ReadBeam Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 12, 2026

Our Core Promise

Your reading never leaves your browser. All text parsing, speech synthesis, sentence highlighting, and focus tracking happen locally on your device. We never upload, transmit, or store the content of the pages you read.

Data We Collect

We Do Not Collect Personal Data

ReadBeam has no accounts, no user IDs, no profiles, and no analytics SDKs. We do not collect:

• Personal identifiers (name, email, IP address)
• Page URLs, page titles, or page content
• Browsing history
• Device fingerprints
• The text you select or listen to

Local-Only Focus Metrics

ReadBeam stores anonymous reading metrics on your device only (in chrome.storage.local). These never leave your browser. Each reading session records:

• Start and end timestamps
• Total focus duration and total duration
• Words read and sentences read
• Drift count (times you scrolled away) and recovery count
• A computed focus score (0–100)
• Detected content language (e.g. en-US, fr-FR)

No URL, no page title, no text content, and no user identifier is stored.

Data We Don’t Collect

• Page content: The text you read is processed in memory and never persisted or transmitted.
• Reading history: Only aggregated focus metrics are stored, never the pages themselves.
• Voice or audio: Speech is synthesized by your browser’s built-in Web Speech API; no audio is recorded or sent anywhere.
• Personal information: There is no login, no account, no email collection.

Third-Party Services

Browser Web Speech API

Text-to-speech is powered entirely by your browser’s native Web Speech API. Voice synthesis happens on your device (or via your operating system’s speech services). ReadBeam does not send any text to any server for speech synthesis.

Invite System (Currently Disabled)

ReadBeam contains an invite system that calls our Cloudflare Worker (/generate, /confirm, /query). These requests transmit only an anonymous referral code — no personal data, no page content, no user identifier. The invite UI is currently hidden in v1.1; the code remains for future use.

No Cloud TTS

ReadBeam does not integrate any cloud-based TTS service in v1.0. A “Bring Your Own Key” (BYOK) option for premium cloud voices may be added in a future Pro plan — if so, it will be opt-in only and clearly disclosed.

Data Storage

All user data is stored locally in your browser:

No data is stored on our servers except for anonymous invite referral codes (invite system currently disabled).

Your Rights

View Your Data

Open the popup → Insights tab to see your recent sessions, daily totals, streak, and all-time stats. This is the complete picture of what ReadBeam stores about your reading.

Delete Your Data

You can delete all insights data at any time:

1. Click the ReadBeam icon to open the popup
2. Switch to the Settings tab
3. Click Clear all insights data
4. Confirm the deletion

This permanently removes all session history, streaks, daily aggregates, and goal settings. Reading functionality is not affected. This action cannot be undone.

Export Your Data

ReadBeam v1.0 does not yet offer a data export button. Because all data is stored locally in chrome.storage.local, advanced users can inspect it via chrome://extensions → Service Worker → DevTools → Application → Storage. A formal export feature is planned for a future release.

Children’s Privacy

ReadBeam is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. As we collect no personal data from anyone, this applies by design.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected in the “Last updated” date above. Continued use of ReadBeam after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, please:

• Send feedback through the ReadBeam popup settings menu (Settings → Feedback)
• Email hello@byzanx.com

For users in the EU: under GDPR Article 27, our representative for matters relating to GDPR can be reached at the same address.

Chrome Web Store Privacy Practices

• We do not collect personal data
• We do not sell user data
• We do not use data for purposes unrelated to the item’s core functionality
• We do not transfer data to third parties (the invite system transmits only an anonymous referral code, and is currently disabled in the UI)
• We do not determine creditworthiness or lend

Summary