Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 17, 2026

The short version

Ibid has no accounts, no servers, no analytics and no ads.
It makes no network connections at all. The app doesn’t even have permission to use the network.
It reads the manuscript and bibliography files you choose, on your Mac, and nothing else. They never leave your Mac.
It uses no AI service. Checks are plain text comparisons made on your Mac.
I (the developer) never receive any of your data.

This policy explains what the Ibid app for macOS (“Ibid”, “the app”) reads, what it stores, and what it never does. Ibid is made by Victor Shammas, an independent developer (“I”, “me”).

1. What Ibid reads

Ibid runs in Apple’s App Sandbox, so it can read only what you choose in the standard macOS file panel or drag onto its window:

Your manuscript, to find its citations and its bibliography.
Your bibliography files, if you add any: BibTeX, CSL-JSON or RIS files, or a separate reference-list document.

Scanned pages are read with the text recognition built into macOS, which runs on your Mac.

2. What Ibid stores on your Mac

Your choices: which manuscript and bibliography files you last used (as macOS bookmarks, so the app can open them again), your settings, and which results you marked as reviewed.
Files you save: reports and Word copies with comments, only where you choose to save them.

All of this stays in the app’s own storage on your Mac and is removed if you delete the app and its data.

3. What Ibid never does

It never sends your manuscript, your bibliography or anything about them anywhere.
It never changes your manuscript or your bibliography files.
It has no analytics, crash reporting, advertising or tracking of any kind, and uses no third-party code that does.

4. Purchases

The one-time unlock is an in-app purchase handled entirely by Apple through the App Store. I don’t receive your name, email or payment details; Apple’s privacy policy applies to the purchase. Ibid only asks the App Store whether this Apple Account has bought the unlock.

5. Email

If you email me for support, I use your message only to answer you, and you can ask me to delete it.

6. Children

Ibid collects no personal information from anyone, including children.

7. Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new effective date. Because the app collects nothing, a change could only make it stricter.

8. Contact

Questions about privacy: contact+ibid@victorshammas.com.