Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Voqelo ("we," "us," or "our") is operated as a sole-trader business based in the United Kingdom. For the purposes of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, Voqelo is the data controller for your personal data when you use our Chrome extension or website.

You can contact us about anything in this policy at voqelo.app@gmail.com. Our registered business address is available on request.

2. What We Collect

Account Information

When you sign in with Google to start a trial or subscription, we receive:

• Your email address
• Your Google account ID (a unique identifier)
• Your name and profile picture, if provided

Subscription & Payment Information

Payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe. We never see or store your card details. Stripe sends us:

• Your subscription tier (Standard or Premium)
• Your subscription status (active, cancelled, etc.)
• The last 4 digits of your card (for display purposes only)

Usage Data

To enforce monthly character limits and protect against abuse, we record:

• Number of characters of text-to-speech generated per month
• Which TTS provider was used (OpenAI or ElevenLabs)
• Timestamps of API requests

We do not store the content of your conversations, the text you sent to be spoken, or the audio that was generated.

Technical Data

For security and debugging, our server temporarily logs:

• IP address (used only for rate limiting; not retained beyond 30 days)
• Extension version
• Error reports if something fails

3. What Stays In Your Browser

The following never leave your device or are sent only to the AI provider you've chosen (Claude, ChatGPT):

• Speech-to-text — your microphone audio is processed by your browser's built-in Web Speech API. We do not receive it.
• Your conversation with the AI — the text Claude or ChatGPT generates is processed by them, not us. We only see the portion sent to TTS providers for voice synthesis.
• Your settings — voice preferences, mic selection, and other extension settings are stored locally in your browser via chrome.storage.

4. Third-Party Services

To provide voice synthesis and run the service, we share data with:

• OpenAI — when you use OpenAI voices, the text to be spoken is sent to their TTS API. OpenAI Privacy Policy
• ElevenLabs — when you use ElevenLabs voices, the text is sent to their TTS API. ElevenLabs Privacy Policy
• Google — for sign-in via OAuth. We receive only the data listed above. Google Privacy Policy
• Stripe — for payment processing. Stripe Privacy Policy
• Railway — our backend hosting provider. Railway Privacy Policy

None of these providers receive personally identifiable information about you beyond what's needed to provide their service. Text sent to TTS providers is not linked to your name or email.

5. How We Use Your Data

We use your data only to:

• Authenticate your account and serve premium features
• Process payments and manage subscriptions
• Enforce monthly usage limits
• Provide customer support when you contact us
• Diagnose technical issues
• Comply with legal obligations

We do not sell your data, share it with advertisers, or use it for marketing without your explicit consent.

6. Legal Basis (UK GDPR)

We process your data on the following legal bases:

• Contract — to provide the service you've subscribed to
• Legitimate interest — for security, fraud prevention, and improving the service
• Legal obligation — for tax records and other regulatory requirements
• Consent — for any optional communications, which you can withdraw at any time

7. Data Retention

• Account data — kept while your account is active and for 90 days after deletion
• Usage logs — retained for 12 months for billing and abuse prevention
• IP addresses — deleted after 30 days
• Payment records — retained for 7 years per UK tax law

8. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the data we hold about you
• Rectification — correct inaccurate data
• Erasure — request deletion of your account and personal data
• Restriction — limit how we use your data
• Portability — receive your data in a portable format
• Objection — object to processing on legitimate-interest grounds
• Complaint — lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk)

To exercise any of these rights, email voqelo.app@gmail.com. We respond within 30 days.

9. Children

Voqelo is not directed at children under 13 (or 16 in the EU). We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If you believe we have, please contact us and we'll delete it immediately.

10. Cookies

The Voqelo website uses no tracking cookies, no analytics cookies, and no advertising cookies. We use only essential cookies required for the website to function (such as session cookies if you sign in).

The Chrome extension uses chrome.storage to save your settings locally. This is not a cookie and is not sent to our servers.

11. International Transfers

Some of our service providers (Stripe, OpenAI, ElevenLabs, Google, Railway) are based outside the UK. Where data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on the providers' Standard Contractual Clauses or adequacy decisions to ensure your data is protected to UK standards.

12. Security

We use industry-standard security practices including HTTPS for all data in transit, secure authentication tokens, and regular security reviews. No system is 100% secure, but we take reasonable precautions to protect your data.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top will reflect the most recent version. Significant changes will be communicated via email to subscribers.

14. Contact

Questions about this policy? Email us at voqelo.app@gmail.com.