Zerowriter Link Privacy Policy
How Zerowriter Link accesses, uses, stores, and shares your Google user data.
Effective October 14, 2026The short version. Zerowriter Link, an optional opt-in setting, copies the text files on your Zerowriter to a folder in your own Google Drive. Your device talks to Google directly. Zerowriter never receives your files or any of your Google data, and we never sell, share, or use it for advertising or AI training.
About this policy
This policy covers Zerowriter Link ("Link"), the optional Google Drive backup feature built into select Zerowriter devices. Link is made by Zerowriter ("we", "us", "our"). It explains what Google user data Link accesses when you connect it to your Google Account, and what happens to that data.
This policy covers Zerowriter Link only. For purchases and our website, see our store privacy policy. To learn what Zerowriter Link does and how to set it up, visit the Zerowriter Link home page.
1. Google user data Link accesses
Link requests one Google permission, the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file scope. This lets Link work only with files and folders it creates in your Google Drive. With it, Link accesses:
- The files and folders Link creates. A folder named ZerowriterBackups, subfolders inside it that match the folders on your device, and the text files your device uploads. Link reads the names and Drive IDs of these files and folders so it can tell whether one already exists.
- Sign-in tokens. When you approve Link, Google gives your device a refresh token and short-lived access tokens. These let your device make requests to Google Drive on your behalf.
Link does not access any other file or folder in your Google Drive, and it does not request your name, email address, profile photo, contacts, or any other Google service. Link never downloads file contents from your Drive.
2. How Link uses Google user data
Link uses Google user data only to provide the backup feature you turn on. A sync runs when you choose Sync Now on your device, or automatically when you save or sleep your device if you've chosen automatic syncing. Link uses the data:
- To create the ZerowriterBackups folder in your Drive, and subfolders matching the folders on your device, if they don't exist yet.
- To look up files in that folder by name, so a sync updates your existing copy instead of creating a duplicate.
- To upload new text files from your device and update existing ones with your latest version.
- To use the sign-in tokens to authenticate these requests with Google.
We do not use Google user data for any other purpose. We do not use it for advertising, marketing, profiling, or analytics, we do not sell it, and we do not use it to develop, improve, or train generalized or non-personalized AI or machine learning models.
3. How Google user data is stored
| Where | What |
|---|---|
| On your Zerowriter | The refresh token, the Drive IDs of your backup folders, and a list of the files already backed up with a fingerprint of each, so unchanged files aren't uploaded again. These are kept in the device's internal storage. Access tokens are held in memory only for the length of a sync, then discarded. |
| In your Google Drive | Your backup files, stored in your own Google Account under Google's terms and privacy policy. |
| With Zerowriter | Nothing. Link has no Zerowriter server, account, or cloud service. All communication is directly between your device and Google's servers. |
5. Retention and deletion
- Sign-in and sync records on your device. The refresh token stays on your Zerowriter until you delete it. Choose Reauthorize Drive in Settings, under Storage, to delete it at any time. If Google reports that the sign-in is no longer valid, for example after you remove Link's access, your device deletes the token along with its list of backed-up files and folder IDs.
- Access through Google. You can remove Link's access to your Google Account at any time at myaccount.google.com/connections. Once removed, your device can no longer upload to your Drive.
- Your backup files. Files Link uploads stay in your Google Drive until you delete them. Removing Link's access does not delete them. You can delete the ZerowriterBackups folder from Google Drive like any other folder.
- With Zerowriter. We hold no Google user data, so there is nothing for us to retain or delete. If you have questions about your data, contact us using the details below.
6. Security
- Link uses Google's OAuth 2.0 sign-in for limited-input devices. You sign in on your own phone or computer, so your Google password is never entered on or stored by your Zerowriter.
- All connections to Google use encrypted HTTPS, and your device only accepts certificates issued by Google's own certificate authority.
- Link requests the narrowest Drive permission available, limited to the files it creates.
- Anyone with physical access to your Zerowriter could run a sync to your backup folder. If you give away, sell, or lose your device, choose Reauthorize Drive or remove Link's access in your Google Account.
7. Google API Services User Data Policy
Zerowriter Link's use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
8. Other information
To sync, your Zerowriter connects to Wi-Fi using network details you provide on the device. Those details stay on your device and are used only to connect. Link does not collect analytics, usage data, crash reports, or location, and it does not send any information to Zerowriter.
9. Children
Link is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
10. Changes to this policy
If we change how Link handles Google user data, we will update this page and its effective date before the change takes effect. If a change would let Link access new kinds of data, Google will ask for your consent again before your device can use it.
11. Contact us
Questions about this policy or your data? Email adam@zerowriter.ink or write to us at:
Zerowriter
255 Bay Street, 1002
Ottawa, ON K1R 0C5
Canada