How we handle your manuscript

When you start a project, we store the PDF you upload, a processed version of it that makes the pages searchable and selectable, and the index you build — your entries, subentries, cross-references, and notes. We also keep basic account details (your name and email address) and technical logs that help us keep the service running.

Your files and your index are stored in the United States, with secure, established cloud providers. Everything is encrypted while it travels between your computer and our systems, and while it's stored. Your files are filed under your account, so no other user can see or open them.

You can, through your account. A small number of SeeAlso team members have administrative access to our systems. We look at your files only when you ask us for help, when we need to fix a problem with your project, or when it's necessary to keep the service secure — and never for any other reason.

To prepare your proofs, our system uses automated text recognition — including AI-powered processing — to read the page layout and text. This step only turns your PDF into searchable, selectable pages. It doesn't write your index or make any decisions about it; every entry in your index is one you chose.

That is the only place AI touches your book. SeeAlso has no feature that suggests or writes index entries. More in AI in SeeAlso.

This processing is done by outside providers working on our behalf. They operate globally, so your text may be processed outside the United States, and they keep a temporary copy for a limited period for safety monitoring (typically 30 to 55 days) before deleting it.

We don't use your manuscript or your index to train SeeAlso's systems, and the outside services that process your text on our behalf are not permitted to use it to train their models.

Like most software, SeeAlso runs on a handful of outside providers for hosting, storage, sign-in, and text processing. They handle your files only to provide their part of the service to us, under agreements that require them to protect it. If you'd like the list of providers, email contact@seealso.io.

When you delete a project, your index is removed from the app. Your uploaded proofs and the processed files stay in our storage until you ask us to remove them: email contact@seealso.io and we'll delete them and confirm when it's done. We're working on making that removal automatic.

To close your account and delete everything in it, email contact@seealso.io. We keep only what the law requires, such as basic purchase records. Temporary copies held by our processing providers are deleted on their own schedule, as described above.

If your publishing contract or institution has rules about where your manuscript can be stored or processed, we're happy to answer specific questions before you upload. Email contact@seealso.io.