Privacy Policy

Last updated: February 9, 2026

Your privacy matters to us. Folio ("we," "us," or "our") is designed with a privacy-first approach. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your information.

1. Our Privacy Commitment

Folio is built on a simple principle: your reading data stays on your device. We do not collect, transmit, or store your personal reading data on any external servers. Your books, highlights, notes, and reading history remain entirely private and under your control.

2. Information We Do NOT Collect

To be clear, Folio does not collect:

  • Your name, email address, or personal identifiers
  • The books you read or import
  • Your highlights, annotations, or notes
  • Your reading habits, session duration, or statistics
  • Your location data
  • Your contacts or photos
  • Any analytics or tracking data

3. Data Stored on Your Device

The following data is stored locally on your device and is never transmitted to us:

  • Books: EPUB and PDF files you import are stored in the app's sandboxed document directory
  • Highlights & Notes: All annotations you create are saved in local JSON files
  • Reading Statistics: Session history, streaks, and progress data are stored via UserDefaults and local files
  • User Preferences: Theme settings, reading preferences, and onboarding state are stored in UserDefaults
  • Review Data: Spaced repetition review history is stored in local JSON files

4. Network Requests

Folio makes network requests only in the following limited cases:

  • Free Book Catalog: When you browse or search the free books section, the app fetches catalog data from Project Gutenberg's public OPDS feed. This is a standard HTTP request and does not include any personal information.
  • Book Downloads: When you download a free book, the app fetches the EPUB file from Project Gutenberg's servers. No personal data is sent.
  • In-App Purchases: Purchase transactions are handled entirely by Apple's StoreKit framework. We do not receive or process any payment information. See Apple's privacy policy for details.

5. Third-Party Services

Apple StoreKit: We use Apple's StoreKit framework to process in-app purchases. All payment data is handled by Apple. We only receive a purchase confirmation (product ID and transaction status) — never your payment details.

Project Gutenberg: Free books are sourced from Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.org). When you browse or download books, your device connects directly to their servers. Please refer to Project Gutenberg's privacy policy for their data practices.

We do not use any analytics services, advertising SDKs, crash reporting tools, or other third-party tracking services.

6. Export Feature

When you export your highlights (to Markdown, CSV, or Notion format), the exported file is generated locally on your device. You choose where to share or save it using iOS's standard share sheet. We do not receive a copy of any exported data.

7. Children's Privacy

Folio does not knowingly collect any personal information from children under 13. Since we do not collect personal data from any users, the App is safe for users of all ages. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, please contact us and we will take steps to address the concern.

8. Data Security

Since all data is stored locally on your device, its security is protected by your device's built-in security features (passcode, Face ID, Touch ID, and iOS data encryption). We recommend keeping your device software up to date and using a strong passcode.

9. Data Deletion

You can delete all your Folio data at any time by:

  • Deleting individual books, highlights, or notes within the App
  • Deleting the App from your device, which removes all locally stored data

Since we do not store any data on our servers, there is no server-side data to request deletion of.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted within the App or on our website with a revised "Last updated" date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

11. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights including:

  • The right to know what personal data is collected (we collect none)
  • The right to request deletion of personal data (we store none on our servers)
  • The right to opt out of data sales (we do not sell any data)

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

support@folio.app