ScholarBinderyPrivacy Policy

Privacy Policy - ScholarBindery

Last updated: 2026-07-21

Provider: bee2.io LLC ("bee2.io", "we", "us")

Contact: [email protected]

Canonical page: https://bee2.io/legal/scholarbindery/privacy

ScholarBindery is built to be private by default. The short version: your study material and review history never leave your Mac, and we collect nothing.

What we collect

Nothing. ScholarBindery has no accounts, no servers, no analytics, and no telemetry. We do not see, receive, or store any of your data.

Where your data lives

All of your data - decks, cards, imported sources, lecture audio, transcripts, pronunciation files, character attempts, scheduling state, and review history - is stored locally on your Mac inside the app's sandbox container (Application Support). Files you import are copied into that container; your originals are never modified, moved, or deleted by ScholarBindery.

Interactive samples use a separate temporary container. They cannot read or change your normal library and are removed after the sample run.

On-device processing

Every feature runs on your device:

• PDF and slide text extraction uses Apple's PDFKit.
• Optical character recognition of scanned or photographed pages uses Apple's Vision framework, entirely on-device. ScholarBindery never accesses your camera; it reads only the image files you choose to import.
• Card generation uses Apple's NaturalLanguage framework and, where available on newer Macs, Apple's on-device Foundation Models. No text is sent to any server.
• Lecture recording uses the microphone only after you explicitly choose Record. Audio is stored locally. On macOS 26, Apple's SpeechAnalyzer can transcribe it on-device; macOS 14 and 15 accept a transcript file you choose.
• Vocabulary enrichment reads a bundled offline WordNet database. Pronunciation files use the Mac's local system voice.
• Character practice reads bundled Make Me A Hanzi data and validates strokes locally.
• Scheduling (FSRS) is pure local computation over your own review history.

Network use

ScholarBindery makes no network connections for its features. The only network interaction is with the App Store to process a one-time in-app purchase or to restore purchases you already made - handled by Apple's StoreKit, not by us.

Diagnostics

ScholarBindery keeps a small local diagnostics log (event names and non-identifying counters only, capped and rotated). It never records your card text, source text, or deck names, and it never leaves your Mac.

Your control

You can delete any deck or card at any time, and Settings includes a "Delete all data" reset that permanently removes the local library and its pack records from your Mac. Portable Library can create a backup file you control before deletion.

Children's privacy

ScholarBindery collects no data from anyone, including children.

Changes

If this policy changes, the updated version will ship with the app and the date above will be revised.

Contact

Questions: [email protected]

No advertising and no promotional messaging

This Mac app contains no advertising of any kind: no ad SDK, no banner or full-window promotional message, no interstitial, no cross-app identifier, no tracking, no targeting, and no personal profile. Optional one-time packs are presented only in the app's own Packs section, which you open yourself, and on a locked workspace you have chosen to visit.