Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 23, 2026

SayScribe ("we," "our," or "the app") is a meeting recording and transcription app for iPhone and iPad. Your privacy is foundational to how we build SayScribe.

1. Your Data Stays on Your Device

All recordings, transcripts, summaries, action items, and other outputs are stored locally on your device. SayScribe does not maintain user accounts, does not store your data on our servers, and does not require you to create a login. If you choose to enable iCloud Sync (see Section 5), your data is also stored in your private iCloud account — managed by Apple, not by us. Your data is yours.

2. What We Collect

SayScribe collects only what is needed to provide its core functionality:

  • Audio recordings — captured by the microphone on your device when you initiate a recording or import an audio file.
  • Subscription status — managed by Apple through StoreKit. We do not collect your name, email, Apple ID, or payment information.
  • Personalization preferences — optional settings such as your display name, stored locally on your device. Your display name may be included in AI processing prompts to help correctly attribute action items to you (see Section 3).

SayScribe does not separately collect: location data, contacts, browsing history, search history, advertising identifiers, or any other personal information beyond what you choose to record.

Information that appears within your recordings — such as names, organizations, dates, email addresses, or phone numbers spoken aloud — is part of the transcript content. See Section 3 for how that content is processed.

3. How Your Data Is Processed

  • Transcription: Your audio (the raw sound recording captured by the microphone) is uploaded to a secure transcription service for processing. The uploaded audio file is deleted from the third-party server immediately after transcription completes — whether transcription succeeds or fails. This applies to both the primary transcription path and the rare fallback path used when the primary service is unavailable. The resulting transcript (the text representation of what was said) is stored only on your device; it is also removed from any third-party transcription service immediately after retrieval.
  • On-Device Entity Extraction: To improve the accuracy of action item attribution, dates, and contact references, SayScribe uses Apple's on-device Natural Language framework to extract named entities (people, organizations, dates, phone numbers) from your transcripts. This extraction happens entirely on your device. The extracted entities — along with your display name if set — may be included as context in AI processing prompts. They are not stored or used outside this processing context.
  • Meeting Notes: Only the resulting text transcript (never audio) is processed to generate summaries, meeting minutes, action items, and other outputs. Your data is not used for AI model training.
  • On-Device Processing: When supported by your device, certain features use on-device processing that never sends data to external servers.

All data transmitted to processing services is encrypted in transit via HTTPS/TLS.

4. Calendar and Reminders

SayScribe can optionally access your calendar events and reminders with your explicit permission. This uses Apple's on-device EventKit framework. No calendar or reminder data is sent to external servers.

5. iCloud Sync

SayScribe offers optional iCloud Sync for eligible subscription tiers. When enabled:

  • Recordings, transcripts, summaries, action items, and projects are synced across your devices via Apple's iCloud (CloudKit) infrastructure.
  • Audio files may also be synced for Premium subscribers.
  • All synced data is stored in your private iCloud container — SayScribe cannot access your iCloud data, and it is not shared with third parties.
  • iCloud Sync is encrypted in transit and at rest by Apple.
  • Template favorites sync via iCloud key-value storage.
  • You can disable iCloud Sync at any time in Settings. Data already on your device remains; syncing simply stops.

iCloud Sync is entirely optional. If you choose not to enable it, your data stays only on the device where it was created.

6. Backups

Backups are created locally on your device and shared via the standard share sheet. Backup files are encrypted. SayScribe does not upload backups to any server.

7. Data Retention and Deletion

  • Audio on our servers: deleted immediately after transcription completes.
  • Audio on your device: stored until you delete the recording, or automatically deleted based on your Audio Retention setting (7, 30, or 90 days). Transcripts and notes are preserved even after audio deletion.
  • Transcripts and AI outputs on your device: stored until you delete the recording.
  • To delete all data: delete individual recordings within the app, or delete the app entirely.

8. Third-Party Service Providers

SayScribe uses third-party services to provide transcription and analysis. These services process data in accordance with their published privacy policies and terms of service:

  • Audio processing services transcribe audio to text. Per the policies of these providers, audio is not retained beyond what is needed to complete transcription. SayScribe additionally deletes uploaded audio from the primary transcription service immediately after processing.
  • Analysis services receive only text transcripts (never audio) to generate summaries, minutes, action items, and other outputs. Per these providers' published policies, your data is not used for AI model training. Text may be temporarily retained by the provider for safety and abuse monitoring purposes, after which it is automatically deleted by them.
  • SayScribe's backend infrastructure is a stateless proxy and stores no user data. Platform-level operational metrics (such as request counts and error rates) may be retained by the infrastructure provider per their standard practices, with no user content involved.

SayScribe does not have signed Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) or other healthcare-specific data handling contracts with these providers. SayScribe is not HIPAA-compliant and should not be used to record protected health information (PHI) or other regulated personal data. Third-party provider policies may change over time; we update this disclosure when material changes affect what we transmit. For a current list of service providers used by SayScribe, contact us at support@sayscribe.app.

9. Your Rights (EU/UK — GDPR & UK GDPR)

If you are located in the European Union, European Economic Area, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom, you have specific rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR.

Data Controller: Starphenomenon (contact: contact@starphenomenon.com)

Legal basis for processing: SayScribe processes your data on the legal basis of performance of a contract — specifically, delivering the transcription, summarization, and note-taking services you requested when you installed the app or subscribed. We rely on consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a)) for optional features such as AI processing, which you explicitly accept via the in-app Data & Privacy disclosure before first use.

Your rights: Because SayScribe stores your recordings, transcripts, notes, and action items locally on your device (and optionally in your private iCloud account managed by Apple), you control all your data directly. Specifically, you have the right to:

  • Access your data — view any recording, transcript, summary, or action item at any time within the app.
  • Rectify your data — edit transcripts, action items, and notes at any time.
  • Erase your data — delete individual recordings, or delete the entire app to remove all local data; data synced to iCloud is removed when you delete it from any of your devices.
  • Restrict or object to processing — you control which recordings are processed by AI; processing only occurs when you explicitly initiate it. To fully halt any future AI processing, delete the SayScribe app from your device. SayScribe does not process your data for marketing, profiling, or automated decision-making.
  • Data portability — export any recording, transcript, or note via the share sheet (text, PDF, HTML, RTF formats).
  • Withdraw consent — you can withdraw consent at any time by deleting the SayScribe app from your device; once deleted, no further data is sent to AI providers.
  • Lodge a complaint — with your local data protection authority. A list is available at edpb.europa.eu.

International transfers: When you use SayScribe's AI features, data is transmitted to third-party service providers based in the United States. These transfers are governed by standard contractual clauses and the providers' own compliance frameworks (such as the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework where applicable).

Retention: Audio uploaded for transcription is deleted from third-party servers immediately after processing. Transcripts and notes remain on your device until you delete them. See Section 7 for full details.

Automated decision-making: SayScribe does not engage in automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects. AI-generated summaries and action items are suggestions; you control whether to act on them.

10. Your Rights (California — CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) grant you specific rights.

Categories of personal information collected: See Section 2 for a complete list. SayScribe does not collect sensitive personal information beyond what you voluntarily include in a recording.

Your rights:

  • Right to know what personal information we have about you — all data is on your device and visible within the app.
  • Right to delete — delete individual recordings within the app, or delete the app to remove all data.
  • Right to correct — edit transcripts, notes, and action items at any time.
  • Right to portability — export via the share sheet in multiple formats.
  • Right to opt out of sale or sharing — SayScribe does not sell your personal information and does not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
  • Right to limit use of sensitive personal information — not applicable; SayScribe does not use sensitive personal information for advertising, inferences, or profiling.
  • Right to non-discrimination — we will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

To exercise any right, contact contact@starphenomenon.com. We will respond within the timeframe required by law (generally 45 days for CCPA, one month for GDPR).

11. Children's Privacy

SayScribe is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect data from children.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about this privacy policy, contact us at: support@sayscribe.app