Privacy

Charlie Privacy Policy

Charlie is a local-first email client. Your mail comes from the providers you connect, and Charlie keeps its working copy on your device. This policy explains those data flows without pretending that an email client never has to handle personal information.

Effective 29 July 2026 · Applies to Charlie on every supported platform

Charlie is early access software. Features and data flows may change while the product is in beta. We will update this policy before a material new use of personal information takes effect. Beta software can contain defects, so keep provider-side or independent backups of mail and account information you cannot afford to lose.

1. The short version

  • Charlie does not operate an email service. It connects directly to the Gmail, IMAP, POP, and SMTP services you choose.
  • Mail, credentials, settings, and caches are local-first. Charlie does not upload your mailbox to a Charlie cloud or use it to train artificial intelligence.
  • No ads, sale, or cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not sell personal information or share it for targeted advertising.
  • Some connections are unavoidable. Your provider receives mail requests; remote-image hosts may receive a request if you allow remote content; and our server receives ordinary update, website, download, or support traffic.

2. Scope and who is responsible

This policy covers the Charlie applications, OpenCharlie.com, update delivery, downloads, and support communications. The data controller for those first-party services is the operator of OpenCharlie.com, based in the United States.

Your email provider, websites linked from messages, remote-image hosts, operating-system vendor, and third-party services are separate controllers under their own policies. Charlie cannot change the privacy practices of a provider you choose.

3. Mail and account data Charlie handles

To function, Charlie may process:

  • account names, email addresses, aliases, provider type, server names, ports, and transport security settings;
  • OAuth access or refresh material, app passwords, and IMAP, POP, or SMTP credentials;
  • message headers, participants, subjects, dates, flags, folder membership, snippets, message bodies, HTML, inline images, and attachments;
  • contacts and recent recipients needed for addressing and suggestions;
  • drafts, replies, sent messages, local actions awaiting provider confirmation, and notification state;
  • workspaces, account colors, signatures, avatars, display preferences, blocked senders, remote-image permissions, and other settings.

Charlie uses this information to display and search mail, group conversations, send messages, keep provider state in sync, show notifications, and perform actions you request.

4. What is stored on your device

Charlie stores account settings and credentials, mailbox indexes, bounded folder and message caches, rendered-message data, pending provider actions, preferences, recent recipients, and other application state in its private application storage. Credentials use the operating system's secure credential store where supported.

Some development, ad-hoc, or sandboxed macOS and Android builds may use an app-private file fallback when the platform credential store is unavailable. Windows and Linux releases do not intentionally place credentials in ordinary application-support preferences. Protect your device account, use disk encryption, and do not share an unlocked profile.

Caching allows Charlie to open quickly and work through temporary network interruptions. Cached messages are removed as the cache is pruned, when an account is removed, or when you clear application data. Removing a local cache does not delete the provider's copy unless you separately request that provider action.

5. Email providers and authentication

Charlie sends account credentials or OAuth tokens to the provider you configure so it can retrieve, synchronize, and send mail. Google OAuth is governed by Google's terms and privacy policy. Generic IMAP, POP, and SMTP connections are governed by the provider operating those servers.

Transport encryption depends on the settings and capabilities of your provider. Charlie does not claim that ordinary email is end-to-end encrypted, and it cannot protect a message after it reaches another provider or recipient.

6. Encrypted account bundles and files you export

If you create a portable Charlie account bundle, Charlie may include account identities, provider settings, credentials or OAuth refresh material, workspaces, signatures, and local avatars. Message caches and local mailbox indexes are not intended to be part of that bundle.

The bundle is encrypted and authenticated using a key derived from the password you choose. Charlie cannot recover a forgotten bundle password. Anyone who has both the file and password may be able to access the accounts it contains, so store and transfer them separately and securely. Other exports and downloaded attachments are ordinary files under your control.

7. Remote images, avatars, and brand artwork

HTML email can contain remote images that notify a sender or image host when a message is opened. Charlie blocks remote message artwork by default and lets you allow it for a sender. When allowed, the image host can receive your IP address, user agent, request time, and any tracking identifier embedded in the image URL.

To find optional public avatar or brand artwork, Charlie may request Gravatar using a one-way hash of an email address and may request a site's public favicon through Google's favicon service. Those services receive the network request and are governed by their own policies. Charlie falls back to local initials and colors when artwork is unavailable.

8. Notifications and background synchronization

When enabled, Charlie connects to configured providers in the background to check for new mail. System notifications may contain an account name, sender, subject, and message snippet. Your operating system and anyone who can see the lock screen may therefore see that content. Use Charlie or system settings to disable notifications or previews when appropriate.

9. Website, downloads, updates, and support

9.1 Website and downloads

When you visit OpenCharlie.com or download Charlie, the hosting service necessarily receives ordinary web-request data such as IP address, date and time, requested path, referrer, user agent, and transfer status. We use server logs for security, reliability, abuse prevention, and aggregate delivery statistics, and retain them only as long as reasonably needed for those purposes.

9.2 Update checks

Charlie periodically asks our update service whether a newer compatible release exists. The request may include app version, release channel, operating-system family and version, CPU architecture, locale, and standard network metadata such as IP address. It does not include message content, recipients, subjects, or mailbox credentials.

9.3 Support

If you contact us, we process the address, message, attachments, and diagnostic information you choose to provide so we can respond, investigate, prevent abuse, and maintain a record of the request. Do not send passwords, OAuth tokens, or private message content unless it is essential and you understand the risk.

10. What Charlie does not do

Charlie does not operate advertising profiles, sell personal information, share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, scan mail for advertising, or send message content to generative-AI services for summaries, drafting, training, or smart replies. Charlie does not currently provide a Charlie cloud account or mailbox-sync service.

11. When information may be disclosed

We may disclose first-party website, update, download, or support information:

  • to hosting, security, email-delivery, and other processors working under instructions to operate those services;
  • when reasonably necessary to comply with law, legal process, or a valid governmental request, or to protect users, the public, our rights, and service security;
  • as part of a merger, financing, reorganization, acquisition, bankruptcy, or transfer of the project, subject to this policy and applicable law;
  • with your direction or consent.

We cannot disclose mailbox data that never reached us. Your configured email provider can, however, process and disclose the provider-side copy under its own terms.

12. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational safeguards appropriate to the information we control. No software, device, email protocol, or internet transmission is perfectly secure. Keep Charlie and your operating system current, secure your provider with strong authentication, review unexpected certificates, and maintain backups.

13. Retention and deletion

Local data remains until Charlie prunes a cache, you remove an account, clear app data, uninstall the app, or the operating system removes it. Provider-side mail remains according to the provider and actions you take there. Support correspondence is retained while needed to resolve the request, maintain security records, and meet legal obligations. Short-lived server logs are retained according to operational and security needs, then deleted or aggregated.

14. International processing

Our first-party website, update, download, and support services may be operated from the United States and may use processors in other countries. Those locations may have different privacy laws from yours. Where required, we use a lawful transfer mechanism. Provider traffic follows the locations and terms of the provider you choose.

15. Your choices and privacy rights

You can remove an account, disable notifications, block remote images, clear local application data, delete exported files, or uninstall Charlie. Provider-side access and data should also be revoked or deleted through your provider.

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to know, access, correct, delete, restrict, object to, or receive a portable copy of personal information we control, and to appeal a denied request or complain to a regulator. Contact privacy@opencharlie.com. We may need to verify the request. Because most Charlie data stays on your device or provider, we may not possess data responsive to a request.

16. California notice

California residents may request access to, correction of, or deletion of covered personal information and may receive information about its collection and disclosure, subject to statutory exceptions. We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not discriminate for exercising applicable rights. We do not knowingly use or disclose sensitive personal information for purposes that require a separate right to limit under California law.

17. Children

Charlie is not directed to children under 13, and our first-party services do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child provided such information, contact us so we can investigate and delete it where appropriate.

18. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as Charlie changes or the law requires. We will change the effective date and provide additional notice in the app or on the website when a change materially affects how we use personal information. Earlier versions may be requested from us.

19. Contact

Privacy questions and rights requests: privacy@opencharlie.com.
General support: hello@opencharlie.com.