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Desktop app privacy · Effective October 20, 2026

OpenReader Desktop keeps your library on your computer.

This policy covers OpenReader Desktop for macOS, Windows, and Linux, published by Richard Roberson on the OpenReader GitHub project.

  • No data collection
  • No account with us
  • No analytics or telemetry
  • Runs on your computer

At a glance

  1. 01What we collectNothing.
  2. 02What stays on your computerDocuments, audio, settings, and the database all live in the app’s data folder.
  3. 03When the app uses the networkUpdates, model downloads, the book catalog, and speech services you add. Text goes only to a speech service you choose.
  4. 04Deleting your dataDelete documents in the app, or the data folder to remove everything.
  5. 05ChildrenNo personal information from anyone, including children.
  6. 06Changes and contactUpdates change the date above. Questions go to GitHub issues.

Section 1

What we collect

Nothing.

Nothing. The app has no analytics, no advertising, no crash-reporting service, and no tracking. The web app's optional analytics are not included, and framework telemetry is turned off. The developer does not receive your documents, your reading history, your settings, or any information that identifies you or your computer.

Section 2

What stays on your computer

Documents, audio, settings, and the database all live in the app’s data folder.

  • Your library: documents, generated audio, word timings, previews, and exported audiobooks are stored in the app's data folder (an OpenReader folder in your system's application data). Settings → Library and storage → Show data folder opens it.
  • Reading data: positions, preferences, and voice settings are kept in a local database in the same folder.
  • Local services: the app's server and its helper services listen only on your computer (127.0.0.1), so other devices on your network cannot reach them.
  • Local speech: the built-in Kokoro voices, word alignment, and PDF layout analysis run on your computer.

Uninstalling the app may leave its data folder in place. Delete that folder to remove everything the app stored.

Section 3

When the app uses the network

Updates, model downloads, the book catalog, and speech services you add. Text goes only to a speech service you choose.

Like any web request, each connection below reveals your IP address and basic request details to the server it reaches. None of them carries an account, name, or identifier from the developer, and the developer does not use them to identify or track you.

  • Updates (GitHub): shortly after launch and every few hours, the app checks the OpenReader GitHub releases for a newer version and downloads it. A check sends nothing about your library. Turn this off under Settings → Instance → Automatic updates. See the GitHub privacy statement.
  • Model downloads (Hugging Face and GitHub): the Kokoro voices, the word-alignment model, and the PDF layout model are downloaded from Hugging Face when you choose to download them or first need them, and Kokoro's pronunciation data from GitHub. See the Hugging Face privacy policy.
  • Release notes: after an update, the app fetches the release notes it shows you from the OpenReader documentation site.
  • Book catalog (Gutendex and Project Gutenberg): browsing the free-book catalog sends your search terms and language filter to the Gutendex server set in Settings → Instance (gutendex.com unless you change it), and adding a book downloads it from Project Gutenberg. See the Project Gutenberg privacy policy.
  • Speech services you add: if you connect a hosted provider such as OpenAI, Replicate, or DeepInfra, or a speech server of your own, the text being read aloud is sent to it, and that provider's own policy applies. The built-in voices send nothing.

Links to other websites open in your default browser, under that browser's settings.

Section 4

Deleting your data

Delete documents in the app, or the data folder to remove everything.

Deleting a document in the library removes it with its generated audio and timings. To remove everything, quit the app and delete its data folder. Your files are never stored anywhere the developer can reach.

Section 5

Children

No personal information from anyone, including children.

The app collects no personal information from anyone, including children under 13.

Section 6

Changes and contact

Updates change the date above. Questions go to GitHub issues.

If the app's handling of data changes, this page will be updated and its effective date changed. For privacy questions, open an issue on the OpenReader GitHub project. Please do not include document contents or other private information in a public issue.

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