Scholardo is a native macOS research workspace built local-first. This policy explains how we handle your data. The principle is simple: your library stays on your own machine — we do not collect it, upload it, or analyze it.
1. Your data is stored locally
Everything you create in Scholardo — your library, PDFs / EPUBs / web pages, annotations and highlights, notes, session transcripts, citation data, and the vector index — is kept only on your Mac's local disk. By default it lives under ~/.scholardo/ in your home directory and inside each of your own project folders, stored in a local SQLite (GRDB) database and ordinary files.
This data is never uploaded to our servers and never synced to any cloud. We cannot see or access your research. Backup, migration, and deletion are entirely under your control.
2. Zero telemetry
The Scholardo app contains no telemetry, usage analytics, behavioral tracking, or crash reporting. Local use requires no account and no sign-in. We do not track which files you open, which features you use, or how long you stay.
3. API keys are yours, encrypted locally
Scholardo's AI features (selection rewriting, feed digests, embedding search, and so on) are powered by AI provider API keys that you supply yourself — OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Core features (search, annotations, citations, browser capture) run locally and need no key at all.
Encrypted locally: any API key you enter is stored in the macOS Keychain, protected by the operating system's encryption — never written in plaintext to ordinary config files.
Never sent to us: your API keys are never transmitted to any Scholardo server.
Requests go straight to the provider: when you use an AI feature, the request goes directly from your Mac to the model provider you configured. Scholardo is not a proxy and does not intercept, route, or log the contents of those requests. The data exchanged is governed by that provider's own privacy policy and terms.
4. Network calls we make
The only first-party network calls Scholardo makes to our servers are these two:
License activation & refresh: your license key is validated against our licensing service (api.scholardo.com) and refreshed periodically. This transmits only the license key and a minimal device identifier — no local research data is attached.
Contact form: only when you choose to fill in and submit the "Contact us" form on our website does its content reach our endpoint, solely so we can reply (see Section 6).
5. Third-party services you opt into
Some features connect to third parties only when you trigger them. Whether to use them is your choice, and the data exchanged is governed by each provider's own policy:
AI / embedding providers: using your own key, with requests going directly (see Section 3). Self-hosted options such as local Ollama stay entirely on your machine.
Web capture: when you open or save a page in the built-in browser or capture tools, a request is made to that URL.
RSS feeds: when you configure a feed, its source is fetched.
Citation styles: CSL styles may be downloaded on demand from a public style repository.
Hypothesis sync: if you enable it, Scholardo communicates with the Hypothesis service.
6. This website
For the marketing website (scholardo.com) itself:
Only essential local storage: it remembers your theme (light / dark) and language preference in your browser's localStorage.
No cookies, no third-party tracking: no analytics or advertising scripts are loaded today. If analytics are ever added, they will load only after you explicitly consent.
Version check: the page makes one anonymous request to the public GitHub Releases API to show the latest version and download link.
Contact form: anything you submit is sent to our endpoint (api.scholardo.com/contact) solely to forward it to us by email so we can reply; it is not otherwise stored.
7. Retention & deletion
Because your research data never leaves your device, deletion is entirely in your hands: removing a project folder or ~/.scholardo/, or uninstalling the app, removes that data. We hold no copy of your research to retain or delete. Our license records contain only the minimum needed to validate your entitlement.
8. Children
Scholardo is a professional tool for researchers. It is not directed to children under 13 (or the equivalent age in your jurisdiction), and we do not knowingly collect their personal information.
9. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected in the "Last updated" date at the top of this page; continued use means you accept the updated terms.
