Privacy Policy

Who we are

EBL is made by Mileta Avramović, publishing as Maxima Astra (“we” or “us”). If you have a question about this policy, email maximaastra@gmail.com.

What EBL saves on your device

EBL keeps everything it needs on your iPhone or iPad. Copies of your original book files are in EBL’s folder in the Files app (On My iPhone › EBL › Books); everything else is in EBL’s private app storage:

• the books you import: a copy of each EPUB or PDF, its text, pictures and cover;
• where you are in each book and when you last read it, plus a small backup copy of those reading positions;
• your cards: each word or phrase you save, its translation, the sentence it came from and that sentence’s translation, the book’s title, the languages, and your review history (when you created and last reviewed the card, how often you remembered it, and when it is next due);
• your settings, such as the translation language, the translation service, the voice and speed for reading aloud, the font, text size and color palette;
• your Google Cloud API key, if you add one. It is kept in your device’s Keychain and stays on this device.

None of this is sent to us. We can’t see your books, your cards or what you read.

Work done on your device

When you use Apple Translate, recognise text in a scanned PDF page, or have a sentence read aloud with an Apple voice, EBL uses Apple’s built-in features on your device. EBL doesn’t send that text to us. Apple may download translation languages or voices to your device when you first use them.

Google Translate and Google Text-to-Speech (optional)

Nothing goes to Google until you add your own Google Cloud API key in Settings. Google Translate is used only if you choose it in Settings → Translate with. Google Text-to-Speech is the voice EBL starts with for reading aloud; to keep reading aloud on your device, choose Apple iOS in Settings → Read aloud → Voice. Once you add a key, EBL sends requests directly from your device to Google over an encrypted connection:

• Google Translate: the sentence you translate (including a card’s example sentence when you reveal a card that has no saved translation), or the word or phrase you select together with its sentence, and the source and target languages;
• Google Text-to-Speech: the text to read aloud, its language, the voice and the reading speed; EBL also asks Google which voices it offers for a language;
• your API key, which tells Google which Cloud project the request belongs to.

As with any internet request, Google also receives your device’s IP address and basic technical details, such as the app and system version.

Google handles these requests under its own terms and privacy policy, and under the agreement for your Google Cloud account. Google bills the usage to your Cloud account. The requests don’t pass through us, and we don’t receive the text, the translations or your key.

Without a key, or while you use Apple Translate and the Apple iOS voice, nothing is sent to Google.

Device sync (optional)

If you connect a shared folder in Settings → Device sync, EBL copies your books (with their original files and pictures), cards and review history, reading positions and settings into that folder, so your other devices can use them. Your Google Cloud API key is never copied there.

If the folder is in iCloud Drive, Apple stores it in your iCloud account under Apple’s privacy policy. We have no access to it. If you choose a folder from another storage service in the Files app, that service stores the copies under its own terms. When you disconnect the folder, the copies on your device stay. Files already in the folder, including books you later delete, stay there until you delete the folder (it is named EBL-Sync-v1) in the Files app.

Books shared to EBL

When you share an EPUB or PDF to EBL from another app, EBL’s share extension saves the file in a private folder that only EBL can read. EBL imports it the next time you open the app and removes that copy once the book is imported. If a file can’t be imported, the copy stays in that folder until you delete EBL.

What we collect

Nothing. We don’t collect, receive or share any personal information or usage data. That means:

• no name, email address, phone number or contacts;
• no location;
• no device identifiers or advertising identifiers, and no tracking across apps or websites;
• no record of what you read, translate or save.

EBL asks for no special permissions. It opens only the files you choose. If you connect a sync folder, it can use that folder until you disconnect it.

Third parties

• Google, only after you add your own Google Cloud API key (see above).
• Apple, which runs the App Store, iCloud and the system features EBL uses.
• JSZip (with the Pako library it includes), open-source code inside the app that opens EPUB files on your device. It sends nothing anywhere.

EBL has no ads, no analytics, no social media features and no chat. EBL itself links out of the app only through Open Apple Books on the Import from Books screen. If a PDF contains a web link and you tap it in Original PDF view, it opens in your browser.

Apple

Apple runs the App Store. When you download EBL, Apple handles that under its own privacy policy.

If you have chosen to share analytics with app developers (Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements), Apple may give us crash reports and overall numbers, such as how many people downloaded the app. That information comes from Apple, not from EBL. It doesn’t identify you, and we use it only to fix problems and improve the app.

Backups

If you back up your device with iCloud Backup or a computer, the backup may include EBL’s library, cards and settings along with your other app data. You and Apple control those backups; we never see them.

How long data is kept, and how to delete it

Your data stays on your device until you delete it:

• A book: in the Library, swipe left on the book, tap Delete, then confirm. Cards you saved from it stay in Cards until you delete them. If Device sync is connected, the book is also removed from your other devices, but its files stay in the EBL-Sync-v1 folder until you delete that folder.
• A card: in Cards, open a book’s words and swipe left on the card.
• Your Google key: clear the Google Cloud API key field in Settings, then tap Done. EBL erases the saved key.
• Synced copies: disconnect the folder in Settings → Device sync, then delete the EBL-Sync-v1 folder in the Files app.
• Everything on the device: clear your Google key first, because iOS can keep an app’s Keychain items after the app is deleted. Then delete EBL: touch and hold its icon, then tap Remove App → Delete App.

Data that Google receives when you use your own key is kept according to Google’s terms for your Cloud account.

Children’s privacy

EBL is a reading app for a general audience. We don’t collect personal information from anyone, including children under 13 (as covered by the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) or children under the age of digital consent in their country (as covered by the EU and UK GDPR). The optional Google features need a Google Cloud account, which is meant for adults.

If a child emails us, we use the message only to reply and then delete it. Parents and guardians can reach us at any time at maximaastra@gmail.com.

If you email us

If you contact us, we receive your email address and whatever you write. We use it only to answer you. We don’t share it, add you to a mailing list or use it for marketing. We delete the conversation once your question is resolved, and you can ask us to delete it sooner at any time.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, laws such as the GDPR, the UK GDPR or U.S. state privacy laws (for example in California) give you rights to access, correct and delete your personal information, and to object to how it is used.

We hold no personal information about you from the app, so there’s nothing for us to give you, correct or delete. If you have emailed us, you can use these rights for those emails by writing to maximaastra@gmail.com. For data sent to Google with your own key, use the tools in your Google account. You can also complain to the data protection authority where you live.

Changes to this policy

If a future version of EBL changes anything about privacy, we will update this policy and its effective date before that version is released, and update the App Store privacy details to match.

Contact

Questions about privacy or this policy? Email maximaastra@gmail.com.