Privacy Policy

01Scope of This Policy

This Policy applies to information we collect through the Services. It does not apply to third-party websites, applications, wallets, or services that you access in connection with the Services or that we link to ("Third-Party Services"), which are governed by their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for the practices of Third-Party Services, and we encourage you to review their policies before providing them with information.

02Information You Provide to Us

We collect the following information that you provide directly:

Account Information

When you create an account or join our waitlist, we collect information such as your name, email address, phone number, password or authentication credentials, and profile details.

Submitted Content

We collect the audio recordings you submit through the Services, together with any associated metadata — such as the language, topic, and duration of the recording, and your device and microphone type. Your recordings contain your voice and speech, and we may derive a voiceprint or other biometric information from them, as described in Section 5.

Recording Other People

Most recordings capture only your own voice. If anyone else can be heard in a recording you submit, you must have their consent before recording; you should not record anyone who has not agreed, and you must never record anyone under 18.

Identity Verification Information

To confirm that you are a real, unique individual at least 18 years of age, to prevent duplicate or fraudulent accounts, and to meet legal obligations connected with paying you, we — or a third-party verification provider acting on our behalf — may collect government-issued identification and additional information used for identity and age verification.

Wallet and Payment Information

We collect the digital asset wallet address you provide to receive compensation, and we may collect tax information necessary to make payments to you and to meet our reporting obligations.

Communications and Other Information

If you contact us, respond to a survey, participate in research, or otherwise communicate with us, we collect the information you choose to provide, including the contents of your messages.

03Information We Collect Automatically

When you use the Services, we automatically collect certain technical information ("Technical Information"):

Log and Usage Data

Information such as your IP address, browser type and settings, device identifiers, the dates and times of access, the pages and features you use, the actions you take, and referring URLs.

Device Information

Information about the device you use, including device type, operating system, browser, microphone type, settings, and application version.

Microphone Access

When you record through our application, and with your permission, we access your device microphone so that you can capture and submit a recording. You can manage this permission in your device settings, although the recording features will not work without it. We capture audio only while you are recording through the Services.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

We and our providers use cookies and similar technologies to operate and analyze the Services, as described in Section 8.

04Information We Receive from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from third parties, including: single sign-on providers, if you choose to log in using a third-party account; identity verification, payment, fraud-prevention, analytics, and other service providers that support our operations; and publicly available sources. We may also receive or transfer information in connection with a corporate transaction such as a merger or acquisition. We may combine this information with information we already hold about you.

We may also aggregate or de-identify information so that it no longer identifies you. We may use and share de-identified or aggregated information for any purpose, and we will not attempt to re-identify it except as permitted by law.

05Voice Recordings and Biometric Information

Because the Services involve recording your voice, we collect and process recordings of your voice and speech. Depending on how we process those recordings and on applicable law, this may include "biometric identifiers" or "biometric information" — as those or similar terms are defined under applicable law — such as a voiceprint derived from your recordings.

We collect, store, use, and process this information to: (a) operate the Services and process your Submitted Content; (b) review recordings for quality, natural and unscripted speech, language and accent, and integrity, verify your identity, and detect duplicate, synthetic, or fraudulent submissions and accounts (which may involve comparing voices across recordings); (c) build, transcribe, structure, and label datasets; and (d) license, sublicense, sell access to, and otherwise disclose datasets and Submitted Content to our customers, partners, and prospective customers and partners, including AI developers, for the development, training, and evaluation of artificial intelligence and machine-learning models.

You are paid compensation for this use of your voice recordings. This commercial use — including the licensing and sale of data derived from your recordings — is the service you are signing up for, and you consent to it before each recording begins and by submitting Submitted Content. You may decline to provide this information by not recording or using the Services.

06How We Use Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, operate, maintain, and improve the Services and your user experience;
• Review, transcribe, structure, label, and prepare your Submitted Content, and build datasets that incorporate it;
• License, sublicense, and otherwise make Submitted Content and datasets available to our customers and partners;
• Verify your identity and age, prevent duplicate accounts, and detect, investigate, and deter fraud, manipulation, abuse, scripted or AI-generated submissions, and unlawful or unauthorized activity, including by comparing voices across recordings and accounts;
• Calculate and pay your compensation, including any language, Founding Speaker, or referral bonuses, and meet related tax and reporting obligations;
• Operate community features such as progress goals, leaderboards, and referrals;
• Communicate with you, including sending confirmations, technical notices, security alerts, support messages, and administrative messages;
• Send you marketing and promotional communications, subject to your right to opt out;
• Analyze usage and trends to understand and improve the Services;
• Maintain the security and integrity of the Services;
• Comply with legal obligations, enforce our Terms of Service, and establish, exercise, or defend legal claims;
• Carry out a merger, acquisition, financing, or other corporate transaction; and
• Fulfill any other purpose with your consent or at your direction.

07How We Share Information

We share information in the following circumstances:

• Customers and partners. We license, sublicense, sell access to, and otherwise disclose Submitted Content and datasets that incorporate it — including your voice recordings and any voiceprint or other biometric information — to our customers, partners, and prospective customers and partners, including AI developers. This disclosure is the core function of the Services and the basis on which you earn compensation.
• Service providers. We share information with vendors that perform services for us, such as cloud hosting, database, identity verification, payment and blockchain infrastructure, email delivery, fraud prevention, speech processing, and analytics providers, which process information on our behalf.
• Affiliates. We may share information with our corporate affiliates and subsidiaries.
• Legal and safety. We may disclose information where we believe in good faith that it is necessary to comply with law or legal process, respond to lawful requests from public authorities, enforce our Terms of Service, protect the rights, property, or safety of Aurél, our users, or others, or detect and address fraud or security issues.
• Corporate transactions. We may disclose or transfer information in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of assets.
• With your consent. We share information with your consent or at your direction.

08Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device. We and our providers use cookies and similar technologies (such as pixels and software development kits) to operate the Services, remember your preferences, keep you signed in, secure the Services, and understand how the Services are used. We generally use strictly necessary, functional, and analytics technologies.

You can manage or delete cookies through your browser settings, and you can manage mobile identifiers through your device settings. If you disable cookies, some parts of the Services may not function properly or may be less personalized.

09Service Providers and Analytics

We rely on third-party providers to host and operate the Services and to understand how they are used. These currently include Vercel (application hosting and platform analytics), Neon (database hosting), Resend (transactional email), and Vercel BotID (bot and abuse detection). These providers process information on our behalf and under their own privacy terms.

10How We Protect Information

We take reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures designed to protect information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, misuse, or destruction. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. The security of your information also depends on you: keep your account credentials confidential, use a strong password, and sign out after using shared devices. By using the Services, you acknowledge and accept these inherent risks.

11Data Retention

We retain Personal Information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Services. We retain Submitted Content, and information derived from it, for as long as necessary to exercise the rights granted to us under the Terms of Service. We may also retain information in de-identified or aggregated form, and in backups or archives, as permitted or required by law or for legitimate business purposes.

Where applicable law sets a maximum retention period for biometric identifiers and biometric information, such as any voiceprint we derive, we will delete that information within the period required by that law, and in any event no later than three (3) years after your last interaction with us, unless a longer period is required by law or a court order.

12Your Choices and Rights

You may review, update, or correct your account information by signing in to your account or by contacting us at support@useaurel.app. You may request deletion of your account and your Submitted Content by contacting us at the same address. For your protection, we may need to verify your identity before acting on a request, and we may only act on requests associated with the email address on your account.

Please note that we cannot recall or delete Submitted Content, or data derived from it, that has already been licensed to or incorporated into the models, products, or datasets of a third party, and that artificial intelligence models trained using it generally cannot be made to "untrain." We may also retain information in de-identified, aggregated, archived, or backup form, or as otherwise permitted or required by law.

You may opt out of marketing communications at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions in those messages or by contacting us. We may still send you non-promotional, service-related messages, such as notices about changes to our Terms of Service or this Policy.

13Do Not Track Signals

Some browsers offer a "Do Not Track" signal. Because there is no common industry standard for responding to these signals, we do not currently respond to them. You can learn more about Do Not Track at www.allaboutdnt.com.

14Children

The Services are intended only for individuals who are at least 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from anyone under 18, minors may not submit content or receive compensation, and you must not record any person under 18. If you believe that a person under 18 has provided us with Personal Information, or that the voice of a minor has been recorded, please contact us at support@useaurel.app and we will take steps to delete it.

15Users Outside the United States

Aurél is based in the United States, and the Services are controlled and operated from the United States. If you use the Services, your information may be stored and processed in the United States or in any other country where we or our service providers operate. These countries may have data protection rules that differ from those of your country. By using the Services, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States and other countries. In some circumstances, courts, law enforcement, or regulatory or security authorities in those countries may be able to access your information.

16Privacy Rights for EEA and UK Residents

If you are located in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we process your Personal Information on the following legal bases: with your consent; as necessary to perform a contract with you, including our Terms of Service; as necessary for our legitimate interests; and as necessary to comply with a legal obligation. Where we process voice recordings or any voiceprint as special-category data, we rely on your explicit consent.

Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to: withdraw consent you previously gave; access the Personal Information we hold about you; correct or update inaccurate information; request erasure of certain information; restrict or object to certain processing; receive your information in a portable format; and lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. To exercise these rights, contact us at support@useaurel.app. These rights may be limited in some circumstances, and we may need to verify your identity before responding.

17Privacy Rights for U.S. State Residents

Depending on the U.S. state in which you live, you may have rights regarding your Personal Information, including the right to know about and access the Personal Information we process, the right to request correction or deletion, the right to opt out of certain processing, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your rights.

The categories of Personal Information we collect include identifiers, demographic and protected-classification characteristics, commercial information, internet and electronic network activity, geolocation data, audio and electronic information (including voice recordings), biometric information (such as any voiceprint we derive), and inferences drawn from the foregoing. We collect this information from the sources, and use it for the purposes, described elsewhere in this Policy, and we disclose it to the categories of recipients described in Section 7.

Aurél sells and shares Personal Information, including sensitive Personal Information such as voice recordings and any biometric information, as the terms "sell" and "share" are defined under U.S. state privacy laws. Licensing and otherwise making available the data derived from your recordings is the core function of the Services and the basis on which you are compensated. Because of this, you can exercise your right to opt out of the sale of your Submitted Content only by not submitting it or by requesting deletion of your account and content; we cannot provide the marketplace Services for Submitted Content that you opt out of selling.

To exercise your rights, contact us at support@useaurel.app. We may need to verify your identity before responding, and we may decline requests as permitted by law, including retaining information under California Civil Code Section 1798.105(d) and other applicable exceptions. You may use an authorized agent to submit a request, provided the agent gives us signed written permission and we can verify your identity. Where available, you may appeal a decision on your request by contacting us at the same address.

18California Shine the Light

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits California residents to request information about the disclosure of their Personal Information to third parties for those third parties' direct marketing purposes. We do not disclose Personal Information to third parties for their own direct marketing purposes without your consent.

19Contact Us

If you have questions about this Policy, your Personal Information, or the Services, contact us at support@useaurel.app.