Privacy policy
mailrake · last updated 26 August 2026
mailrake is a self-hosted program run by a single operator against their own Gmail account. There is no hosted service, no account to create, and no operator other than the person running the software. This policy describes what the software does with data on the machine where it runs.
What is accessed
With the operator's Google authorization, mailrake reads message metadata and stores it in a PostgreSQL database on the operator's own machine:
| Stored | Not stored |
|---|---|
Sender address and display name; subject line; date received; message and thread
identifiers; Gmail labels; approximate size; and selected headers
(List-Unsubscribe, List-ID, Precedence,
authentication results, In-Reply-To, References,
recipients). |
Message bodies. Attachments. Message content of any kind beyond the subject line. These are never requested from Google, never stored, and never transmitted. |
Where the data goes
The database is local to the operator's machine. Data is not uploaded, backed up to a third party, sold, shared, or used for advertising. There is no analytics or telemetry of any kind.
One exception, stated plainly: to classify senders the software could not judge by rule alone, mailrake sends a small payload to Anthropic's API. Per sender, that payload contains the sender's address and domain, aggregate counts and dates, an authentication summary, and up to eight subject lines from that sender. No message bodies and no recipient data are included. Anthropic's handling of API data is governed by their own terms and privacy policy.
What is written back to Gmail
Only after the operator explicitly approves a rule, and only these actions:
- Adding or removing labels.
- Removing a message from the inbox (archiving).
- Marking a message read.
- Creating filters in the account's own Gmail settings.
mailrake does not send email, does not forward email, and cannot permanently delete email — it does not request the Google scope that permits deletion. Every write is recorded locally with enough information to reverse it.
Google user data and limited use
mailrake's use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Google user data is used solely to provide the mailbox-organizing function described here, is not transferred to others except as described above, is not used for advertising, and is not read by any human other than the operator.
Retention and deletion
Data persists in the local database until the operator deletes it. Dropping the database removes everything. Access can be revoked at any time from Google Account permissions, which immediately invalidates the stored credential.