Privacy Policy

Last updated: January 28, 2026

    Plain-English summary:
    Browser voices process text locally. When you use standard browser voices, your text stays on your device.
Neural voices send text to our server. If you choose a premium neural voice, your text is sent to our TTS server and then to Microsoft Edge TTS to generate high-quality audio. Text is not stored.
No accounts. You can use the tool without signing in.
Ads + Google Analytics only load if you accept. You can reject and still use the core tool.
Two homepage services run regardless of the cookie banner: a voice fallback loaded from a CDN (meSpeak via jsDelivr) and a simple visit counter request (CountAPI).

  

1) Who we are

This Privacy Policy applies to Read-Aloud (read-aloud.com) (“Read-Aloud”, “we”, “us”). If you have questions, email admin@read-aloud.com or use the contact form.

2) How text-to-speech works

Read-Aloud offers two types of voices with different privacy characteristics:

Browser voices (local processing)

When you select a standard browser voice, text is converted to speech using your browser/operating system's speech engine (via the Web Speech API). Depending on the voice, speech may be generated entirely on-device or by your browser/OS vendor's voice services. Your text is not sent to Read-Aloud servers when using browser voices.

Neural voices (server processing)

When you select a premium neural voice (marked with accent labels like "US", "UK", "AU"), your text is sent to our TTS server hosted on Render.com, which then forwards it to Microsoft Edge TTS to generate high-quality audio. Text is processed in real-time and is not stored on our server or logged. The audio is streamed back to your browser and played.

On the homepage, we also load an optional offline fallback voice engine (meSpeak).

3) Information we collect

Information you provide

Support messages: if you email us or use the contact form, we receive the information you send (such as your name, email address, and message) so we can reply.

Information collected automatically

Basic server logs: like most websites, our hosting provider may process standard logs (requested page, date/time, and basic device/network information) for security and reliability.
Homepage visit counter request: the homepage sends a request to a third-party counter service (CountAPI) to increment a public visit count. As with any web request, the provider may receive standard request data (such as IP address and user agent).
CDN requests for voice fallback: the homepage loads meSpeak files from a third-party CDN (jsDelivr). The CDN may receive standard request data (such as IP address and user agent).

We do not create user profiles or store your pasted text in a database.

4) Cookies, local storage, and your consent choice

Read-Aloud itself is designed to work without requiring cookies for the core text-to-speech tool. However, some third-party services (like advertising and analytics) may use cookies or similar technologies if enabled.

How our consent banner works

We store your choice in localStorage under the key ra_cookie_consent with a value of accepted or rejected.
If you accept, we load Google Analytics and (on pages with an ad slot) Google AdSense.
If you reject, we do not load Google Analytics or Google AdSense.
Note: the homepage visit counter (CountAPI) and the meSpeak CDN files (jsDelivr) load regardless of this choice.

5) Third-party services we use

Google Analytics (only after you accept)

If you accept the cookie banner, we use Google Analytics to understand basic site usage (for example, which pages are visited most). We do not intentionally send the text you paste into the tool to Google Analytics.

Google AdSense advertising (only after you accept, and only where an ad slot appears)

If you accept the cookie banner, we load Google AdSense on pages that display an ad slot (currently the homepage). Google and its partners may use cookies or similar identifiers to serve ads, including (where permitted) personalized ads.

In practice, this means:

Third-party vendors (including Google) may use cookies/identifiers to show ads based on prior visits and activity.
Google’s advertising cookies allow Google and its partners to show ads based on visits to this site and/or other sites.

You can manage ad personalization through Google’s Ads Settings: adssettings.google.com. More about Google ad technology: policies.google.com/technologies/ads.

Neural voice service (Microsoft Edge TTS via Render.com)

If you select a premium neural voice, your text is sent to our TTS server (hosted on Render.com) which forwards it to Microsoft Edge TTS to generate audio.

Text is not stored: Our server processes text in real-time to generate audio and does not log or retain your text.
Microsoft processing: Microsoft Edge TTS receives your text to generate speech. Microsoft's data practices apply to this processing.
You can avoid this: Select a standard browser voice instead of a neural voice to keep text processing local.

Contact form (Formspree)

If you use our contact form, your message is submitted to a third-party form processor (Formspree) so it can be delivered to us. Form submissions may include your name, email address, and message content. Formspree's processing is governed by their own privacy policy.

Visit counter (CountAPI)

The homepage calls a third-party counter endpoint to increment and display a public “visits” number. This call may expose standard request data (like IP address and user agent) to that provider.

Voice fallback files (jsDelivr + meSpeak)

The homepage loads meSpeak JavaScript and voice configuration files from jsDelivr (a third-party CDN). This improves reliability and provides an optional fallback voice engine, and the CDN may receive standard request data.

Donations (Buy Me a Coffee link)

We link to a donation page (Buy Me a Coffee). If you click that link and choose to donate, that service will process the transaction and handle your information under its own policies.

6) How long we keep information

We keep support emails/contact form messages only as long as needed to respond and for reasonable record-keeping. Hosting/third-party providers may retain logs according to their own retention practices.

7) Your choices

Cookie banner choice: you can accept or reject analytics/ads.
Reset consent: use the button below to clear your saved choice and show the banner again.
Ad personalization: use Google’s controls at adssettings.google.com.
Shared devices: avoid pasting sensitive text on shared computers or while screen-sharing.
Browser controls: you can also use browser settings, content blockers, or private browsing.

Cookie preferences

Selecting reset will remove your stored choice (ra_cookie_consent) and show the consent banner again.

8) Children

Read-Aloud is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information via our contact form, please email us and we will address it.

9) International visitors

If you enable ads/analytics, those providers may process data on servers located in different countries. Requirements vary by region; where consent is required for ads/analytics, you can reject via the banner.

10) California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have specific rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):

Right to Know: You may request details about the personal information we collect, use, disclose, or sell.
Right to Delete: You may request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal exceptions).
Right to Opt-Out: We do not sell your personal information. If our practices change, we will provide a "Do Not Sell My Personal Information" link.
Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights.

To exercise these rights, contact us at admin@read-aloud.com.

11) Changes

If we update this policy, we’ll change the “Last updated” date above. Changes take effect when posted.

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