Privacy Policy for Herald

1. Information the app handles

Things stored only on your device (never uploaded to us)

• Your books (titles and text), your per-book practice scores, your settings, and any book cover images. These stay on your phone and are removed if you delete the app or clear its data.

Things sent to our servers only when you use a feature

• Your account and practice history (only if you sign in). Signing in with Google is optional. If you choose to, we receive your Google account's name, email address, and a user ID, and your practice history (which days you practised, which pages, and your scores) is stored in your account in the cloud so your progress (streak, accuracy, and practice calendar) can follow you to a new device. Your books themselves are not uploaded; only this practice history is. You can sign out at any time, and you can ask us to delete this data (see Contact).
• Your voice recording. When you tap Record to be scored, the app records a short audio clip and sends it to our server to be turned into text so your pronunciation can be scored. The clip is processed to produce the text and is not stored by us afterward. (When you are offline, your device's own built-in speech recognition may be used instead, in which case the audio is handled on your device.)
• Topics you type. When you use "Generate a book", the topic you type is sent to our server, which uses it (including an automated web search for current topics) to write the book. The topic is not stored by us after the book is created.
• Words you tap. When you tap a word to hear it or see its meaning, that word is sent to our server to return the audio and a short definition. It is not stored by us afterward.
• An anonymous device identifier. The app creates a random code on first launch and sends it with cloud requests so we can enforce the free daily limits (for example, how many books you can generate per day). This code is not your name, email, or account, and is not used to identify you personally. It is held briefly on our server to count daily usage and automatically expires after a couple of days. Reinstalling the app creates a new code.

What we do NOT collect

• Signing in is optional. If you do not sign in, we do not collect your name, email address, or login. If you do sign in with Google, we receive your name, email, and a user ID (see above), and nothing more.
• We do not use third-party advertising.
• We do not use third-party analytics or tracking.

2. How we use the information

We use the information only to provide the app's features: turning your speech into text for scoring, generating a book from your topic, giving you a word's audio and meaning, producing the natural reading voice, and enforcing the free daily limits. That's it. We do not sell your information, and we do not use it for advertising or profiling.

3. Service providers we use

To provide these features, your requests pass through trusted service providers that process the data on our behalf to perform the specific task, then return the result:

• Cloudflare: hosts our server and stores the anonymous daily-usage counter. (Cloudflare Privacy Policy)
• Google (Firebase): provides the optional Google sign-in and securely stores your account's practice history so it can sync across your devices. Only used if you sign in. (Google Privacy Policy)
• Groq: turns your voice recording into text, generates books from your topic (including web search), and returns word meanings. (Groq Privacy Policy)
• DeepInfra: produces the natural reading voice (text-to-speech). (DeepInfra Privacy Policy)

These providers process the data only to perform the requested task. Your voice recordings and typed topics are not stored by us. Each provider handles data under its own privacy terms, linked above. If we change a provider in the future, we will update this list.

4. Where data is processed

Our servers and service providers may process your requests on computers located in other countries (for example, the United States). By using the app you understand that the data needed for a feature may be processed outside your country.

5. Data retention

• On your device: your books, scores, and settings stay until you delete them, clear the app's data, or uninstall the app.
• On our servers: we do not keep your voice recordings or typed topics after a request is processed. The anonymous daily-usage counter automatically expires after about two days.
• In your account (only if you sign in): your practice history is kept so it can sync to your devices, until you delete it or ask us to remove it.

6. Security

All communication between the app and our servers is encrypted in transit using HTTPS.

7. Permissions the app asks for

• Microphone: needed to record your reading so it can be scored. The app only records while you are actively using the Record feature. You can turn this permission off in your device settings (the scoring feature will not work without it).
• Internet: needed for the cloud features above (scoring, book generation, word meanings, the natural voice).

8. Children's privacy

Herald is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided personal information, please contact us and we will address it.

9. Your choices

• You can stop the microphone by denying or revoking the permission in your device settings.
• You can remove all locally stored data by clearing the app's data or uninstalling the app.
• You can sign out at any time, and you can ask us to delete your account's practice history using the contact details below.
• You can contact us with any privacy question using the details below.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app changes (for example, if we add optional accounts). When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date above. Significant changes will be reflected in the app or its store listing.

11. Contact

If you have any questions about this policy, contact us at: [email protected]