Citenook Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2 October 2026

Citenook ("we") is a Mac app. This policy explains what happens to your information when you use Citenook and its website. The short version: Citenook reads your files on your Mac, we never receive your files, questions or answers, and the app collects no analytics.

How your data flows

• Your files stay on your Mac. Citenook reads and searches them on your Mac and keeps what it read in its library on your Mac (in your Library's Application Support folder). Nothing is uploaded to us.
• Answers on your Mac. With a model on your Mac (like Qwen or Apple Intelligence), nothing leaves your Mac.
• Answers from an online AI. If you choose an online AI service with your own key, Citenook sends your question and only the short passages picked to answer it directly from your Mac to that service. File names, folder names and brain names are not sent. Personal details such as names, emails and phone numbers are hidden before sending (on by default) and put back on your Mac. We are not in between and never see this traffic.
• Ollama or LM Studio. If you connect your own server, questions and passages go to that server. When it runs on your Mac, nothing leaves your Mac.

What we collect

• Purchase and licence. When you buy Citenook, our payment provider Dodo Payments collects your name, email and payment details to process the order. We receive your name, email and order details to send your licence key and help you. Citenook checks your licence key with Dodo Payments' licence service when you activate it and from time to time after that.
• Support. If you email us, we keep your email and what you sent to help you.
• Update checks. Citenook asks our update server whether a new version exists (once a day, or only when you choose Check Now if answers stay on your Mac). Like any web request this shows your IP address and the app version. Nothing about you or your files is sent.
• Nothing else. No analytics, no usage tracking, no crash reporting, no advertising IDs, no account.

What we don't collect

Your files, what Citenook read from them, your questions, your answers, your chats, your writing styles and your API keys never reach us.

How we use what we collect

To deliver your licence, process payments and refunds, answer support requests, prevent licence abuse, and meet legal obligations. We never sell your information or use it for advertising.

Services you choose to use

Citenook connects to these only when you ask it to. Their own privacy policies apply to what they receive:

• AI services, with your own key: OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini) and OpenRouter. What they keep, and whether they train on it, depends on their terms and your account with them. For example, Google may use what is sent with a free Gemini key to improve its products.
• Hugging Face, when you download a model to run on your Mac.
• Web pages, YouTube and Notion, when you add a page, video or Notion workspace as a source.
• Dodo Payments, for purchases and licence checks.

Storage and security

• Your library, chats and settings are stored on your Mac, with daily backups on your Mac. Citenook has no cloud sync.
• API keys are stored in your Mac's keychain and sent only to their own service.
• Connections to online services use encrypted HTTPS.
• You can delete everything by deleting Citenook's folder in Application Support and its keychain items.

Your rights

Depending on where you live (including under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 and the EU and UK GDPR), you can ask to see, correct, export or delete the personal information we hold about you (your purchase and support records), and to withdraw consent. Email us and we'll respond within 30 days. You may also complain to your data protection authority.

Children

Citenook is not meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their information. If you think a child has sent us information, contact us and we'll delete it.

International users

We are based in India. Purchase and support information may be processed in India and by Dodo Payments in the countries where it operates, with appropriate safeguards.

Changes to this policy

We'll post changes here with a new date, and tell you in the app or by email when a change is significant.

Contact

Citenook. Email: support@citenook.com. We usually reply within 5 working days.