Privacy Policy
Last updated: 13 July 2026
The short version. Kalamos does not have accounts, does not track you, shows no ads, and runs no servers of its own. Your Bible study — notes, handwriting, pages, documents, and reading plans — stays on your device. It only goes over the network when you ask it to, and when it does, it is end-to-end encrypted so that no one but you can read it.
1. Who we are
Kalamos ("the app", "we") is an open-source Bible study application for iPhone, iPad, Android, macOS, and Linux. This policy explains what the app does and does not do with your information.
2. Data we collect
None on our side. Kalamos has no user accounts, no sign-up, and no analytics, telemetry, advertising, or third-party tracking SDKs. We do not operate servers that receive your study data, and we cannot see your notes, handwriting, documents, or activity.
3. Data stored on your device
Everything you create lives locally on your device: notes and rich text, handwritten ink, blank pages, imported or scanned documents (PDFs and images), reading plans, downloaded Bible translations and study modules, and app settings. This data never leaves your device unless you use one of the optional features described below.
4. Network features you can choose to use
The app only contacts the network for actions you initiate:
- Downloading Bible translations & study modules. When you install a module, the app fetches it from the public repository you selected (for example, the CrossWire SWORD repository). These requests go directly to that repository, subject to its own policies.
- API.Bible (optional, bring-your-own-key). If you connect an API.Bible key, translation requests go directly from your device to API.Bible under your key and their terms.
- Bring-your-own-cloud sync & backup (optional, off by default). If you enable sync, Kalamos stores your study in your own cloud account — Nextcloud/WebDAV, Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive. See section 5.
If you never download a module, connect a key, or enable sync, the app makes no network requests with your content.
5. Optional sync & backup — end-to-end encrypted
When you turn on sync or export an encrypted backup, your data is sealed on your device before it is transmitted, using a passphrase only you hold (Argon2id key derivation with XChaCha20-Poly1305 authenticated encryption). What is stored in your cloud provider is ciphertext. Kalamos has no key, no copy, and no ability to decrypt it. If you lose your passphrase, the data cannot be recovered — by us or anyone else.
The cloud provider you choose holds the encrypted files under your account and is governed by their privacy policy. Kalamos is not a party to that storage and receives nothing from it.
6. Permissions the app may request
- Camera — only if you scan a document or add a page from the camera. Images are processed on-device and stored in your study.
- Files / storage — to import PDFs, save backups, and open documents you select.
- Network — for the optional features in section 4.
The app does not request location, contacts, microphone, or advertising identifiers.
7. Children
Kalamos collects no personal information from anyone, including children, and is safe for all ages. It contains no ads, no in-app purchases wired to tracking, and no social features.
8. Data sharing & sale
We do not sell, rent, or share your data, because we never receive it in the first place.
9. Your control
Because your data is on your device (and, if you enabled it, in your own cloud account), you are in full control: delete studies, documents, or the app to remove the local data, and remove the encrypted files from your cloud account to remove the synced copy.
10. Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted here with a new "last updated" date.
11. Contact
Questions about privacy? Email kalamossupport@proton.me.