Privacy Policy
Effective October 26, 2026
In short: Vox Reader runs entirely in your web browser. There are no Vox Reader servers, accounts, ads, analytics or tracking. Your books and reading data stay in your browser, and in your Google Drive if you connect it. Book text leaves your device only if you choose an online voice that your browser provides.
This policy explains what information Vox Reader (“the app”) uses and why. The app is made by Ben Polston (“I”, “me”). Contact: ben@benpolston.com.
Information stored in your browser
The app stores the following only in your web browser, on your own device. It is never sent to me.
- Your books: EPUB files you add, plus their titles, authors and cover images.
- Reading data: your reading position in each book.
- Settings: your theme, text size, font, chosen voice and reading speed.
This data is kept in your browser's storage for vox.benpolston.com. You can delete a book from inside the app, or remove everything by clearing your browser's site data for vox.benpolston.com.
Google user data
Connecting Google Drive is optional. If you choose to sign in with Google, the app requests one permission:
| Permission | What it allows |
|---|---|
drive.file: “See, edit, create, and delete only the specific Google Drive files you use with this app” |
Access only to files the app creates and files you explicitly choose in Google's file chooser. The app cannot see or open any other file in your Google Drive. |
What the app accesses
- Your email address, read once at sign-in so the app can show which account is connected.
- The “Vox Reader” folder the app creates in your Drive, and the files in it: books the app uploaded, and shortcuts to books you chose.
- Books you choose with the “Add from Google Drive” button, through Google's own file chooser.
How the app uses it
- To upload books you add in the app to your Vox Reader folder.
- To list the books in that folder and download them into your browser so you can read them.
- To add shortcuts in that folder pointing to books you chose.
The app never deletes or changes files in your Google Drive. Removing a book in the app only deletes the copy in your browser.
How it is stored
When you sign in, Google gives the app an access token that expires after one hour. The token is kept only in your browser for that browser tab, and is discarded when the tab closes. Your email address and the ID of your Vox Reader folder are kept in your browser's storage so the app can show which account is connected. Your Google data goes directly between your browser and Google. It never passes through any server run by me.
Sharing
I do not collect, sell, rent or share your Google user data. I do not use it for advertising, and I do not use it to develop, improve or train AI or machine-learning models. The only time book text leaves your device is described under Read-aloud voices below, and only when you choose an online voice provided by your browser.
Vox Reader's use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Disconnecting and deletion
Click Disconnect in the app's Google Drive panel. This revokes the app's access with Google and deletes the token, email address and folder ID from your browser. You can also remove access at any time from your Google Account permissions page. Books in your Google Drive stay there until you delete them yourself in Google Drive.
Read-aloud voices
The app offers two kinds of voices. They handle the text of your book differently:
- Kokoro AI voices (on-device): Speech is generated entirely on your device. Your text never leaves it. The first time you use these voices, the app downloads the voice model from Hugging Face. That download doesn't include any of your data.
- System voices: These use the voices built into your browser or operating system, through your browser's speech feature. Some of them are online voices: for example, Microsoft Edge's voices marked “Online (Natural)” send the sentences being read to Microsoft to produce the audio. Your browser or operating system provider handles that text under its own privacy policy, such as the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
If you don't want book text sent to an online service, use the Kokoro AI voices, or a system voice that isn't marked “Online”.
Hosting
The Vox Reader website and app are served by GitHub Pages. Like most web hosts, GitHub may log technical information such as your IP address when your browser loads the pages. I don't receive or use those logs. See the GitHub General Privacy Statement.
Children
Vox Reader is not directed at children under 13, and I do not knowingly collect information from children.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, I will update this page and its effective date. Significant changes affecting Google user data will be announced in the app before they take effect.
Contact
Questions about this policy or your data: ben@benpolston.com