Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

AbleSpace Scribe ("Scribe", the "app") is a note-taking app that records sessions, such as classes, meetings and study groups, turns them into transcripts, and helps you make notes from them with AI. Scribe is provided by AbleSpace ("we", "us", "our").

This Privacy Policy explains what information Scribe collects, how we use and store it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the choices you have. It applies to the Scribe apps for Android, iOS and the web, and to this website.

By using Scribe you agree to our Terms & Conditions. Please read this policy together with them.

2. Information we collect

We collect only what Scribe needs to work:

• Account information: your name, email address, profile photo (if your sign-in provider has one) and how you sign in. See section 3.
• Recordings and transcripts: the audio you record, the transcripts made from it, and each session's title, date and length. See section 4.
• Ask AI conversations: the questions you ask about a session and the answers.
• Personalization: the languages you choose, the words you add so transcripts spell them correctly, and a short profile the app learns from your sessions and questions. See section 5.
• Device and technical information: a token for sending you notifications, app integrity checks, usage analytics and performance data. See section 7 and section 8.
• Usage counters: daily counts (for example, minutes transcribed) that we use to prevent abuse.

Scribe doesn't ask for your location, contacts or photos, and has no payments or purchases. The app asks for access to your microphone (to record) and, if you allow it, to send notifications.

3. Account and authentication information

You need an account to use Scribe. Accounts are managed with Firebase Authentication, a Google service. You can sign up or sign in with:

• Email and password. We send a link to verify your email address, and you can only use Scribe's cloud features after verifying it. Your password is handled by Firebase Authentication; we never see or store it.
• Google Sign-In. Google shares your name, email address and profile photo with us.
• Sign in with Apple. Apple shares your email address (or a private relay address, if you choose to hide yours) and, the first time, your name if you share it.

Along with your account, we keep a profile record containing your account ID, name, email address, profile photo link, sign-in methods, when your account was created and when you last signed in. You can change your name in the app, and you can change your password if you signed up with email.

4. Audio recordings and transcription data

Recording

Scribe records only after you start a session and confirm that everyone present has agreed to be recorded. The recording is saved on your device first.

Upload

When you're signed in and online, the recording is uploaded to our cloud storage (Firebase Cloud Storage). To save time, Scribe may start uploading parts of the recording while you're still recording. When the upload finishes, our servers check that the uploaded file exactly matches the file on your device. The temporary parts are deleted once the full recording has been checked, and parts that are no longer needed are removed within about a week.

Transcription

Our servers send the recording to Google's Gemini AI model (see section 5) with instructions to transcribe it word for word, along with the words you've added or Scribe has learned so they're spelled correctly. Gemini returns the transcript with timestamps and speaker labels. Where the recording makes it clear who is speaking (for example, someone introduces themselves), the speaker labels may include people's names.

What we keep

• The recording stays in our cloud storage after it has been transcribed, so you can play it back on any device you sign in on.
• The transcript is saved in our cloud database (Cloud Firestore) and on your device.
• Each session's title, date, length and transcription status are saved with it.
• When a transcript is ready (or fails), we may send you a notification that includes the session's title.

Please don't put sensitive details, such as full names, in session titles: they appear in notifications and on your lock screen.

5. AI processing and Google Gemini

Scribe uses Google's Gemini models, provided through Google Cloud's Vertex AI, for three things. All three requests are sent from our servers (Cloud Functions), not directly from your device:

Personalization

After a session is transcribed, Scribe asks Gemini to update a short profile about your work or studies: your likely role or field, recurring topics, how you like answers, and your main language. It's instructed not to record personal traits, health, beliefs, opinions or information about other people. Scribe also saves words from your sessions that speech recognition tends to misspell. This profile is used only to tailor Ask AI answers and transcription spelling for you. There is currently no switch in the app to turn this off or view the learned profile; you can ask us to turn it off or reset it by contacting us.

Is my data used to train AI models?

We don't train AI models on your data. We use Gemini through Google Cloud's Vertex AI, and under Google Cloud's terms for these services, Google doesn't use the content we send to train or fine-tune its AI models without our permission. We have not given that permission. Google may process and briefly store requests as described in its terms, for example to provide the service and to detect abuse.

Accuracy

AI-generated transcripts, speaker labels and answers can contain mistakes. Always review them before relying on them. See our Terms & Conditions.

6. How we store your information

In our cloud

Scribe runs on Google Firebase and Google Cloud:

• Your account is held in Firebase Authentication.
• Your profile, sessions, transcripts, Ask AI conversations, languages, vocabulary and learned profile are stored in Cloud Firestore, in Google's Delhi, India region.
• Recordings are stored in Firebase Cloud Storage, in Google's United States (us-east1) region.
• Our servers (Cloud Functions) run in Google's Mumbai and Delhi, India regions.
• Gemini requests use Google's global endpoint and may be processed in any region where Google provides it.

Access rules let only you read and change your own data through the app. Some fields, such as transcription status, can only be changed by our servers.

On your device

Scribe also keeps your sessions, recordings, transcripts and Ask AI conversations on your device so the app works offline. In the web app they're kept in your browser's storage. Please note:

• Signing out doesn't remove these copies from the device. Anyone using the same device and account can't see another account's sessions in the app, but the files remain on the device until you delete your account or remove the app's data.
• Your device's own backup service (such as Android backup or iCloud backup) may include the app's files, depending on your device settings.

7. Firebase services and third-party providers

We use the following providers to run Scribe. They process information on our behalf, under their own terms and privacy policies.

Some features use your device's own services: reading text aloud uses your device's text-to-speech engine (some engines, such as Google's on Android, may use online voices from their provider), and when you export or share notes, they go to the app or service you choose.

8. Analytics and diagnostics

We use Google Analytics for Firebase and Firebase Performance Monitoring to understand how Scribe is used and to make it faster and more reliable.

• Usage events, linked to your account ID, such as screens you open (screen names may include an internal session ID, not the session's title or content), buttons you tap, how you signed in, when you start and save a recording, upload and transcription timings and results, whether an Ask AI question succeeded, and when you export an answer. These events contain numbers and labels, never your recordings, transcripts, questions or answers.
• Information collected automatically by the Google SDKs, such as device model, operating system and app version, language, approximate region (from your IP address) and an app instance ID. On Android, Google Analytics may also read your device's advertising ID. We don't use analytics for advertising, and Scribe shows no ads.
• Performance data: how long the app takes to start, how smoothly screens render, and timings of network requests.

There's currently no setting in the app to turn analytics off. You can reset or limit your advertising ID in your device settings, or contact us.

Technical logs. Our servers keep logs to run and protect the service. They're designed to record account and session IDs, sizes, timings and errors, not the content of your recordings, transcripts or questions.

Scribe doesn't currently use a crash-reporting service.

9. How we use your information

We use your information to:

• create and secure your account, and verify your email address;
• record, upload, check and transcribe your sessions;
• answer your Ask AI questions and tailor answers and spelling to you;
• keep your sessions in sync across your devices;
• send you notifications about your transcripts;
• prevent abuse and keep costs under control, for example with app integrity checks and daily usage limits that are far above normal use;
• find and fix problems, and improve Scribe using analytics; and
• meet our legal obligations and enforce our Terms & Conditions.

We don't sell your information, use it for advertising, or use it to train AI models.

10. Data sharing and disclosure

We share information only:

• With our service providers listed in section 7, to run Scribe on our behalf;
• When you choose to, for example when you export or share a note;
• For legal reasons, when we believe in good faith that the law requires it, or to protect the rights, safety or property of our users, the public or us; and
• In a business transfer, such as a merger or acquisition, in which case this policy will continue to apply to your information.

We don't sell or rent your personal information.

11. Data retention

When information is deleted, our providers may take a limited time to remove it completely from their systems, as part of their standard deletion processes.

12. Account and data deletion

Delete your account in the app

In Scribe, tap your profile picture, then Account, then Delete account. When you confirm:

• our servers delete your profile, sessions, transcripts, Ask AI conversations, languages, vocabulary and learned profile from our database;
• our servers delete your recordings, including any temporary parts, from our cloud storage;
• your Firebase Authentication account is deleted; and
• the app deletes the sessions, recordings, transcripts and conversations stored on that device.

This can't be undone. Copies on other devices where you were signed in stay there until you remove the app or its data on those devices. Analytics data, server logs and usage counters are kept as described in section 11.

Request deletion without the app

If you can't use the app, email support@ablespace.io from the address linked to your account, with the subject "Delete my Scribe account". We'll verify the request and delete your account and data as described above.

Deleting individual sessions

You can discard a recording before it's saved. Deleting individual saved sessions isn't available in the app yet; to have a specific session deleted, contact us.

13. Data security

We protect your information with:

• encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS) between the app and our cloud, and Google Cloud's default encryption of stored data;
• access rules that let each user reach only their own data, with email verification required for email accounts;
• Firebase App Check, so only the genuine app can use our servers;
• checks that each uploaded recording exactly matches the file on your device before it's transcribed; and
• daily usage limits to prevent abuse.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we can't guarantee absolute security. Recordings and transcripts on your device are protected by your device's own security, so please use a screen lock. If we learn of a security incident affecting your information, we'll notify you as required by law.

14. Children's privacy and age restrictions

Scribe is not directed to children. You must be at least 18 years old (or the minimum age required where you live, if higher) to create an account. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children below this age. If you believe a child has given us personal information, please contact us and we'll delete it.

If you record sessions that include children, such as a class, you're responsible for having the required permission from them and their parents or guardians, and from the school or organization (see our Terms & Conditions).

15. International data transfers

Your information is stored and processed in India and the United States, and Gemini requests may be processed in other countries where Google operates (see section 6). These countries may have data protection laws different from those where you live. Google processes this information for us under its Cloud and Firebase data processing terms.

16. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your personal information, to object to or restrict some processing, and to withdraw consent. You can:

• change your name, languages and vocabulary words in the app;
• delete your account and its data in the app (section 12); and
• contact us to access or receive a copy of your information, view, reset or turn off your learned profile, turn off analytics, delete a specific session, or exercise any other right.

We'll respond within the time required by applicable law. You may also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.

17. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this policy as Scribe changes or as the law requires. We'll change the "Last updated" date at the top, and if the changes are significant, we'll let you know in the app or by email before they take effect.

18. Contact information

For privacy questions or requests, contact:

AbleSpace
Delhi, India
Email: support@ablespace.io

If you have a complaint about how we handle your information, email support@ablespace.io and we'll respond within the time required by law.