Privacy Policy

Effective November 2026

BentoPaper is a PDF reader for scientific papers. It is currently an invite-only beta. This policy explains what data BentoPaper collects, how we use it, who processes it for us, and how you can export or delete it. If you have a question, write to [email protected].

1. What we collect

Account information

Sign-in is handled by our authentication provider, WorkOS. You can sign in with Google or with a one-time code sent to your email address.

• Google sign-in. BentoPaper requests only the openid, email and profile permissions. Under these permissions Google shares your name, email address, profile picture and a Google account identifier with WorkOS. WorkOS then gives BentoPaper your email address, whether it is verified, and an account identifier. BentoPaper stores those, plus the time of your last sign-in. We do not receive your Google password, and we cannot access your Gmail, Google Drive, contacts, calendar or any other Google data.
• Email code sign-in. We receive your email address and an account identifier from WorkOS.
• Sessions. When you are signed in, we keep a session record so we can keep you signed in and end the session when you sign out.

Content you add

The PDFs you upload, and what you create with them: highlights, notes, cards, projects, reading progress, figure and panel corrections, and feedback you send us.

Data we derive from your content

To make a paper readable in BentoPaper, our servers extract its text, references, figures and figure panels, and store the results with the paper. Part of this processing uses an AI provider and starts automatically when you upload a paper: our servers send the paper's figure images, figure captions and text to OpenAI (see section 4). The results, and the results of AI features you use, such as an answer to your question, are stored in your account.

Technical data

Our servers record standard request logs (such as IP address, browser type, time and the page or API requested) and basic product events (for example, that a paper finished processing). We use them to keep the service secure, fix problems and improve the beta. We keep request logs for 30 days. We do not use third-party analytics, advertising or tracking services.

2. How we use your data

• To sign you in and keep your account separate from every other account.
• To store, process and show your papers, notes and other content.
• To process your papers with AI and run the AI features you use (see section 4).
• To keep the service secure, investigate problems and answer your messages.
• To understand how the beta is used so we can improve it.

We do not sell your data. We do not use it for advertising. We do not share it except as described in section 5.

3. Data we receive from Google

We use the information we receive through Google sign-in (your email address and account identifier, delivered through WorkOS) only to create your BentoPaper account, sign you in, and contact you about your account. We do not use it for advertising, do not sell it, do not use it to train AI models, and do not share it with anyone other than the service providers that run BentoPaper for us.

BentoPaper's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

4. AI processing and AI features

BentoPaper's AI provider is OpenAI. All AI requests are made from our servers; your browser never sends your papers or notes to an AI provider.

Automatically, when you upload a paper

• Figures. Our servers send the paper's figure images and figure captions to OpenAI to find the panels in each figure, read the panel letters, and match each part of a caption to its panel.
• Text. After processing, our servers send the paper's text, including figure captions, to OpenAI to produce the paper's summary of methods and findings, its key sentences, and its overview.

Automatically, when you create a card

• Our servers send the card's text, and short descriptions of related papers, figure panels and projects in your library, to OpenAI to suggest links between them.

When you use an AI feature

• When you ask a question, explain or translate a passage, trace a claim, or search your library or notes with AI, our servers send your request and the parts of your papers and notes it needs, such as relevant passages and figure panel images, to OpenAI.
• If you turn on web background for a question, our servers send only the paper's identifying details (such as its title) to OpenAI's web search, not its content.

Storage and training

• We send every request to OpenAI with storage turned off.
• We do not use your papers, notes or other content to train AI models. OpenAI does not train its models on data sent through its API unless the customer opts in, and we have not opted in.
• If we start using another AI provider, we will update this page before we send it any of your content.

5. Who processes your data

We use these service providers to run BentoPaper. They process your data only to provide their service to us.

• Amazon Web Services — the server and database that run BentoPaper, in the United States (US East).
• Cloudflare — network delivery and security for our websites, and private storage for uploaded PDFs, derived files and backups.
• WorkOS — sign-in. Google also processes your sign-in if you choose Google.
• OpenAI — AI processing of your papers and the AI features you use, as described in section 4.

Your data is stored and processed in the United States. If you use BentoPaper from another country, your data is transferred to the United States.

We may disclose data if the law requires it, for example in response to a valid court order.

6. Cookies and browser storage

We use only the cookies needed to sign you in and protect your session from cross-site attacks. During the beta, Cloudflare Access may also set a sign-in cookie. We use no advertising or analytics cookies.

The BentoPaper reader also keeps copies of papers you open, and changes you have not yet synced, in your browser's local storage so papers open quickly and edits are not lost. You can clear this storage in your browser settings.

7. Keeping, exporting and deleting your data

• We keep your data while your account is open.
• Export. In Settings, you can export everything in your account: your original PDFs, notes, cards, reading state, figures and panels, and other derived files. An export is available for 24 hours after it is ready, for one successful download.
• Delete a paper. A deleted paper moves to Recently Deleted for 7 days, where you can restore it. After that, its files are permanently erased. If the same file is still attached to another paper you keep, the file is kept until no paper uses it.
• Delete your account. In Settings, you can delete your account. You have 30 days to cancel. After that, your account and its content are permanently erased, and your sign-in link with WorkOS is removed.
• What we keep after deletion. A record that the deletion happened, without your content, for 2 years; and security and integrity records for 1 year. Deleted data may remain in backups for a limited time before the backups are replaced.

You can also ask us by email to access, correct, export or delete your data, and we will respond. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under local law.

8. Security

Traffic to BentoPaper is encrypted with HTTPS. Each account's data is separated from every other account on the server, and AI provider keys and other secrets are held only on our servers. No system is perfectly secure, but we will tell affected users if we learn of a breach that affects their data.

9. Children

BentoPaper is not intended for children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect data from them.

10. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page. If a change materially affects how we use your data, we will tell signed-in users before it takes effect.

11. Contact

Write to [email protected] with any question about this policy or your data.