Privacy Policy

Last updated 5 August 2026. This policy explains what EchoBack collects, why, where it is stored, how long it is kept, and how to get it deleted.

Placeholders below must be filled in before launch. The controller of your personal data is [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], [registered address], [jurisdiction]. Contact: [privacy@example.com].

1. The short version

Your recordings, photos, and profile entries are private to your account by default.
We do not sell your data and we do not use it for advertising.
Your recordings are processed by AI systems in order to produce the analysis you asked for. That is the core purpose of the service.
Nothing becomes public unless you explicitly choose to share a specific item.
You can ask us to delete your account and its contents at any time.

2. What we collect

Category	What it is	Why
Voice recordings	Audio you record in the app (up to 20 minutes per recording), plus the transcript and analysis derived from it.	To produce the emotional-subtext analysis you requested and store it in your Vault.
Text entries	Anything you type instead of, or alongside, a recording.	Same as above.
Photos	Still frames captured from your camera during a session, if you grant camera permission. Captures happen at defined moments in a session, not continuously, and no video is recorded or stored.	To illustrate entries in your Vault and provide visual context to the analysis.
Profile entries	Optional details you choose to enter (basics, work, family, lifestyle, inner world). Every field is optional.	To give the analysis context about you. Leave any field blank and it is not used.
Account identifiers	An account ID generated for you, and your email address if you provide one. There is no password; email is verified with a one-time code.	To keep your data attached to you and let you sign in on other devices.
Device & technical data	Browser and device characteristics, approximate region, IP address in server logs, error diagnostics, timestamps, usage counters, and (if you enable notifications) a push token.	To run the service, enforce usage quotas, detect abuse, deliver notifications, and fix faults.
Language preference	Your browser's language, sent only when it exactly matches a speech-recognition variant we support.	To pick the right transcription model.

Your voice, and any feelings it reveals, may be treated as sensitive personal data in some jurisdictions. We process it only to provide the service to you, on the basis of your explicit request and consent, and you can withdraw that consent by deleting the content or your account.

3. What we do not do

We do not sell or rent personal data.
We do not use your recordings, photos, or profile data for advertising or profiling for advertisers.
We do not run third-party advertising or analytics trackers on the site.
We do not listen to your microphone outside an explicit recording you start.

4. AI processing

To produce your analysis, recordings are transcribed and passed through AI models that generate an interpretation of emotional subtext, and may generate synthesised speech in response. This processing happens on our behalf by cloud AI providers acting as processors under contract.

The output is machine-generated interpretation, not fact and not professional advice. It can be wrong or unflattering. It is not used to make any decision that produces a legal or similarly significant effect about you.

5. Who your data is shared with

Google Cloud / Firebase — hosting, authentication, database, file storage, push notifications, and abuse protection (App Check with reCAPTCHA Enterprise). Google acts as our processor; reCAPTCHA collects device and interaction signals to distinguish real users from automated abuse.
AI model providers — transcription, analysis, and speech synthesis, as described above.
Email delivery provider — to send your one-time sign-in codes.
Anyone you share with — if you choose to publish a specific item, the preview and content at that share link become accessible to anyone who has the link.
Authorities — where we are legally required to, or to protect rights and safety.

Data is stored on Google Cloud infrastructure and may be processed in [regions — e.g. the United States and the EU]. Where data leaves your region, transfers rely on the appropriate safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses).

6. Sharing is deliberate and not reversible

Sharing an item is an explicit action, and the app warns you before you take it. Once a share link exists, copies may have been made by anyone who saw it — removing the link later cannot retrieve those copies. Do not share anything you would not want to be public permanently.

7. Data stored on your device

We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. The app stores the following locally:

Sign-in state — kept by Firebase Authentication so you are not signed out on every visit.
A pending-upload queue (browser database) — a recording waiting to upload is saved on your device so a network failure or page reload cannot lose it. It is deleted once uploaded, and discarded if a different account signs in.
Preferences and one-time flags — small values such as which prompts you have already been shown.
Abuse-protection state and an offline cache — used by App Check and by the service worker that caches the app's own files for offline use.

Clearing your browser storage removes all of the above from your device.

8. Retention

Recordings, photos, analyses, and profile entries — kept until you delete them or delete your account.
Accounts without an email address — an anonymous session is not portable and is retired after about 30 days of use; its contents are not recoverable afterwards. Add an email address if you want your work to persist.
Server and security logs — retained for a limited period ([e.g. 30–90 days]) for troubleshooting and abuse prevention.
Backups — deleted content may persist in backups for a short window before being overwritten.

9. Security

All traffic is encrypted in transit (HTTPS). Data is stored in Google Cloud with access rules that restrict each account's content to that account, and requests are gated by App Check to block automated abuse. Access to production data is limited to people who need it. No system is perfectly secure; please do not record information you cannot afford to have exposed.

10. Your rights

Depending on where you live (including under the GDPR/UK GDPR and California law), you may have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to processing of your personal data, to receive a copy in a portable format, and to withdraw consent at any time. California residents additionally have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights; we do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined there.

To exercise any of these, email [privacy@example.com] from the address on your account, or use the in-app deletion controls where available. We respond within the period required by applicable law. You also have the right to complain to your local data-protection authority.

11. Recording other people

If your recording captures someone else's voice, you are responsible for having their consent, and for the laws that apply where you and they are located. See the Terms of Service.

12. Children

The service is not directed to children and is not intended for anyone under [16]. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided data, contact us and we will delete it.

13. Changes

We may update this policy. The "last updated" date above changes with it, and material changes will be signalled in the app before they take effect.

14. Contact

[LEGAL ENTITY NAME] · [registered address] · [privacy@example.com]