Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Voqelo is a Chrome extension and accompanying service ("Voqelo", "we", "us", "our") that adds a voice layer to ChatGPT and Claude. We are based in the United Kingdom.

This policy explains what personal data we process when you install or use Voqelo, and the choices you have.

2. What we collect and why

Account data

When you sign in we collect your email address, name, and profile picture via Google Sign-In (OAuth). We use this to authenticate you and link your subscription. We do not store passwords.

Subscription status

We store whether your account is on a Free, Plus, Pro, or Studio plan and when your billing period renews. This is used to gate features inside the extension.

Usage metadata

We log anonymised, aggregated counts (e.g. sessions started, TTS requests made) to operate the service and plan capacity. These logs contain no audio, no conversation content, and are not tied to individual identities beyond your account ID.

What we do NOT collect

• Recordings or transcripts of your voice
• The text of your AI conversations
• Your browsing history
• Any data from pages other than claude.ai and chatgpt.com

Marketing communications

If you tick the optional opt-in box when you sign up, we will send you emails about how to get the most from Voqelo, new features, and occasional product updates.

We do not share your email address with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

3. Microphone and audio

Voqelo requests microphone access to let you speak to ChatGPT and Claude hands-free. Here is exactly what happens to your audio:

• Voice Activity Detection (VAD) runs entirely inside your browser using an on-device model (Silero VAD). It detects when you start and stop speaking without sending audio anywhere.
• Speech-to-text — your spoken audio is sent over an encrypted connection to our backend server and transcribed using Groq's Whisper API. The transcribed text is then injected into the chat's existing input field. Audio is not stored by Voqelo or Groq after transcription is complete.
• Text-to-speech (TTS) — when reading AI replies aloud: on the Studio tier, the AI's reply text is sent to ElevenLabs to synthesise speech audio; on Free, Plus, and Pro tiers, synthesis runs entirely on-device using the Kokoro model and no text leaves your browser for TTS. Reply text is never stored after audio is returned.

Your microphone is only active while the Voqelo widget is open and listening. You can stop it at any time by closing the widget or clicking the stop button.

Voqelo does not access the microphone on any website other than claude.ai and chatgpt.com.

4. AI service interactions

Voqelo does not have its own AI. It acts as a voice interface on top of Claude (Anthropic) and ChatGPT (OpenAI), which you access under your own accounts with those services. Voqelo reads and types into those pages' existing interface elements — it does not intercept, read ahead of time, or transmit your conversation to us.

Anthropic and OpenAI's own privacy policies govern how those services handle your conversations.

5. Billing and payments

Subscription payments are processed by Stripe (stripe.com/privacy). We do not store your card number, CVV, or other payment credentials on our servers. Your billing details are held and tokenised by Stripe under their own security and privacy standards.

We receive and store only your subscription plan, status, and renewal date.

6. Local storage

Voqelo stores the following in your browser's local extension storage:

• Your authentication token (so you stay logged in)
• Your preferences (selected voice, volume, wake-word setting, etc.)
• Cached subscription status (refreshed periodically)
• WebGPU capability detection results and Kokoro TTS benchmark scores, used to route audio synthesis to the correct engine
• An adaptive microphone calibration profile (pause-detection timing and energy thresholds) that improves accuracy over time — this never leaves your device
• TTS character usage counters used to enforce plan limits
• One-time flags that prevent onboarding notices from repeating

This data stays on your device. Uninstalling the extension removes it.

7. Who we share data with

We do not sell your personal data. We share limited data only with the following categories of service providers who help us operate Voqelo:

• Cloud hosting — Railway (railway.app/legal/privacy) — our API server runs on Railway. Your account data and anonymised usage logs are stored there. Audio and text data passing through the server is encrypted in transit and not persisted to disk.
• Speech-to-text — Groq (groq.com/privacy-policy) — your spoken audio is sent to Groq's Whisper API for transcription. Audio is not retained after transcription.
• Text-to-speech — OpenAI (openai.com/policies/privacy-policy) — Pro and Studio tiers. The AI's reply text is sent to OpenAI's TTS API for voice synthesis. Text is not retained after audio is returned.
• Text-to-speech — ElevenLabs (elevenlabs.io/privacy) — Studio tier only. The AI's reply text is sent to ElevenLabs for voice synthesis. Text is not retained after audio is returned. Free and Plus tiers use on-device Kokoro synthesis and no data is sent externally for TTS.
• Payment processing — Stripe (stripe.com/privacy) — subscription billing is handled by Stripe. We never see your full card details.

We will disclose data if required by law, a court order, or to protect the safety of users or the public.

8. How long we keep it

• Account data — kept for as long as your account is active, then deleted within 30 days of account closure.
• Anonymised usage logs — aggregated counts are retained for up to 12 months for operational planning.
• Audio / TTS text — not stored. Processed in memory and discarded immediately.

9. Your rights

Under UK GDPR and applicable data protection law you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate data
• Delete your account and associated data
• Object to processing in certain circumstances
• Data portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format
• Withdraw marketing consent — if you opted in to marketing emails, unsubscribe at any time with no effect on your Voqelo account (see Marketing communications)

To exercise any of these rights, email us at the address below. We will respond within 30 days.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe we have not handled your data lawfully.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the service evolves. Material changes will be communicated via the extension or by email. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the current version.