privacy-policy

Lectern privacy policy

Last updated: September 12, 2026

Lectern is a text-to-speech reader operated by Faba Development / Luke Fairbanks (“we,” “us”). This notice describes the app’s current data handling. The short version: your documents stay on your device, and the only things that can leave it are purchase receipts and, if analytics are enabled, anonymous usage counts.

Your documents never leave your device

Everything Lectern does with your content happens on your iPhone:

• Text extraction from PDF, EPUB, Word, text, Markdown and RTF files runs on the device.
• Page scanning uses the camera and Apple’s on-device text recognition. Images are processed on the device and are not kept after the text has been recognized.
• Speech generation uses a speech model that ships inside the app. No text is sent to any server to be read aloud.
• Your library and listening positions are stored in the app’s private storage on your device, and are included in your device backups if you have backups enabled.

Lectern has no user accounts, no sign-in, and no server of its own that could receive your content.

What can leave your device

Purchases. Subscriptions and the lifetime purchase are processed by Apple. We use RevenueCat to validate purchases and manage access. RevenueCat receives the receipt Apple issues and a random app-specific identifier; it does not receive your name, email, or any content.

Anonymous usage analytics. The app includes the PostHog analytics SDK. The current release ships without an analytics key configured, so the SDK is inert and no usage events leave your device. If a future release turns analytics on, this notice will be updated first. When enabled, the events describe how the app is used — which import formats are popular, whether imports succeed or fail, playback speed, whether the paywall converts — and contain no document text, titles, file names, scan results, or anything you type. They are keyed to a random identifier that is not linked to you and are not used for advertising or tracking across apps.

Crash reports. If you have opted into sharing analytics with app developers in iOS Settings, Apple provides us with crash logs. These do not include your documents.

Apple, your device manufacturer, and the App Store may independently process app downloads, purchases, backups, and diagnostics under their own terms.

Permissions

• Camera is requested only when you choose to scan a page and is used only to capture that page.
• Photos are provided through the system photo picker, which hands Lectern only the photos you select. Lectern never has access to your photo library.

Lectern does not request location, contacts, or the microphone.

Children

Lectern is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect information from them.

Deleting your data

Deleting a document in Lectern removes its text and your listening position from your device. Deleting the app removes everything Lectern stored. Purchase records are held by Apple under your Apple Account. Analytics events, if enabled, are anonymous and cannot be traced back to you; you may nonetheless ask us to delete them at the address below.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted at this address with a new date.

Contact

Faba Development / Luke Fairbanks — luke_fairbanks@icloud.com. Include “Lectern” in the subject. Do not send passwords or payment details.