When you're deep in a job search, you're managing a ton of sensitive information: company names, interview notes, contact details, salary negotiations, and multiple versions of your resume. Have you ever stopped to think about where all that data is stored? Many online tools and trackers save your information on their servers, but this convenience often comes at the cost of your privacy.

At NextStep, we believe your job search data should belong to you and you alone. That’s why we’ve built our application with a local-first approach to data privacy, ensuring your sensitive information remains secure and completely under your control.

The Problem with Cloud-Only Job Trackers

Most job tracking tools operate entirely in the cloud. When you enter your application details, you're sending your data to a third-party server. This raises several privacy concerns:

  • Data Ownership: Who truly owns the data you upload? Can it be sold to third parties or used for marketing?
  • Security Risks: Centralized servers are attractive targets for data breaches. If their security is compromised, your personal and professional information could be exposed.
  • Lack of Transparency: It's often unclear how your data is being used, who has access to it, and how long it's stored.

Your job search is a private journey. The details of your applications, the companies you're interviewing with, and your career aspirations should not be a commodity.

NextStep’s Commitment to Data Privacy

We designed NextStep to be different. As outlined in our Privacy Policy, our core principle is that your data stays on your device by default.

How We Protect Your Information

  1. Local-First Storage: All your application details, interview schedules, and notes are stored exclusively on your device's local storage. We do not have a central server to view or access any of your personal job application information. Your data is yours, period.
  2. On-Device AI Analysis: Features like our AI Resume Analyzer process your resume file directly on your device. The file is never uploaded to a server, analyzed, or stored elsewhere. You get instant, valuable feedback without compromising the privacy of your resume's contents.
  3. User-Controlled Backups: We understand you need to access your data across devices. Instead of forcing you to use our cloud, we empower you to use your own. NextStep integrates with Google Drive, allowing you to perform secure, one-click backups and restores. The backup file is stored in a private folder within your Google Drive account, which we never have access to. This gives you the convenience of sync without sacrificing privacy.

By prioritizing data privacy, NextStep offers you peace of mind so you can focus on what matters: landing your next job.

  • Complete Control: You decide where your data lives—on your device or in your personal cloud storage.
  • Enhanced Security: A local-first model drastically reduces the risk of your sensitive job search data being exposed in a large-scale data breach.
  • Total Transparency: Our business model is straightforward. We offer a powerful, free tool with optional premium features. We don't monetize your personal data.

Conclusion: Own Your Career Journey

Your job search is one of the most important projects you'll ever manage. The tools you use should respect the sensitivity of that journey. With NextStep, you don't have to choose between powerful features and robust privacy—you get both.

Start tracking your interviews with the confidence that your data is safe, secure, and entirely yours.