Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 1, 2026

1. Overview

Phantom Ink ("the app", "we") is a utility app that helps you photograph a passage from a printed book, recognize and translate it on the spot, and annotate it. It is developed and operated by an independent developer. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, where it is stored, and how you can control it.

Phantom Ink is local-first by design: without signing in, every feature works fully on-device and nothing ever leaves your phone. Signing in is entirely optional and only unlocks cross-device cloud sync.

2. Information We Collect

Data type	When collected	Purpose	Used for tracking?
Email address	When you register/sign in	Account authentication, identifying your cloud data	No
User content (book metadata, OCR text, highlights/marks, translations & explanations, notes)	When you capture/import a page or annotate it	Core reading/archiving features; synced across devices if signed in	No
Page images (original and marked-up)	When you take or pick a photo	Displaying your annotations, generating book covers; synced across devices if signed in	No

We do not collect advertising identifiers, do not use third-party analytics/advertising SDKs to track you, and do not sell any of the above data or use it for purposes unrelated to providing the app's functionality (reflected in the app's PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy manifest: NSPrivacyTracking = false).

3. About OCR and Translation: Nothing Is Uploaded

Text recognition (OCR) runs on-device using Apple's built-in Vision framework; translation runs on-device using Apple's built-in Translation framework. This means recognition and translation themselves never send your text or photos to our servers or any third party's. Only if you choose to sign in and enable cloud sync are the resulting content (and the originals) uploaded, so you can see the same content on your other devices.

4. Where Your Data Is Stored

Signed out (guest mode): all data stays only on your device (via SwiftData). We have no access to it at all, and it is removed if you uninstall the app.
Signed in: your data is additionally synced to our backend provider, Supabase (database + file storage). Each account's data is isolated under a private, per-account path and protected by database Row Level Security, so only your own account can read it — including us, in the course of normal operation.

5. Third-Party Services

We use the following sub-processor, which only processes data on our instructions and does not use it for its own purposes:

Supabase (Supabase Inc.) — account authentication, database, and file storage.

We do not use any ad networks, third-party analytics, or user-behavior tracking SDKs.

6. Data Retention & Deletion

You can tap "Delete Account" in the Account screen at any time. This permanently deletes your cloud data (books, annotations, images) and the account itself; this cannot be undone.
After deleting your account, content already on your device remains locally (reverting to signed-out/local status) and is not removed automatically. If you also want to remove local content, delete it manually before deleting your account, or uninstall the app.
Local data persists on your device until you remove it; cloud data persists until you delete your account or the corresponding content.

7. Your Rights

You may contact us using the details below to request access to, correction of, or deletion of your data (deletion is also self-serve in-app via "Delete Account"). We will respond within a reasonable time.

8. Children's Privacy

This app is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

9. Changes to This Policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this document, and notify you in-app for significant changes.

10. Contact

Questions about this policy? Contact us at: zhoule630091655@gmail.com