Summary
Your words stay on this device. They are kept with your account only while you are signed in.
On iPhone and iPad, Scribo asks you to sign in with Apple before you begin. Scribo for Mac also works without signing in. While you are signed out, the words and the ink you write never leave this device. While you are signed in, on the free tier or on Pro, your notebook, your learning evidence, your readings and the answers you wrote after reading are also kept with that account, so that they come back when you change devices or delete and reinstall the app. The twelve things listed under "What leaves the device" are everything that goes elsewhere. The sixth includes screen recordings, which means the page you were writing on or the text you were reading can be captured as an image. The seventh, the tenth and the twelfth are where writing of your own travels. The server that writes the feedback or the response only passes it through and does not store it. The writing itself is kept with your account only while you are signed in, as described in 2-⑤.
If you use the reading features, Scribo estimates your language level and learning habits from how you read (how long you stay on each section, how often you look things up, and the level of the answers you write). The estimate itself keeps only judgments and numbers. The list of words you passed while reading never leaves this device, and your readings and answers are kept with your account only while you are signed in, as described in 2-⑤. When you answer by voice, your voice is turned into text on this device alone, and the recording is never saved or sent.
Scribo for Mac reads only what you select, and only when you press ⌘C twice. What you look up on the Mac stays on that Mac. Section 3 has the details.
1. What stays on this device only
The following live in this device's storage alone. They are sent nowhere, and they are deleted with the app. While you are signed in, the notebook, ink, review history, sentences you wrote, readings, and the answers you wrote after reading from this list, with when each will be asked about again, along with your learning evidence, your persona stories with your answers on whether they sound like you, and the name you typed, are also kept with your account, as described in 2-⑤. The list of words you passed while reading and what draws you in each Knowledge field are not uploaded to your account either.
- The words you write, with their meanings, parts of speech, and examples
- The original pen strokes, and a record of how many times you have written each word
- Your review history: which words you got right or wrong and when, when each is next due, and when and for how many minutes you practiced
- The sentences you wrote during review and the feedback on them (Pro). Both what you wrote and the corrected version are kept
- Readings you brought in: the text rewritten in simpler language, how far you have read, and, for a video, its captions and their timings
- The answers you wrote or spoke after reading, and the key points returned in response to them. Whether you caught the point, whether you tried it, and when to ask again are kept with them
- The list of words you passed while reading, and which of them you looked up. It is used only to estimate your vocabulary level, and it is not uploaded to your account under 2-⑤ either
- Learning evidence: judgments and numbers such as how long you stayed on each section, how often you looked things up, whether you read to the end, and what level your written answers were at. No text or words are included. Your language level (reading, vocabulary, writing, listening, speaking), knowledge stage, and learning habits (persona) are calculated on this device from this evidence. The exceptions are the story written in your persona (what Scribo has come to understand about you, put into words) and what draws you in each Knowledge field, both under 2-⑫, which our AI server writes for Pro subscribers
- Each story written in your persona under 2-⑫, with when it was written, and your answer to "Does this sound like you?" at its end. While you are signed in they are also kept with your account, as described in 2-⑤
- What draws you in each Knowledge field under 2-⑫, with when it was found. It is not uploaded to your account under 2-⑤ either
- The name the persona story calls you by. It exists only if you typed one, and you can skip it. While you are signed in it is also kept with your account, as described in 2-⑤. The name Apple gives us when you sign in with Apple is used only to fill this field in ahead of time, and it is not sent to your account until you press save
- Settings such as language and typeface
Turning your voice into text when you answer by speaking happens on this device alone. If this device cannot recognize that language on the device itself, the microphone button does not appear, and recordings are never saved or sent anywhere. Translation of a passage you pick while reading is also handled by Apple's on-device translation and does not go to a server. Handwriting recognition happens on this device. Ink images are not sent to a server to be read. An Anki deck (.apkg) you import is also read on this device alone, the file itself is sent nowhere, and the meanings written on those cards are stored here as they are. Text you point the camera at is read on this device too. A photo you pick from your library is read on this device too (only that one photo). The camera view, a picture you take and a photo you pick are never saved or sent, and they are hidden from the screen recording described in 2-⑥. A PDF you open in the PDF viewer is kept as one copy on this device only, and is sent nowhere, including the account storage described in 2-⑤. (If you turn the same file into a reading, the text extracted from it is sent as described in 2-⑨.) Text in a scanned PDF is read on this device too. The sentence kept with a word you pick from a PDF stays on this device only as well. The PDF screen is hidden from the screen recording described in 2-⑥. Words in the deck that arrive without a meaning are looked up one at a time, exactly as described in 2-① below. Note also that the screen recording described in 2-⑥ can include the page you were writing on.
2. What leaves the device
① Fetching the meaning of a new word or expression
When you write a word for the first time, that single word and your language setting (for example, English to Korean) are sent to our server, which passes them to Google's Gemini model to generate a meaning and an example.
- The same is true when you share an expression from another app. What is sent is the phrase you selected, and not the sentence or paragraph it came from, nor the address of the page you were reading.
- Only the one thing you wrote or selected is sent. Your notebook, your ink images, and any device identifier are not sent with it.
- Writing a word you have already saved sends nothing at all.
- The meaning that comes back is cached on our server so it can serve other people asking for the same word. The cache is keyed on the word alone and carries no record of who asked.
- Your IP address is used to limit how often requests may be made, but it is neither stored nor linked to any other data.
- Tapping "More in…" on a word's page (Naver Dictionary, Weblio, Youdao, the Cambridge Dictionary or Wiktionary, depending on the language you read meanings in) sends that one word to that dictionary, which opens inside the app. Nothing is sent unless you tap it, and what happens on that site is governed by its own policy.
② Fetching a drawing for a word (Pro)
When you open a word while signed in with Pro, that word, your language setting, and the sign-in credential described in ④ are sent to our server, which passes the word to Google's Gemini image model to draw a picture.
- The drawing is made from the word alone. Your ink and your notebook are not sent with it.
- The picture is stored on our server (Cloudflare) against the word and serves anyone else who opens the same word. Nothing on it records who opened it.
- Drawings cost real money to make, so how many each account received in a given month is recorded on our server alongside the account identifier. Only the monthly count is kept, never which words they were.
- If you tap Like or Dislike under a picture, your choice, the reason you picked, and anything you wrote under Other are stored on our server (Cloudflare) along with which picture they are about. The sign-in credential is only checked, never stored with them, so the rating is not linked to your account.
- While you are signed out or on the free tier, this request never happens at all.
③ Buying or restoring Pro
On iPhone and iPad, subscription payments are processed by Apple, and RevenueCat verifies purchase status on our behalf. Purchase, renewal, and cancellation records, along with a random identifier that distinguishes one installation from another, are stored with RevenueCat. Payment details, including card numbers, are handled only by Apple. Neither we nor RevenueCat receive them.
On the Mac, you buy Pro on a checkout page run by RevenueCat, and Stripe processes the payment. The email address you enter there goes to RevenueCat, which uses it to send your receipt and subscription notices (renewals, failed payments, cancellation). Your card details and billing country and postal code go only to Stripe, which uses them to take the payment and prevent fraud. Neither we nor RevenueCat receive your card number. The checkout page also receives the account identifier under ④, so Pro lands on that account, and the amount, currency and date of each payment, and the subscription status are kept by RevenueCat and Stripe.
Either way, a purchase is tied to the account you signed in with under ④, so Pro opens on your other devices signed in to the same account.
④ Signing in with Apple
On iPhone and iPad, signing in with Apple is required to use Scribo. On the Mac it is optional. When you sign in, our server (Supabase) verifies the credential Apple issued and stores a pairing between a random account identifier and the installation identifier described in ③, together with the email address Apple shares. All that is stored at this step is which account this installation belongs to and that address. How your notebook and your ink are kept is described separately in ⑤.
If you chose Hide My Email when signing in, the address Apple shares is a relay address that Apple forwards, not your real one. The address is kept with your account alone. We do not use it to contact you, and we do not send it to any other service, including the usage records in ⑥. You can delete your account at any time under Settings ▸ Account, and deleting it removes the pairing and the address as well.
⑤ When your notebook is kept with your account
While you are signed in, on the free tier or on Pro, your notebook is also kept on our server (Supabase) and kept in step across the devices signed in to the same account. While you are signed out, nothing is uploaded and your notebook remains on this device alone.
The copy exists so your notebook survives a lost device or a deleted app: the words and their meanings and examples, the images of your handwriting, when and how often you wrote each word, which reviews you got right or wrong, when and how long you practiced, the sentences you wrote yourself along with their feedback as described in ⑦ below, the readings you brought in (the simplified rewrite, how far you have read, and for a video, its captions and their timings), the answers you wrote or spoke after reading with the key point and judgment returned for them (whether you caught the point, whether you tried it in real life), when ideas and readings will be asked about again, your persona stories under ⑫ below (each story as written, with when it was written) with your answers on whether they sound like you, and your learning evidence (judgments and numbers only, with no text or words) are all stored against your account. If you typed a name for the persona story to call you by, that name is stored with your account too, so a new device does not ask again. Your language level and the traits of your persona are not stored. A new device recalculates them from this evidence. It travels automatically as the app opens and closes, and is identified by the account identifier alone.
Sentences and answers are different in kind from the rest of that list. Unlike a meaning from a dictionary or a single word, they are writing of your own and may describe your own life. Deleting a word deletes the sentences you wrote with it, on this device and on the server. Deleting a reading or an answer deletes it from the server too, and only an empty marker (its random identifier) is left so that your other devices signed in to the account know to remove it. None of its content is kept. Deleting your account removes all of them.
- When a subscription ends, syncing carries on as long as you stay signed in.
- Signing out erases the copy on this device and leaves the one on the server.
- Signing in on this device with a different account erases the previous person's notebook, readings and answers immediately.
- Deleting your account deletes the server copy with it.
⑥ Product usage
Usage records such as which screens were opened, whether a word was saved, and where a purchase stopped are sent to PostHog. They record what happened, not what you wrote: the text of your words and their meanings are not included. Records from the reading features work the same way: only numbers and categories such as the time spent reading a section, how often you looked things up, and the estimated level are sent, never the title or content of the text or the answers you wrote. Your answer on a persona story under ⑫ works the same way: whether it sounds like you, the reasons and parts you picked, and whether the Scribo team may read it are sent, never the story. The same installation identifier described in ③ is sent with them, and once you sign in they are grouped under the account identifier described in ④, so that two devices signed into one account read as one person. Every record carries your device type (iPhone, iPad or Mac), model, OS version, and screen size. PostHog also estimates your approximate location (country and city) from your IP address and keeps it with the records. Your precise location is never collected, and Scribo never asks for location permission. If the app closes unexpectedly, a diagnostic record of where it stopped (the place in the app's code, the device model and OS version, and the last few usage records) is also sent the next time you open it. That record contains none of your words or ink either.
⑦ Getting feedback on a sentence (Pro)
Once during a review session, a card asks you to write a sentence using a word. If you ask for feedback, the one sentence you wrote, that word, your language setting, and the sign-in credential from ④ above are sent to our server, which passes them to Google's Gemini model to get back a corrected sentence and a short note.
This is the most personal writing this app handles. Everything else is a single word or came from a dictionary; this is a sentence you wrote, and it may describe your own life. So it is handled more narrowly than anything else here.
- Only that sentence and that word are sent. Your notebook, your ink images, and your other sentences are not sent with it.
- Our server does not store the sentence. Unlike meanings and drawings it is never cached, and it only passes through while the feedback is being written. It is never reused for anyone else.
- The sentence and its feedback stay on this device, and while you are signed in they are also kept with your account under ⑤ above. A sentence kept with your account is readable only from that account.
- Your IP address is used to rate limit requests, but it is not stored or joined to anything else.
- You can turn this off in Settings ▸ Review, and with it off the card never appears. The request also never happens while you are signed out or on the free tier.
- The screen recording described in ⑥ above can include the screens where you write the sentence and read the feedback.
⑧ Sharing to KakaoTalk
If you choose KakaoTalk on the share screen, that one picture (your streak card, your persona card, your level card or your drawing) is uploaded to Kakao's image server and a KakaoTalk message carrying it is made. The message text goes with it; your notebook, ink, and account details do not. Nothing is sent unless you choose KakaoTalk.
⑨ Making a reading
When you turn a link, a file, or pasted text into a reading, that link address or the body of the text, its title, your language setting, and the level to write it at are sent to our server, which passes them to Google's Gemini model to get back a version rewritten simply in the language you are learning. The text that comes back carries its level and a broad field (for example, business or psychology).
- If you enter a link, our server fetches that page on your behalf. To that site, the request looks like it came from our server. While you are entering a link, the address may be sent one more time to preview its title and thumbnail.
- For a YouTube video, this device fetches the captions directly from YouTube and sends the caption text to our server. To YouTube, this looks like a request from this device (including its IP address).
- For a file (PDF, EPUB, TXT), only the text is extracted on this device and sent. The file itself is not uploaded. A file you only open in the PDF viewer described in section 1 above is not sent this way.
- The server that makes the reading does not store the text you send or the reading made from it. It only passes through while the reading is being made, and it is never used for anyone else. The finished reading stays on this device, and while you are signed in it is also kept with your account under ⑤ above.
- Your IP address is used to limit how often requests may be made, but it is neither stored nor linked to any other data.
- Because the free plan includes one new reading a day (three on the day you make your first), our server records how many readings each account (or, if you are not signed in, each installation) has made today, together with that account or installation identifier. To count them, the sign-in credential described in 2-④ and the installation identifier are sent with the request. Only the date and the number are kept, never which readings they were, and they are deleted after two days. The one exception is the date of your first reading, which is kept with that identifier so your first day can be recognized. If you try to make a new reading after today's is used, our server asks RevenueCat, using that identifier, whether you subscribe to Pro.
⑩ Asking while reading, or answering after reading
If you ask the AI something while reading, the passage you picked and its paragraph, your question, and the earlier questions and answers in the same window are sent to our server. If you answer with the key points after reading a section, the text of that section, the question, and the answer you wrote or spoke are sent. Our server passes them to Google's Gemini model to get a response.
- Our server does not store your questions or answers. They only pass through while the response is being made, and they are not kept in the cache either.
- What comes back on your answer is a judgment, such as whether you caught the key points, what level your sentences are at, and how many mistakes there were. The judgment becomes learning evidence and stays on this device with the text of your answer, and while you are signed in both are also kept with your account under ⑤ above.
- If you answered by voice, what goes to the server is the text this device transcribed. Your voice is not sent.
- Your IP address is used to limit how often requests may be made, but it is neither stored nor linked to any other data.
⑪ Playing a video in listening practice
When a Listen card in Today's review plays a line from a reading made from a video, YouTube's official video player opens inside the app. This player loads directly from YouTube (Google), so this device's IP address and playback information reach YouTube, and YouTube cookies may be used. This part is governed by Google's privacy policy. We send nothing to YouTube beyond the video identifier, and what you write down while listening is scored on this device. If no Listen card plays, this connection never happens.
⑫ When Scribo writes what it has come to understand about you (Persona, Knowledge)
If you have Pro, when you open Insights from your persona, Scribo writes what it has come to understand about you (how you learn, what works for you, and what you are drawn to). For this, the titles and broad fields of your most recent readings and whether you finished each one (up to 20), the words and phrases you saved most recently (up to 60), the answers you most recently wrote or spoke after reading or in review (up to 10, each cut to 300 characters), and a summary of your learning habits calculated on this device are sent to our server with your language setting. Our server passes them to OpenAI's model and gets the story back. The summary of learning habits holds the traits of your persona (for example, that you learn mostly from videos) and which traits are not known yet, which kind of word you missed more often in practice with example words (up to 12), how many words you saved, practiced and missed, the words you saved again across several days (up to 4) with the number of days, how many readings you brought in and how many you finished, and how many sections you read and how many you passed quickly. When a new story is written, the persona story written just before it (its one-line summary, its opening and the text of its four parts) and how many days ago it was written are sent too, so the new story can say what has changed since. What the earlier story rested on is not sent. The name you typed is not sent. The greeting at the top of the story is added by the app on this device.
If you have Pro, the same happens when you open a field in Profile ▸ Knowledge: the name of that field, the titles of the readings in it (the most recent, up to 20), the words and phrases you saved from those readings (up to 60), and the answers you wrote or spoke about those readings (up to 10, each cut to 300 characters) are sent to our server with your language setting. Our server passes them to Google's Gemini model to name what draws you inside that field (up to three, each with a short name, one sentence, and the parts of what you sent that show it), which appears under "What draws you here".
- Without Pro, nothing is sent for either one. With Pro, the story is written the first time you open Insights, and after that again once, since the last one, you have added two readings, saved fifteen words or written two answers, and at least three days have passed. It is written again if you change the language you read meanings in.
- What draws you in a field is found the first time you open that field, and again when a new reading joins it or you change the language you read meanings in. Otherwise it runs at most once a week, when you saved or wrote something new there.
- Our server does not store what is sent or what comes back. It only passes through while the story is being written or what draws you in a field is being found, and it is not kept in the cache.
- The app keeps each persona story with your account under ⑤, so that the iPhone, iPad and Mac signed in to the same account show the same story, and so that the next story can say what has changed since the last one. What is kept for each story is the story as written (its one-line summary, its opening, its four parts with what each part rests on, and what Scribo can't tell yet), when it was written, the language you read meanings in, which model and prompt wrote it, and how many readings, saved words and answers you had by then, used to judge when the next story is due. Signing out or signing in with a different account erases them from this device, and they come back from the account when the same person signs in again. Deleting your account deletes them.
- What draws you in a field stays on this device only. It is not uploaded to your account under ⑤, and it is erased when you sign out or sign in with a different account.
- At the end of a persona story you can answer "Does this sound like you?" with "Spot on", "Partly" or "Not really". If you answer "Partly" or "Not really", you can pick from fixed reasons ("Some facts are wrong", "It could be about anyone", "It missed what matters to me", "The way it's said feels off") and, if you like, which part it was. There is no field for writing your own words. Your answer is kept with that story in your account under ⑤, and the choices you made (not the story) are also sent with the usage records in ⑥. Your answer does not change your persona.
- With "Partly" or "Not really" you can also turn on "Let the Scribo team read this story", which is off unless you turn it on. The Scribo team (the developer) may read only the stories where you turned it on, and only that one story and what it rests on, to find what went wrong and improve how persona stories are written. You can turn it off by changing your answer, and deleting your account deletes it.
- Your answers are included because who you are shows most in what you wrote yourself. In either case, the body text of your readings, your ink and the meanings in your notebook are not sent.
- Your IP address is used to limit how often requests may be made, but it is neither stored nor linked to any other data.
- The screen recording described in ⑥ can include the screens showing the persona story or what draws you in a field.
3. Scribo for Mac
Scribo for Mac is downloaded from scribo.cc rather than the App Store. It needs one permission, Accessibility, to notice the shortcut and read what you selected. That permission is used only for what follows.
- Keys. macOS passes every key press to an app with this permission. Scribo only watches for ⌘C pressed twice. Every other key is discarded the moment it arrives, and nothing you type is recorded, kept or sent.
- What it reads, and when. Only when you press ⌘C twice, Scribo reads the text you selected, the name of the app, the title of its window, the file that window has open, and the web address your browser put on the clipboard along with the copy. To find the sentence and paragraph your selection sits in, it also reads the text around it. In messaging and mail apps (such as KakaoTalk, Messages, Mail, Slack and Outlook) it keeps only the app's name, because their window titles are chats and people.
- What stays on this Mac only. Everything you looked up, with its translation, how many times you looked it up and where you were reading. The sentences you saved. Where each saved word came from (the app, the window title, the page or file) and the sentence it was in. None of this is kept with your account under 2-⑤, and none of it goes into usage records.
- Translation. The translation in the card is made by Apple's translation on this Mac and is not sent to a server.
- What leaves this Mac. Only when you save a word or an expression, ask about a selection, or make a reading, and then the same things as on iPhone and iPad: the word as described in 2-①, the selection with its paragraph and your question as in 2-⑩, and the link or text as in 2-⑨. "Read it in Scribo" sends the address of the page you were reading, and our server fetches that page as described in 2-⑨.
- Account and usage records. You sign in with Apple in your web browser, and the result comes back to the app. Signing in and keeping your notebook with your account work as described in 2-④ and 2-⑤. Usage records from the Mac are sent as described in 2-⑥, with Mac as the device type. The Mac records no screen.
- Buying Pro. The Mac has no App Store purchase, so you buy Pro on RevenueCat's checkout page as described in 2-③, and Stripe processes the payment. A purchase belongs to the account you sign in with, so you sign in before you buy.
- Updates. About once a day, Scribo for Mac asks scribo.cc whether a newer version exists. The request carries the app's version and, like any request on the internet, your IP address. Nothing from your notebook goes with it.
- Removing it. Moving Scribo to the Trash does not delete what it kept on your Mac. To delete that as well, also delete the folder ~/Library/Application Support/Scribo. You can turn the permission off at any time in System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Accessibility, and the shortcut stops working until you allow it again.
4. Data collected and why
| Data | What it is | Purpose | Linked to you |
|---|---|---|---|
| User content | The word sent to fetch a meaning or a drawing; the sentence you wrote, sent to get feedback; the link or text sent to make a reading, and the passage, question, and answer sent when you ask or answer while reading; the reading titles, fields, saved words, answers, the summary of learning habits and the previous persona story sent to write the persona story or to find what draws you in a field; ink, words, and the text you were reading, visible in screen recordings; the notebook, ink, review history, your own sentences, readings, answers, and persona stories with your answers on whether they sound like you, kept while signed in | App functionality, Analytics | Yes |
| User ID | A random UUID that identifies this installation; a random account identifier issued at sign-in | App functionality (purchase restore, notebook storage, drawing limits, the daily reading allowance), Analytics | Yes |
| Purchases | Subscription start, renewal, and cancellation status, and the amount, currency and date of web purchases on the Mac | App functionality (unlocking Pro), Analytics | Yes |
| Product interaction | Screen views, word saves, paywall and checkout steps, app launches, your answers on whether a persona story sounds like you (never the story), monthly drawing counts, daily counts of new readings (deleted after two days), the date of the first reading | Analytics, cost control | Yes |
| Learning evidence | Judgments and numbers such as time spent on each section, how often you looked things up, whether you read to the end, the level and number of mistakes in answers you wrote or spoke, and dictation accuracy (no text or words included) | App functionality (matching text difficulty, showing your level and persona), Analytics | Yes |
| Name | The name the persona story calls you by. It exists only if you typed one | App functionality (the greeting at the top of the story) | Yes |
| Email address | The address Apple shares when you sign in (a relay address if you chose Hide My Email), and the address you enter on the checkout page when you buy Pro on the Mac | App functionality (your account, receipts and subscription notices) | Yes |
| Coarse location | Country and city that PostHog estimates from your IP address | Analytics | Yes |
| Crash data | Where the app stopped when it closed unexpectedly, with the device model and OS version | App functionality (finding and fixing crashes) | Yes |
| Photos or videos | The one picture you choose to share to KakaoTalk (a streak, persona or level card, or a drawing) | App functionality (the share message) | No |
Not collected · phone number, address, precise location, contacts, photo library, health or fitness data, payment details (card details for web purchases on the Mac go only to Stripe), advertising identifier (IDFA).
We do not track you for advertising. This app contains no advertising, does not read the advertising identifier, and does not combine the data above with data collected from other companies' apps or websites, nor share it with data brokers.
5. Processors and international transfer
| Processor | Data transferred | Purpose | Processed in | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare, Inc. | The word looked up, language setting, IP address; for drawing requests, the account identifier and a monthly count; for reading requests, the account or installation identifier and that day's count of new readings and the date of the first one; for feedback requests, the sentence you wrote and the account identifier; picture ratings (Like or Dislike, the reason, and anything written under Other), the link or text for a reading, and the passage, question, and answer when you ask or answer while reading; the reading titles, fields, saved words, answers, the summary of learning habits and the previous persona story sent to write the persona story or to find what draws you in a field | Routing and caching definition, drawing, sentence-feedback, reading, question-and-answer, persona-story and field requests, rate limiting, cost control, the daily reading allowance | United States | For the life of the cache; drawing counts until deletion is requested, reading counts for two days, the date of the first reading until deletion is requested (sentences, readings, questions, answers, persona story and field material, and IP not stored) |
| Google LLC | The word looked up, language setting, the sentence submitted for feedback, the text for a reading, the passage, question, and answer when you ask or answer while reading, the reading titles, saved words and answers sent to find what draws you in a field | Generating meanings and examples, drawing word pictures, correcting sentences, rewriting readings, answering questions, finding what draws you in a field | United States | Per Google's API policy |
| OpenAI, L.L.C. | The reading titles, fields, saved words, answers and the summary of learning habits sent to write the persona story, and the previous persona story when a new one is written (the name is not sent) | Writing the persona story | United States | Per OpenAI's API policy |
| RevenueCat, Inc. | Installation identifier, account identifier once signed in, purchase records, the email address you enter for a web purchase on the Mac | Verifying subscription status, restoring purchases, running the Mac checkout page and subscription management, sending receipts and subscription notices | United States | Until the end of our agreement |
| Stripe Payments Canada, Ltd. | The email address, card details, billing country and postal code, payment amount, currency and date, and IP address of a web purchase on the Mac | Processing web payments on the Mac, preventing fraud | Canada, United States | As long as payment and tax laws require |
| PostHog, Inc. | Installation identifier, account identifier once signed in, usage records, screen recordings, approximate location estimated from IP (country and city), diagnostic records when the app closes unexpectedly | Product usage analysis, finding and fixing crashes | United States | Up to 1 year from collection |
| Supabase, Inc. | The pairing of account identifier and installation identifier, and the email address Apple shares at sign-in. The notebook, ink, review history, your own sentences, readings, answers and when they will be asked again, learning evidence, persona stories with your answers on whether they sound like you, and the name you typed, kept while signed in | Sign-in, storing the notebook, readings, learning evidence, persona stories and name | Korea (Seoul) | Until the account is deleted |
| Kakao Corp. | The one shared picture and the message text | Creating the KakaoTalk share message | Korea | Per Kakao's policy |
Separately from these processors, the YouTube captions in 2-⑨ and the listening practice player in 2-⑪ connect this device directly to YouTube (Google LLC, United States). What YouTube receives over this connection is governed by Google's privacy policy.
Data handled by the US and Canadian processors is transferred out of Korea, and using the app means agreeing to that transfer. Sign-in and the storage of your notebook, readings and answers are processed in the Korea (Seoul) region. Note, however, that a drawing request under 2-② carries the sign-in credential with it, so the account identifier and the monthly count of drawings also rest on Cloudflare's servers in the United States. The daily count of new readings under 2-⑨ also rests there for two days, and the date of your first reading until you ask for its deletion.
6. Retention and deletion
- Deleting the app deletes the notebook, the ink, the sentences you wrote, readings, answers written after reading, learning evidence, and the settings stored on this device. If you were signed out there is no copy on the server, so there is no way to recover them. If you were signed in, the copy described in 2-⑤ remains, and signing in again with the same Apple account brings your notebook, readings and answers back.
- Either way, files you created with Export remain.
- Persona stories and your answers on whether they sound like you (2-⑫) are also kept with your account while you are signed in, until you delete the account or ask for their deletion. Signing out or deleting the app erases them from this device, and they come back when you sign in again with the same account.
- What draws you in each Knowledge field (2-⑫) lives on this device only, and is deleted when you sign out or delete the app.
- Signing out erases your readings, the answers you wrote after reading, your learning evidence and the list of words you passed while reading from this device, along with the notebook. Your readings and answers remain in the account copy and come back when you sign in again.
- The installation identifier survives deletion of the app, in this device's Keychain. That is why a subscription you already paid for can be restored after reinstalling. Erasing the device removes it.
- Purchase records remain with Apple and RevenueCat (and Stripe, for web purchases on the Mac) after deletion. They are required for purchase restoration to work on reinstall, and are kept for as long as tax and refund handling requires.
- Meanings and drawings are keyed on the word alone, belong to no individual user, and are replaced or removed when they need refreshing.
- The monthly drawing count described in 2-② and the date of your first reading described in 2-⑨ remain under their random identifier after the account is deleted. After deletion they correspond to no account. Write to the address under "Contact" if you would like them removed as well, and we will delete them.
7. Your rights
You may request access to, correction of, deletion of, or a halt to the processing of your personal data. Contact us at the address below and we will act on it.
- Settings ▸ Account ▸ Delete account in the app immediately deletes the pairing of account and installation identifiers, the email address, and the notebook, ink, review history, readings, answers, learning evidence, and persona stories with your answers on them held on our server, and erases the copy left on this device. This cannot be undone.
- Deleting your account does not cancel your subscription. An App Store subscription can only be cancelled by Apple, so please cancel it separately under Settings ▸ Manage subscription.
- If you never signed in, your notebook and ink are on this device only, so deleting a word in the app or deleting the app destroys them immediately.
- To have usage records, screen recordings and diagnostic records deleted, write to us. We will tell you how to find your installation identifier and then delete the corresponding records.
- Purchase records can be deleted once any legally required retention period has passed.
8. Safeguards
- All traffic leaving the device is encrypted with HTTPS.
- The installation identifier is stored in the Keychain of iOS or macOS.
- Notebooks, readings, answers, learning evidence and persona stories held on the server are separated by per-account access policies, so an account can read and write only its own rows.
- Drawings are generated only for requests carrying a verified sign-in credential, and the storage bucket stays private, with pictures served through a fixed address.
- Access to personal data is limited to the developer.
9. Children
Scribo is not directed to children under 14. We neither ask for nor collect age.
10. Changes to this policy
If what we collect or transmit changes, this document is amended first, and an app update carrying the change follows. The effective date above tells you what changed and when.
11. The scribo.cc website
This policy also applies to the website scribo.cc.
- The website has no sign-in and no forms, and it does not use cookies. The only thing it keeps in your browser is a note that you closed the language suggestion.
- We use Cloudflare Web Analytics to count visits. The address of the page you viewed, where you came from, your browser and device type, your country, and how long the page took to load are sent to Cloudflare, Inc. (United States).
- These records carry no cookies or device identifiers, so they cannot recognize you or link your visit to other visits or to your use of the app. Your IP address is discarded where it is received and is not stored.
12. Contact
If you have questions about this policy or about how your data is handled, please get in touch.
- Data protection officer · Dain Jung (independent developer)
- Email · scriboteam26@gmail.com
Users in the Republic of Korea may also raise a complaint with the Korea Internet & Security Agency's Privacy Infringement Report Center (privacy.kisa.or.kr, 118) or the Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee (kopico.go.kr, 1833-6972).
