1. Introduction

Welcome to Vocial. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information.

This Privacy Policy explains how Vocial (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects information when you use our mobile applications, websites, and related services.

Vocial is operated in Ontario, Canada. For contact information, see Section 14.

2. Data We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

Depending on how you use Vocial, you may provide us with:

• Account information: Email address, username, display name, and profile picture
• Voice recordings: Audio content you create, upload, or share through Vocial
• User-generated content: Comments, messages, photos, likes, follows, and other interactions
• Profile information: Bio, profile theme, and other optional profile details

2.2 Automatically Collected Data

When you use Vocial, we may automatically collect certain technical information, including:

• Device information: Device type, device model, operating system, and app version
• Usage information: Features you use, pages or screens you visit, interactions with the service, and session information
• Network and approximate location information: IP address and information derived from it, such as country, region, city, timezone, or approximate location
• Notification information: Device-specific notification tokens if you enable push notifications
• Diagnostic information: Crash reports, errors, performance information, and related technical data

We use this information to operate Vocial, improve the service, understand how features are used, provide appropriate language and regional settings, and help protect the platform from abuse or unauthorized access.

2.3 Push Notifications

If you enable push notifications, we collect and store a device-specific notification token and use third-party notification delivery infrastructure to send notifications to your device.

Notifications may include information about activity on Vocial, such as when someone likes or comments on your post, follows you, sends you a message, or when we need to communicate an important service update.

Notifications may contain a title, message preview, and technical identifiers required to open the appropriate part of the app.

You can control notification permissions through Vocial or your device settings.

2.4 Audio and AI Processing

Some Vocial features use artificial intelligence and automated audio-processing technologies.

When you create or upload a public voice post, your audio may be processed to:

• Generate a transcription
• Detect the language of the recording
• Generate waveform information
• Suggest titles or other metadata
• Support discovery, accessibility, moderation, or other features related to the content

To provide these features, relevant audio, transcripts, or other limited content may be securely processed by third-party technology providers acting on our behalf.

Transcriptions and generated metadata may be stored with your voice posts.

We do not use the content of your private Direct Messages for these AI-powered features unless we explicitly tell you otherwise and obtain any consent required by applicable law.

2.5 Direct Messages

A conversation between two people may contain text, voice messages, and photos. This content is stored so that participants can access the conversation later.

Photos in Direct Messages are stored privately and are not publicly accessible. Voice messages in Direct Messages are stored at unlisted addresses that are not published or discoverable anywhere on Vocial; we are in the process of moving them to private storage as well.

Voice messages in Direct Messages are not transcribed or used for automatic title generation. They are treated differently from public voice posts and are not submitted to external AI-processing services for those purposes.

Unsending messages. When you unsend a message, its content is removed from the conversation for both participants. A marker may remain indicating that a message was unsent. Associated photos or voice recordings may be retained for up to 90 days for safety, moderation, legal, or abuse-prevention purposes before being permanently deleted.

Who can read a conversation. Direct Messages are intended to be accessible only to the participants in the conversation. Our standard administrative tools do not provide routine access to the contents of private conversations.

Access may occur where necessary to comply with a valid legal request, legal obligation, or formal preservation requirement. Such access is restricted and logged.

Messages from Vocial. Our official Vocial account may contact you through Direct Messages for support, product communication, or other service-related purposes. Because Vocial is a participant in those specific conversations, authorized members of our team may read and respond to messages sent directly to that account.

This does not provide Vocial with access to your conversations with other users.

Reporting and blocking. If you report an account or content, we may store information about the report, including the reporting account, reported account or content, reason for the report, and its outcome. This information is used for safety, moderation, abuse prevention, and enforcement of our policies.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use information collected through Vocial to:

• Provide, maintain, and operate the service
• Enable you to create, publish, share, and discover audio content
• Provide private messaging and other communication features
• Personalize and improve your experience
• Understand how Vocial and its features are used
• Improve performance, reliability, and usability
• Communicate with you about your account and the service
• Deliver notifications you have enabled
• Detect and prevent fraud, spam, abuse, and unauthorized access
• Determine appropriate language, timezone, and regional settings
• Provide AI-powered and automated audio features
• Display and measure advertising where applicable
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms and policies

If you publish content publicly, we may feature it, with your username and profile picture, in Vocial's promotional material, as described in our Terms (section 5.4). You can ask us not to by contacting support@vocial.app.

4. Data Sharing and Service Providers

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share limited information with trusted third-party service providers where necessary to operate, secure, maintain, and improve Vocial.

4.1 Processing Providers

Some Vocial features rely on specialized third-party technology providers.

For example, public voice content may be processed by audio-processing or artificial-intelligence providers to generate transcripts, detect language, or provide generated metadata such as suggested titles.

Only information reasonably necessary to perform the requested processing is provided for these purposes.

4.2 Service Providers

We may work with service providers that provide services such as:

• Cloud hosting, databases, authentication, and file storage
• Audio processing and artificial intelligence
• Push notification delivery
• Network and approximate location detection
• Error tracking, diagnostics, and performance monitoring
• Product and website analytics
• Advertising delivery and campaign measurement
• Email and communications infrastructure
• Third-party account authentication

These providers may process limited information on our behalf as necessary to perform their services.

Where appropriate, we require service providers to handle personal information in accordance with applicable privacy laws, contractual obligations, and appropriate security standards.

Our service providers may change over time as Vocial and its infrastructure evolve.

4.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose information where reasonably necessary to:

• Comply with applicable law, regulation, legal process, or valid government request
• Protect the rights, safety, and security of Vocial, our users, or others
• Investigate fraud, abuse, security incidents, or violations of our policies
• Establish, exercise, or defend legal claims

4.4 Public Content

Content you publish publicly on Vocial is visible to other users.

Public posts may also have shareable web pages that can be viewed by people who do not have a Vocial account.

Where we designate these pages as non-indexable, we ask search engines not to include them in search results. However, we cannot guarantee that third parties will always respect these instructions.

When public content is shared outside Vocial, third-party platforms such as messaging apps, social networks, or search services may create or retain previews or cached copies containing information such as your username, profile image, post title, or other public information.

Deleting a post removes it from Vocial and disables its Vocial share page, but we cannot control copies, screenshots, previews, or cached information created by third parties.

Users may delete their own comments. Post owners and authorized moderators may also remove comments where appropriate.

Deleted content may be retained for up to 90 days for safety, moderation, abuse prevention, dispute resolution, or legal purposes. Content associated with an unresolved report may be retained until the report has been resolved.

5. Your Rights and Choices

5.1 Access and Correction

You can access and edit certain profile and account information directly through Vocial.

You may also contact us to request access to or correction of personal information we hold about you.

5.2 Data Deletion

You can delete your account through:

Settings → Account → Delete Account

When you delete your account:

• Your profile and public posts will be scheduled for permanent deletion
• Public Vocial share pages associated with deleted posts will stop working
• Your comments on other users’ posts will be removed
• Associated account data such as likes, follows, and notifications will be removed or anonymized where appropriate
• Certain information may remain temporarily in backups
• Certain information may be retained where required for legal, security, fraud-prevention, or safety purposes
• Copies, screenshots, or previews created by third parties remain outside our control

Account deletion is generally completed within 14 days. Copies kept in our backup systems are not removed at the same moment; they are retained for a limited period as part of routine disaster recovery before being deleted.

5.3 Data Portability

You may request a copy of personal information associated with your account by contacting us at privacy@vocial.app.

Where required by applicable law, we will provide eligible information in a commonly used, machine-readable format.

5.4 Manage Notifications

You can control push notifications through Vocial and through your device’s notification settings.

5.5 Personal Vault

Vocial may allow you to save voice posts privately in your Personal Vault.

Content stored in your Personal Vault is not publicly visible and is intended to be accessible only through your account.

6. Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect your information.

These measures may include:

• Encryption of data in transit and, where appropriate, at rest
• Access controls and authentication
• Monitoring and diagnostic systems
• Restricted administrative access
• Secure infrastructure and storage practices

However, no internet service, transmission method, or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Data Retention

We retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary to provide Vocial, fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and protect the service and its users.

Typical retention periods include:

• Account information: For as long as your account remains active
• Voice posts: Until you delete the content or your account
• Comments: Until deleted by you, the post owner, or Vocial
• Deleted content: Up to 90 days where necessary for moderation, safety, abuse prevention, or recovery
• Reported content: May be retained until the relevant report or investigation is resolved
• Unsent messages: Message content is removed from the conversation; associated media may remain for up to 90 days where necessary for safety or moderation
• Notification metadata: May be retained temporarily for delivery, diagnostics, and reliability
• Usage and diagnostic information: Retained for a limited period appropriate to analytics, security, and service improvement
• Backups: Retained for a limited period as part of routine disaster-recovery systems

Some information may be retained for longer where required by law or where reasonably necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

8. Children’s Privacy

Vocial is not intended for children under 13 years of age.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that a child under 13 has provided personal information through Vocial, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe that a child has provided us with personal information, contact us at privacy@vocial.app.

9. International Data Transfers

Vocial operates using infrastructure and service providers that may process information in countries other than the country where you live, including Canada and the United States.

Where required by applicable law, we use appropriate safeguards for international transfers of personal information.

10. Analytics and Advertising

10.1 Analytics

We use analytics and diagnostic technologies to understand how Vocial is used and to improve the service.

For example, we may measure:

• Which screens or features are used
• Whether users complete certain flows
• General engagement with features
• App and website performance
• Crashes and technical errors
• Device type, operating system, and app version
• Approximate geographic information derived from an IP address

Analytics information may be associated with an internal account identifier where necessary to understand product usage. We aim to avoid providing analytics providers with information such as your email address, private messages, voice recordings, or transcripts unless it is specifically necessary for a disclosed feature.

Our websites may also use privacy-focused or cookie-based analytics technologies to understand visits and usage.

Where cookies or similar technologies require consent under applicable law, we will request that consent before using them.

10.2 Advertising Measurement

We may use third-party advertising and attribution technologies to understand whether our own advertising campaigns result in app installs, registrations, or other relevant activity.

These services may receive limited technical or event information necessary for attribution and campaign measurement.

We do not intentionally provide advertising platforms with the content of your voice posts, private messages, recordings, or your account credentials for advertising purposes.

10.3 Advertising Inside Vocial

Vocial may display third-party advertisements inside the app.

When advertising is enabled, advertising providers may automatically receive certain information required to deliver, personalize, secure, and measure advertisements. Depending on your device, location, permissions, and privacy settings, this may include:

• Device or advertising identifiers
• IP address and approximate location
• Ad impressions and interactions
• Device and operating-system information
• Diagnostic and performance information

We do not use the content of your voice posts, recordings, transcripts, or private messages to create advertising profiles.

Advertisements displayed inside Vocial are separate from user-generated content.

Where required, Vocial will request your permission before allowing advertising technologies to track activity across apps or websites owned by other companies.

On iOS, you can manage tracking permissions through:

Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking

If you decline tracking permission, available advertising identifiers will not be used for cross-app tracking through Vocial.

On Android, your device provides controls for advertising identifiers and advertising personalization through its privacy settings.

In jurisdictions where consent is required, including certain European jurisdictions, we may display a consent interface before enabling advertising or related tracking technologies. Where available, you can later change or withdraw your consent.

The advertising, analytics, and measurement providers we use may change over time as Vocial evolves.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to Vocial, our data practices, technology, or applicable law.

When we make changes, we may notify you by:

• Publishing the updated Policy through Vocial
• Updating the “Last Updated” date
• Providing an in-app notice or other notification where appropriate or required by law

If a change materially affects how we process personal information, we will provide any additional notice or obtain any consent required by applicable law.

12. European Privacy Rights

If European data-protection law applies to you, you may have rights including:

• The right to access personal information
• The right to correct inaccurate information
• The right to request deletion
• The right to restrict certain processing
• The right to data portability
• The right to object to certain processing
• The right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
• The right to lodge a complaint with an appropriate data-protection authority

These rights may be subject to exceptions and limitations under applicable law.

To exercise applicable privacy rights, contact us at privacy@vocial.app.

13. California Privacy Rights

If you are a California resident, you may have additional rights under applicable California privacy law, including rights relating to:

• Access to personal information
• Correction of inaccurate personal information
• Deletion of personal information
• Information about categories of personal information collected, used, or disclosed
• Data portability
• Opting out of certain sales or sharing of personal information, where applicable
• Non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights

Vocial does not sell your personal information.

To exercise applicable privacy rights, contact us at privacy@vocial.app.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information, contact us:

Vocial
Ontario, Canada
Privacy: privacy@vocial.app
Support: support@vocial.app
Legal: legal@vocial.app