claude-inner-dialog/SECURITY.md

Privacy & Security Guide

This guide explains your privacy options—from the basics to maximum protection.

Quick summary: Your files already stay on your computer. For most people, that's enough. If you share a computer or want extra protection, read on.

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Choose Your Level

Level	What It Means	Good For
Standard	Files on your computer, no extra steps	Most people on a personal computer
Password-Protected	Files locked behind a password	Shared computers, extra peace of mind
Maximum	Password + offline AI	When privacy is critical

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Standard (Default)

Your therapy files are stored on your computer as regular text files. This is already more private than keeping notes in a cloud app.

What's protected:

• Files never leave your computer (unless you sync them somewhere)
• No tracking or data collection by this toolkit
• You can delete everything by removing the folder

What to be aware of:

• Anyone who uses your computer could open the files
• Cloud backup services (iCloud, OneDrive, Dropbox) might sync the folder

Simple steps to improve privacy:

• Use a login password on your computer
• Turn on disk encryption (FileVault on Mac, BitLocker on Windows)—this protects everything if your computer is lost or stolen
• Don't put your therapy folder in a cloud-synced location

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Password-Protected Storage

If you share a computer or want extra protection, you can put your therapy files in a password-protected folder.

Mac: Built-in Encryption

Macs have this built in—no extra software needed.

How it works: Your therapy files go inside an encrypted "disk image." When you want to use them, you enter a password and the folder appears. When you're done, it locks back up.

To set up manually:

1. Open Disk Utility (search for it in Spotlight)
2. Click File → New Image → Blank Image
3. Name it something like "TherapyVault"
4. Size: 500 MB (it grows as needed)
5. Encryption: 256-bit AES
6. Click Create and choose a password

To use:

1. Double-click the disk image file to open it (enter password)
2. Your files appear in a folder called TherapyVault
3. When done, right-click the folder in Finder and choose "Eject"

Important: If you forget your password, your files are gone forever. Use a password manager.

Windows: VeraCrypt

Windows doesn't have built-in folder encryption, but VeraCrypt is free and works well.

To set up:

1. Download VeraCrypt from veracrypt.fr
2. Open VeraCrypt and click Create Volume
3. Choose Create an encrypted file container
4. Pick a location and size (500 MB is plenty)
5. Choose a strong password
6. Click Format to create it

To use:

1. Open VeraCrypt
2. Pick a drive letter (like T:)
3. Click Select File and choose your container
4. Click Mount and enter your password
5. Your files appear in the new drive letter
6. When done, click Dismount

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Maximum Privacy: Offline AI

For when you need your conversations to never leave your computer at all.

What This Means

When you use Claude or ChatGPT, your messages travel to their servers to be processed. Even with good privacy policies, your words pass through their systems.

With a "local" AI, everything runs on your computer. Nothing is transmitted anywhere.

The Trade-off

	Claude/ChatGPT	Local AI
Privacy	Good (not used for training)	Complete (never leaves your computer)
Quality	Excellent	Good, but not as nuanced
Speed	Fast	Depends on your computer
Requirements	Any computer	Newer computer with 16GB+ RAM

Getting Started with Local AI

Easiest option: LM Studio

LM Studio gives you a simple app for running AI locally.

1. Download from lmstudio.ai
2. Search for and download a model (try "Llama 3" or "Mistral")
3. Load the model
4. Paste your CLAUDE.md contents as the system prompt
5. Chat locally

More technical option: Ollama

Ollama runs from the command line and offers more control.

1. Download from ollama.ai
2. Open Terminal and run: ollama pull llama3.1:8b
3. Start chatting: ollama run llama3.1:8b
4. Paste your CLAUDE.md content when prompted

Limitations of Local AI

• Less capable than Claude or ChatGPT for nuanced therapeutic conversations
• No automatic file reading (you may need to paste context manually)
• Requires a reasonably powerful computer
• Setup is more hands-on

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Understanding Cloud AI Privacy

When you use Claude or ChatGPT through their regular websites, your conversations may be used to improve their AI (unless you opt out).

Claude Code and API access are different. When you use Claude Code (what this toolkit uses), your conversations:

• Are not used to train the AI
• Are kept for about 30 days for safety monitoring, then deleted
• Are handled under stricter privacy policies

This is true for both Claude (Anthropic) and ChatGPT (OpenAI) when using their APIs.

Bottom line: Using Claude Code is more private than chatting on claude.ai or chatgpt.com directly.

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Avoiding Cloud Sync

If you use iCloud, OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive, be careful where you put your therapy folder.

The issue: These services automatically upload files to the cloud. Your therapy notes could end up on their servers without you realizing it.

Simple fix: Put your therapy folder somewhere that doesn't sync.

Mac: Avoid putting it in Documents or Desktop if they sync to iCloud. Instead, create a folder directly in your home folder (like ~/Sage).

Windows: Avoid the OneDrive folder. Create your therapy folder directly in C:\Users\YourName\ instead.

Or: Use password-protected storage (see above). Even if the encrypted file syncs, no one can read it without your password.

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Backing Up Safely

Your therapy notes are valuable. Here's how to back them up without compromising privacy:

If using password protection: Your encrypted container can be backed up anywhere (even cloud storage). Without your password, it's unreadable.

If not using password protection:

• Back up to an encrypted USB drive you keep somewhere safe
• Don't email session notes to yourself
• Don't back up to cloud services without encryption

Important: Store your encryption password in a password manager, not in a file next to your therapy folder.

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Quick Privacy Checklist

Basics (everyone should do these):

• Put therapy folder outside cloud-synced locations
• Use a login password on your computer
• Turn on disk encryption (protects if your computer is lost/stolen)
  • Mac: System Settings → Privacy & Security → FileVault
  • Windows: Search "BitLocker" in Settings

For shared computers:

• Use password-protected storage (see above)
• Lock the folder when not in use
• Store your password in a password manager

For maximum privacy:

• All of the above
• Use a local AI instead of Claude/ChatGPT

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Questions? Open an issue on GitHub.