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Last updated: April 23, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how the Author project ("we", "us", "our") handles your data when you use the cloud synchronization service and the official web version. We are committed to respecting your privacy and being transparent about our data practices.
In short: We don't read your creative works, we don't sell your data, and we collect only what's necessary to provide sync and basic web usage statistics.
When you create an account, we collect:
- Email address (for email/password registration)
- Google account profile (name and email, for Google Sign-In)
- User ID (automatically generated by Firebase Authentication)
When you use cloud sync, the following data is stored:
- Your creative works (novels, chapters, outlines, worldbuilding entries, etc.)
- Application settings and preferences
- AI conversation history (if cloud sync is enabled for it)
On the official web version, we may collect basic aggregate usage statistics through Firebase Analytics and Vercel Analytics, such as page views, approximate device/browser information, and referrer information. We do not use these statistics to read your creative content, API keys, AI conversations, or synced documents.
- Device hardware identifiers
- IP address logs (beyond what Firebase automatically processes)
- Detailed behavioral tracking unrelated to aggregate web usage statistics
- Keystroke or input telemetry
Your data is used exclusively for:
- Providing cloud synchronization between your devices
- Authenticating your identity to protect your account
- Enforcing our Terms of Service (only in cases of severe violations)
We do NOT use your data for:
- Training AI models
- Advertising or marketing
- Selling to third parties
- Individual user profiling or advertising-oriented behavioral analysis
- All synced data is stored in Google Cloud Firestore (Google Cloud Platform infrastructure).
- Data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest (Google-managed encryption).
- Access to your data is isolated by your user ID — no other user can read or write your data.
- We use Firebase Security Rules to enforce strict data isolation at the database level.
- We do not proactively, routinely, or systematically read or review your creative content. Your works are your private property, and privacy is our default.
- We may access or review specific account data only under the following circumstances:
- Legal obligation: When required by law, a valid court order, or a binding government directive
- User reports: When we receive a credible report from another user or a third party alleging that specific content violates Section 5 of our Terms of Service (Prohibited Content). In such cases, we reserve the right to conduct a targeted review limited to the reported content for the sole purpose of determining whether a violation has occurred
- Automated system alerts: If we deploy automated content safety measures in the future (e.g., structural pattern detection, hash-matching against known illegal material databases), and such a system flags specific content, we reserve the right to conduct a targeted human review of the flagged content only to verify the alert and take appropriate enforcement action
- Scope limitation: Any data access under conditions 2 or 3 above will be:
- Targeted: Limited exclusively to the specific content under investigation — we will not browse, search, or review unrelated works
- Purpose-bound: Conducted solely to determine compliance with our Terms of Service
- Minimized: Performed by the fewest number of authorized personnel necessary
- Documented: Internally logged for accountability
- If an investigation confirms a zero-tolerance violation (as defined in our Terms of Service, Sections 5.1–5.2), we may preserve relevant evidence and share it with law enforcement as required by applicable law
The Author application may interact with the following third-party services:
- Firebase Authentication (Google) — for account management
- Cloud Firestore (Google) — for data storage
- Firebase Analytics / Vercel Analytics — for aggregate web usage statistics on the official web version
- AI API providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, etc.) — for AI-powered writing features
When you use AI features, your prompts and context are sent to the selected AI provider according to their privacy policies. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of the AI providers you use.
If you use your own API keys, AI requests are sent directly from your device to the provider — we have no access to or logs of these requests.
- Your data is retained as long as your account is active.
- If you delete your account, all associated data will be permanently deleted from our systems.
- We do not maintain backups of individual user data beyond Firebase's standard operational infrastructure.
You have the right to:
- Access your data (all synced data is visible within the application)
- Export your data (Author supports exporting to multiple formats)
- Delete your data (via account deletion or manual removal within the app)
- Opt out of cloud sync entirely (Author works fully offline with local storage)
If you self-host Author using your own infrastructure, this Privacy Policy does not apply. Self-hosted operators are responsible for their own data handling practices and privacy policies.
Author's cloud sync service is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we discover that we have inadvertently collected such information, we will delete it promptly.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected in the "Last updated" date above. Continued use of the cloud sync service after changes constitutes acceptance.
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please open an issue on the Author GitHub repository.
This Privacy Policy applies only to the cloud synchronization service operated by the Author project team. The open-source software itself does not collect or transmit any data when used offline or self-hosted.