Privacy policy
The short version: PrivateScan collects nothing. Your scans are processed and stored on your device. The app has no servers, no accounts, no analytics and no tracking. The only ways a document leaves your device are the ones you start: sharing it, exporting it, the optional iCloud sync you turn on (your own private iCloud, not us), and the device backups you keep with Apple or on your computer, which include the app's documents like any other app's. The one thing the app downloads on its own is the smart naming model for premium users, which carries none of your documents; clause 6 says exactly when and from where.
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What we collect
Nothing
PrivateScan does not collect, sell or share any personal data. Your documents, recognized text, searches and activity leave your device only through the things you start yourself: sharing, exporting, the iCloud sync you turn on, or the device backups you keep. There is no sign up, no account, no analytics service, no advertising framework and no tracking of any kind. We cannot see what you scan, because none of it ever reaches us. The only connection the app opens without you starting it is the model download described in clause 6.
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Where your documents live
On your device
Scans, thumbnails and recognized text are stored in the app's private storage on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. On iPhone and iPad, files are protected with iOS data protection, which keeps them encrypted while the device is locked. On a Mac, the files sit in the app's own container, and protecting them at rest is FileVault's job: turn it on in System Settings. If you enable the optional app lock, opening PrivateScan also asks for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode (the device needs a passcode set; reopening within a few seconds of unlocking does not ask again). Biometric checks are handled by the system; the app never sees your biometric data.
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Optional iCloud sync
Off by default, and always yours
You can turn on iCloud sync in Settings to keep documents available across your devices. When enabled, documents are stored in your personal, private iCloud database operated by Apple and protected by your Apple Account. We run no servers and have no ability to read what you sync. Leave the toggle off and nothing is synced anywhere. Switching document sync on or off takes effect after you quit and reopen PrivateScan; until then the previous setting stays active. Documents already synced stay in your iCloud until you delete them.
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Camera and photos
Used only to scan
The camera is used to capture documents when you scan. Photo library access is used only when you choose to import images, using the system picker that shares only the photos you select. If you save an export to your photo library, the system asks for permission to add photos first.
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Text recognition
On your device, even offline
Text recognition uses Apple's Vision framework running locally on your device. Recognized text is stored alongside the document on your device so you can search your scans. It goes nowhere unless you share or export the document, sync it through your own iCloud, or back up your device.
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The optional naming model
Downloaded, then it runs on your device
Smart naming, a premium feature, uses a small language model that runs entirely on your device. The model is not built into the app. On iPhone and iPad, once premium is unlocked, the app fetches it on its own when the device can run it and has at least 4 GB free. The small first request that looks up the model can use any connection, including cellular data. The app's own model download refuses cellular and metered connections; if some model files turn out to be missing when naming runs, the app fetches them then, over whatever connection you have; on a Mac the app never downloads it automatically, you start the download from Settings. Delete the model in Settings and the app will not fetch it again unless you ask. The model sits in the app's cache, which the system may clear when storage runs low; after that, a launch that meets the same conditions fetches it again. The files come from Hugging Face, the public site that hosts the model. That download carries none of your documents and nothing about your scans, but like any download it shows Hugging Face your IP address and ordinary connection details, which its own privacy policy covers. The model download sends no document contents.
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Crash reports
Stored on your device
If the app crashes, Apple's MetricKit framework produces a diagnostic report. PrivateScan saves that report on your device, under the same protection as your scans, and keeps at most the twenty most recent. PrivateScan does not send these reports to us. Device backups can include them like any app data, and you can share one with us by email if you want help; that choice is entirely yours.
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Purchases
Handled by Apple
Premium features are unlocked with a single purchase processed by the App Store. Apple handles the payment; we never receive your name, payment details or any personal information from the transaction.
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Sharing and exporting
Only when you choose
Exporting a PDF, sharing a scan, or saving to Files or iCloud Drive happens only when you start it. Where a shared document goes is up to you, and whatever service receives it is governed by that service's own policies. Device backups (iCloud Backup, or a backup to your computer) include PrivateScan's documents the same way they include every app's data, whatever the app's own sync setting; that is your device's setting, not the app's.
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Children
No data from anyone, including children
PrivateScan is not directed at children, and because the app collects no data at all, it collects no data from children.
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Changes to this policy
Posted here, dated clearly
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted at this address with an updated effective date. Because the app collects nothing, changes are expected to be rare.
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Contact
Talk to a person
Questions about privacy or anything else: support@freedom-terminal.com.