Transparency
Data & AI
What stays on your device, what Lumen sends for generation, and how invite-only live monitoring moves through the service.
Last updated September 9, 2026
The Lumen path
- 01You choose a shot
No project image is uploaded merely by opening Lumen.
- 02Scouter creates a durable job
The backend authenticates the request, reserves a generation credit, and stores a temporary source object.
- 03The provider relights the frame
The image and instruction are sent to Alibaba Cloud Model Studio using the Qwen or Wan route assigned to that job. Provider keys never ship inside the app.
- 04The result returns to your project
The app downloads the generated version, writes it locally, and confirms receipt.
- 05Temporary images are removed
Source uploads are deleted at terminal completion. Results are deleted after receipt or the 24-hour fallback deadline.
Invite-only online monitoring
A monitoring session starts only when the host chooses to go live. The host approves each viewer before that person receives video. Local Wi-Fi monitoring discovers nearby Scouter devices and sends an encrypted stream directly, without creating a backend or LiveKit session while it remains local-only. The host can optionally add an Internet link to the same local session. That starts a separate Internet branch while approved nearby viewers continue using their direct local connections. Internet monitoring uses a shared invite; after approval, the viewer receives a short-lived connection credential. Scouter sends video—but not microphone audio—through its LiveKit Cloud project to approved Internet viewers. The project uses a United States data region and LiveKit's global edge network, so real-time media may be processed in an available LiveKit region near the participants. The host can remove a viewer or stop the session at any time.
The Internet route is an invite-only video relay; no audio, continuous recording, or server recording is enabled. The relay transports the live stream and does not create a server recording. Scouter's backend stores only the temporary session, invite, approval, and participant records needed to operate and protect the connection; the backend and media relay do not save the live frames as photos or clips. Account-linked records are deleted within seven days after the session ends or expires. If LiveKit is unavailable at that deadline, an unlinkable cleanup receipt may keep only opaque, randomly generated room and relay-participant identifiers until revocation and room deletion succeed. It has no account link, invite, display name, connection token, or media. A viewer can deliberately save one received frame as a still in that viewer's current Scouter Project. If automatic saving to Photos is enabled in Scouter Settings, a copy with overlays and camera information is also added to Photos. The action stores ordinary project media on the viewing device; it does not upload the still to Scouter's backend or media relay, capture microphone audio, or start continuous or server-side recording. If the viewer has enabled optional private iCloud project sync, Apple CloudKit may sync the project still under the project-sync behavior described on this page. Viewers may also capture their screen independently, so hosts should stream only with the permission of everyone whose image or work may be visible.
Local Wi-Fi peer identifiers, viewer names, and approval tokens remain in memory on the participating devices and are discarded when the local session ends. Local live frames are not sent to Scouter's backend or media relay. A viewer-initiated capture still follows the local-first Scouter Project behavior described above and creates no Scouter backend or media-relay copy. If the host turns on the optional Internet link, the Internet copy of the live image and its temporary session records follow the relay and retention rules above; that choice does not reroute the nearby peer connections through Scouter's backend or LiveKit.
Background progress and Live Activities
After Scouter has durably handed a Lumen job to the backend, generation can continue while the app is in the background. If you enable a Live Activity, this release creates it only on your device. Scouter does not request an ActivityKit push token, register the activity with its backend, or use Apple Push Notification service for remote Live Activity updates.
Scouter may update the Live Activity locally while iOS allows the app to run. If you force-quit Scouter, reopen it to resume any unfinished transfer and save a ready result; iOS does not guarantee local updates after force-quit.
One-time welcome credits
Scouter uses Sign in with Apple to limit its welcome Lumen credits to one grant for each verified Apple identity. The backend stores a keyed, one-way redemption code rather than the Apple identifier itself. That code remains separate from the Scouter account and may remain after account deletion for the life of the welcome-credit program and for up to 24 months afterward, solely to prevent repeated claims. It contains no name, email address, account ID, image, project, or purchase information.
What the model receives
The model receives the selected image and the lighting instruction. It may also receive technical context such as camera, format, lens, focal length, aspect ratio, look, focus, exposure, white balance, and image dimensions. It does not receive your full project library or precise location metadata.
A Project shot created by an earlier app version can retain legacy Stand-in content. If you submit one to Lumen, Scouter temporarily renders that existing content into the image and may include only a compatibility handling mode, count, and broad model categories for compatibility. The current app does not offer Stand-in authoring. AR world maps, camera transforms, tracking matrices, and the editable scene document are not sent.
Provider processing
Lumen currently uses Alibaba Cloud Model Studio in the China (Beijing) service region. Alibaba Cloud states that Model Studio customer content is not used to develop or improve its models without separate consent. For an asynchronous Wan generation, the provider keeps task status and the temporary result URL available for up to 24 hours so Scouter can recover interrupted processing. Scouter downloads the result promptly and keeps its own source and result copies only under the temporary retention rules described here.
What AI output means
Lumen images are visual planning references, not photometric simulations. They can invent, omit, or alter details and may not predict real fixture output, exposure, safety, weather, access, or production feasibility. A qualified crew must validate the actual lighting plan.
Provider changes
Scouter's backend keeps each generation bound to its assigned provider and model so existing jobs can finish safely during a provider transition. If a different provider or materially different processing terms are introduced, this page and the privacy policy will be updated before the change applies to users.