Privacy Policy

Section 1

The short version

• You sign in with Apple. We get an account ID and the email address Apple shares with us, which can be a private relay address.
• We store the books you add and the audio and text we make from them. They are private to your account unless you share them.
• To make audio, summaries and other reading features, we process book text on our servers and send parts of it to AI providers. We don't send them your name, email or account ID, and we don't use your books to train AI models.
• No ads, no tracking across apps or websites, and no third-party analytics.
• Your reading position and history stay on your devices and in your own iCloud account.
• You can delete your account from the app at any time.

Section 2

What we collect

Your account

• Your Apple account ID and the email address Apple shares with us, which may be a private relay address. Your email is never shown to other users.
• The username and display name you choose. Apple may share your name when you first sign in; we use it only to suggest a display name.

Books you add

• The files you upload (PDF or EPUB), their titles, authors and file names.
• What we create from them: narrated audio, word timings, text, images, chapter lists, summaries, primers, and your book's position on the library map.

Your devices

• A random identifier for each installation of Locus, the app version, and the device's model name.
• Notification tokens, so we can tell your device when a book is ready.

How you use Locus

• A few events that tell us a book downloaded, opened and started playing, so we can find and fix problems.
• When you ask for an AI feature, such as an X-ray of the passage you're reading, the passage it's about.
• If you join a book club, your progress on the club's current book.

Purchases

• Your Locus Pro status, credit balance and purchase history, through Apple and RevenueCat. We never see your payment card details.

What we don't collect:

• Your location, contacts, photos, camera or microphone.
• Advertising identifiers.
• Any tracking across other apps or websites.

If you use the reading rule, the apps and websites you choose are stored by Apple's Screen Time as private tokens on your device. Locus can't see which apps they are, and the reading rule never leaves your device.

Section 3

What stays on your devices and in your iCloud

These never reach our servers:

• Your playback and reading position.
• The vocabulary you've heard.
• Your home-screen widget.
• Your reading rule.

Locus syncs your library list and reading position between your devices through your own iCloud account (including a short snippet of the text around your place). That data lives in your private iCloud storage, which we can't access.

Section 4

How we use it

We use this information to:

• run your account and library;
• turn your books into audio and reading features;
• sync your books across your devices;
• send notifications you'd expect, such as "your book is ready";
• process purchases and credits;
• prevent abuse;
• fix problems.

We don't sell your information or use it for advertising.

Section 5

Who we share it with

We use these providers to run Locus. Each receives only what it needs.

AI providers receive book content without your name, email or account ID. They may keep it for a limited time under their own policies, for example for abuse monitoring.

People you share with in Locus:

• Anyone using Locus who knows your username can find you and see your display name.
• People in your book clubs can see your membership, the books you nominate, and your progress on the club's current book.
• If you send a gift, the recipient sees your username and display name, the book and your message.

When required. We may disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect people's safety or the security of Locus.

One more note on processing. If two people add exactly the same file, the second may receive the stored result of processing the first, which is faster and cheaper. No one is ever told who else added it, and no account information is shared.

Section 6

How long we keep it

• Account and profile: until you delete your account.
• Your books and what we make from them: until you delete your account. Removing a book from your library removes it from your devices. To delete our copy, delete your account or contact us.
• Uploaded files waiting to be processed: deleted after 7 days.
• Processing logs: up to 180 days.
• Purchase records: as long as Apple, RevenueCat and the law require.

Section 7

Deleting your account

In Locus, open the account menu and choose Delete account. Within 30 days we delete:

• your account and profile;
• your books and everything we made from them;
• your devices and notification tokens;
• your purchase customer record.

Book club progress and memberships go with your account.

Not deleted by us:

• Your devices and iCloud. To clear what Locus keeps there, delete the app. To remove its iCloud data, open Settings → your name → iCloud → Manage Storage → Locus.
• Purchase and billing records that Apple and RevenueCat must keep.

You can also ask us to delete your account, or for a copy of your data, by emailing drew@locusreading.app.

Section 8

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• access the information we hold about you;
• correct it;
• delete it;
• receive a copy of it;
• object to how we use it.

Email drew@locusreading.app and we'll respond within 30 days. You won't be treated differently for using these rights.

Section 9

Children

Locus is not for children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has given us information, email drew@locusreading.app and we'll delete it.

Section 10

Security

Accounts use Sign in with Apple. Books are stored privately and shared through links that expire. Our staff access personal information only to run and support Locus.

Section 11

Where your data is processed

Locus and its providers process data in the United States and other countries where they operate.

Section 12

Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. For significant changes, we'll let you know in the app.

Section 13

Contact

Drew Carr drew@locusreading.app