Privacy Policy
Last updated: 8 November 2026
Glossa is a PDF reader and highlighter for Mac. It is built so that your documents stay yours.
The short version
- The app collects nothing. Glossa has no accounts, no analytics, no tracking and no servers of ours.
- The website's beta waitlist stores only what you type into it (see below).
- Your PDFs, highlights, notes and AI chats stay on your Mac, saved inside your PDF files.
- AI only sends what you ask about, to the AI you choose, and only after you agree.
What stays on your Mac
- Your PDFs and everything you add to them (highlights, notes, emoji tags, AI chats) are saved inside the PDF file itself.
- Glossa keeps a few helper files in its private app folder on your Mac: your Library list, reading positions, recognised text from scanned pages, the search index for your Library, and "Ask this book" chats. They never leave your Mac, and deleting Glossa deletes them.
- API keys you enter are stored in your Mac's Keychain.
When something leaves your Mac
Only when you use these features, and only to the service you chose:
| Feature | What is sent | Sent to |
|---|---|---|
| Ask AI (Apple Intelligence on this Mac) | Nothing — it runs on your Mac | — |
| Ask AI (a cloud provider you set up, e.g. OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google) | The highlighted passage, text of that page and nearby pages, the chapter title, your note and your questions; for "Ask about a figure", an image of the area you selected | The provider you chose, using your own API key |
| Ask AI (Ollama or LM Studio on your Mac or network) | The same as above | The address you configured |
| Ask this book / Book Notes | Passages that best match your question, or your highlights, notes and chats; chapter summaries send the chapter's text | The provider you chose |
| Copy BibTeX / Copy Citation | Only the DOI of the paper | doi.org |
| Glossa Pro purchase | Handled entirely by Apple | Apple (App Store) |
The first time you use a cloud AI provider, Glossa shows exactly what will be sent and asks for your permission. Each provider handles the data under its own privacy policy and your agreement with it.
The beta waitlist on this website
If you join the waitlist, we store the email address and the optional answers you give (what you read, your Mac, which AI you'd use) and the time you signed up, in Google Firebase (Cloud Firestore). We use them only to invite you to the beta and to understand who wants Glossa. We never sell or share them. The website itself uses no cookies, analytics or trackers. To have your entry deleted, email us and we'll remove it.
Children
Glossa is not directed at children and collects no personal information from anyone.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new date.
Contact
Questions: glossareader@gmail.com