Privacy policy

Using Orlo without an account

You don’t need an account to use Orlo. Until you sign in, scans, imported photos and recognized text are stored only on your iPhone, and we receive nothing.

Signing in

Signing in is optional. You can sign in with Apple or Google and link both to one account in the app. If you created two accounts, you can merge them: the documents of both accounts are combined in one. Depending on the method, we receive:

• Apple — a unique account identifier and, if Orlo asks for it, your email address (Apple lets you hide it behind a relay address);
• Google — your Google account identifier and email address.

We use this information only to run your account and sign you in. If you sign in with Apple, we also keep a token from Apple, encrypted, so that we can disconnect Orlo from your Apple ID when you delete your account.

What is stored in the cloud

While you’re signed in, Orlo uploads your documents to our server — scanned pages and their original photos, document names and folders, recognized text and the page layout needed to show it — and keeps them while your account exists. Data is sent over an encrypted connection. Page files are stored encrypted with a key unique to your account. We don’t look at the contents of your documents and use them only to store them for you.

Your account on the web

On account.hexvale.dev you can sign in with the same Apple or Google account to see and download your documents, download a copy of all your data, and delete documents or your whole account. The page uses only two cookies, both necessary for it to work: one keeps you signed in (until you sign out, for up to 7 days), the other remembers your language. There are no other cookies, no analytics and no third-party scripts.

IP addresses and logs

Like any internet service, our server sees the IP address of your device with each request. We use it only to protect the service from overload and abuse, keep it in memory for no longer than 10 minutes, and never store it or write it to logs. Our logs record only technical facts about requests — when, which kind of request and whether it succeeded — never the contents or names of documents, recognized text, sign-in tokens or email addresses.

Service providers

Sign in with Apple and Google is provided by those companies under their own privacy policies. Our server runs at Hetzner Online in Germany. Your document files are stored in Cloudflare R2 in the European Union, and our website and server are reached through Cloudflare’s network, which protects them from attacks. Hetzner and Cloudflare process data only on our behalf; to deliver traffic and protect their networks they may also process connection details such as IP addresses. They get only what these tasks require.

Backups

So that a failure doesn’t lose your data, we make a copy of the cloud database every night. Copies are encrypted, kept in Cloudflare R2 in the European Union for 30 days, and then deleted automatically. They contain account details, document names and recognized text, but not page images.

Camera and photos

Orlo uses the camera only to scan documents, and photos from your library only to import the pictures you choose for scanning. If you’re signed in, the resulting scans are stored in the cloud as described above.

Text recognition

Text recognition runs entirely on your device. Recognized text is saved with your documents — on your iPhone and, if you’re signed in, in the cloud.

Export and sharing

When you export or share a document, it goes only where you choose — for example, to the Files app or to another app. From there, it is handled under the rules of that app or service.

No ads, analytics or tracking

Orlo has no advertising and no analytics, and it doesn’t track you across apps or websites. We don’t sell your data and don’t share it for advertising.

Deleting your data

You can delete any document in the app or on account.hexvale.dev; if you’re signed in, it is deleted from the cloud too. Its name and text are removed right away and its page images within a day; we keep only an empty marker so that your other devices delete the document as well. Deleted documents also disappear from backups within 30 days.

You can delete your account in Orlo’s settings or at account.hexvale.dev. You’re signed out on all devices right away, and after 30 days the account and all its data are permanently deleted from our server. During those 30 days you can restore the account by signing in again, or delete it immediately. Files are removed from storage shortly after, and the data disappears from backups within another 30 days. If you signed in with Apple, Orlo is also disconnected from your Apple ID. Deleting the app removes the data stored on your iPhone.

Unused cloud. If you don’t use the cloud for 12 months — no sync from any of your devices and no sign-in at account.hexvale.dev — we’ll warn you in advance and then delete your documents from our server. Documents on your iPhone stay untouched. Deleted copies are kept for 30 days, during which you can restore them by signing in. If the account then stays unused for another 12 months, it is deleted as well; we’ll warn you before that too. This doesn’t apply while you have an active subscription. Purchases made through the App Store are tied to your Apple ID and are not affected.

Why we process this data

We process account and cloud data only to provide what you asked for: signing you in and storing your documents. We don’t use your data for advertising or profiling.

Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask for a copy of your data, correct it, delete it or object to its processing. Much of this you can do yourself: on account.hexvale.dev you can download a copy of all your data as an archive, and in the app or on account.hexvale.dev you can delete documents or your whole account. For anything else, write to us — we’ll reply within 30 days. You can also complain to the data protection authority in your country.

Where data is processed

Our server is in Germany, and your document files and backups are in the European Union. If you live elsewhere, your data is transferred there only to run Orlo, with the safeguards the law requires, and is protected as described in this policy.

Children

Orlo can be used without an account at any age. We don’t knowingly create accounts for children under 13 or under the minimum age set in their country. If you think a child has created an account, write to us and we’ll delete it.

Information from Apple

If you have allowed your iPhone to share analytics with app developers, Apple may send us crash reports and usage statistics under Apple’s own privacy policy. You can turn this off in Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements. Orlo itself contains no analytics.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we will update this page and the date above.

Contact

Orlo is made by Hexvale, which is responsible for the data described in this policy. Questions about privacy and requests about your data: hello@hexvale.dev.

This policy covers the Orlo app and your account page at account.hexvale.dev. This website is covered by the Hexvale privacy policy.