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Simply Read

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Privacy Policy

How Nanotech Computers handles your information across the Simply Read app and website. Short version: your books, reading data and camera-derived metrics stay on your device.

Updated 4 August 2026

Overview

This Privacy Policy explains how Nanotech Computers (Pty) Ltd (“Nanotech Computers”, “we”, “us”) handles information when you use the Simply Read app for iOS (the “App”) and this website at www.simply-read.app (the “Website”, together the “Services”). We are the developer of the App and the party responsible for data processing. We process information in line with South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and, where it applies, the EU/UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Simply Read is built to need as little of your data as possible. There is no account. Your books and reading settings stay on your device, and even the App’s most sensitive feature, optional eye tracking, is processed entirely on-device: no video ever leaves your phone or tablet.

Our privacy principles

  • Private by design. The App works fully without an account, and your books, reading position and settings never leave your device.
  • No video, ever. Eye tracking is analysed on-device in real time; we never record, store or transmit camera footage.
  • Data minimisation. We only ever handle what the App genuinely needs to function, such as an anonymous purchase status.
  • No surveillance. No advertising identifiers, no third-party analytics, no data brokers.
  • You decide. Eye tracking, Game Center and Cloud Library downloads are all optional and under your control.

Information the App handles

Everything below is stored on your device. Unless stated otherwise, we do not receive or have access to it:

  • Books, settings and reading position. Your library, reading mode, highlight style, text size, paper tint, pace, bookmarks and notes, and your position in every book.
  • Books you import. Plain-text (.txt) files you add are processed entirely on your device and are never uploaded to us or anyone else.
  • Eye-tracking metrics. If you grant camera permission, on-device analysis of your eye movements produces numeric attention and, on supported hardware, oculomotor metrics. See “Eye tracking and face data” below. No video or images are ever created.
  • Reading and streak history. Session records (words read, duration, streaks and goal progress) that power your daily goal ring, Game Center achievements and, for Premium subscribers, your insights history.
  • Subscription status. Whether you have an active Premium subscription or lifetime purchase, processed by Apple and RevenueCat. See “Purchases, Premium and RevenueCat” below. This is not health or reading data.
  • Your age is not collected. Choosing an age band to filter the Cloud Library only filters what is shown; the choice itself is not sent to us.

Eye tracking and face data

With your permission, Simply Read can use your device’s TrueDepth (Face ID) camera to measure where your eyes move while you read in guided mode, and turn that into attention and focus insights. This feature is entirely optional. Guided reading and eBook reading both work fully without it, camera access is never requested until you choose to turn it on, and you can switch it off at any time in Settings.

In short: nothing derived from the camera ever leaves your device. There is no account, no server of ours in this loop, and no third party receives any of it.

What we collect

Eye tracking runs entirely on your device using Apple’s ARKit face-tracking API. ARKit analyses the camera feed in real time and hands the App a small set of numbers, many times per second. Those numbers are all we ever receive:

  • Eye-movement coefficients. Values between 0 and 1 describing how far each eye is looking up, down, inwards or outwards.
  • Eyelid coefficients. Values describing how far each eye is blinking or squinting, used to measure fatigue and decoding effort.
  • Head orientation. Two numbers describing the yaw and pitch of your head, so that turning away is not mistaken for reading.
  • A timestamp for each sample, so the readings can be ordered in time.

What we never collect

We do not create, receive, record, save or transmit any of the following at any point:

  • Photographs, video or still images of you.
  • Depth maps, or a three-dimensional model or mesh of your face.
  • Any face template, faceprint or biometric identifier, and nothing capable of recognising or identifying you.
  • Your Face ID data. Face ID is handled by Apple’s Secure Enclave and is never available to apps, including this one.

The App never displays a camera preview, because it has no use for the picture itself, only for the numbers ARKit derives from it.

Why we collect it

Solely to provide the reading features you asked for: live attention and focus feedback while you read, pausing the guided reader and checking in if your eyes close or drift from the text, a reading-effort hint when you squint at a difficult word, and an end-of-session summary. On a 120Hz ProMotion display it also produces oculomotor metrics such as regression ratio, visual span and fixation duration. It is never used for advertising, profiling, analytics or identification, and we do not sell it, because we never receive it in the first place.

How long it is kept, and where

  • During a session. The samples are held only in the App’s temporary memory while you read. They are never written to storage.
  • When the session ends. The samples are summarised into a few numbers and then discarded. They are also discarded if you close the App or start a new session.
  • What is kept. Only the summary figures, for example your regression ratio, average fixation duration and an eyelid-based fatigue measure. These are ordinary numbers from which no face data can be reconstructed. They are saved in the App’s own storage on your device so your reading history and insights persist between sessions.
  • Calibration. If you calibrate, we save five numbers describing where your eyes rested at each of the five on-screen targets, plus the date. This is stored on your device and is not a face record.
  • Backups. The App’s storage sits in your device’s app container, so it is included in your own device backup if you have backups switched on. That backup is between you and Apple, and we have no access to it. No raw face data can appear in a backup, because none is ever written to storage.

Sharing and disclosure

None of this data is shared with anyone. It is not sent to us, to any analytics or advertising provider, to RevenueCat, to Game Center, or to any other third party, and it is never sold or used for advertising. Because it never leaves your device, there is no international transfer of it and no third-party processor involved.

Your control

  • Turn eye tracking off at any time in Settings, or decline camera access, and the rest of the App continues to work.
  • Withdraw camera permission at any time in the iOS Settings app.
  • Delete your saved insights and calibration from within the App, or delete the App, which removes all of it from your device.

Any screening indicator or Reading Profile summary the App shows is an estimate for informational and reading-support purposes. It is not a medical device and not a medical diagnosis. See our Terms of Use for the full disclaimer.

Cloud Library downloads

The Cloud Library’s catalogue and book files are hosted on our own Amazon S3 storage. When you browse or download a book, your device requests it directly from S3 behind Cloudflare. Like any web request, this generates standard, short-lived server logs, such as IP addresses and basic request details, retained to keep the service secure and reliable. We do not use these logs to build a profile of what you read, and downloaded books are stored and read entirely on your device from that point on.

Information on the Website

The Website is a static information site. It sets no cookies, uses no analytics, and does not track you. Like the Cloud Library, it is served from cloud storage behind Cloudflare, which may retain standard, short-lived server logs to keep the site secure and reliable. We do not use these logs to identify you.

Purchases, Premium and RevenueCat

Simply Read Premium is an optional purchase: an auto-renewing annual subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. Purchases are handled by Apple through the App Store, and we never see or receive your payment card details. To activate, restore and manage your entitlement across devices, the App uses RevenueCat as its purchase infrastructure provider. RevenueCat receives a random, app-generated identifier and your purchase or entitlement status only, not your name, email, reading data, or eye-tracking data. See the RevenueCat Privacy Policy and the Apple Privacy Policy for how they process purchase data.

Game Center

Signing in to Game Center is optional. If you turn it on in Settings, the App reports achievement and leaderboard progress, such as reading streaks and words read, to Apple’s Game Center service under your Apple ID. That data is handled by Apple under its own privacy policy; we do not receive your Game Center identity or friends list.

What we do not do

  • We do not require an account, and do not ask for your email, phone number or real name, except to reply if you email us for support.
  • We do not sell, rent or share your personal data with anyone for their own purposes.
  • We do not show advertising and use no advertising identifiers.
  • We do not use third-party analytics SDKs and do not build a profile of you.
  • We do not track you across other apps or websites: the App declares no tracking in its privacy manifest.

The App Store

The App is distributed through Apple’s App Store. When you download, update or purchase within the App, Apple processes that transaction under the Apple Privacy Policy. Any aggregate download or usage statistics Apple shows us cannot identify you.

Children's privacy

Simply Read carries a 4+ age rating and is designed so that no personal information is collected from anyone, including children under 13: there is no account, no advertising, and no tracking. Eye tracking stays off until camera permission is actively granted, and a parent or guardian can review or turn it off at any time in Settings. Reading, importing books and browsing the Cloud Library all happen privately on the device.

Your rights

Subject to applicable law, you have the right to access, correct, or delete personal information we hold about you. Because almost everything the App handles stays on your device, most of this is self-service: delete a book, a bookmark, or a session record in the App, or delete the App to remove everything at once. For the limited information a third party processes on our behalf (your purchase status with Apple and RevenueCat), contact us and we will assist. If you have any questions, contact us at privacy@nanotech-computers.com.

Under POPIA, you may also lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa. Under the GDPR, you may complain to your local data protection authority.

International data transfers

We are based in South Africa, and the Website and Cloud Library are served globally via Cloudflare. Where our providers (such as Apple and RevenueCat) process limited purchase data in other countries, we take steps to ensure it receives an adequate level of protection as required by POPIA and, where applicable, the GDPR.

Security

Because your books, reading data and camera-derived metrics never leave your device, there is no central store of them to breach. We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect the Website, the Cloud Library and the App. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, but we work to safeguard your data.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version here and change the “Last updated” date above.

Contact us

Nanotech Computers (Pty) Ltd (registration 2017/122030/07), South Africa. For any privacy questions, contact us at privacy@nanotech-computers.com.