Privacy Policy

Last updated November 8, 2026

Dateline is a calendar app for the Mac and iPhone, made by John Hesch (Workbench Goods). This page explains what Dateline does with your information. The short version: your calendar stays on your devices and in the calendar accounts you already use. There is no Dateline account and no Dateline server, and I never see your events.

What stays on your Mac

Your events, reminders, settings, calendar sets, tags and license key are kept on your Mac. Calendars you already have on the Mac (iCloud, Google, Exchange and others) are read and changed through macOS, with your permission. Dateline has no analytics, no tracking and no ads.

Accounts you sign in to inside Dateline

You can add an iCloud or Google account inside Dateline. Dateline then connects straight from your Mac to that service to show and change your calendars. Your sign-in is saved in a private file on your Mac that only your user account can read. It is never sent to me or anyone else.

Google user data

If you sign in with Google, Dateline asks for two permissions:

• Google Calendar: to show the events in your Google calendars and to add, change, move or delete events when you ask it to.
• Google Drive, only files Dateline creates: to upload a file you attach to an event, so the event can link to it. Dateline can't see any other files in your Drive.

This data goes only between your Mac and Google. It is not sent to me or to any other company, it is not sold, and it is not used for ads or to train AI. Dateline's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

You can remove a Google account in Dateline's Settings at any time, which deletes its saved sign-in from your Mac. You can also remove Dateline's access from your Google Account at myaccount.google.com/permissions.

Information that leaves your Mac

A few features need to ask an outside service for something. Only what the feature needs is sent:

• Weather: your approximate location, rounded to about a kilometer, goes to a weather service to get the forecast. When you search for a town, its name goes to that service's place search.
• Places, drive time and maps: what you type as an event's place goes to Apple Maps as you type, to suggest places. The place and your starting point go to Apple Maps to work out the drive and show the map.
• Subscribed calendars: Dateline downloads each calendar you subscribe to from the address you gave it. The ready-made holiday calendars download from Google, with no sign-in.
• Updates: Dateline checks the site that hosts its updates for a new version. That site sees your internet address, like any download.

Features that run on your Mac only

• Email to event reads an email with Apple's on-device AI. The email doesn't leave your Mac.
• License key: your key is checked on your Mac, with no internet connection.
• AI assistant: if you turn it on, an AI app on your Mac (such as Claude Desktop) can read or change your calendar, only as far as Dateline's Settings allow. What that app does with the information is covered by its own privacy policy.
• A4 notes: if you link Dateline to a notes folder, it reads and writes those files on your Mac.

Dateline for iPhone

On iPhone, Dateline works the same way, with no account and no server of its own:

• Calendars and reminders are the ones already on your iPhone (iCloud, Google, Exchange and others added in the iPhone's Settings). Dateline reads and changes them through iOS, with your permission. There is no Google sign-in inside the iPhone app.
• Your location is used, with your permission and only while the app is open, for the sunrise, the weather and drive times, the same way as on the Mac.
• Your contact card: if you pick Home or Work for a place reminder, Dateline reads that address from your own contact card, with your permission.
• Your own iCloud: Dateline's extras (such as emoji, colors, tags and calendar sets) and your unlock are kept in your own iCloud account, so your Mac and iPhone match. That is Apple's storage under your Apple Account. I can't see it.

Buying Dateline

On the Mac, Dateline is sold through an online store, which handles the payment and emails you your key. The store's own privacy policy covers what it collects. I see the order and the email address you buy with, and I use that only to help you with your purchase.

On iPhone, you buy Dateline from Apple inside the app. Apple handles the payment under its own privacy policy. Apple doesn't give me your name, email address or payment details.

This website

dateline.app uses Google Analytics, through Google Tag Manager, to count visits and see which pages and buttons people use, such as downloads, buy clicks and how far a page is read. Google Analytics sets cookies for this. It does not get your name or email address, and the app itself still has no analytics. The hosting provider keeps standard server logs, such as internet addresses, to keep the site running and safe. The page fonts load from a font service.

If you use the contact form, your name, email address and message are emailed to me. I use them only to answer you.

Deleting your data

Everything Dateline keeps is on your Mac. To delete it, remove your accounts in Settings, then delete the app, the "Dateline" folder in your Library's Application Support folder, and the settings file "com.johnhesch.dateline.plist" in your Library's Preferences folder (it holds your settings, license key and trial date). If you connected an AI app, remove Dateline from that app's settings too.

On iPhone, deleting the app deletes what it keeps on the phone. Your calendars and reminders stay in your accounts. The small copy of your Dateline extras and unlock in your iCloud stays, so a new install can find your purchase.

Children

Dateline is not made for children under 13 and doesn't knowingly collect their information.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new date.

Contact

Questions about privacy: use the contact form.