Effective date: July 24, 2025
Company: Monocle Group, Inc. (“Monocle,” “we,” “us,” or “our”)
Address: 204 Pilgrim Lane, Richmond, VA 23227, USA
Contact: info@monocleapp.io
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard information when you use our mobile apps, websites, and related services (collectively, the “Service”). We primarily market to users in the United States, but the Service is available globally. We include provisions for GDPR (EU/EEA/UK) and CCPA/CPRA (California) where applicable.
Account data: email, password hash, display name, avatar, bio.
User Content: highlights, annotations, comments, reviews, reading stats you share, and other content you submit.
Imported books & metadata: information about the books you import (e.g., titles, authors, file metadata). Depending on your settings and technical choices, we may store full or partial text to enable reading, search, annotations, and AI features.
Support & communications: when you contact us by email or in-app.
Usage & device data: app version, device model, OS, language, IP address, timestamps, pages/screens viewed, features used, referral/UTM parameters.
Crash & diagnostics: through Firebase Crashlytics.
Search queries: sent to Algolia to power search.
Subscription status & receipts: via RevenueCat.
Cookies & similar technologies (website only): to operate and analyze traffic (e.g., Google Analytics).
When you use our AI chat inside the book, we may transmit your prompts and relevant context (e.g., selected highlights/excerpts, your annotations) to our AI provider (currently OpenAI) solely to provide the feature. We instruct the provider not to use your data to train their models.
Firebase (Auth, Firestore, Crashlytics, Analytics for Firebase) — authentication, database, analytics, crash reporting.
Google Analytics — usage analytics (as applicable).
Algolia — search indexing and queries.
RevenueCat — subscription management & receipt validation.
OpenAI — AI model inference for AI chat features.
We may add or change providers; we’ll update this Policy when required.
We use the information we collect to:
Provide, operate, maintain, and improve the Service;
Authenticate you and secure your account;
Power search, recommendations, and social features;
Deliver AI chat functionality;
Process and manage subscriptions and entitlements;
Monitor performance, debug, and fix issues;
Analyze usage to improve features and user experience;
Communicate with you about updates, security alerts, and support;
Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms.
Legal bases (GDPR): performance of contract (Art. 6(1)(b)), legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)), consent where required (Art. 6(1)(a)), and legal obligations (Art. 6(1)(c)).
We do not sell your personal information. We may “share” (in the CPRA sense) limited identifiers for analytics/operational purposes, but we do not engage in cross-context behavioral advertising.
We share information with:
Service providers/Processors: Firebase, Google Analytics, Algolia, RevenueCat, OpenAI, hosting and infrastructure providers (e.g., Google Cloud Platform).
Legal & compliance: to comply with law, protect rights, safety, or respond to lawful requests.
Business transfers: as part of a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets.
We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide the Service, fulfill the purposes outlined here, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Sensible defaults:
Account data & User Content: retained until you delete your account or request deletion; backups may persist for up to 90 days.
Analytics & logs: typically retained for up to 24 months (or shorter/longer consistent with provider defaults and our needs).
Crash logs: up to 24 months.
We may anonymize or aggregate data for longer retention.
California residents have the right to:
Know/access the categories and specific pieces of personal information we collect;
Delete personal information;
Correct inaccurate personal information;
Opt out of “selling” or “sharing” personal information (we do not sell);
Limit the use/disclosure of sensitive personal information (we do not use sensitive personal info for purposes requiring this right);
Non-discrimination for exercising these rights.
Depending on your location, you may have the right to:
Access, correct, or delete your personal data;
Data portability;
Restrict or object to processing;
Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
Use any in-app Delete Account flow (if available), or email us at info@monocleapp.io with your request. We may verify your identity before processing. We generally respond within 30 days (or the timeframe required by law).
We are based in the United States and may transfer your information to the U.S. and other countries that may not provide the same level of data protection as your home jurisdiction. Where required, we rely on lawful transfer mechanisms (e.g., Standard Contractual Clauses).
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information (e.g., encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access). However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If we learn that a child under 13 has provided personal information, we will delete it.
Your browser may send a “Do Not Track” signal. Our Service does not currently respond to these signals. We will update this Policy if that changes.
We (and our analytics providers like Google Analytics) may use cookies and similar technologies on our marketing website to analyze traffic and improve the site. You can control cookies through your browser settings. If you’d like a separate, detailed Cookie Policy or a consent banner, contact us.
We may update this Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version with a new effective date and, if required, provide additional notice. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Policy.
Monocle Group, Inc.
204 Pilgrim Lane, Richmond, VA 23227, USA
info@monocleapp.io
