word list, your details for exports and your writing stats, from your account page, or write to us for everything else we hold.
To have it deleted: delete your account from your account page at any time.
To have it corrected, to object to how we use it, or to limit how we use it: write to us.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113. We would like the chance to put things right first.

Changes to this notice

If we change how we use your data, we will update this page and the date at the top. For a change that matters, we will tell you in an announcement, which you see the next time you open Retroprose and confirm you have read before you go on.