At a glance
- Your trades, notes and settings live only on your computer.
- Foliograph places no orders.
- Access keys (API keys, Flex token) are stored encrypted.
- Foliograph only connects to services on the internet for specific features, such as updates, economic data or the Flex trade import. Your trades are never sent, unless you start an AI analysis yourself.
Where your data lives
Foliograph is a desktop app without a cloud account. All data lives in one database file in the data folder on your computer:
| System | Data folder |
|---|---|
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/Foliograph/ |
| Windows | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Foliograph\Foliograph\ |
The automatic backups, the logs and the license file live there too. Whoever can read this folder can read your trades. Protect your computer with a password and, if possible, disk encryption (FileVault on macOS, BitLocker on Windows).
Foliograph stores its login password only as a hash, never in plain text. If you forget it, Foliograph writes a one-time code into a file in the data folder. Being able to open that file proves the installation is yours. Resetting the password therefore needs neither email nor an internet connection.
Connection to TWS
Foliograph connects through the TWS API to the Trader Workstation on your computer (127.0.0.1, port 7496 by default).
- Read only: prices, executions, positions and account values are read. Foliograph places no orders. The code blocks sending orders and an automated test makes sure no order function is called anywhere in the app.
- Read-Only API: keep this option on in TWS. The only feature that needs it off is the optional Margin per trade. The linked page explains what switching it off means.
- Localhost only: keep Allow connections from localhost only on in TWS too. Then only programs on your own computer can connect to TWS.
Credentials
- API keys and the Flex token are encrypted in the database (AES with an integrity check). The key for it lives in the operating system's keychain (macOS Keychain or Windows Credential Manager respectively). If that is unavailable, it lives in a protected file in the data folder.
- Backups contain no passwords and no API keys. After a restore you enter them once again.
- Support bundle: it contains no credentials (see Support bundle).
Connections to the internet
The table lists every service Foliograph connects to. Most connections are optional and run only when you stored a key or switched the feature on.
| Destination | Purpose | What is sent |
|---|---|---|
| foliograph.ch | Update check, hourly | App version, platform, operating system, language and a random install ID |
| IBKR Flex Web Service | Trade import without TWS (if set up) | Your Flex token and the query ID |
| SEC EDGAR | Quarterly figures, earnings, ETF holdings | Only the symbol or fund ID |
| CFTC | Commitment of Traders data | No personal data |
| FRED, EIA, USDA | Macro and commodity data (with your own key) | Your key for that service |
| massive.com | Backup price source when TWS is not running (with your own key) | Your key and the symbols |
| Frankfurter (ECB rates) | Exchange rates during CSV import | Currency pair and date |
| AI providers | Only when you start an AI analysis | See AI analysis |
The install ID of the update check is a random number. It is not linked to your license, your email address or your device. Foliograph collects no hardware characteristics and sends no usage statistics.
Foliograph checks the license offline with a digital signature. No connection is needed for that.
AI analysis
AI analysis is the only feature that sends a trade's data out, and only when you start it yourself. Which data that is and how you control it is described under AI analysis.
Support bundle
Under System > Diagnostics, Download support bundle creates a package for support. It contains logs, job history and system information, but no trades, no account numbers and no credentials. Foliograph does not send it by itself. You download it and decide whether to email it.
Updates
Every update is digitally signed. Foliograph checks the signature of the update information before it offers a new version, and the checksum of the downloaded file before it is installed. Forged update information is ignored.
Related
This page is also in the app under Help, in the language of the interface. Question not answered? Write to info@foliograph.ch or use the contact form.