Read the Voice turns spoken words into readable text. This notice explains what happens to your recordings, account and minutes.
Who is responsible?
Read the Voice is operated by Ladislav Hrbacek, the controller of the personal data described here. For privacy requests or questions, contact ladik33+readthevoice@gmail.com.
Audio and transcripts
When you hold the microphone button and release it, your recording is sent over an encrypted connection to our server and then to OpenAI’s audio transcription API. This requires internet access and your in-app permission. In Tandem mode, the speaking device first sends the recording to the approved receiving device; that device submits it for transcription using its account and minutes.
Our server processes audio in memory and uses a temporary file to measure its duration. That file is removed after measurement. We do not maintain an audio archive. Completed transcripts are encrypted on our server for 15 minutes so that retrying a request does not charge you twice. They are then made unavailable and cleared by the maintenance task, normally within a further minute while the service is running. The app does not save a permanent conversation history; text remains on screen/in memory until cleared or the app session ends.
OpenAI documents that API content is not used for model training by default and that the audio transcription endpoint does not retain application state or abuse-monitoring content. See OpenAI API data controls for its current terms and endpoint-specific controls. We do not use conversations for advertising or sell them.
Account, purchases and service records
- Apple sign-in: a pseudonymous identifier derived from your Apple account, consent date, a random purchase-account identifier and protected authentication tokens. We do not request your name or email from Apple. Your Apple password is never provided to us.
- Minutes and purchases: product and transaction identifiers, credits, usage duration, timestamps, refunds and balance adjustments. Apple processes payment; we do not receive card details.
- Operational records: request identifiers, recording fingerprints for retry protection, duration, processing status, model, latency and estimated processing cost. Application logs do not include recording or transcript content. Network providers necessarily process connection information such as IP addresses; the service also uses temporary rate limits to protect against abuse.
- Support: your email address and information you choose to send when you contact us. Please avoid sending private conversation recordings or transcripts unless necessary.
Nearby devices and permissions
Microphone permission enables recording. Local-network access, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support nearby Tandem connections. Your chosen device name and a random device identifier are visible during discovery. Pairing details and secret keys are kept locally so approved devices can reconnect. You can remove approval in the app. The receiving device displays the conversation and shares its remaining minutes with connected guests; the speaker receives the result of their own request. Only connect to devices and people you trust.
Why we process this information
Account operation, transcription and purchased minutes are processed to provide the service you request (performance of a contract). We ask for permission before sending speech for AI processing; where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw it by stopping uploads and contacting us or deleting your account. Security, fraud prevention and reliable billing rely on our legitimate interests. Records required by applicable law are retained to meet those obligations. If you record other people, explain how transcription works and obtain permission where required. We do not make automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.
Service providers and international processing
We use The Vibe Hosting for the application server, OpenAI for transcription, Apple for sign-in and purchases, and Gmail for support email. These providers process information needed for their role. Processing may take place outside your country, including outside the European Economic Area; this app does not promise EU-only processing. You can contact us for details of the applicable providers and international-transfer safeguards. Apple also processes information under its own privacy policy.
How long we keep information
Audio and transcript handling is described above. Account credentials remain while needed for your account; sessions expire after 30 days or are removed on logout/deletion. Request metadata remains until account deletion. Purchase, balance and anti-fraud records are kept while needed to maintain minutes, handle refunds and disputes, prevent repeat welcome grants and meet applicable record-keeping duties. These records are not conversation content. Support correspondence is retained as needed to answer the request and resolve related issues. Contact us to ask about or challenge retention in your case.
The hosting provider makes daily backups. Residual copies may remain in backups until those backups are rotated by the provider; they are not a conversation-history feature. Contact us for information about backup retention relevant to a privacy request.
Deleting your account and your choices
Open the app’s Settings and choose Delete account. The service revokes its Sign in with Apple token and removes sessions, saved Apple tokens and transcription jobs, including temporary results. Remaining minutes become unavailable. Limited pseudonymous purchase/ledger and welcome-grant records remain for the purposes above; recreating an account does not grant another welcome allocation. Account deletion does not itself request an Apple refund.
You may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability or object to processing where applicable. You may withdraw consent without affecting earlier lawful processing. Contact ladik33+readthevoice@gmail.com; we may need to verify the request without asking for your Apple password. You may also complain to your local data protection authority, including the Czech Office for Personal Data Protection.
No advertising trackers
The app and these public pages do not use advertising SDKs, cross-app tracking or advertising cookies. We do not request contacts, precise location or health records. Speech can still contain personal information, so choose what you record with care.
Changes
We will update this page when the service or its handling of data changes. The date below identifies the current notice.