Lantern

Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 11, 2026
Last updated: July 11, 2026

Lantern is a free iOS app that turns cancer clinical trials and medical research into plain-language explanations for patients, families, and caregivers. It is published by Digital Javelina, LLC.

Lantern is built to be private by default. It has no user accounts, shows no ads, and contains no analytics or tracking software. The plain-language explanations are generated by Apple’s on-device AI or Apple’s Private Cloud Compute, and never by any third-party AI service. This policy explains, in plain language, what that means for your information.

The short version

  • We do not ask you to create an account or sign in.
  • We do not collect your name, email, contacts, location, photos, or health records.
  • We do not track you, show you ads, or sell or share your data with advertisers.
  • Your search terms are sent to public U.S. government medical databases (ClinicalTrials.gov and PubMed) so the app can find results. They are not sent to any AI company.
  • AI explanations are produced on your device or on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute. Nothing you read is sent to any third-party AI service.
  • Lantern is for education only. It is not medical advice, and it never tells you whether you qualify for a trial or what a study means for your situation.

Information we do not collect

Lantern does not have a sign-up or login. Because of that, we do not collect or store:

  • Your name, email address, phone number, or mailing address
  • Your date of birth, medical record number, or any health record
  • Your device’s contacts, photos, microphone, camera, or precise location
  • Advertising identifiers or cross-app tracking data

Lantern requests no special device permissions to do its core job.

Information that is processed when you use the app

Even without an account, using Lantern involves some processing of the text you type and the trials or studies you open. Here is exactly what happens and where it goes.

1. Your search terms go to public medical databases

When you search for a trial or a research paper, Lantern sends your search text directly from your device to two public databases operated by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH):

  • ClinicalTrials.gov (the ClinicalTrials.gov v2 API), for clinical trials.
  • PubMed / NCBI E-utilities, for medical literature.

There is no Lantern server in between. These are the same public databases any researcher or clinician uses. Your search terms are subject to the privacy practices of those NIH services. Because a search term can include a diagnosis, please do not type your name, a patient’s name, a medical record number, or other identifying details into the search field. You do not need to, and Lantern does not want that information.

2. AI explanations are generated privately

When Lantern turns a trial or paper into a plain-language explanation or critical appraisal, it uses Apple’s Foundation Models framework. Depending on your device and the tier you choose in Settings, this runs in one of two ways:

  • On device. The AI model runs entirely on your iPhone. Nothing is sent anywhere. This works offline.
  • Apple Private Cloud Compute. On supported devices, larger requests can be handled by Apple’s Private Cloud Compute, a service Apple designed so that your data is not stored and is not accessible to Apple. This processing is governed by Apple’s privacy practices.

In every case, the content is processed only by Apple’s on-device or Private Cloud Compute systems. It is never sent to Anthropic, OpenAI, or any other third-party AI provider. Lantern ships with no third-party AI keys.

3. Caching (so results load faster)

To avoid recomputing the same explanation over and over, Lantern caches results.

  • On your device. A local cache stores previously generated explanations and search results on your iPhone. You can clear it by deleting the app.
  • Shared cache. Lantern uses a shared cache (Upstash Redis, accessed over its REST API) so that an explanation computed by one user can be reused by others. This shared cache stores only non-personal, public data: entries are keyed by a trial’s public identifier (for example, an NCT number) or a paper’s public identifier (for example, a PubMed ID). It contains no accounts and nothing that identifies you.

4. Feedback is anonymous

If you send feedback from within the app, it is recorded as an anonymous tally (for example, a thumbs up or down) with an optional free-text comment. Feedback is never tied to your identity or your device. Please do not include personal or medical details in a feedback comment.

Third-party services

Lantern relies on a small number of third-party services to work. Each has its own privacy policy:

Lantern does not use Google Analytics, Firebase, advertising SDKs, crash-reporting SDKs, or any social-media tracking pixels.

No tracking, no ads, no data sales

Lantern does not track you across apps or websites, does not display advertising, and does not sell, rent, or share your personal information. There is no personal information to sell, because we do not collect any.

Data retention

  • Content processed on device or on Apple Private Cloud Compute is not retained by us. Private Cloud Compute is designed by Apple not to store your data after your request is served.
  • The on-device cache lives on your iPhone until you clear it or delete the app.
  • The shared cache stores only non-personal public entries and anonymous feedback, and may be cleared or expired at any time.

Children’s privacy

Lantern is an educational tool intended for adults, including parents and caregivers researching pediatric cancer. It is not directed at children, and it does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children under 13 (or under 16 where a higher age applies). If you believe a child has provided personal information through the app, contact us and we will address it, though as described above the app is designed not to collect such information in the first place.

Security

Lantern minimizes risk by collecting as little as possible and keeping most processing on your device. Network requests to the medical databases and to the shared cache use encrypted connections (HTTPS). No system is perfectly secure, but because Lantern holds no accounts and no personal data, there is no personal profile to breach.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights under laws such as the EU/UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), including the rights to access, correct, or delete personal information a company holds about you.

Because Lantern does not create accounts and does not collect or store personal information that identifies you, we typically hold nothing to access, correct, or delete. If you have a question about your rights or believe we hold information about you, contact us at the address below and we will respond.

Governing law

This policy and any dispute arising from your use of Lantern are governed by the laws of the United States of America, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles.

Medical disclaimer

Lantern explains and appraises public information for education only. It does not provide medical advice, does not tell you whether anyone qualifies for a trial, and does not tell you what a study means for you or a loved one. Only a qualified care team can make those decisions. Always consult a licensed healthcare professional.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app evolves or as laws change. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date above and post the new version at https://digitaljavelina.com/projects/lantern/privacy. Significant changes will be highlighted where practical.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your privacy can be sent to:

Digital Javelina, LLC
Email: support@digitaljavelina.com

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