Privacy policy

Last updated: 2026-10-27

Controller under the GDPR: Balane GmbH · Balanstraße 84 · 81541 Munich · Germany Commercial register: HRB 301320, Amtsgericht München · VAT ID: DE455102718 Represented by the managing director Jonas David Höttler support@balane.tech

Balane Mail is the email app of Balane Office for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Android and Windows. The provider runs no server of its own for it: the app connects to your accounts' mail servers, and your messages stay on your device and with your mail providers. There is no Balane account.

1. Accounts and credentials

For each account the app stores the email address, display name, signature and server settings in its own folder. Passwords are kept in the operating system's secure storage (the keychain on macOS and iOS, Android Keystore, protected by DPAPI on Windows), never in files. They are only transmitted to that account's mail servers when signing in.

Sign-in with a Google or Microsoft account (OAuth) is not switched on in this release.

2. Connections to your mail servers

To fetch and send mail, the app connects via IMAP and SMTP to the servers you set up, encrypted only (TLS or STARTTLS). What your mail provider processes in the process, such as your IP address and the times you check mail, follows its own terms. The provider of this app takes no part in these connections.

3. Detecting server settings

When you set up an account, the app looks for the right server settings. For well-known providers they are built into the app. Otherwise it asks, in this order:

• →the DNS (MX and SRV records of your address's domain) through your system's resolver,
• →your provider's configuration at autoconfig.<your domain> (your email address is passed along) and at <your domain>/.well-known,
• →if needed, Thunderbird's public configuration database (Mozilla) at autoconfig.thunderbird.net. Only the domain of your address, or that of its mail server, is sent there, not the address itself.

After setup, these lookups no longer take place.

4. What the app stores on the device

So you can read and search offline, the app keeps folders, message headers, content, attachments and a full-text index in a local database in its own folder. Drafts, templates, the queue of actions taken offline, reminders and how you have sorted senders are stored there too. Sorting into Personal, Notifications and Newsletters happens on the device.

This content is not transmitted to the provider. Operating system backups may include the app's folder if you have turned them on.

5. Remote images and tracking pixels

The app shows HTML messages without JavaScript. It only loads remote images once you allow them for a message or a sender. The server the images come from then learns your IP address, the time and that the message was opened. Tracking pixels the app recognizes are removed even then.

6. Notifications

The app creates new-mail notifications itself, on the device, once it has fetched new messages from your server. No provider push service is involved.

7. AI features (optional)

The AI features are switched off until you add your own API key in the settings. Before the first request, the app asks for your consent; “Use AI” can be switched off again at any time.

• →Requests go directly from your device to Anthropic (Anthropic PBC, USA), not through any provider server. Only your instruction and the excerpts the app puts together for the request (such as the selection or visible areas) are sent, plus a style guide if you have set one up. The app shows exactly what was sent under “Sent Context”. Nothing is sent without a request.
• →If you enter your own endpoint instead of Anthropic, such as a gateway in your company or a local model server, requests go there. Its operator is responsible for the processing there.
• →The key is kept in the operating system's secure storage (the keychain on macOS and iOS, Android Keystore, protected by DPAPI on Windows), never in your files or in the app's settings files. When you add it, the app checks it with a free request to the service.
• →Processing at Anthropic is governed by Anthropic's terms and privacy notices; billing runs through your account there. The provider of this app receives neither the key nor the content.
• →The app only applies AI suggestions once you accept them.

In Mail, this includes the messages of a conversation or your draft, and therefore names, addresses and content of other people. The AI only changes the text and subject of a draft; it cannot send, delete, move or flag anything.

8. App lock and biometrics

If you like, an app lock protects the app with a code. Only a hash of it (PBKDF2 with a random salt) is stored, in the operating system's secure storage. Face ID, Touch ID, Windows Hello or a fingerprint are checked by the system; the app never sees biometric data, the system only reports whether unlocking succeeded. With “Hide previews” the app shows no content in notifications and preview images.

9. Distribution, updates and store data

The app is distributed through the App Store (Apple), Google Play (Google) and the Microsoft Store (Microsoft). Downloads, installation and updates run through the respective store; the app does not check for updates itself. The store operators process data as independent controllers under their own terms, including crash reports if you have allowed sharing them in your system settings. In the store consoles the provider sees aggregated statistics (such as download counts) and the crash reports you share with developers; these don't tell the provider who you are.

10. No analytics, no telemetry

The app contains no analytics, tracking or crash-reporting libraries. It sends no usage data to the provider, aggregated or otherwise, and there is no account.

11. Your rights

Because the provider receives no personal data through the app, requests for access, rectification or erasure directed at the provider will generally have no subject matter. For email or form support requests, the general privacy policy of this website applies: https://www.balane.app/en/privacy

You remove your local data by deleting your files and uninstalling the app. Entries in the operating system's secure storage (such as an AI key or the app lock code) are best removed in the app's settings first; depending on the system, they may otherwise remain in the keychain after uninstalling.