Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy describes how Ahsk ("Ahsk", "Company", "we", "our", or "us") collects, uses, and handles your personal data ("Personal Data"), and what choices you have when you use our website, applications, platforms, and services (collectively, the "Services"). This includes the Ahsk macOS application, the Ahsk Windows application, the Ahsk iOS application, the Ahsk Keyboard extension, and team accounts.

By using the Services, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy, please do not access or use the Services.

Where behavior differs between platforms (macOS, Windows and iOS), it is noted explicitly below.

2. In Plain Words

Most of this policy exists because the law asks for it. This is the short version of what actually happens when you use ahsk on a Mac, on Windows or on an iPhone.

• •We keep: your email address and a user ID (so you can sign in), your plan and, if you pay by card, the Stripe identifiers for your subscription; running totals of how much you dictate (words, number of dictations, seconds of speech) and a daily snapshot of those totals so your usage charts can be drawn; your personal dictionary; on iOS only, the transcription history you choose to keep; and, if you are on a team, which team you belong to and your role in it.
• •We never keep: your voice. Audio goes to the transcription provider, the text comes back, and the audio is gone. On Mac and Windows we also never keep the text you dictate, the text you ask AI features to rewrite or answer, your keystrokes, your clipboard, or the contents of the apps you dictate into. None of it is stored on our servers, and none of it is used to train anyone's models.
• •We never sell or rent personal data, and we do not run advertising or tracking across other sites.

3. How We Comply

ahsk is built and operated to meet the data-protection laws that apply to our users, and we are happy to put that in writing for your organisation.

• •GDPR and UK GDPR. Ahsk is the controller of the account data described above. We process it on the legal bases of contract (to provide the service you signed up for), legitimate interest (to keep the service secure and working) and, where we ask for it, consent. You have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection, described in the sections below, and we answer requests within 30 days. Transfers outside the EU/EEA and the UK rest on the providers' Standard Contractual Clauses and Data Privacy Framework certifications.
• •CCPA / CPRA. We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising, and we honour the rights to know, delete, correct and to non-discrimination for California residents.
• •Payments. Card details never touch our servers. Stripe, a PCI DSS Level 1 service provider, handles every payment; we only see the subscription status and identifiers Stripe gives us. In-app purchases on iPhone are handled entirely by Apple.
• •App Store privacy labels. The data-collection labels on our App Store listing match this policy: contact info (email) and usage data, linked to you; no tracking.
• •Teams and organisations. A data processing agreement (DPA) with our current list of sub-processors is available on request at support@ahsk.app, and we will complete security questionnaires for team customers.
• •Data minimisation. The list in the section above is the complete list of what we store. We do not collect device fingerprints, location, contacts, or anything from apps you dictate into.

4. Information We Collect

We collect several types of information to provide and improve our Services. If you do not provide your information when requested, you may not be able to use some or all of our Services.

A. Personal Data

While using our Services, we may ask you to provide certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you. Personal Data may include without limitation:

• •Email address
• •Account identifiers (unique user IDs for account management)
• •Usage Data (as defined below)
• •Any other Personal Data that you voluntarily provide to Ahsk

B. Usage Data

We may collect information related to your interaction with or usage of the Services ("Usage Data"), including without limitation: device type, operating system version, application version, transcription count, word count, session data, system logs, performance metrics, and other diagnostic data related to your interaction with the Services. When you access the Services with a mobile device, Usage Data may also include the type of mobile device, mobile operating system, and other diagnostic data.

C. Customer Content

We collect Customer Content that you provide in order to use the Services. This may include:

• •Audio Inputs: Voice recordings when you activate the dictation feature. Audio is sent to our third-party AI transcription provider for processing and is immediately deleted after the transcription is returned. We do NOT store your voice recordings on our servers.
• •Always-Ready Microphone (macOS, optional): If you enable the Always-Ready Microphone setting, ahsk holds the microphone open so recordings start instantly (macOS shows the mic indicator during this time). While you are not actively recording, the audio is discarded on your device the moment it arrives — it is never saved to disk, never sent to our servers or any third party, and never used for training or any other purpose. Audio only becomes a recording while you hold the dictation shortcut, and is then handled exactly as described above. This mode is off by default and can be turned off at any time in Settings.
• •Text Queries (macOS): When you use AI features (ask questions, rewrite text, etc.), your queries are sent to third-party AI providers for processing. We do not store these queries or responses on our servers.
• •Transcription History (iOS): The text output of your voice transcriptions, stored in your account so you can review past transcriptions. You can delete individual entries or your entire history at any time.
• •Custom Dictionary (iOS): Words you add to your personal dictionary to improve transcription accuracy.

Your Customer Content is never used to train AI models. Audio files are temporarily stored on your device during transcription and are automatically deleted once processing is complete.

5. Keyboard Extension (iOS)

The Ahsk Keyboard is a custom iOS keyboard extension that provides voice-to-text transcription. To function, it requires "Allow Full Access" to be enabled in your device settings. This section explains exactly what that means and what we do and do not collect.

Why Full Access Is Required

• •Network Access: The keyboard needs to connect to the internet to send audio to our third-party AI transcription provider. Without Full Access, transcription will not work.
• •App Communication: Full Access allows the keyboard extension to communicate with the main Ahsk app to retrieve your authentication credentials securely.

What We Do NOT Collect Through the Keyboard

6. Teams

A team is a shared subscription: one bill, a Pro seat for each member. Joining one changes what the team's admins can see about you, and only that.

• •What team admins see. Your email address, your role, when you joined, and your dictation numbers: total words, number of dictations, time speaking, the time you saved compared with typing, your speaking pace, and how those change day by day. Admins also see a leaderboard that ranks members by these numbers.
• •What team admins never see. Anything you said or wrote. Dictated text, audio, AI questions and answers, and your dictionary are not visible to a team, because we do not store them in the first place. Team visibility is limited to counts and durations.
• •Invitations. When an admin adds your email address, we store it with the team's name and send you one invitation email. If you already have an ahsk account with that address, you are added to the team straight away; you can leave, or be removed, at any time, after which the team no longer receives your numbers.
• •Where you stand. The dashboard tells you how your usage compares with everyone who dictates with ahsk. This is computed from aggregate totals only; no other user's identity is ever shown to you, and yours is never shown to anyone outside your own team.
• •Billing. The admin who adds billing is Stripe's customer for the team; members are never asked for payment details.

7. Use of Data

Ahsk may use Personal Data and Usage Data for the following purposes:

• •Service Operation. To provide, update, maintain, improve, monitor, and protect our Services, including processing voice transcriptions and AI queries.
• •Communication. To provide customer and technical support, and to send service-related communications.
• •Administration. For transactional, billing, account management, and administrative matters.
• •Compliance. To comply with applicable laws and regulations or a court or other legal order.
• •Risk Mitigation. To detect violations of our legal terms, enforce agreements, or to detect, prevent, and respond to potential fraud or misuse of the Services.
• •Other. For other lawful purposes with your consent.

8. Retention of Data

We will retain your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

• •macOS: All content you create (notes, flashcards, recordings, transcriptions) is stored locally on your Mac. We do not sync this data to our servers.
• •iOS — Account Data: Account data (email, user ID, usage statistics, transcription history) is retained in our cloud infrastructure until you delete your account.
• •Audio Files: Audio recordings are temporarily stored on your device during transcription and automatically deleted once processing is complete. Audio is never stored on our servers or by our Service Providers beyond the duration of processing.
• •Transcription History: Text transcriptions stored in your account can be viewed and deleted at any time from within the app.
• •Usage totals and daily snapshots: Kept for as long as the account exists so your charts and milestones work, and deleted with the account. Leaving a team stops new snapshots reaching that team.
• •Windows: As on macOS, dictated text stays on your PC; only the usage totals above reach our servers.

We will either delete or anonymize Personal Data once it is no longer needed. If we anonymize, aggregate, or de-identify Personal Data, we may use it for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period, except when used to improve the security or functionality of our Services.

9. Transfer of Data

Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to and maintained on servers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ from those of your jurisdiction.

If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to the United States and process it there. Your use of the Services followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer. Ahsk will take steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

10. Service Providers & Sharing

We may use third-party companies, vendors, and service providers to facilitate our Services, provide Services on our behalf, and perform related tasks (collectively, "Service Providers"). These Service Providers may have access to your Personal Data only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are contractually obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.

Service Providers we work with, and what each one receives:

• •Groq and OpenAI — speech-to-text (Whisper) and the AI text features. They receive the audio or text of the request, return the result, and are contractually barred from retaining it beyond processing or training on it.
• •DeepL, Sarvam, Cerebras and Tavily — translation, Indian-language speech, additional language-model capacity and web search for the Ask feature, each receiving only the request it serves.
• •Google Firebase — sign-in (including optional Google and Apple sign-in) and the database that holds account data, usage totals and team membership.
• •Vercel — hosts this website and the API that the apps talk to. Its request logs hold your user ID, timestamps and request sizes for a short period; never audio or text.
• •Stripe — payments and subscriptions for Pro and teams; Apple handles in-app purchases on iPhone.
• •Spacemail — sends transactional email (welcome, invitations, receipts).

Your data is never used by our Service Providers to train their AI models. Audio shared with our transcription providers is deleted immediately after processing. We keep this list current; a signed sub-processor list is part of our DPA.

Other Disclosures

We may also disclose your information in the following circumstances:

• •Protection of Ahsk and Others. To protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Ahsk, its users, and the public, including for fraud protection and enforcing our agreements.
• •Legal Requirements. To comply with applicable law, regulation, court order, or legal process.
• •Business Transfers. In connection with any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.
• •With Your Consent. We may share your Personal Data with other third parties with your express consent.

11. How We Secure Your Information

The security of your data is important to us. We implement technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect the information we collect from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

• •All data transmitted between the app and third-party services is encrypted using HTTPS/TLS.
• •Authentication tokens and sensitive credentials are stored securely in the device Keychain, not in plain text.
• •Passwords are never stored by Ahsk. Authentication is handled by our third-party authentication provider using industry-standard encryption.
• •The keyboard extension communicates only with our transcription Service Provider and the main app. No other network requests are made.

However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

12. Your Data Protection Rights

You have the following rights with respect to your Personal Data. We aim to take reasonable steps to allow you to correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of your Personal Data.

• •Access. On macOS, all data is stored locally on your device. On iOS, you can view your transcription history, usage statistics, and account data directly in the app.
• •Deletion. Sign out of the app to clear all local data from your device. To permanently delete your account and all associated server-side data, email us at support@ahsk.app with the subject "Delete My Account".
• •Rectification. Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete Personal Data by contacting us.
• •Portability. Your transcription history is visible in the app. A dedicated data export feature is planned for a future release.
• •Withdraw Consent. You can revoke microphone access at any time in your device Settings. You can disable Full Access for the Ahsk Keyboard in Settings > Ahsk > Keyboards. Deleting the app removes all local data from your device.
• •Object or Restrict Processing. You may object to or request restriction of certain processing by contacting us.

Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests. We may not be able to provide certain Services without some necessary data.

13. Your Rights Under GDPR

If you are a resident of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In addition to the rights listed above, you may have the right to:

• •Access, update, or delete the information we have on you
• •Have your information rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete
• •Object to our processing of your Personal Data
• •Request that we restrict the processing of your personal information
• •Be provided with a copy of your Personal Data in a structured, machine-readable format
• •Withdraw your consent at any time where we rely on your consent to process your personal information

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please email us at support@ahsk.app. You also have the right to complain to a Data Protection Authority about our collection and use of your Personal Data.

14. Privacy Notice for California Residents

If you are a California resident, you may have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Under the CCPA, you have the right to:

• •Know what Personal Data we collect and how we use it
• •Request deletion of your Personal Data
• •Opt out of the sale of your Personal Data (we do not sell your Personal Data)
• •Non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights

To exercise your rights, please contact us at support@ahsk.app. We do not sell Personal Data to third parties. We do not use Personal Data for cross-context behavioral advertising.

15. Children's Privacy

To use the Services, you must be at least 13 years of age if you reside in the United States, and 16 years of age if you reside anywhere else. If you are under the age of 18, depending on where you live, you may need your parent or guardian's consent and they may need to agree to these terms on your behalf.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the applicable minimum age. If you are a parent or guardian and become aware that your child has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us at support@ahsk.app and we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

16. Links to Third-Party Websites

The Services may contain links to third-party websites or services. We are not responsible for the content or practices of those websites or services. The collection, use, and disclosure of your information by third parties will be subject to the privacy policies of those third-party websites or services, and not this Policy. We urge you to read the privacy and security policies of third parties before providing information to them.

17. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make changes, we will update the date at the top of this page. If a modification meaningfully reduces your rights, we will notify you (for example, by sending you an email or displaying a prominent notice within the Services).

Modifications will not apply retroactively. We encourage you to check back periodically to review this Privacy Policy for any changes.

18. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, want to exercise your data rights, or need to report a privacy concern, please contact us:

• •Email: support@ahsk.app
• •Account Deletion: Email support@ahsk.app with the subject "Delete My Account" and include the email address associated with your account. We will process your request within 30 days.