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What is Cognos?

Cognos is AI chat that keeps your saved conversations in a form we can't read — only you can unlock them.

3 min read Updated 22 July 2026

1The short version

You chat with leading AI models, and your saved messages are locked away on our servers in a form we cannot read. They are unlocked only on your device, with a key that only you hold — your Account Key.

Three parts work together, and each is trusted with as little as possible:

  • Your device holds the keys. Your chats are unlocked and read here, and nowhere else.
  • Our servers store your chats locked and pass your message to the AI. They never keep a copy we can read.
  • The approved AI provider sees your message only while it writes an answer. We ask providers not to train on it.
A Cognos conversation: a question from the account holder and the assistant's reply.
A conversation in Cognos — saved and encrypted as you go.

2What Cognos can and can't see

  • We can't read the content of your saved conversations, attachments, or bookmarks.
  • We can see some metadata needed to run the service — when a message was saved, and what a request cost.
  • The AI provider does see your message while answering it. That is true of any AI assistant; Cognos limits where that happens with privacy tiers.

3How the pieces fit

Your Account KeyThe one secret that unlocks your data.Privacy tiersChoose where your messages may be handled.RedactionHide sensitive details before they're sent.

Keep reading

Create your accountSign up with an email and a password, then save your Account Key. The whole thing takes a couple of minutes.Your Account KeyThe Account Key is the single secret that unlocks your encrypted data. Cognos never stores it, so keep it safe.Privacy tiersYour privacy tier sets the furthest your messages may travel to be answered. It changes which models you can use — and nothing else.