Privacy policy

Novilot is a writing app for novelists. Your manuscript is the most personal thing you could put into a piece of software, and this page explains exactly what happens to it and to the rest of your data. The short version: your writing stays yours, we use it only to run the features you ask for, we never sell data, and we never use your words to train AI models.

What we collect

• Account data. Your email address and a hashed version of your password (hashed with bcrypt; we cannot see the password itself).
• Your writing. Projects, chapters, story bible entries, outlines, notes, chapter versions, and anything else you create in the app. This is stored so the app can show it back to you. It is never made public unless you explicitly share it (for example, a beta reader link you create).
• AI working data. To power features like autocomplete, continuity checking, and voice matching, we store material derived from your manuscript: summaries, style profiles, continuity observations, and text embeddings. These are private working data, subject to the deletion and retention details below.
• Usage data. Which features you use and basic product events (for example, that an analysis was run), plus the credit usage that powers fair billing. We also count words written for your own goals and streaks.
• Billing data. Payments are handled by Dodo Payments. We never see or store your card number; we store your Dodo Payments customer and checkout references, subscription status, and payment and refund records needed to maintain your credit balance.
• Messages you send us. Feedback you submit in the app and emails you send us.

How AI features use your manuscript

Anthropic's Claude API processes manuscript passages for AI features. OpenAI's embeddings API processes paragraphs and search queries to support meaning-based manuscript search. Preparing this search index can run in the background after you save or import chapters. Requests use encrypted connections. A full-manuscript analysis may process the entire manuscript within the coverage shown for that scan.

• We do not use your writing to train AI models or opt your manuscript into provider training programs. Anthropic and OpenAI do not train on commercial API content by default.
• We send content needed for the feature and its supporting processing, such as search indexing. Provider retention is separate from model training.
• AI results (suggestions, analyses) are stored in your account so you do not pay to regenerate them.

AI provider retention

We do not promise Zero Data Retention. Anthropic's standard API policy deletes inputs and outputs within 30 days, with exceptions for legal obligations and policy enforcement. Flagged content may remain for up to two years and safety classifications for up to seven years. Feedback deliberately submitted to Anthropic can be retained for five years and may be used for training; we do not submit your manuscript as provider feedback.

OpenAI's standard API abuse-monitoring retention is up to 30 days, with longer retention possible for legal or safety reasons. The embeddings endpoint does not retain application state. Deleting a project in Novilot does not itself erase provider logs or override their retention obligations.

See Anthropic's retention policy and OpenAI's API data controls.

Human access

Private means your manuscript is not public or available to other writers unless you share it. It does not mean end-to-end encryption: our servers and processors need readable text to provide the service. People with privileged infrastructure or database access can technically access it. Operational access must be limited to what is necessary for support, debugging, security, abuse investigations, or legal obligations, not browsing your work for personal or commercial use.

Service providers can also permit authorized human access under their agreements, including safety review. We cannot promise that no person will ever review content. Text you choose to include in a support message is available to the people handling it.

Analytics

With your choice, Google Analytics and PostHog help us understand how Novilot is used. PostHog session replay masks text and inputs. Novilot advertises on search engines; with your separate permission, Google Ads may measure a new account registration after an ad. That event uses an opaque transaction identifier, not your email or manuscript. Advertising personalization and enhanced conversions are off. Novilot keeps first-party registration, payment and limited campaign-source records independently of these optional choices; those records do not by themselves send an Ads conversion. Sentry helps diagnose errors independently of these optional choices; request bodies and default personal data collection are disabled, and diagnostic metadata may still be processed. We do not intentionally send manuscript text to analytics or error reports. You can change optional choices using Privacy choices below.

Cookies

• nc_session: an essential cookie that keeps you signed in. The app cannot work without it.
• Optional analytics cookies from Google Analytics and PostHog, and optional Google Ads measurement cookies, only when you allow the relevant choice. Your choice is stored in this browser.

Where your data lives and who processes it

Your data is stored in a managed Postgres database and served through Vercel. We share data with service providers that operate Novilot and, when you choose, provide optional measurement:

• Vercel (hosting)
• Prisma Postgres (database)
• Anthropic (AI features)
• OpenAI (manuscript and query embeddings for search)
• Dodo Payments (payments)
• Resend (transactional email)
• Google Analytics and PostHog (optional analytics), and Google Ads (optional advertising measurement)
• Sentry (error monitoring)
• Dropbox and GitHub (only when you connect an external backup destination)

We do not sell your data. Manuscript processing is limited to providing the service, your chosen sharing and backup features, and necessary legal or security obligations.

Retention and deletion

• Project deletion removes its manuscript, chapter history, Story Bible, summaries, continuity records, embeddings, and saved analyses from the active database. Manuscript-derived voice profiles are invalidated so they cannot keep deleted excerpts.
• Chapter deletion removes that chapter and its version history, and invalidates affected derived analyses and voice profiles. Project-level Story Bible entries, outlines, and notes you have retained remain until you edit them or delete the project.
• To delete your entire account, contact us (see below). Account deletion removes your writing, AI working data, usage history, profile, and linked in-app feedback from the active database. Records required by law, such as payment records held by the payment provider, can have separate retention obligations.
• Our Prisma Postgres plan keeps automated database snapshots for seven days. Deleted data can remain in an earlier snapshot until it expires. This backup window is separate from the AI-provider retention and external copies described on this page.
• Exports, copies shared with others, and backups in your connected Dropbox or GitHub account are not erased by deleting a Novilot project or account. You control those copies separately.
• The browser can hold analysis caches and unsynced edits. Deleting through the app clears the affected local copies on that device. Copies on offline or other devices may remain until cleared there.
• You can export your manuscript at any time from the app (DOCX, EPUB, HTML, Markdown, or PDF).

Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example, under GDPR or CCPA), you may have rights to access, correct, export, or delete your personal data, and to object to certain processing. Contact us and we will honor these requests for everyone, regardless of location.

Children

Novilot is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data.

Changes

If we change this policy, we will update this page and the date at the top. If a change meaningfully affects how your manuscript is handled, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.

Contact

Email support@novilot.com, or use the "Send feedback" button inside the app. Privacy requests are answered by a human.