openread.Your words stay yours.
OpenRead privacy notice · Updated 25 October 2026
OpenRead is a free, open-source reading companion maintained by Ahmed Najaf. This notice covers the browser extension, the local helper and the public OpenRead website.
The browser extension
When you activate OpenRead, it reads text from the current webpage, your selected text or text you paste. It also reads that page’s title and URL to identify the reading in the controls. This happens only for the page you invoke OpenRead on; it does not build a background browsing-history log. It uses the text to generate speech and highlight the spoken words. Page content and reading position are held in memory while the page player is active. OpenRead does not send your reading to the maintainer, an analytics service or a cloud speech provider.
The extension sends text to the OpenRead helper at 127.0.0.1 on your own computer. This is a local connection, not a hosted speech service. Audio and approximate word timings are returned to the page. Browser permissions include active-tab access, script injection for reading/highlighting, local preference storage and access to that loopback address.
Your voice, speed and reading preferences are stored using your browser’s local extension storage. OpenRead does not intentionally synchronize them through a cloud account. Closing a page clears its in-memory reading and audio; stopping playback clears its highlight.
Limited use
OpenRead handles webpage content and the invoked page’s title/URL only to provide its disclosed reading features, consistent with the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements. It does not sell this data, use it for advertising, profiling, creditworthiness or lending decisions, or transfer it for unrelated purposes. The maintainer has no remote access to your reading data and does not read it. If you share a specific excerpt in a support issue, that is your separate choice; avoid including private content in public issues.
Your local library
Reading text is saved only when you choose to save a reading. Saved documents, bookmarks and progress are stored on your computer in OpenRead’s local library database. Progress and bookmarks update for readings you have saved. You can delete a saved reading from its options menu, export a library backup, or remove the local database file. Backups and audio exports are ordinary files that you control.
Imports, including PDFs and scans, are processed locally. macOS Vision performs OCR when needed. The local reading app stores its voice, speed and display preferences in browser-local storage.
Optional AI and recording
Optional AI tools use the local Ollama service and the installed local model. Dictation uses local Whisper. The microphone is accessed only when you choose to record and approve your browser’s microphone permission. Audio is held in memory for transcription; transcripts are saved to the library only if you choose to save them. The maintainer does not receive recordings, transcripts, prompts or answers.
Downloads and outside services
Initial setup downloads software and model files from their upstream sources, including package registries, GitHub, Hugging Face and Ollama as applicable. Those services receive normal network request information and apply their own privacy policies. Once the models are installed, inference runs locally. Following links to GitHub, Google’s extension store, Python or Ko-fi takes you to those services; donations and payments are handled by the service you choose.
This public website
The public site plays a prerecorded voice sample and a product demo. It does not accept reading uploads, access your local library, call the local helper or request your microphone. No advertising or application analytics scripts are included.
The site is hosted by Vercel. Like other web hosts, Vercel processes request metadata such as IP addresses, browser information and requested URLs to deliver and secure the website. See Vercel’s privacy policy for its practices. This hosting metadata is separate from the installed app’s local reading data.
Data sharing and use
OpenRead does not sell reading data or use it for advertising, profiling, credit decisions or unrelated purposes. Website content accessed by the extension is used to provide the reading features you request. The source is available for inspection, and third-party dependencies retain their own notices.
Questions and changes
For questions, contact the maintainer through the OpenRead GitHub repository. Avoid posting private readings or recordings in public issues. Changes to these practices will be reflected in this notice and the source repository.