Privacy Policy
Rostra is built so that your reading stays yours. The short version: the app does not track you, does not require an account, and never sends the text you read anywhere. The only personal data we hold is an email address, and only if you chose to give us one.
Who we are
Rostra is a product of Splendid Edge Systems, a registered sole proprietorship based in Ghana. Splendid Edge Systems is the data controller for the information described below.
Contact: support@userostra.com
Phone: +233 55 997 0100 (Ghana) ·
+1 251 901 4675 (US)
The app
Rostra converts text to speech entirely on your own computer. The speech model runs locally.
- The text you select and read is never transmitted. It is processed on your device and is not sent to us or to anyone else.
- There is no analytics, telemetry, automatic crash reporting or usage tracking of any kind in the app. The only report the app ever sends is one you write and choose to send yourself (see below).
- There is no account. You do not sign in to use Rostra.
- Your settings (voice, speed, shortcut) are stored in a folder on your own computer and are never uploaded.
When the app uses the internet
If you choose to download additional voices, Rostra fetches those voice files from Hugging Face (huggingface.co), where the open-source speech model is hosted. Like any web request, Hugging Face will see your IP address as part of serving that download. We do not receive that information.
A few voices are created by us rather than hosted on Hugging Face (for example the French-timbre voice). Downloading one of those is a Pro feature: the app sends your license key and the same one-way device hash used for activation to userostra.com to confirm the license, and then downloads the voice file from our storage provider (Cloudflare). No other data is sent.
Problem reports and feedback (only if you send one). The Support menu lets you send us a problem report or feedback. Nothing is sent automatically or in the background: the app shows you exactly what will be included and sends it only when you press Send. A report contains your description, basic app and system details (version, macOS or Windows version, engine state) and — for problem reports only — the most recent lines of Rostra's own log. Your email address is optional and is used only so we can reply. Reports are delivered to our support inbox through our email provider (Resend). If you prefer, "Copy Diagnostics" puts the same information on your clipboard instead, and nothing is sent at all.
License activation (Rostra Pro only). When you activate a Pro license, Rostra sends your license key and a one-way hash of your device's hardware ID — never the hardware ID itself, and no personal data — to our server at userostra.com, to confirm the license and how many devices it is used on. After activation, your license is verified offline on your device; roughly once every 30 days the app re-checks with our server, sending the same license key and device hash. Rostra has no user accounts and sends no usage, analytics, or document content — only what is needed to validate a paid license.
On the free version, if you never download extra voices, the app makes no outbound connections at all.
Choosing Upgrade to Rostra Pro or Learn about Pro simply opens this website in your normal browser. The app itself sends nothing.
This website
We collect email addresses in two places, for two clearly separate purposes:
- Launch list — if you ask to be told when Rostra Pro is released, or when new builds and voices land.
- Download — if you give us an email to receive the download, so we can send you install help and update news.
We ask for nothing else. No name, no phone number, no payment details on this site. We do not sell, rent or share your address with anyone, and we do not use it for anything other than the purpose you gave it for.
Privacy-focused website analytics
We use Umami to understand aggregate website traffic and actions such as signup, download, and purchase-button clicks. Umami does not use tracking cookies or track you across websites. It records the page visited, referring website or campaign tags, browser, operating system, device type, country, and anonymous interaction events. We do not use session replay.
We are moving this from Umami's hosted service onto our own server, so for now the same aggregate events are recorded in both: in Umami Cloud and on a server we operate ourselves. Nothing extra is collected because there are two copies — it is the same anonymous data recorded twice. When the move is finished, only our own server will receive it.
We never send names, email addresses, form contents, payment details, license keys, device hashes, selected text, or document content to Umami.
Our legal basis for each thing we hold
Where the UK/EU GDPR applies:
- Launch-list and download emails — your consent, given when you submit the form. You can withdraw it at any time.
- Purchase and licence records — performance of a contract with you (issuing and validating the licence you bought), and legal obligation for tax and accounting records.
- Licence-server request logs (licence key, device hash, IP address, timestamp) — our legitimate interest in confirming that a paid licence is valid and is not being used on more computers than the licence permits.
- Website analytics — our legitimate interest in understanding aggregate traffic. No cookies are set and no cross-site tracking is used.
Who processes it
Form submissions are handled and stored by Netlify, who host this website and act as our processor. Aggregate website analytics are processed by Umami Cloud as our processor, and in parallel on a server we run ourselves, where no third party is involved. Payments are processed by Paddle as merchant of record. We do not run advertising pixels or cross-site tracking scripts on this site.
We have data-processing terms in place with each of these providers. We do not sell, rent or share your personal information with anyone else, and we do not use it for advertising.
Storage on your device
We do not use tracking cookies. The download page stores a single value in your browser's local storage to remember that you have already given us an email, so you are not asked again on a return visit. It contains no personal data and is not sent anywhere. Clearing your browser storage removes it.
Payments
When Rostra Pro goes on sale, payments will be processed by Paddle, acting as merchant of record. Payment and billing details are collected and handled by Paddle under their own privacy notice — we never see or store your card details.
How long we keep things
- Anything on your computer — text, audio, settings, your licence file — stays there under your control for as long as you want it. We cannot see it and cannot delete it for you.
- Launch-list and download email addresses — until you ask us to remove them or unsubscribe, or until they are no longer needed for the purpose you gave them for.
- Purchase and licence records — for as long as the licence is valid and you may need support, and thereafter for as long as tax and accounting law requires us to keep the record. Paddle keeps its own transaction records under its own policy.
- Licence-server request logs — 90 days, then deleted.
- Website analytics — held in aggregate by Umami Cloud and on our own server; no individual profile is built and nothing identifies you.
Where your information goes
We are based in Ghana, and our processors are based in the United States and the European Union. So if you are in the UK or EU, the limited personal data we hold — your email address, and your purchase and licence records — is transferred outside the UK/EEA to us. The server that now also receives our aggregate website analytics is one we run in Ghana.
Ghana is not currently the subject of a UK or EU adequacy decision. Where we transfer your data to ourselves in Ghana, we rely on Article 49(1)(b) of the UK/EU GDPR — the transfer is necessary to perform the contract you entered into when you bought a licence, or to take steps at your request before entering into it. For transfers to our processors we rely on the standard contractual clauses in our terms with them.
The text you read and the audio Rostra produces never leave your computer at all, wherever in the world you are. This section is only about the email address and purchase record described above.
Security
Most of Rostra's privacy protection is architectural rather than procedural: the text you read and the audio you generate are never transmitted, so there is no store of it for anyone — including us — to lose.
For the small amount of data we do hold, we use HTTPS everywhere, we store licence records on access-controlled infrastructure, we never store your card details (Paddle handles payment data entirely), and the device identifier used for activation is a one-way hash — we cannot reverse it to identify your computer. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, and we do not claim otherwise.
If something goes wrong
If a breach of personal data occurs that is likely to result in a high risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you without undue delay, and we will notify the relevant supervisory authority where the law requires it.
Your rights
You can ask us at any time to tell you what we hold, correct it, or delete it, and you can withdraw consent whenever you like. Every email we send includes an unsubscribe link. To make a request, write to support@userostra.com and we will action it promptly. We may need to verify your identity before we act on a request, and we will not treat you differently for making one.
If you are in the UK or the EU
Under the UK/EU GDPR you have the right to access your data, to have it corrected or erased, to restrict or object to our processing of it, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time. If you are unhappy with our response you have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.
If you are in California
Under the CCPA/CPRA you have the right to know what personal information we collect and why, to delete it, to correct it, to data portability, and to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information — and to non-discrimination for exercising any of these rights.
We do not sell or share your personal information, and we never have. We do not use it for cross-context behavioural advertising. The only personal information we collect is the email address you give us and the purchase record that comes with buying a licence. We do not collect sensitive personal information.
Children
Rostra is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data.
Changes
If this policy changes we will update the date at the top of this page. If the change is significant and we hold your email address, we will tell you.