PaperMode Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-07-11

PaperMode helps you replace distracting app use with reading. This policy explains what information PaperMode handles, what stays on your device, and what may be sent to services we use to run the app.

Information Stored on Your Device

PaperMode stores most reading data locally on your device, including:

• Reading progress.
• Reading sessions and daily page counts.
• Highlights.
• Imported PDFs, EPUBs, articles, extracted text, markdown, covers, and outlines.
• Reader preferences such as font, margins, theme, and recap processing preferences.
• Screen Time configuration needed to apply shields, including Apple's Family Controls selection tokens.

PaperMode does not use Apple's Screen Time APIs to see the names of all apps on your device or inspect your app usage or browsing history. You manually choose which apps or categories PaperMode should help pause through Apple's picker. This is separate from an article URL that you choose to submit for import, as described below.

Information We May Collect

Account Information

Because a PaperMode account and sign-in are required to use the app, PaperMode processes account information such as:

• Email address.
• Account identifier.
• Sign-in provider, such as Apple, Google, or email magic link.

We use this to authenticate you and authorize features that require the PaperMode backend (Supabase Auth).

Product Analytics

PaperMode offers optional product analytics through PostHog. Analytics are off until you choose to enable them. You can withdraw that choice at any time in PaperMode settings; doing so stops future analytics collection from that device.

If you opt in, PostHog uses a pseudonymous identifier generated for the app installation or device to distinguish activity over time. PaperMode does not identify that PostHog profile with your PaperMode account, email address, imported content, or selected Screen Time apps.

Analytics events are intended to be coarse product events, such as:

• App opened or backgrounded.
• Onboarding step viewed or completed.
• Import started, completed, cancelled, or failed.
• Reader opened.
• Page-read count events.
• Reading goal completed.
• Highlight created or deleted.
• Screen Time setup started, completed, skipped, or failed.
• Recap started, completed, opened, closed, or discarded.

We do not intentionally send PostHog:

• Selected app names.
• App bundle identifiers.
• Book text.
• Highlight text.
• Imported URLs.
• Imported book titles or authors.
• Email addresses.
• Personal API keys.

PostHog analytics are not used for targeted advertising, cross-app tracking, or data broker sharing. Analytics records are retained only while they remain reasonably useful for understanding product operation and trends, investigating reliability or security issues, and meeting applicable legal obligations. Retention is reviewed against those purposes and the controls available from PostHog.

Feedback and Diagnostics

If you choose to send feedback, PaperMode sends your feedback category and message to its Supabase backend together with your PaperMode account identifier, app version, build number, and iOS version. We use this information to respond to feedback, investigate problems, improve PaperMode, and protect the support service from misuse.

Purchases and Subscriptions

PaperMode uses RevenueCat to manage subscriptions, purchase restores, subscription status, and premium entitlements. RevenueCat may process purchase history, subscription status, App Store transaction information, RevenueCat customer identifiers, and the PaperMode account identifier.

PaperMode uses this information to unlock premium features such as additional imports. It is not used for targeted advertising or cross-app tracking.

Cloud Summaries and Article Import

Some features may send content to PaperMode's backend (Supabase Edge Functions):

• If you choose cloud summaries, PaperMode may send selected reading context and prompts through a Supabase Edge Function to Google Gemini. The generated response returns through the same backend.
• If you import an article by URL, PaperMode may send the URL you submitted to a Supabase Edge Function. Server-side extraction may use Browserbase and readability tooling to fetch the page and convert it into readable text.
• If automated text cleanup is used for an imported article, article text may be sent through the PaperMode backend to Google Gemini for formatting or cleanup.

Before PaperMode sends reading content to a third-party cloud processing provider, it explains the transfer and asks for your explicit permission. You can decline and continue using basic reading and Screen Time features. You can withdraw permission in PaperMode settings to stop future cloud processing requests. Withdrawing permission does not recall requests that were already processed.

Submitting an article URL is an instruction to PaperMode and its extraction providers to retrieve that URL for you. Do not use cloud summaries or article import for content you do not want processed by these services.

Third-Party Services

PaperMode may use:

• Supabase, for authentication, backend functions, feedback storage, and authorized server requests.
• RevenueCat, for subscriptions, purchase restores, and premium entitlement checks.
• PostHog, for optional product analytics.
• Google Gemini, for cloud summaries or text processing after you grant permission.
• Browserbase or server-side article extraction tooling, for fetching and extracting user-submitted article URLs.
• Apple services, including Family Controls, DeviceActivity, ManagedSettings, notifications, Sign in with Apple, and App Store services.

PaperMode requires service providers that receive personal information from PaperMode to protect it to the same or an equivalent standard as described in this policy and applicable Apple requirements. They process information only for the contracted purposes needed to provide PaperMode functionality, optional analytics, authentication, support, payments, or app distribution, subject to their own legal retention obligations.

What We Do Not Do

PaperMode does not sell your personal information.

PaperMode does not use your data for targeted advertising.

PaperMode does not share your data with data brokers.

PaperMode does not currently use PostHog session replay. Session replay remains off by default and cannot be enabled by a remote flag alone.

PaperMode does not intentionally collect the text of your highlights, selected app names, app bundle identifiers, imported URLs, or book contents for product analytics.

Screen Time and Family Controls

PaperMode uses Apple's Family Controls, DeviceActivity, and ManagedSettings frameworks to let you choose apps or categories to pause and to apply shields when configured limits are reached.

The selected app or category tokens are stored in the app group storage needed by the app and its extensions. PaperMode uses those tokens to apply shields. PaperMode does not resolve those tokens into app names for analytics.

Data Retention and Deletion

Local reading data stays on your device until you delete it, clear it in the app, or uninstall PaperMode.

Account and backend data is retained while your account is active and as needed to provide the feature for which it was collected. Feedback and related diagnostics are retained while reasonably useful for handling the report, improving reliability, preventing abuse, or meeting legal obligations. Purchase and subscription records may be retained by Apple, RevenueCat, or PaperMode where needed for transaction administration, fraud prevention, tax, accounting, dispute handling, or other legal obligations.

You can initiate deletion of your PaperMode account from the account settings inside the app. PaperMode will ask you to confirm the request and may require you to reauthenticate. The deletion flow will state the expected completion timing if deletion cannot be completed immediately.

Account deletion removes the PaperMode authentication account and associated PaperMode backend records that are not required to be retained by law. PaperMode also requests deletion or disassociation of the corresponding RevenueCat customer record where permitted. Records in backups may remain until those backups are replaced through the service provider's normal backup cycle, and records that must be retained for legal, security, fraud-prevention, accounting, or dispute purposes are kept only for those purposes.

If you used Sign in with Apple, PaperMode will request revocation of the Sign in with Apple authorization where supported. Apple may retain information under its own policies, and you can also manage apps using your Apple ID from Apple account settings.

Deleting your PaperMode account or deleting the app does not cancel an App Store subscription. Subscriptions remain managed by Apple until you cancel them in your Apple account settings. For help with an account deletion request, contact eperkowski56@gmail.com.

Children's Privacy

PaperMode is not intended for children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information to PaperMode, contact us so we can review and delete it if appropriate.

Changes

We may update this policy as PaperMode changes. The updated policy will show a new "Last updated" date.

Contact

Questions or deletion requests: eperkowski56@gmail.com