Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 5, 2026

Summary

Your documents and AI output stay on your Mac. GhostTeX sends only a signed App Store app transaction and AI credit counters to its quota service so it can provide and enforce the free AI allowance. This data is not used for advertising or tracking.

On-Device Processing

All document processing — PDF rendering, OCR, chat, refinement, and LaTeX conversion — runs entirely on your Mac using a local AI model (Qwen3-VL). Your documents, prompts, images, and generated output are never uploaded to the quota service.

Network Usage

GhostTeX connects to the internet only for the following purposes:

Model download: On first use, the AI model (~9.5 GB) is downloaded from Hugging Face. This is a one-time download.
App Store: StoreKit communicates with Apple's servers to manage your subscription status. This is handled entirely by Apple's frameworks.
Free AI quota: GhostTeX contacts a Cloudflare Worker before free AI operations and after completion. It sends Apple's signed app transaction, a random operation identifier, and requested, completed, and locally recorded credit counts. No document or AI content is sent.

Data Collection

The GhostTeX app processes:

An app-specific identifier: The quota service verifies Apple's signed app transaction, extracts the pseudonymous App Transaction ID, and immediately transforms it with a private server-side cryptographic hash. The raw identifier is not stored in the quota database.
Quota records: Used and temporarily reserved credit counts, random operation identifiers, and update times used only to enforce the free allowance and make retries safe.
Anonymous website usage analytics (via GoatCounter, no cookies)
No crash reports
No advertising or cross-app tracking

Third-Party Services

GhostTeX uses GoatCounter for privacy-friendly website analytics. GoatCounter does not use cookies and does not collect any personal data. It helps us understand how many people visit our site and which pages are popular, without tracking individual users. No other third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking services are used.

The app also uses Apple's StoreKit for app and subscription verification, Hugging Face for model downloads, and Cloudflare to operate the free-credit quota service. Cloudflare receives ordinary network information such as an IP address while handling a request. GhostTeX does not use these services for advertising or cross-app tracking.

Data Storage

All files you open and all LaTeX output you generate remain on your local filesystem. GhostTeX does not create cloud backups or sync document content to any external service. The downloaded AI model is stored locally on your Mac. The quota service deletes an inactive quota record after two years; temporary unfinished reservations expire after six hours.

Children's Privacy

GhostTeX is not directed to children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from children. The quota service does not receive document content.

Changes to This Policy

If we update this privacy policy, we will post the revised version on this page with an updated date.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, contact us at ou.salman@icloud.com.