Your sheet music is yours.

Controller

The controller for data processing within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is:

Principle

Notenbuch is an app for organising, displaying and annotating sheet music. It works entirely without a user account. The provider runs no server for the app to send data to. No analytics, statistics, advertising or tracking tools are used, and the app builds no usage profiles.

All fonts are bundled inside the app. Nothing is loaded from third parties (such as Google Fonts) at launch or during use.

Data on your device

To do its job, the app stores the following data. It leaves your device only if you choose a cloud folder as its location yourself (see section 4).

This processing is necessary for the app to provide its functions (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). The provider has no access to this data.

iCloud

iCloud Drive

If you choose a folder in iCloud Drive, your sheet music and the data from section 3 are synchronised by Apple via iCloud and stored on Apple's servers. iOS handles this through your Apple account. The provider has no access to it. If you choose a folder under “On My iPad/iPhone”, no synchronisation takes place.

iCloud key-value storage

So that you do not have to go through the intro again on your next device, the app stores two items in your private iCloud storage: that setup has been completed and the name of the folder last chosen (the name only, no path and no contents). These items are visible only on your own devices using the same Apple ID. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in convenient setup (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). With iCloud switched off, this feature does not apply.

Processing by iCloud is covered by Apple's privacy policy.

Permissions

The app asks for a permission only when you use the matching feature. You can withdraw it at any time in the iOS settings under Notenbuch.

• Camera: for photographing pages of sheet music. The app uses the iOS document scanner for this: it detects the page edges, corrects the perspective and lifts the contrast — all on your device. The pages are saved as a PDF in your folder and are not passed on.
• Photos: for importing images that you select yourself. The app does not access any other photos.
• Microphone: for two features. For the tuner, the audio signal is analysed in real time on the device, only while the tuner is open, in order to determine the pitch; it is not recorded, not stored and not transmitted. When you start a recording, your playing is saved as an audio file in your folder (see section 3) — only then, and only while the recording runs. It is not transmitted either, and you can delete it at any time.
• Files and folders: for access to the sheet music folder you select in the system dialog, and to files you import.

Sharing and external links

Choosing Export PDF opens the iOS share sheet. You decide which app or recipient the file goes to. Any further processing is then the responsibility of that app.

If you have stored a source (URL) for a score, tapping it opens the link in your browser. The privacy policy of the website you visit applies there.

App Store and crash reports

The app is distributed through Apple's App Store. The data arising there (such as Apple ID, purchase and download data) is processed by Apple under its own responsibility.

Now and then Notenbuch asks for a rating through Apple's own rating dialog. That dialog is part of iOS; the provider does not learn whether or how you rated.

If you have agreed to “Share with App Developers” in the iOS settings under Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements, Apple makes anonymised crash reports and usage statistics available to the provider. They allow no conclusions about you personally and serve only to fix bugs (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). You can withdraw this consent at any time in the iOS settings.

Disclosure, third countries and retention

The provider passes no data to third parties and transfers no data to third countries. With iCloud and App Store services, Apple may process data outside the EU. This is based on the safeguards Apple uses, including the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses.

Data on the device is kept until you delete it in the app or in the Files app, or until you remove the app. Files in the folder you chose, including the .notenbuch subfolder, are kept when the app is deleted, because they are yours. You can delete them in the Files app. Only the app's own default folder is removed by iOS together with the app.

Your rights

You have the right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20) and objection (Art. 21). You may withdraw consent you have given at any time with effect for the future (Art. 7(3)). Since the provider stores no personal data about you, it can generally neither hand over nor delete any data. You manage your data yourself, on your device.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR), for example the authority where you live or the one responsible for the provider.

For questions about data protection you can reach us at datenschutz@notenbuch.app.

Changes

We adapt this privacy policy when the app or the legal situation changes. The version published here is the one that applies.

Last updated: September 2026