PrivateLingo is a product of Daeyla LLC (“Daeyla,” “we,” “us”). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you use the PrivateLingo mobile app (the “Service”), how we use it, and the choices you have. By using PrivateLingo, you agree to this policy.
PrivateLingo is intended for people 13 years of age or older. It is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has given us information, contact us and we will delete it. Where required by local law (for example, parts of the EU/UK), users under 16 may need parental consent.
Information we collect
Account information: your email address, username, display name, and (optional) profile photo and bio. Passwords are handled by our authentication provider (Google Firebase) and are never stored by us in readable form.
Content you create: the messages you send (both the English you type and the invented-language version), the shared dictionary of invented words your conversations build, reactions, and any photos, videos, voice notes, or files you send.
Posts on a shared wall (“Ours”): notes, photos, videos, and words you post to the private wall you share with one other person. A post you seal until a future date is stored with that date and is withheld by our servers until it arrives, so we hold the content before either of you can see it.
Nicknames: a private name you give someone. It is stored in a part of your account only you can read, and it is never shown to the person it describes or to anybody else.
Your connections: the people you connect with, connection requests, and anyone you block.
Contacts (only if you choose to scan): when you tap “Scan your contacts” on the Add someone screen, and only after you grant permission, the app reads your device contacts to help you find friends who already use PrivateLingo. This happens on demand only, never in the background. To perform the match, your device turns each phone number (reduced to its last 10 digits) and each email address into a one-way scrambled fingerprint, and only those fingerprints are sent. We never receive the numbers or addresses themselves. Contact names and full contact records never leave your device, and nothing used for matching is stored on our servers. Results are kept only in a local cache on your device. The index the fingerprints are checked against can only be asked about a fingerprint you already hold; it cannot be listed or browsed.
How other people find you: the same matching works in the other direction, so we hold a fingerprint of your own email address and, if you add one, your phone number. Your email is included from the moment you create your account, which is how someone with your address in their contacts can find you even if you never added a number. Both are under your control in your profile, under Privacy: Find me by email and Find me by number. Turn either off and that fingerprint is deleted, and no scan will match you on it again. Turn both off and only your @handle or an invite will reach you.
Activity needed to run features: message read/delivery status, unread counts, language levels, word counts, and streak information (such as the days a conversation was active).
Calls: when you place a 1:1 audio or video call, the call audio and video are sent directly between you and the other person (peer-to-peer) and are not stored by us. We temporarily process the technical data needed to connect the call, and we keep a simple call-history entry in your chat.
Notifications: a push notification token so we can alert you to new messages and incoming calls.
Device permissions: with your permission, camera, microphone, photo library, and contacts access, used only for the features you choose to use (photos, videos, voice notes, calls, and finding friends). Saving a photo or video from a shared wall to your own photo library asks for one further permission, to add to that library. Nothing is uploaded or sent anywhere when you save: the file goes from our storage to your device and no further.
How we use your information
To provide the Service: deliver your messages and calls, build and sync your invented language across devices, and show your dashboard, passport, levels, and streaks.
To keep accounts working: verify your email, send password-reset emails, and maintain your profile and connections.
To keep the Service safe: review reports, investigate abuse, and enforce our Terms.
To communicate with you about the Service.
Who your content is visible to
Your conversations and the invented language you build are private to you and the specific person you share them with. Private languages are not publicly searchable and are not shared with other users.
Messages you write before someone joins. When you invite a specific person, you can write to them before they have an account. So that they can read those messages before installing, they are shown on the invite page at privatelingo.com/i/ followed by that invite’s code. That page is public. Anyone holding the link can read them, including anyone it is forwarded to. At most five are shown, each shortened, and they stop being readable there the moment the invite is accepted. If you would rather nobody outside the app could see them, send the invite on its own and write once the person has joined.
Important: PrivateLingo is not end-to-end encrypted. Your invented language is built and applied on your own device, not on our servers, but the resulting messages are stored on our infrastructure so that they can be delivered to the person you are talking to and kept in sync across your devices. Your data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and protected by our providers’ security, but we (and our providers) are technically able to access it. We access content only as needed to operate and secure the Service, to review reports, or to comply with the law.
How your information is stored and shared
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for third-party advertising. PrivateLingo contains no advertising SDKs and no product-analytics SDK that tracks what you do in the app.
We do use one third-party tool, and it is worth describing exactly. Crash reporting (Sentry) tells us when the app crashes so we can fix it. A crash report identifies you only by your account’s internal id, which means nothing outside our own database. It deliberately excludes your name, username, email, phone number, IP address, and device name. It also excludes the app’s own log output entirely, because that is the most likely way private content would end up in a report by accident. Message text, your invented words, and links to your media are never attached.
We rely on the following service providers (“processors”) to run the Service:
Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore database, Cloud Storage, and Cloud Functions): stores your account, messages, media, and other data on Google’s infrastructure.
Google Firebase Cloud Messaging and Expo: deliver push notifications, including incoming-call alerts.
Connectivity servers (STUN/TURN): help establish direct connections for calls.
Sentry: receives crash reports, limited as described above.
Klipy: powers GIF search. When you open the GIF picker, your search term is sent to Klipy, and the GIFs are loaded from their servers rather than ours. Klipy therefore sees the search terms and the network request, in the same way any website you visit does. We do not send them your account, your name, or anything about who you are messaging.
Resend: delivers account emails such as email verification and password resets.
We may also disclose information if required by law, to respond to legal process, to protect the rights, safety, and property of Daeyla, our users, or the public, or in connection with a business transfer.
Safety and moderation
You can block users and report messages or people from within the app. Reports are stored and reviewed, and we may remove content or suspend or terminate accounts that violate our Terms. To investigate reports or serious safety concerns, we may review relevant content.
Data retention and your choices
You can edit your profile, block or unfriend contacts, and control what you share at any time.
We keep your information while your account is active. If you delete your account, we delete your associated personal data, though limited copies may remain in routine backups for a short period or where we must retain them for legal reasons.
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export your personal data, or to object to certain processing (for example, under the GDPR or the CCPA/CPRA). To make a request, email info@privatelingo.com. We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights.
Security
We use industry-standard measures, including encryption in transit and access controls on our providers’ infrastructure, to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
International users
We operate in the United States, and your information is processed on servers that may be located in the United States or other countries. By using the Service, you understand your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States.
Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date and, where appropriate, notify you in the app. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.