Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Account information. When you create an account we collect your email address and the display name you choose. We do not collect your legal name, phone number, address, or payment card details directly — payment is handled by Lemon Squeezy (see Section 5).

Profile preferences. We store settings you configure inside the app: your native language, English level, target region, tone mode preference, and LLM provider configuration. If you use the Free (BYOK) tier, your API key is stored encrypted at rest using AES-GCM encryption.

Draft text and analysis data. When you submit a draft for analysis, we store the original text, the corrected version, individual corrections, pattern names, and coaching notes. This data is linked to your account and is used to power pattern tracking and coaching reports. It is stored encrypted at rest.

Usage data. We record the number of analyses you perform per billing period and timestamps of activity for streak tracking. We do not use third-party analytics services (e.g. Google Analytics) that track behaviour across sites.

Device and log data. Our servers may automatically record standard web server logs including your IP address, browser type, and pages requested. These are used for security monitoring and are not sold or shared.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To authenticate you and maintain your session.
• To analyse draft text using a large language model and return corrections to you.
• To track your correction patterns over time and generate personalised coaching reports.
• To enforce tier limits and manage billing via Lemon Squeezy.
• To send transactional emails (account confirmation, password reset) via our email provider. We do not send marketing emails.
• To diagnose and fix technical errors.

We do not use your draft text or corrections to train AI models. Draft text sent to managed tiers (Starter / Pro) is forwarded to a third-party LLM API (currently Google Gemini) for analysis and is subject to that provider's data processing terms. Text is not retained by the LLM provider beyond the duration of the API request.

3. Advertising & Google AdSense

Free-tier users of Local Tone are shown advertisements served by Google AdSense, an advertising service provided by Google LLC. Paid (Starter and Pro) users see no advertisements.

Google AdSense uses cookies and web beacons to serve targeted advertisements based on your prior visits to this website and other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to localtone.app and/or other sites on the Internet. You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. For more information on how Google uses data when you use its partners' sites or apps, see Google's Privacy & Terms.

4. Cookies

We use a session cookie (ory_kratos_session) to keep you logged in. No other first-party cookies are set. If you are on the Free tier, Google AdSense sets its own cookies as described in Section 3.

5. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate Local Tone:

• Ory Kratos — headless identity management (authentication, sessions, password reset). User credentials are stored in our own PostgreSQL database managed by Kratos.
• Google Gemini API — large language model used for text analysis on managed tiers (Starter / Pro). Draft text is sent to Google's API per request and is not retained by Google beyond the request duration under Google's API Terms of Service.
• Lemon Squeezy — payment processor for Starter and Pro subscriptions. Lemon Squeezy collects and processes your payment details. We receive webhook events confirming subscription status but never see your card details.
• Google AdSense — ad network for Free-tier users (see Section 3).

6. Data Retention

We retain your account data and draft history for as long as your account is active. You can export your data at any time (Pro tier) or request deletion by contacting us. On account deletion, all profile data, entries, corrections, and coaching reports are permanently removed.

Downgrading to a lower tier does not delete your historical data — it is retained in our database and becomes visible again if you upgrade.

7. Data Security

Draft text, corrections, and API keys are stored encrypted at rest using AES-GCM encryption. All traffic between your browser and our servers is encrypted in transit via HTTPS. We follow reasonable industry-standard security practices; however, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure.

8. Your Rights

You may at any time:

• Access your stored data via the app (Settings → Export Data on Pro tier).
• Update your profile information and preferences in Settings.
• Request deletion of your account and all associated data by emailing us.
• Opt out of personalised ads via Google Ads Settings (Free tier).

If you are located in the European Economic Area, UK, or Australia you may have additional rights under GDPR, UK GDPR, or the Australian Privacy Act respectively. To exercise any right, contact us at the address in Section 10.

9. Children's Privacy

Local Tone is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be noted by updating the "Last updated" date at the top. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact

For privacy-related questions, data requests, or account deletion, contact Ray Choi at wilike0511@gmail.com.