Privacy Policy

Last updated: 31 August 2026

This Privacy Policy describes how Type Shifter ("the Application", "we", "us", or "our") handles information when you use our text transformation service, across the Windows desktop app, the Android app, and the web app. We are committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about our practices, including being clear about the small number of features that are exceptions to our local-first design.

1. Information We Do NOT Collect

We want to be clear about what we do NOT collect, regardless of which plan or platform you use:

• Your Documents, in the core app: Type Shifter's core features (reading, formatting, Bionic Reading, Listen, OCR, and Windows Offline Translate) process your text entirely on your device. We only ever see document text through cross-device library sync, which is active on licensed devices, or through the AI Tools add-on. Both are described in Sections 1c and 1d.
• Usage Analytics: We do not track how you use the Application, what features you access, or how long you spend using it.
• Location Data: We do not collect or track your geographical location.
• Phone Numbers or Names: We never ask for, collect, or store your name or phone number.

1a. The One Piece of Information We Do Collect: Your Email Address

To start the 14-day free trial of the web app, we ask for your email address. This is the only personal data we collect, and we collect it for one reason: to manage the trial period fairly. Specifically:

• What we store: Your email address, the date your trial started, a hashed (one-way) fingerprint of your IP address, and your browser's user-agent string. Nothing else.
• Why we store it: So the same email cannot start a fresh trial repeatedly by clearing browser data. Each email is allowed one 14-day trial.
• Where it lives: In our Cloudflare D1 database (hosted in the EU/UK region). It is not shared with third parties.
• How long we keep it: For as long as the Application exists, or until you ask us to delete it. Email us at [email protected] to request deletion at any time.
• Marketing emails: We may occasionally email you product updates, new features, or relevant news. Every email includes an unsubscribe link. You can opt out at any time and your trial will not be affected.

If you purchase a Premium licence, your email address is also recorded by Stripe for payment receipts and licence delivery (see Section 4).

1b. Request Deletion of Your Data

You can ask us to permanently delete the email address and trial record we hold on you at any time. We honour every request within 30 days, in line with our UK GDPR obligations.

How to request deletion:

1. Email [email protected] with the subject line "Delete my data".
2. Send the email from the same address you used to start your trial. That is how we identify the record to remove.
3. You will receive a confirmation when the deletion is complete (within 30 days, usually much sooner).

Deletion is permanent. After your record is removed, that email address becomes eligible for a fresh 14-day trial. If you have an active Premium licence and want to keep it, please let us know in the same email. We can keep the licence record while removing the rest.

You can also clear all local data at any time without contacting us:

• Web app: clear your browser's site data for typeshifter.com (Settings → Privacy → Clear browsing data → cookies and site data for this site).
• Android app: Settings → Apps → Type Shifter → Storage → Clear data, or simply uninstall the app.
• Desktop app: uninstall via your operating system's standard removal flow.

Clearing local data removes the trial state from your device but does not delete the record we hold on our server. For that, email us as above.

1c. Cross-Device Library Sync (Licensed Devices)

Cross-device library sync lets your documents, reading position, and highlights follow you between the Windows app, Android app, and web app. It is included with the Premium licence and runs automatically once you activate a licence on a device. It does not run during the free trial, or on any device where a licence has not been activated: on those, everything stays on your device.

• What we store: For each document you add to My Library, a full copy, including the original file and its formatting as well as the extracted text. We also store your reading position, highlights, and notes for that document.
• Storage limits: Up to 250MB of synced content across up to 3 devices per licence.
• Where it lives: Our Cloudflare D1 database and R2 storage, both hosted in the EU/UK region. It is not shared with third parties beyond Cloudflare acting as our hosting infrastructure provider.
• How long we keep it: For as long as your licence is active, or until you delete the document from My Library, or ask us to delete your synced content.
• Deleting a document: Deleting an item from My Library removes our stored copy of it, and also removes it from your other signed-in devices, since that is how sync is designed to work.
• Stopping sync, or removing everything: There is currently no in-app switch to turn sync off. If you would like sync disabled for your licence, or all of your synced content permanently removed from our servers, email [email protected] and we will action it within 30 days.

1d. AI Tools Add-On (Optional Subscription)

The AI Tools add-on (Summarize, Translate, Simplify, Ask a Question, Flashcards, OCR Cleanup, and Describe Images) is the other exception to local-first processing. It is only used when you actively click one of these tools, and requires a separate monthly subscription on top of your licence.

• What is sent: The relevant document text (or portion of it), and, for Ask a Question, your typed question. For Describe Images, the images you're asking to be described.
• Who processes it: We use a third-party AI provider (OpenAI) to generate the response. The request is sent via OpenAI's standard API, not their consumer chat products.
• Training use: Under OpenAI's API terms, data submitted through the API is not used to train their models by default. We do not separately use your document text or questions to train any model of our own.
• Retention: We do not store the document text or questions you send to AI Tools on our own servers beyond what's needed to return the response to you. Our AI provider may retain API data briefly for abuse monitoring, under their own retention policy.
• Usage records we do keep: A count of how many times you've used each tool this month, against your licence ID, so we can enforce your plan's monthly allowance. We do not keep the content of what you summarised, translated, or asked.
• Offline Translate is different: The Windows-only Offline Translate feature is not part of AI Tools. It runs entirely on your device via a local translation engine and never sends any text anywhere.

1e. Credits, Your Own OpenAI Key, and Invites

These three are part of how AI Tools are paid for. None of them changes what is sent to our AI provider when you use a tool, which is described in Section 1d.

• Credits: If a tool's monthly allowance runs out, you can buy credits and spend them on individual uses. We keep your credit balance and a record of each change to it (bought, spent on which tool, or refunded when a request failed), against your licence ID. We do not keep the content of anything you spent a credit on.
• Your own OpenAI key (Windows desktop): You can choose to run some AI tools on your own OpenAI account instead of ours. Your key is encrypted and stored by your own computer, is never shown again after you save it, and is never sent to us. When a tool runs on your key, the text goes from your computer straight to OpenAI under your account: it does not pass through our servers, we never see it, and we keep no usage count for it. Your agreement about that text is then with OpenAI, under their terms, not ours. Removing the key in the app deletes it from your computer.
• Invites: If you ask for an invite link, we create a short code for your licence. When someone uses it, we store a one-way hash of their device ID and of their IP address, and, on the web, their trial email address. We store these hashes only to stop the same person claiming the offer repeatedly; they are not reversible and we do not use them to identify anyone or to build a profile. We also record whether an invite has been rewarded, so that a reward is paid once. Your invite link is shown only when you ask for it, and is never added to a share file unless you turn that on yourself.
• Payments: Credit packs and subscriptions are handled by Stripe, as described in Section 4.

1f. Pictures: Stock Photos, AI Pictures and Icons

Type Shifter can put a picture into a document or a creation in three ways. None of them happens unless you ask for it.

• Stock photos: When you search for a photo, the words you type are sent through our server to Pexels, our stock photo provider, and the results come back to you. We cache the results of a search for 24 hours so that the same search doesn't have to be sent again; we do not keep a record of who searched for what. The photo you choose is downloaded through our server and resized on your device before it is added. Every photo keeps its photographer, the place it came from and its licence, and those travel with it into your exports.
• Pictures made by AI: The description you type is sent to OpenAI to generate the picture, in the same way as the other AI Tools (Section 1d). The picture comes straight back to you; we do not store it or the description. These pictures are paid for with credits, and are captioned as AI-generated unless you turn that off.
• Icons: The icon set is bundled with the app (Lucide, ISC licence). Searching and inserting an icon happens entirely on your device and sends nothing anywhere.

1g. Audio and Video

Type Shifter can read a document to you as a discussion between two voices, and can make a narrated video of a set of slides. In both cases only text is ever sent to us.

• What is sent: For an audio overview, the relevant parts of your document go to our AI provider to write the script, exactly as in Section 1d. For a video, the slide titles and points go the same way if you ask for the narration to be written for you; if you write it yourself, or use your own speaker notes, nothing is sent at all.
• The audio and video themselves are made on your device. The voices are the ones installed in the app, and the recording is assembled on your computer. We never receive, store or process the audio or the video, and neither does our AI provider.
• Bilingual reading uses a translation that is already saved on your device, so turning it on sends nothing.

1h. Sending and Receiving Documents (Kindle, Your Inbox, Cloud Storage)

These features move a document between Type Shifter and somewhere else. Each one happens only when you ask for it.

• Send to Kindle: the EPUB is built on your device and passed through us to Amazon as an email attachment. It is held in memory for the length of that request and is not written to any store or log. We record only that a send happened, so we can count it against your monthly allowance. What Amazon then does with the file is covered by your agreement with Amazon.
• Sharing with people you trust: if you link with somebody, we store the fact that two licences are linked, and the date. We do not store either person's name, and the name you give somebody in the app is kept on your own computer and never sent to us. A document you send waits in the other person's inbox until they import it, and is then deleted, as anything else in the inbox is. We do not record whether a document you sent was imported, opened or read, and there is no way for you or for us to find out. Either of you can remove the link at any time, without the other's agreement; anything still waiting is deleted with it. Sharing is for people over 18: we ask once, store only your answer, and never ask for a date of birth.
• Your inbox: a page you save with the browser extension is stored by us until you import it, or for 30 days, whichever comes first — then it is deleted, file and record together. Importing deletes our copy at once. We store the page, its file name, the address it came from and the dates.
• Cloud storage: when you connect Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or Notion, the sign-in happens in your own browser and the resulting token is encrypted and stored on your device by your operating system. We never receive or store it. The requests to list, open and save files are made by the app on your computer, directly to that service — your files do not pass through us. The one exception is Notion, which will not complete a sign-in without a secret that cannot live inside an app: that one exchange passes through our server, which hands the token straight back to your device and stores nothing. Nothing is synchronised or watched: a file is read when you open it and written when you save it.
• Reference lookups: adding a reference by DOI, ISBN or web address sends just that identifier or address — to Crossref, Open Library, or the page itself. Your document is not sent. "Find references in this document" sends the selected reference list to our AI provider exactly as in Section 1d.

1i. The Browser Extension

The Type Shifter extension for Chrome and Edge is optional, and separate from the app.

• What it can read: it asks for no permission to read websites. It reads the page you are looking at only when you press its button, choose its menu item or use its shortcut — that page, that once. It has no access to your other tabs, your history or your browsing.
• Reading view: finding the article and restyling it happens entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, and nothing about what you read is recorded.
• Saving a page: when you choose to save one, the page's text, its title and its address are sent to us and placed in your inbox, where they are deleted as soon as the app imports them, or after 30 days. Scripts, forms, trackers and embedded media are removed before anything is sent.
• How it is connected: a short code from the app is exchanged, once, for a key held only in that browser. The key can do one thing: save a page. It cannot read your library, your licence or your account, it does not count as one of your devices, and you can disconnect it in the app or in the extension at any time.

2. Information Stored Locally on Your Device

Type Shifter stores minimal data in your browser to provide core functionality. This data never leaves your device:

• Trial/Premium Status: Your trial start date and licence key (if any) are stored in three places in your browser: localStorage, IndexedDB, and a cookie. This redundancy is intentional, so that clearing one of them does not let the trial be restarted.
• Recent File Names: The names (not contents) of your last 5 processed files are stored for your convenience, allowing quick access to recent work. File contents are never stored.
• Preference Settings: Your customisation preferences (such as Bionic Reading intensity, light/dark theme choice, and custom font selections) may be stored to maintain your settings between sessions.

You can clear this locally stored data at any time through your browser settings, but doing so will not extend your trial: the trial date is also recorded against your email on our server.

3. Third-Party Services (Sub-processors)

These are every outside company that may handle data on our behalf, what they see, and where. Anything not listed here does not receive your data from us.

The voices, the speech recognition, OCR, Offline Translate, spelling and every reading feature run on your own device and send nothing to anyone.

3a. How Long We Keep Things

• Your licence record: for as long as the licence exists, so it can be validated and restored.
• Your email address: until you ask us to delete it (Section 1b).
• Synced library content: until you delete the document, turn sync off, or delete your data.
• Inbox items (saved pages, and documents people share with you): until you import them, or 30 days, whichever comes first. Importing deletes our copy immediately.
• Links between people: until either person removes the link. Nothing is kept afterwards.
• AI requests: not kept. The text is sent, the answer comes back, and neither is stored. We record only how many requests a licence has made this month, so allowances work.
• Documents sent to a Kindle: held in memory for the length of the request, never written down.
• Connections (browser extension, Word, Google Docs): until you disconnect them or revoke them in the app.
• Web page fetches: we keep a one-way hash of the IP address for an hour, to enforce the rate limit. Not the address itself, and not the page.
• Logs: Cloudflare's own request logs, per its retention, which do not contain document content.

4. Payment Processing

When you purchase a Premium licence, or subscribe to the AI Tools add-on, payment is processed securely through Stripe. We do not receive, store, or have access to your full payment card details. Stripe also manages recurring billing for AI Tools subscriptions and provides a self-service billing portal where you can update payment details or cancel. Please refer to Stripe's privacy policy for information on how they handle your payment information.

5. Data Security

For the core app (reading, formatting, Listen, OCR, Offline Translate), your documents remain on your device at all times: they are never uploaded to our servers, so there is nothing for us to lose. The personal data we do store, your email address and trial date (Section 1a), and, if you hold a licence, your synced library content (Section 1c), sits in Cloudflare's infrastructure, protected by Cloudflare's standard security measures, including encryption in transit.

AI Tools requests (Section 1d) are sent over an encrypted connection to our AI provider and are not stored by us beyond generating your response.

For locally stored data (trial status, recent files), security depends on your device and browser security. We recommend keeping your browser updated and using appropriate device security measures.

6. Children's Privacy

Type Shifter is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect any information from children.

7. International Users

Type Shifter is available internationally. Most processing occurs locally on your device. The exceptions are cross-device library sync, which is active on licensed devices, and the AI Tools add-on, which is used when you choose it. Where those features apply, your data may be processed by service providers (such as our AI processing provider or hosting infrastructure) whose servers are not always located in your own country, including potentially outside the UK/EU. Where this happens, we rely on our providers' own compliance mechanisms for international transfers, such as Standard Contractual Clauses, as offered by that provider.

8. Your Rights (GDPR/UK GDPR)

If you are located in the European Union or United Kingdom, you have certain rights under data protection laws regarding the personal data we hold: your trial email record (Section 1a), and, if applicable, your synced library content (Section 1c) or AI Tools usage counts (Section 1d):

• Right to Access: Email [email protected] from the address you registered with, and we will tell you what we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: Email us to correct any details we hold.
• Right to Erasure: Email us to delete your trial record and any synced library content. We will remove it within 30 days.
• Right to Object to Marketing: Use the unsubscribe link in any email, or email us directly.
• Right to Object to AI Processing: AI Tools are opt-in per use, simply don't click them. You can also cancel the AI Tools subscription at any time via the billing portal.
• Right to Data Portability: We will export your trial record, synced library content, and AI Tools usage counts on request.

9. California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act provides you with rights over the limited personal information described in this policy (your trial email, and, if applicable, synced library content or AI Tools usage counts). We do not sell or share your personal information with third parties for their own marketing purposes. To exercise your CCPA rights, email [email protected].

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will indicate the date of the latest revision at the top of this policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:

[email protected]

We will respond to your enquiry as soon as reasonably possible.