Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 13, 2026

The short version

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

1. What Verbatim reads

Verbatim 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 quotations and citations.
Your sources: the files and folders you add, and, if you choose your Zotero data folder, the Zotero database and the attachments in it. Verbatim reads a copy of the Zotero database, never changing the original.

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

2. What Verbatim stores on your Mac

Extracted text of your sources, in the app’s cache folder, so later checks are quick. You can delete it at any time; Verbatim rereads the sources when needed.
Your choices: which manuscript and sources you last used (as macOS bookmarks, so the app can open them again), your settings, and which quotations 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 Verbatim never does

It never sends your manuscript, your sources or anything about them anywhere.
It never changes your manuscript or your sources.
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. Verbatim 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

Verbatim 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+verbatim@victorshammas.com.