Privacy Policy

Last updated: December 1, 2025

This Privacy Policy explains how SonicCaption ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, and protects your information when you use:

• The SonicCaption browser extension (Chrome / Edge)
• The SonicCaption website and related pages

We try to keep this policy readable and honest. If anything feels unclear, you can always email us at xtcodetech+soniccaption@gmail.com.

1. What we collect

1.1 Account information

If you create an account or sign in (for example via Google):

• Email address
• Display name (if provided by the provider)
• Authentication identifiers (such as a user ID from our auth system)

We use this to:

• Let you sign in securely
• Link your usage and quotas to your account
• Contact you about important changes, billing, or support

1.2 Usage data (extension and website)

When you use SonicCaption, we may collect:

• Which features you use (e.g. captions started, languages chosen)
• Basic technical information (browser type, OS, extension version)
• Approximate usage counts (e.g. caption minutes used, sessions started)
• Non-identifying information about your tab (e.g. domain, not full URLs, where possible)

We use this to:

• Make SonicCaption work reliably
• Understand what features users actually use
• Detect abuse and keep the service running for everyone

1.3 Caption and translation data

When you use the extension:

• Audio from the active tab is processed locally to generate text.
• Short text segments (transcripts and translations) are sent to our servers and to third-party providers (such as speech-to-text and translation APIs) so we can generate captions for you in real time.
• We do not intentionally keep full meeting or video recordings by default.

We may temporarily log short text snippets or error information to:

• Debug issues
• Improve stability and accuracy
• Detect abuse (e.g. automated scraping, extreme usage patterns)

If we ever add a feature that stores transcripts or audio long-term (e.g. "save full meeting captions"), it will be clearly opt-in and explained in plain language.

1.4 Payments

If you choose a paid plan, payments are processed by Stripe or another payment provider.

We receive:

• A record that a payment or subscription exists
• Plan type, status, and approximate billing information
• The last 4 digits of your card and expiry month/year (for display and support)

We do not store your full card number or CVV. Payment providers handle that securely under their own privacy policies.

1.5 Analytics and crash reports

We may use privacy-friendly analytics tools (e.g. PostHog or similar) to understand:

• How many people use the extension and website
• Which pages or features are used most
• Where errors happen (anonymised error and performance data)

Where possible, we avoid collecting unnecessary personal identifiers. Analytics providers may process IP address or device information to provide us aggregated statistics.

1.6 Support and communication

If you email us or send feedback:

• We receive the content you send (message, email address, attachments)
• We use it only to reply, debug, and improve SonicCaption
• We do not use support conversations for advertising.

2. Legal bases (GDPR-style)

For users in the EU/EEA/UK, we rely on the following legal bases:

• Contract – to provide the service you asked for (captions, translations, account, billing)
• Legitimate interests – to improve the product, prevent abuse, and keep the service secure
• Consent – where required by law (e.g. certain cookies or marketing emails)

We aim to follow strong privacy principles inspired by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), such as data minimisation and purpose limitation.

3. How we use your data

We use collected data to:

• Provide SonicCaption and keep it running
• Track your caption minutes and apply quota or plan limits
• Improve accuracy, speed, and reliability
• Communicate important service updates or issues
• Detect and prevent abuse or attacks
• Comply with legal obligations (e.g. tax and accounting records)

We do not sell your personal data. We do not use your audio or transcripts to train unrelated general-purpose models unless we clearly ask and receive your explicit consent.

4. Third-party services

We rely on third parties to provide parts of the service, such as:

• Speech-to-text and translation providers
• Cloud hosting and databases
• Analytics tools
• Payment processors (Stripe, etc.)

These providers may process your data under their own privacy policies. We try to share only what is necessary for the service to work (for example, text segments instead of full audio).

5. Data storage and retention

We keep data only as long as it is needed for:

• Operating SonicCaption
• Handling support issues
• Fulfilling legal obligations (e.g. billing records)

In general:

• Account and billing data: kept while you have an account and for a period required by law after cancellation
• Analytics: kept in aggregated or anonymised form where possible
• Logs and technical data: kept for a limited time for debugging and security

If you delete your account, we will remove or anonymise personal data we no longer need, subject to legal retention requirements.

6. International transfers

Our servers and third-party providers may be located in different countries. This means your data may be processed outside your country of residence.

Where applicable, we rely on appropriate safeguards (such as standard contractual clauses or equivalent mechanisms) to help protect your data.

7. Your rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights such as:

• Accessing the personal data we hold about you
• Correcting inaccurate information
• Deleting certain data ("right to be forgotten")
• Objecting to or restricting certain types of processing
• Porting your data to another service

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at xtcodetech+soniccaption@gmail.com. We may ask you to verify your identity before fulfilling the request.

8. Children

SonicCaption is not designed for children under 16. If you believe a child under 16 has provided us personal data without proper consent, please contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will update the "Last updated" date and, where appropriate, provide a more prominent notice.

10. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle data, please email xtcodetech+soniccaption@gmail.com. We read every message and do our best to respond.