Privacy

Vellum stores the documents you upload, the reviews you create, and the comments and markup people leave on them, so anyone with a share link can review the file. It is a place to gather feedback, not to host or publish documents.

Owners sign in via Lotl Auth to create reviews; reviewers need no account and leave feedback through the share link. Your documents, reviews, and feedback are stored on the Vellum server for as long as the review exists. Reviews with no activity for 90 days are archived (read-only), and an owner can revoke a share link at any time.

What we collect

We collect and store the following:

Review content: The PDFs and images you upload, the review titles you choose, and the version labels and filenames attached to them. Stored on the Vellum server so reviewers reached via a share link can see the document and its version history.Stored on our server. Kept until you delete it. Kept while the review exists. Reviews with no activity for 90 days are archived (read-only). An owner can revoke a share link at any time, and can delete all of their reviews from their account page. Legal basis: legitimate interests. Removable when you delete your account. Shared with: DigitalOcean.
Review feedback: The comments, replies and markup (pins, boxes, ink, highlights) left on a document, together with the display name and optional email a reviewer chooses to attach. A reviewer needs no account: feedback is tied to the share link and the version it was left on.Stored on our server. Kept until you delete it. Kept while the parent review exists. Removed when the owner deletes the annotation or review. A signed-in reviewer can claim their feedback and, on account deletion, have their name and email stripped from it. Legal basis: legitimate interests. Removable when you delete your account. Shared with: DigitalOcean.
Account identity: When you sign in to create and manage reviews, Vellum reads your Lotl account identifier, email, and verification status from Lotl Auth to establish ownership. Vellum stores your email address against your reviews so it can send you an email digest of new feedback, but only for reviews where you have turned that digest on. Vellum does not store passwords; sign-in is handled entirely by Lotl Auth.Stored on our server. Kept until you delete it. The owner identifier and email are stored against each review you create, for as long as that review exists. Email is used only to send feedback digests you opt into, delivered through our email provider; every digest carries a one-click unsubscribe. Deleting your data from your account page removes it from Vellum. Your underlying account lives in Lotl Auth. Legal basis: legitimate interests. Removable when you delete your account. Shared with: Lotl Auth, Resend.
Operational telemetry: Aggregate request and error telemetry (timings, status codes, route names) routed through Lotl Observe so the service can be kept reliable. It is not used to profile individual reviewers.Stored on our server. Kept permanently. Operational telemetry is retained by Lotl Observe under legitimate interests for reliability and capacity planning. Legal basis: legitimate interests. Not individually deletable. Shared with: Lotl Observe.
Moderation reports: When you report a review or comment, Vellum stores the reason you pick, any detail you add, and the email you optionally leave for a reply. Admin moderators see this to act on the report, and each admin action is recorded in an internal audit log.Stored on our server. Kept until you delete it. Kept while the report is open and for a period after resolution so moderation decisions stay auditable. Legal basis: legitimate interests. Not individually deletable. Shared with: DigitalOcean.

Third parties

These external services receive some of your data:

DigitalOcean — Server hosting for Vellum
Resend — Email delivery for the owner feedback digests you opt into

Your rights

Signed in, your account page lets you export everything Vellum holds for you as a JSON file, and delete it: your reviews (and their files and comments) are removed, and your name and email are stripped from feedback you left elsewhere. Reviewers who commented anonymously can claim that feedback by signing in. We do not sell your data or use it to build advertising profiles.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email privacy@lotlsoft.com.

Last updated: 2026-07-30.