Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 30, 2026

Beta. Bookholder is in beta. This policy describes what we do today, and we'll update it as the service grows. We'll notify theater administrators by email of significant changes.

Bookholder ("we", "us") provides access for live theater: a theater posts captions, translations, audio description and other notes for a performance, and audience members read or hear them on their own devices. This policy explains what information we handle, why, and who else touches it. Kyle Levien, doing business as Bookholder, is responsible for it. Contact: [email protected].

Audience members

Reading captions needs no account, name or email address, and we don't ask for any.

• The show you join. Joining a show uses its show key (the code from the QR code or program). Your device then keeps a live connection, through our real-time provider, to receive captions. We see an anonymous connection and an aggregate count of how many devices are connected, not who you are.
• On your device. Your show key and your caption style choices (size, font, colors) are saved in your browser's local storage so they're there next time. You can clear them any time in your browser settings. We don't use them to track you.
• Technical information. Like any website, our servers and the companies that run our network see your IP address and basic request details. We use these to deliver the service, keep it secure, and fix problems.

Theater staff

• Account details. Your name, email address and role (administrator, show manager or operator) in your theater, and when you last signed in.
• Signing in. Sign-in is handled by our authentication provider, WorkOS. If you choose to sign in with Google or Microsoft, that provider confirms your email address to WorkOS and to us. We never see your Google or Microsoft password.
• Your theater's content. The shows you create, the scripts and captions you import or post, translations, notes and audio description, speaker colors, program files, logos and branding, and which team members can run which shows. The theater controls this content; we handle it only to run the service.
• Email we send you. Invitations, notices that you were added to a theater, and similar messages about your account.

Uploaded scripts

You can bring a script into Bookholder from a PDF, a CSV file or a plain text file. This is what happens to it:

• We do not keep the original PDF. A PDF is read in the server's memory only long enough to pull the text out of it. The file is never written to disk or to file storage, we do not keep a copy, and we do not keep its file name. If the PDF cannot be read, nothing of it is kept either.
• CSV and text files are handled the same way. The file itself is read and discarded. We keep the file's name and the time it was uploaded, so the show page can tell you which file the script came from. Downloading the script later builds a new CSV from the saved lines; it does not hand back your original file.
• What we do keep is the script's lines. After you review an import, the lines you choose to save (speaker, text and any notes) are stored with the show so they can be sent to the audience during a performance. Anything in the original file that you left out of the import is not saved.
• Earlier versions. When you save a change to a script, we keep the previous version of its lines so that you can restore it. These are deleted when the show or theater is deleted.
• Program files and logos. If you upload a program (for example a PDF for audience members to read) or a logo, we do store that file, because it is meant to be shown to your audience. It is kept until you replace or remove it, or delete the show. Location data is removed from photos you upload.
• Deleting. Deleting a show deletes its script lines, earlier versions, caption history, program file and logo. Deleting a theater deletes all of its shows.

Scripts often contain other people's writing. Please upload only material you have the right to use; see our Terms of Service.

This website

Our marketing website does not currently use analytics or advertising cookies. If we add analytics, we'll update this policy first.

Cookies and local storage

How we use information

• To run the service: deliver captions, manage theaters, and sign people in.
• To keep it secure and reliable, including limiting abuse and investigating faults.
• To email you about your account.
• To meet legal obligations. We do not sell personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.

Who else handles it

We use these service providers, who process information on our behalf:

• Fly.io: hosts the application.
• A managed PostgreSQL database provider: stores theater, show, script and account data.
• Cloudflare: DNS, website hosting, and file storage for uploaded logos and program files.
• Ably: delivers captions to audience devices in real time.
• WorkOS: sign-in and invitations for theater staff.
• Resend: sends some account emails.

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect the safety and security of people and the service.

How long we keep it

A theater's data is kept while its account is active. Script lines, earlier script versions and caption history for a show are kept until the show or theater is deleted. Original script PDFs are not kept at all (see Uploaded scripts above). When a theater is deleted, we remove its shows, scripts, captions, users, program files and logos from our systems. Copies held in our providers' backups age out on those providers' normal schedules.

Your choices and rights

You can ask us to access, correct or delete personal information we hold about you, or object to how we use it, by emailing [email protected]. Audience members can clear stored preferences in their browser at any time. Theater staff can ask their theater's administrator to remove their account. We'll honor these requests from anyone, wherever they live.

Security

Connections to Bookholder use HTTPS, access to administration is limited to signed-in staff of the relevant theater, and each theater's data is kept separate from others'. No system is perfectly secure, so we cannot promise absolute security.

Children

Bookholder is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. Audience members need not provide any, whatever their age.

Where information is processed

Our providers may process information in the United States and other countries.

Changes

We may update this policy. We'll change the date above, and for significant changes we'll notify theater administrators by email.

Contact

Kyle Levien, doing business as Bookholder. Email: [email protected].