Privacy Policy

1. Overview and Local-First Principle

SciReader is built around a simple rule: your library belongs on your computer. By default, the PDFs you import, the highlights and Markdown notes you write, and the local database that indexes your papers are stored directly in a folder you choose on your macOS or Windows device. We do not receive or access those local files unless you actively use an online feature that requires them.

Network processing happens only in specific, transparent situations: when you ask the AI assistant a question, when the app looks up public bibliographic metadata or open-access PDFs, when you sign in or purchase a plan, when you explicitly enable Cloud Sync, or when optional diagnostic reports are sent. Every one of these cases is detailed below.

SciReader is developed and operated by Manifold One Limited (“SciReader”, “we”, “us”). If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, contact us at feedback@scireader.com.

2. What Stays on Your Device

When you use SciReader offline or without Cloud Sync enabled, the following data remains solely on your local storage drive:

• Your papers and attachments — the PDFs and supplemental files you import into your library folder.
• Your annotations and notes — highlights, underlines, and notes saved as standard Markdown files on your disk.
• Your local library index — titles, authors, venues, tags, nested collections, and reading status stored in a local SQLite database.
• On-device model caches — layout detection (figures, tables, equations), section outlines, and parsed reference lists computed locally on your machine.
• Local preferences — your interface theme, reader layout, and privacy toggle settings.

3. Information Processed When You Use Online Features

3.1 AI Assistant

When you ask the AI assistant a question, run a one-command summary, explain a selected phrase, or ask about a figure, table, or equation, the app sends your prompt, the relevant text passages or cropped image regions from the paper(s) involved, and the active conversation context to our servers, which forward the request to the third-party AI model provider fulfilling that query.

No AI training on your data: We do not use your papers, notes, prompts, or assistant conversations to train or fine-tune any AI models, and we contractually/API-configure our third-party model providers not to train on data submitted through our service.

If Cloud Sync is turned off, your conversation history is stored locally on your device. If Cloud Sync is turned on, conversations are synced so they appear across your signed-in devices.

3.2 Cloud Sync (Optional)

Cloud Sync is disabled by default. If you subscribe to a paid plan and switch Cloud Sync on, your library metadata, collections, annotations, Markdown notes, assistant conversations, and synced PDF attachments are encrypted in transit and stored on our cloud servers so your other devices stay in sync. You can turn sync off at any time in the app settings without affecting the local copy on your computer.

3.3 Bibliographic Metadata and Open-Access Lookups

To automatically fill in citation details (title, authors, venue, year, citation count) and locate open-access PDFs, SciReader queries public scholarly databases including Crossref, OpenAlex, arXiv, Semantic Scholar, PubMed, Unpaywall, PatentsView, and Google Scholar. These requests transmit only the paper identifier (such as a DOI or arXiv ID) or title being looked up—never your personal account identity or your broader library list.

3.4 Accounts and Billing

You do not need an account to read, organize, or annotate papers locally. An account is required only to use the AI assistant (including claiming one-time free welcome credits) and Cloud Sync. When you sign in, we store your email address, authentication provider identifiers, subscription status, and credit ledger.

All payments are processed by Paddle, our Merchant of Record. Paddle collects and processes your payment method and billing address directly under its own privacy and security policies. We never see or store your full credit card number; we retain only transaction identifiers, plan status, and invoice records required for accounting and tax compliance.

3.5 Crash Reports and Usage Diagnostics

To help us diagnose bugs and improve stability, the app includes two optional switches in Settings: crash reporting and anonymous usage statistics. Crash reports capture the technical state and stack trace of the application when an unexpected error occurs. Usage statistics record aggregated feature events (such as whether a command was triggered), never the titles or contents of your papers, notes, or prompts.

You can turn either or both switches off at any time in the app settings, which immediately stops collection on your device.

3.6 Website and Built-In Browser

This website (scireader.com) is static. It uses no advertising pixels or third-party tracking cookies. Standard web hosting logs (IP address, request path, timestamp, and user-agent string) are processed briefly to deliver pages and defend against abuse.

When you use the built-in browser inside the SciReader app to search external websites (such as Google Scholar or publisher portals), those websites interact with your device just as they would in any standard web browser and are governed by their own privacy policies. We do not log or monitor your browsing history.

4. Service Providers and International Transfers

We do not sell or rent your personal information to anyone. We share data only with the infrastructure and service providers required to operate the online parts of SciReader:

• Cloud infrastructure and storage — hosting our API servers, databases, and encrypted Cloud Sync storage (located in the United States).
• Authentication and diagnostics — managing account sign-in sessions, crash reporting, and aggregated telemetry.
• Payment processing — Paddle, acting as Merchant of Record for checkout, tax handling, invoicing, and refunds.
• AI model providers — leading foundation model APIs (such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google) that process assistant prompts and paper excerpts strictly to return your requested output.

Because our servers and several of our service providers operate in the United States and other jurisdictions, your information may be transferred and processed outside your country of residence. Where required by law (including the EU/UK GDPR), we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or equivalent legal safeguards to protect cross-border data transfers.

5. Legal Bases for Processing

Where the EU GDPR, UK GDPR, or equivalent data protection laws apply, we process personal data on the following bases:

• Performance of a contract — providing your account, delivering AI assistant responses, syncing data you choose to sync, and fulfilling subscriptions.
• Legitimate interests — securing our services, preventing automated abuse or fraud, and diagnosing application crashes.
• Consent — collecting optional usage statistics, which you may withdraw at any time via the in-app settings toggle.
• Legal obligation — retaining transaction and tax records as required by applicable law.

6. Data Retention and Deletion

We keep your account information and synced library data for as long as your account remains active. If you delete a conversation or permanently delete items from a synced library, they are removed from active servers and purged from routine backups within 30 days.

You may request deletion of your account at any time by writing to feedback@scireader.com. Upon account deletion, all server-side library data, synced files, and conversations are permanently erased within 30 days, except for billing records we are legally required to keep for tax and audit purposes. Deleting your online account never deletes or alters the local library stored on your own computer.

7. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live (including under the EU/UK GDPR and California CCPA/CPRA), you have the right to:

• Request access to and a portable copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate data or deletion of your account and server-side data.
• Object to or restrict certain processing, or withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, email feedback@scireader.com. We respond to all verified requests within 30 days. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority in your jurisdiction.

California Residents (CCPA/CPRA): We collect identifiers (email address), commercial information (purchase history), and optional diagnostic/usage activity as described above. We do not “sell” or “share” personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not discriminate against users who exercise their privacy rights.

8. Security, Children, and Policy Updates

All network traffic between the SciReader app and our servers is encrypted in transit using TLS, and cloud-synced data is encrypted at rest. Access to production systems is restricted to authorized personnel.

SciReader is designed for researchers, students, and professionals. You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction) to create an account.

If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page and notify registered users where appropriate.