Privacy, explained
Skim Privacy Policy
Who we are
Skim is operated by Just Create, an independent developer project based in India. This policy covers the Skim Android app, browser reader and website. For privacy questions or deletion requests, email buildthingspeoplewant@gmail.com. Just Create is not represented as a registered company.
Your books and reading data
Imported book files and their extracted text, covers and metadata, reading positions, bookmarks, notes, reading scores and reader preferences are stored on your device. We use this information to display your library and let you resume reading. Skim does not require an account or provide account-based library or score sync. Importing a file from your device does not upload that file to our servers.
Android may back up or transfer the app database under your device and Google account settings. Availability and retention of those backups are controlled by the platform. Keep your original book files; a platform backup is not guaranteed.
Optional usage analytics
When usage analytics is enabled, Skim sends selected app interactions to PostHog US Cloud to understand whether reading and importing work well and to improve the app. These include onboarding and import outcomes, reading-session duration and activity, completion events, app version, platform, timestamps and a randomly generated installation identifier. This identifier distinguishes installations; it is not your email or Google account. Network requests also expose your IP address to the service, and service-side event metadata may retain it. Geographic enrichment is disabled.
Book text, titles, authors, filenames, notes and article URLs are excluded from analytics events. Automatic page tracking, automatic interaction capture, session recordings are disabled. When analytics is enabled, Skim also reports sanitized errors: a fixed operation/error category, app build, and app-code file/line locations. Raw error messages, SQL, book content and arbitrary URLs are excluded. On Android 11 or newer, the next launch can report whether a previous enabled session ended in a crash, an app-not-responding event or a low-memory exit; native crash descriptions and trace files are not collected. We do not use this information for advertising, and Skim does not show ads or sell your personal data.
Our PostHog organization currently allows PostHog to use anonymized, aggregated customer data to develop and train its own AI features. PostHog's terms describe this as a separate product and model development use. The source analytics events are sent with the installation identifier described above; they are not fully anonymized before transmission. PostHog states that this training data stays with PostHog and is not used to train third-party models. Its terms and privacy policy explain this processing and the limits of later opt-outs or deletion for derived data and trained models.
To stop future analytics collection, open Settings → Privacy and switch off Share usage analytics. Requests already in flight may finish. Turning analytics off, deleting the app or using Start over does not delete events already received by PostHog.
Online features and service providers
- PostHog: processes the usage data described above in its US Cloud service.
- Vercel: hosts our website and article-import service. On Android, article imports first contact the requested website directly and may fall back to our hosted service. Browser imports use that service. It receives the requested URL and fetched page content to return the article to you. Hosting logs may include request URLs, IP addresses and diagnostic metadata. We do not maintain a server-side library of imported articles.
- Content websites: browsing the catalog, downloading a book or importing an article contacts the relevant provider, such as Standard Ebooks or the article website. The provider receives the requested resource and network information.
- Google: the reader can request font stylesheets and font files from Google Fonts. If you email us, Gmail processes your email address, message and attachments. Google Play and Android may separately process installation, update and backup information under their own policies.
These services may process information outside India, including in the United States. Their privacy notices provide additional information: PostHog, Vercel and Google. Requests to external content websites are also subject to those websites' practices.
Support and tester contact
If you contact us, we receive the contact information and content you choose to provide. We use it to answer your request, troubleshoot issues or coordinate testing you agreed to join. Please avoid sending private books, reading notes, passwords or other unnecessary sensitive information. Contacting support or joining a test does not subscribe you to marketing emails.
Retention and deletion
- Local library: retained until you delete books, use Settings → Start over, clear app/site storage, uninstall, or the platform removes the data. These actions do not necessarily remove platform backups.
- Analytics: the current project has no automatic time-based expiry. Events remain until deleted through the service or the project is removed. You can request deletion of events associated with your installation.
- Support and testing correspondence: retained as needed to handle your request, maintain relevant issue history and meet applicable obligations. You can request deletion; we will explain any information that must be retained.
- Provider logs and backups: have separate lifecycles under the provider's service settings and security or legal requirements. We do not promise that resetting Skim erases these copies.
For access or deletion requests, email buildthingspeoplewant@gmail.com. In app versions that provide it, Settings → Privacy → Request analytics deletion prepares an email with the installation identifiers stored on that device for you to review and send. On older versions, contact us before resetting or uninstalling so we can help identify the relevant installation. Because Skim has no user accounts, an email address alone cannot identify your analytics events. If the identifier has already been lost, we may be unable to locate them. Do not send your library to prove a request.
Security
App library files are held in app-private storage on Android or storage belonging to the reader's website in your browser. Our website, hosted import endpoint and analytics endpoint use HTTPS. A source website you choose to import may use HTTP, and that source connection is not encrypted. Avoid importing private or sensitive pages. Access to support and service administration is limited to operating and maintaining Skim. No storage or transmission method can guarantee absolute security.
Young readers
Skim is intended for people aged 13 and older and is not directed to children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information to us, contact us so we can investigate and address it.
Changes and contact
We will update this page and its date when our practices change, and provide additional notice where required. Questions about this policy or your data can be sent to buildthingspeoplewant@gmail.com.