Privacy Policy

Overview

ConnecZen ("we", "our", or "us") is a family book of voice recordings. This policy covers what we collect when you use it, who can see and hear it, which outside services handle it, how long we keep it, and how to get it deleted. It also covers people who answer a request link without an account.

What we collect

Your account

• Your email address and password (the password is handled by our login provider, Supabase), or your Google account's email and basic profile if you sign in with Google
• Your name
• Your birth month and year, which we ask for to check you're 18 or older
• Your timezone and whether you prefer to read recordings in English or in the speaker's own words

Family books and members

Each family book's name, who is in it, and who is an admin. We also store per-book settings, such as which kinds of items get pulled out of recordings and how long audio is kept. When an admin invites someone to a shared family book, we store the name they enter, the email address if they add one (it only pre-fills the sign-up form), and whether the invite was used, cancelled, or ran out.

Recordings and what we make from them

• The audio of each recording, or the text if someone typed their answer
• The transcript, the short English title, and any items pulled out of it, such as recipe cards and cooking tips
• Who made the recording, which family book it's in, and when

Recordings often mention other people, and in a shared family book the speaker's name is saved with the transcript.

Requests

When you send a request, we store the name you gave the person, the question, and what happened to it: when it was answered, skipped (with the reason, if they gave one), withdrawn, or expired. People who answer a request without an account don't give us an email address or create a login. Their answer is saved under the name on the request.

Notifications

If you turn on notifications, we store the push address your browser gives us, its keys, and a rough device label (for example the browser name) so we can tell you when someone answers, skips, or doesn't reply to your request.

Technical information

We use your IP address to limit how many answers can be sent from one place in a short time, which stops abuse of request links. Our hosting providers also keep standard request logs.

Storage on your device

• Recording backup. While you record, the app saves the recording in your browser's own storage (IndexedDB) every few seconds. If the page closes mid-recording, for example because a call comes in, it offers the recording back when you return. The backup is cleared once the recording is sent or you throw it away. It never leaves your device unless you send it.
• Login cookies. Signing in sets cookies that keep you logged in. They are needed for the app to work.
• Install prompt. If you dismiss the "add to home screen" prompt, we remember when in your browser's local storage so we don't ask again for 14 days.

We don't use advertising or analytics cookies.

How we use it

• To store your recordings and play them back to the people allowed to hear them
• To transcribe recordings, title them in English, and pull out items like recipe cards
• To run request links and tell you when something happens to one
• To keep the Service working and secure, and to find and fix problems

We don't sell your data and we don't use it for advertising.

Who can see and hear your recordings

• Personal book: only you.
• Shared family book: every member of it, including people who join later. Admins can also rename or delete any recording.
• Request answers: everyone who can see the family book the request came from. The answer can also be played back from the request link itself, so anyone who has that link can hear it.
• Us: a small number of people who run ConnecZen can access stored data when it's needed to run, debug, or support the Service.

Recordings you made stay in a shared family book after you leave it.

Services that process your data

These companies handle data for us. Each one's own privacy policy covers its part.

OpenAI

We send the audio of each recording to OpenAI's speech-to-text model to get the transcript.

Google

We send transcripts (not audio) to Google's Gemini models to write the English title and to pull out items such as recipe cards. Our setup lets us move this work between Google and OpenAI, so at times OpenAI's models may do it instead. If you choose to sign in with Google, Google also handles that sign-in.

Supabase

Supabase hosts our database, handles logins, and stores the audio files.

Vercel and Railway

Vercel hosts the web app. Railway hosts the server that receives recordings and runs transcription and processing. Recordings pass through both on the way to storage.

Browser push services

If you turn on notifications, they're delivered through your browser maker's push service (for example Apple, Google, or Mozilla). A notification carries the name on the request and the question, and for a skipped request, the reason given.

How long we keep it

• Transcripts, titles, and items stay until the recording is deleted or the account it belongs to is deleted.
• Audio is kept for at least 7 days. In a family book that collects recipes (switched on by default), audio is kept until someone deletes the recording, because the recipe is worth hearing in the original voice. The person who made a family book can also choose to keep its audio for 30 days, 90 days, a year, or forever. When settings differ, the longest one applies.
• When an answer to a request is re-recorded, the earlier take is hidden but kept, along with its audio.
• Deleting a recording in the app removes its audio, its transcript, and the items made from it.
• Your recording backup on your device is cleared once the recording is sent or thrown away.

The Data Deletion page explains what happens when you delete your account.

Security

Audio files sit in private storage, and playback uses links that expire. Database rules limit each person to the family books they belong to, and the app is served over HTTPS. Request links and invite links work like keys: anyone who has one can open it, so share each one only with the person it's for. No system is perfectly secure, and we can't promise yours won't ever be exposed.

Your choices

• See and play everything in the family books you belong to
• Rename or delete your own recordings at any time
• Leave any shared family book you didn't create
• Withdraw a request you sent before it's answered
• Turn notifications on or off
• Change your name, timezone, and reading language in Settings
• Ask us to delete your account (see Data Deletion)
• Ask us for a copy of your data, or to correct something we hold about you, by emailing us

If you answered a request without an account and want your answer removed, ask the person who sent it, or email us.

Children

You must be 18 or older to create an account. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. Family recordings may still mention children, so think about what you share about them, especially in shared family books.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. When we do, we'll post the new version here and change the date at the top.

Contact us

Questions about privacy? Email us at privacy@conneczen.com.