Privacy Policy

Who we are

Corvo Reader (which used to be called Paradox Reader) is made by DriftWork Studio, a one-person studio in the United States. The legal name is DriftWork Studio. In this policy, “we” and “us” mean DriftWork Studio.

This policy covers the Corvo Reader Windows app, your Corvo Reader account and this website (driftworkstudio.com). Our Terms of Service explain the rules for using them.

What we collect

Your account

• Your email address, a username, and your password. We store the password only in a scrambled (hashed) form that we can't read.
• Your plan, its status, and when you signed up and last signed in.
• How you first found us, saved once when you sign up: the campaign tags on the link you first arrived from, the website that sent you (its address only, not the page), the first page you saw and when, and whether you signed up on the website or from the app.
• Notes and changes our support team makes to your account, such as a temporary plan change.

Payments

Stripe handles all payments. Stripe gives us your customer and subscription IDs, which plan you are on, and payment events such as a renewal or a refund. We keep a running total of what your account has paid. We never see or store your full card number.

The text you read

When you press the hotkey and draw a box, the app captures that part of your screen and turns it into text on your PC, using Windows' built-in text recognition. The picture stays on your PC. Only the text is sent online, and only to do what you asked:

• Standard voices: your PC sends the text to our server, which passes it to our voice provider to make the audio.
• Premium voices: your PC sends the text to our server, which passes it to one of our voice providers to make the audio. To help the voice sound natural, up to 500 characters of the text just before and after can be sent too.
• AI clean-up, summaries and translation: your PC sends the text to our server, which passes it to our AI provider. AI clean-up fixes text-recognition mistakes. It is on by default when you are signed in. You can turn it off in the app's Options.

We don't store this text on our servers. We pass it on, return the result, and keep only numbers: how many characters, how many minutes, which voice or model, how long it took and what it cost us. We have an automated test that checks our usage records have no place to hold the text.

How much you use

• Minutes and characters used, so we can apply your plan's limits and weekly reset.
• While you are signed in, the app checks in with our server about every 5 minutes. This tells us the app version, that the app is open, and roughly how long it was used.
• Simple activity counts, such as “read a region”. These are fixed labels, never the content.

Your PC

• A device ID. The app makes it by scrambling (hashing) your PC's name, processor type and network card address into a code. We use it to apply the limit of 3 PCs per account and to give the free starting minutes only once per PC. We can't turn the code back into those details.
• Your app version and Windows version.

Crash reports and app events

If the app closes unexpectedly, stops responding, or hits an error, it sends a crash report straight away, or the next time it starts if it couldn't. If you uninstall the app, the uninstaller sends any report still waiting and an “uninstalled” event. The app also sends a few install events, such as “first launch” and “window loaded”. These are sent automatically and are tied to your device ID. When you're signed in on that PC, we can link them to your account so we can help you.

A crash report includes the error details (not the error's message text), the last 200 lines of the app's log, your app version, how long the app had been running, and a description of your PC: processor, cores, memory, graphics card and driver, WebView2 version, screen sizes and scaling, Windows edition, build, display language and region, battery or mains power, free disk space, and whether the app runs as administrator. It never includes your computer's name, your Windows user name, serial numbers or the programs you have installed. The app also sends this same description of your PC when it first starts, after each update, and if your PC changes, so we can see which kinds of PCs have problems. After a crash, the app may ask what you were doing. That note is sent only if you type one. Before sending, the app removes the text you were reading, your Windows user name from file paths, and email addresses. Crash reports are deleted automatically after about 90 days. You can turn crash reports off, together with app step data, in the app's Settings (“Share diagnostics”).

App step data

Corvo Reader sends pseudonymous app step data to help us fix problems: which screens and steps were reached, and how long they took. It never includes what you read. When you're signed in, we can link it to your account.

It's on by default. You can turn it off in the app under Settings (“Share diagnostics”). Raw step data is kept for 30 days.

Bug reports

If you send a bug report, it includes your message, your account email, your app and Windows version, your answers about your game's display mode, and (if you leave the box ticked) the end of the app's log and basic system information. Your message and email are also emailed to our support inbox so a person can reply.

Email lists

If you give us your email on the website to get a reminder or a launch note, we store the email, where you signed up, and when. We use it only for the email you asked for.

Website visits

See Cookies and website analytics below.

What we don't collect

• Screenshots. Screen captures are never uploaded. Text recognition happens on your PC.
• Your typing. The app listens for its own hotkeys. It does not record, store or send anything else you type.
• What else is on your screen. Only the text from the box you draw is used. The app doesn't send window titles or the names of programs you run.
• The text you read, on our servers (see above).
• Your clipboard. The app never reads it.
• Your real name or home address. We don't ask for them. Stripe may collect a billing name and address to take payment.

What stays on your PC

The app keeps these files in your Windows user folder (%APPDATA%\ParadoxReader). We can't see them unless you send them to us.

• Settings, including your email and the sign-in key that keeps you signed in.
• Reading history: your last 50 readings (you can change this, up to 100), with their text and audio so you can play them again. You can delete one reading, or clear it all, in the app.
• A log file to help fix problems. It can include the text you read, and it is capped at about 10 MB. It is only sent to us, with the reading text removed, inside a crash report or a bug report.
• Cached audio for voice previews and the app's own spoken menus.

When you uninstall the app, it asks whether to delete this folder too. Say yes and all of this is removed. The answer is no unless you choose yes, so a reinstall picks up where you left off.

Why we use it

• To run Corvo Reader: sign you in, read text aloud, and run the AI features.
• To apply your plan: count minutes, reset them each Monday, and limit accounts to 3 PCs.
• To take payment and handle refunds, through Stripe.
• To send emails you need: welcome, password reset, set-your-password links, and notes about changes to your plan. Receipts come from Stripe.
• To fix bugs and keep the service working, using crash reports, bug reports and app events.
• To stop abuse, such as one PC claiming free minutes again and again.
• To understand how people find the website, so we can improve it.

We don't sell your data. We don't use it for advertising. The AI and voice services listed below get only what they need to do their job, such as the text to clean up or read aloud. Their own terms decide how long they keep it.

If you are in the UK or the European Union, our legal reasons are: to provide the service you signed up for (contract), to keep it working and safe (legitimate interests), to meet legal duties such as tax records, and to understand how people find our website (legitimate interests). You can refuse website statistics at any time (see Cookies and website analytics).

Who helps us run Corvo Reader

We use these kinds of service providers. Each one gets only what it needs, and handles it under its own terms and privacy policy. If you want to know which company fills a role, email us.

An AI service is used only for our own website statistics. It gets totals, not your personal data.

Our server is in the United States (Virginia). If you live elsewhere, your data is handled in the United States.

We may also share data if the law requires it, to protect people from harm, or if the business is sold (we would tell you first).

Cookies and website analytics

The website uses a small number of cookies and browser storage items:

• dws_vid (cookie, 1 year): a random visitor code, so we can count visits without knowing who you are.
• dws_sid (browser tab storage, ends when you close the tab): a random code for one visit.
• dws_src (cookie, 90 days): how you first arrived (campaign tags, the website that sent you, the first page and when), so we can tell which links bring people who sign up.
• dws_engaged (browser tab storage, ends when you close the tab): notes that this visit already had an interaction, so it is only reported once.
• dws_utm (browser tab storage, ends when you close the tab): the campaign tags from the link you arrived on, so later pages in the same visit are counted to that link.
• dws_token (browser storage): keeps you signed in on the website. It is removed when you sign out.
• dws_ref (cookie, usually 30 days): set only when you open a creator's link (driftworkstudio.com/go/…). It holds a random code, so that if you create an account in that time, or email yourself the download link, we can tell which creator's link brought you. We keep the link and the time it was opened with your account or reminder. We don't give the creator your email address or account details.
• Google Analytics cookies (names start with _ga, up to 2 years): website statistics from Google.

With the visitor code we record the page you visited, the site you came from, whether you clicked download, and whether you interacted with the page at all (so we can tell people from automated visitors). When a visit is recorded we also check your browser's user agent (the name and version it reports) for known bots and automated browsers, and keep only the result (such as "bot" or "automated browser"). Our own records don't store your IP address or the user agent itself.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The website still works without them. You can also turn off Google Analytics on every website with Google's browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

How long we keep it

• Account, usage and device records: until you delete your account.
• Crash reports, bug reports and app events: about 90 days, then deleted automatically.
• App step data: 30 days, then deleted automatically. Only daily totals, with no device ID, are kept after that.
• Email list sign-ups: until you ask us to remove you, or you delete your account.
• Website visit records: up to 26 months, then they are deleted.
• Deletion receipts: 24 months after an account is deleted (see below).
• Payment records: Stripe keeps these as the law requires, including after you delete your account.

Deleting your account

Go to your account page, choose Delete account, type DELETE and enter your password. If you can't sign in, email [email protected] from your account email and we will do it for you.

When you delete your account, we:

• cancel any active subscription with Stripe;
• delete your account, usage and activity records, devices, bought minutes, support notes, bug reports sent with your email, and any email-list sign-up with that email.

We keep a few things, for these reasons:

• A deletion receipt for 24 months: a receipt number, how the request came in, the result and the dates. It also keeps when the account was made, its plan, how many reads worked and whether the app was used, so our sign-up counts stay accurate. It has no email address or anything else that identifies you. It lets us prove the deletion happened.
• Your device ID, no longer linked to any account, so the same PC can't claim the free starting minutes again.
• Payment records at Stripe, for tax and accounting.
• Crash reports and app events, no longer linked to any account, only to your device ID. They are deleted after about 90 days anyway.

Deleting your account doesn't touch the files on your PC. To remove those, uninstall the app and say yes when it asks whether to delete your data.

Your choices and rights

• Turn off AI clean-up in the app's Options. Text then goes online only to make the voice.
• Untick “include log” when you send a bug report.
• Turn off “Share diagnostics” in the app's Settings. This stops app step data and crash reports.
• Clear your reading history in the app at any time.
• Block cookies in your browser.
• Email us to see a copy of the data we hold about you, to correct it, or to delete it. We will reply within 30 days. We may ask you to email from your account address so we know it is you.

Depending on where you live, such as California, the UK or the EU, you may have extra legal rights over your data. You won't be treated differently for using them. If you are in the UK or EU, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.

Children

Corvo Reader is not meant for children under 13. We don't knowingly collect data from them. If you think a child under that age has made an account, email us and we will delete it.

Keeping it safe

Data travels to and from our server over encrypted connections (HTTPS). Passwords are stored hashed. Only DriftWork Studio can use our admin tools. No system is perfectly safe, though. If a breach affects your data, we will tell you as the law requires.

The files on your PC, including the sign-in key, are protected by your Windows account. Anyone who can use your Windows account can read them.

Changes to this policy

If we change what we collect or who we share it with, we will update this page and the date at the top. If a change is important, we will also tell you by email or in the app before it takes effect.

Contact us

Email [email protected] with any privacy question or request.