--- title: "A Private Journal for Australia & NZ" description: "An offline, encrypted journal for Australian and New Zealand writers. Works where the NBN doesn't. No sync, no accounts, no cloud copy." canonical: "https://sealedjournal.com/j/private-journal-australia" category: "By Location" --- # A private journal that works where the network doesn't. _The Australian Privacy Principles bind entities that handle personal information. This one handles none — and it needs no connection to run._ Distance and bandwidth shape software use in Australia and New Zealand more than most places will admit. Cloud journals assume a fast, cheap, always-available connection and a server in a convenient time zone. Outside the capitals, and often inside them, that assumption is optimistic. The Sealed Journal makes no assumption at all: it is a single HTML file on your disk that never contacts anything. On the regulatory side, the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988 attach to APP entities that collect and handle personal information — including APP 8 on cross-border disclosure, which is where most offshore cloud services get complicated. Nothing you write is collected or disclosed, so there is no offshore flow to assess. New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020 and its IPP 12 work much the same way. It runs identically on a ferry across Sydney Harbour, in a Melbourne laneway café between coffees, in a Hobart winter, on a paddock outside Wagga, or a South Island road trip with three bars of nothing. Short sessions are part of the design — two paragraphs written daily beat a long entry attempted weekly, and the typewriter scroll keeps the cursor centred so even a short entry feels deliberate. Students at any university on either side of the Tasman tend to run two files: one for personal writing, one for thesis notes. Each is a separate journal with its own passphrase and no connection to the other. Support is email from Amsterdam, usually answered within a working day regardless of the time difference. Checkout is USD through Paddle, converted to AUD or NZD at the card-network rate with GST handled as merchant of record. ## Questions ### Does it work in remote areas with no internet? Yes. After the initial download the journal is a single local HTML file. It runs anywhere your browser runs, with the network entirely off. ### Do the Australian Privacy Principles apply? APP obligations attach to entities that collect and handle personal information. The journal collects none of your writing, so there is nothing for the framework to govern — including APP 8 on cross-border disclosure. ### What about New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020? The same reasoning. Its information privacy principles, including IPP 12 on offshore disclosure, apply to agencies handling personal information. Your entries are never handled by us. ### Is there an AUD or NZD price? Checkout is in USD; Paddle converts at the card-network rate and shows the total before you confirm. GST is handled by Paddle as merchant of record. ### Can I keep separate journals for study and personal writing? Yes. Each HTML file is an independent journal with its own passphrase. Many students keep exactly that pair. ### How fast is support from the other side of the world? Email, usually answered within one working day from Amsterdam. There is no server outage to report, so most questions are about usage rather than availability. ## Price The Sealed Journal is a one-time purchase of $24 (introductory price, rising to $29). No subscription, no account, lifetime updates, 30-day refund. Buy at https://sealedjournal.com/#pricing ## Elsewhere - Hub: By Location — https://sealedjournal.com/journals/by-location - All journals — https://sealedjournal.com/journals - HTML version of this page — https://sealedjournal.com/j/private-journal-australia