Book to Listen Privacy Policy

Book to Listen is a local-first Chrome extension for turning user-selected book files into readable and listenable books. It has no advertising, no analytics, and no Book to Listen backend that receives user books, API keys, or reading history.

No advertising

Book to Listen does not show ads and does not use user data for advertising.

Data stored locally

The extension stores settings, selected voice and model choices, encrypted provider API keys, local library metadata, reading progress, and listening-time statistics in Chrome extension storage or in the user-selected local library folder. Book files remain on the user's device.

Book files and extracted text

EPUB, PDF, DOCX, DOC, TXT, and Markdown files are opened only after the user imports them or selects a library folder. The extension parses book text locally so it can display pages, track reading progress, and generate narration.

Data sent to model providers

If the user enables OpenRouter TTS, the text chunks needed for narration are sent directly from the extension to OpenRouter. If the user uses Learn-mode translation, the selected passage is sent directly to OpenRouter. If the user enables Ollama or LM Studio, text is sent to the local server configured by the user. Book to Listen does not receive those requests or responses.

API keys

OpenRouter API keys are stored locally using AES-GCM with extension-local key material. This helps prevent accidental plaintext exposure, but it is not a hardware-backed secret vault. Keys are sent only to OpenRouter and are never included in exported files.

Listening statistics

Listening minutes and model attribution are stored locally to show usage on the Balance page. These statistics are not sent to Book to Listen.

Permissions

Storage keeps settings, keys, library metadata, progress, and local usage statistics. Offscreen playback keeps narration running reliably. Alarms schedule periodic progress saves. OpenRouter and localhost access are optional and are requested only when the user enables features that need those providers.

Retention and deletion

Local data remains until the user deletes it, removes an API key, deletes files from the library folder, clears Chrome extension storage, or uninstalls the extension.

Limited Use

Book to Listen uses user data only to provide and improve its user-facing book reading, narration, translation, progress, and balance features. It does not sell user data, use it for advertising, or allow humans to read user books or keys.