Privacy Policy

Depending on how you interact with VOQL, we collect the following categories of information:

Account & Profile Information. When you create an account, we collect your phone number (including international calling code and country details), first name, last name, optional nickname, and profile photo. We also store device session tokens securely on your device to maintain your login.

Voice Pronunciation Tags (“Voice Tags”). During profile setup or in your settings, you may choose to record short audio clips of how to pronounce your first name, last name, or nickname. These voice tags are stored so that VOQL can recognize and tag you naturally during voice conversations.

Voice Messages & Communications. When you record and send a voice message, we process and store the audio recording, its acoustic metadata (such as duration, file size, bitrate, audio format, and waveform amplitude data points), and messaging details (timestamps, recipient IDs, message status, replies, mentions, and emoji reactions).

Automated Speech-to-Text Transcriptions. When voice messages are sent, our automated transcription systems convert the audio into written text to generate message previews, search capabilities, and accessible transcripts. We store the generated transcription, language code, and confidence metrics alongside the message.

Live Listening Streams. When other participants in your conversation listen to your voice note in real time while you are recording (“Live Listen”), your live audio is temporarily streamed through volatile real-time server buffers. If you cancel or abort a recording before sending it, the live audio buffer is immediately terminated and discarded; it is never converted into a permanent voice message.

Contacts & Friend Discovery. If you grant permission, VOQL accesses phone numbers from your device address book solely to check which of your contacts already have an account on VOQL, helping you connect with friends. We do not store your entire unassociated address book or sell your contact data to third parties.

Device, Log & Diagnostic Information. We collect technical information including your unique device identifier, operating system version, hardware platform, app version, IP address, approximate geographical region (country/network level), push notification tokens, and crash diagnostic logs to maintain security, optimize performance, and deliver notifications.

We process your personal information for the following purposes:

• Providing the Service: To authenticate your identity via SMS one-time passwords (OTPs), establish conversations, transmit voice notes, buffer live audio streams, and deliver messages to your intended recipients.
• Audio Processing & Transcripts: To generate waveforms, optimize audio compression, transcribe voice notes into searchable text, and identify mentions.
• Connecting You with Friends: To facilitate friend requests, small-group and peer-to-peer chats, group administration, and contact discovery.
• Push Notifications: To alert you in real time when you receive a voice message, are mentioned in a conversation, or when a friend starts speaking in a chat you belong to.
• Security, Integrity & Abuse Prevention: To prevent spam, enforce our Terms of Use, protect user safety, and troubleshoot application crashes and technical bugs.

Legal Bases under GDPR / UK GDPR: Where European or UK data protection laws apply, we process your information under: (a) Contractual necessity to provide the VOQL service you requested; (b) Legitimate interests in securing, optimizing, and debugging our communications infrastructure; (c) Consent for device-level permissions (such as microphone, contacts, and push notifications); and (d) Legal compliance where required by applicable statutory obligations.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information, and we never use your private voice recordings or transcripts to construct advertising profiles or sell targeted ads.

To operate our service securely and reliably, we engage vetted third-party service providers (sub-processors) under strict confidentiality and data-protection agreements:

• AI Transcription Services: We use OpenAI's API to generate automated speech-to-text transcriptions. Audio sent via the API is processed strictly to generate your transcripts and, in accordance with API data policies, is not used to train foundational AI models.
• Cloud Storage & Infrastructure: Cloud hosting, encrypted object storage, and media delivery providers (including Cloudinary, Railway, and Amazon Web Services) to store profile assets, audio files, and manage database records.
• SMS & Telephony: Verification providers (such as Twilio and AWS Pinpoint) to deliver one-time authentication codes.
• Push Notifications & Config: Expo Push Services, Apple Push Notification Service (APNs), Google Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), and Firebase Remote Config for runtime updates.
• Diagnostics & Crash Reporting: Diagnostic tools (such as Sentry) to detect app crashes, measure stability, and fix software defects without collecting message audio.

To provide core voice communication features, VOQL requests the following permissions on your device:

• Microphone: Required to record voice messages, stream live audio during Live Listen sessions, and record your voice pronunciation tags.
• Contacts: Optional permission to find friends who are already on VOQL and to let you invite other contacts via standard SMS.
• Notifications: Optional permission to notify you of incoming voice notes, live listening sessions, mentions, and friend requests.
• Photos / Media Library: Optional permission to choose or upload a profile picture or group chat avatar.

You can grant, modify, or revoke these permissions at any time through your iOS or Android device settings.

You retain ownership of the voice notes, profile photos, voice tags, and messages you submit on VOQL.

VOQL provides fine-grained visibility controls for your messages (including peer-to-peer, group-wide, admin-only, or selected participant visibility). We deliver your content only to the active conversation participants authorized by your settings.

You are responsible for the content you transmit and must ensure you have the necessary rights and consents before recording or sharing another person's voice or likeness.

We retain your personal information, voice recordings, and transcripts for as long as your account is active and as necessary to provide the service:

• Voice Messages & Transcripts: Retained to allow you and your conversation members to review and replay chat history until deleted by users or when an account is closed.
• Live Listening Audio: Processed in temporary server memory and transient buffers; discarded immediately once a recording session ends or if you cancel recording before sending.
• Authentication OTPs: Short-lived verification codes are purged from cache shortly after generation and verification.
• Account Deletion: When you delete your account, we delete or permanently anonymize your profile data, voice tags, and personal account records, subject only to any legally mandated retention periods.

Depending on your jurisdiction (such as under the GDPR, UK Data Protection Act, or California Consumer Privacy Act / CPRA), you have specific legal rights regarding your personal data:

• Access & Portability: Request a copy of the personal information and voice data we hold about you in a structured, commonly used format.
• Rectification: Correct or update inaccurate profile details, names, or voice tags directly in the app.
• Erasure (“Right to be Forgotten”): Request the permanent deletion of your account and associated personal data.
• Restriction & Objection: Object to or restrict certain types of data processing under applicable law.
• California Privacy Rights: California residents have the right to know what personal data is collected, request deletion, and not face discrimination for exercising their privacy rights. VOQL does not sell or share personal information as defined by the CCPA/CPRA.

To exercise any of these rights, you can use the in-app account tools or contact our privacy team directly at voqlapp@gmail.com.

We implement industry-standard administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your personal data. All network traffic between your device and our servers is encrypted in transit using modern Transport Layer Security (TLS/HTTPS/WSS). On-device session keys are secured using hardware-backed keychains and secure enclaves where supported.

Our infrastructure and sub-processors operate globally. If your personal information is transferred across international borders, we ensure appropriate legal safeguards are in place, including European Commission Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and UK International Data Transfer Addendums.

VOQL is not directed to children under the age of 13 (or under 16 where required by applicable law in European jurisdictions). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under these age limits.

If we learn that a child under the minimum age has provided us with personal information without verified parental consent, we will take immediate steps to delete that account and associated data. If you believe a child has created an account, please contact us at voqlapp@gmail.com.

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data handling practices, please contact us at: