Privacy Policy

The short version

TalkKnow is built so the two of you can know each other better. We collect what we need to make that work — your email and first name, the answers and memories you create with your partner, and the bits a phone needs to deliver a notification or restore a purchase. That's it.

You can create your account with an email and password, with Google, or with Sign in with Apple. Whichever you pick, the only account data that reaches us is an email address and a first name.

Who we are

TalkKnow ("we", "us") publishes the TalkKnow mobile app for iOS and Android. We're the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. To reach us about anything privacy-related, email privacy@talkknow.app or use the form on our support page.

What we collect

The list below is exhaustive for v1 of the app. If we add a new collection, we'll update this page and the "Last updated" date above.

Account

TalkKnow offers three ways to sign in. All three are handled by Firebase Authentication (Google) — we never see or store a password, an Apple password, or a Google password in readable form, and we never receive an OAuth token you could reuse elsewhere.

• Email and password. You give us an email address and choose a password. Firebase Authentication stores the password as a salted hash; we can never read it. We use the email address to sign you in, to send verification and password-reset mail, and to verify data requests.
• Google Sign-In. When you tap "Continue with Google", Google asks for your permission and then returns to us: the email address on your Google account, your Google display name (we keep only the first name from it), and a Google account identifier that Firebase uses to recognise you next time. We do not request access to your Gmail, Drive, contacts, calendar, or any other Google service.
• Sign in with Apple. When you tap "Continue with Apple", Apple returns: an email address and your name, plus a stable Apple user identifier that Firebase uses to recognise you next time. Apple lets you choose Hide My Email at this step — if you do, we only ever see Apple's private relay address (…@privaterelay.appleid.com), never your real one, and mail we send to it is forwarded by Apple. Apple only sends your name on the first sign-in; after that we keep the first name you already gave us.
• First name. Yours — typed in, or taken from what Google or Apple returned — plus the first name you give your partner when you set up the pair.

Whichever method you use, the account record we hold is the same: a Firebase user id, an email address, and a first name. Signing in with Google or Apple does not give us any additional data, and it does not give Google or Apple any of your TalkKnow content.

Profile (optional)

• Birthday. Optional, on your profile page. Used to wish you happy birthday and to enforce the 18+ age requirement.
• About text. Optional short bio you can fill in for your partner.
• Profile photo. Optional. Uploaded to Firebase Cloud Storage and referenced by URL in your user document.

What you create with your partner

• Daily question answers and guesses. Your selected answer, and your guess at your partner's answer, stored per pair per day.
• Custom questions and answers. Questions either of you writes for the other, plus the answers given.
• Memories. Title, optional note, optional photo URLs, optional voice note URL and duration, kind tag, and timestamps. Photos and voice notes are stored in Firebase Cloud Storage.
• Pair invite codes. A 6-character code is generated when you invite a partner. It stores the sender uid, the sender's first name, and (once redeemed) the resulting pair id, redeemer uid, and timestamps. If the partner declines, we store the decline timestamp and the declining uid.

Device & preferences

• Notification preferences. Toggles for daily reminders, partner reveals, etc. Stored under your private subcollection at /users/{uid}/private/notification_prefs.
• Push notification tokens. A Firebase Cloud Messaging device token plus the platform string (ios/android) so we can route push notifications to your device. Stored under /users/{uid}/fcm_tokens/.
• Local notifications. Some reminders are scheduled on the device itself and never leave it.

Purchases

• Subscription entitlement. When you buy a TalkKnow Premium subscription or lifetime plan we store: the product id, the platform purchase identifier, the platform string (app_store/play_store), and the purchase timestamp. Stored under /users/{uid}/private/entitlement. Entitlement state is checked through RevenueCat — see who processes your data.
• Receipts. The actual receipt and any payment instrument lives with Apple or Google. We never see your card.

What we do NOT collect

• We do not embed Firebase Analytics, Crashlytics, Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude, or any other analytics or attribution SDK. There is no such SDK in our dependency graph at this writing.
• We do not embed any advertising SDK, identifier-for-advertising tracking, or marketing automation tool.
• We do not set browser cookies. This marketing website does not set any cookie either.
• We do not access your contacts, your photo library (beyond the file you pick in a system picker), your microphone (beyond the voice you record yourself for a memory), or your location.

Why we collect what we collect

Who processes your data on our behalf

We use a small set of processors. We have no other vendors involved in the day-to-day operation of the app.

• Google / Firebase. Firebase Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Firebase Cloud Storage, and Firebase Cloud Messaging. Data lives in Google Cloud regions provisioned for our Firebase project. Google's privacy and security commitments are published at firebase.google.com/support/privacy.
• RevenueCat. Runs our in-app purchase and subscription infrastructure. When you open the paywall, buy a plan, or restore a purchase, RevenueCat receives an app user id (your Firebase user id) and the purchase receipt data returned by Apple or Google, and it returns whether the premium entitlement is active. It never receives your answers, guesses, memories, photos, or voice notes, and it never receives your card details. RevenueCat's privacy policy: revenuecat.com/privacy.
• Apple App Store. Handles your iOS subscription receipt and billing. If you use Sign in with Apple, Apple also acts as your identity provider and (when you choose Hide My Email) operates the private email relay. Apple's privacy policy applies to that processing.
• Google Play. Handles your Android subscription receipt and billing. If you use Google Sign-In, Google also acts as your identity provider. Google Play's privacy policy applies to that processing.

We do not currently have a separate Data Processing Agreement (DPA) of our own to offer to enterprise customers. Firebase operates under Google Cloud's standard DPA and the storage region is per our Firebase project configuration.

How long we keep it

• While your account exists: we keep everything described above so the app works.
• After you delete your account: all listed data is removed from our active systems within 30 days. Backup snapshots roll off on a 35-day rolling window after which the data is also gone from backups.
• Receipts and tax records: Apple and Google retain transaction records on their side per their own policies and applicable tax law. RevenueCat retains the purchase history tied to your app user id per its own retention policy. We do not control those records.

Your rights

You can, at any time:

• Access the data we hold on you — most of it is visible inside the app, and we'll export the rest on request.
• Correct anything that's wrong — name, birthday, about, photo can be edited in the app.
• Export your account data as a JSON bundle. Email privacy@talkknow.app from the address tied to the account.
• Delete your account and data. See the next section.
• Withdraw consent for anything we processed on a consent basis (e.g. notifications) by turning the toggle off in the app, or by emailing us.
• Complain to your local data protection authority if you think we got something wrong.

Account & data deletion

We provide a public, install-free way to request deletion. Visit talkknow.netlify.app/legal/delete-account or email privacy@talkknow.app from the address tied to the account. We complete deletion within 30 days.

When you delete your account, the following is removed from our active systems:

• Your user document at /users/{uid} and every subcollection under it (notification prefs, FCM tokens, entitlement).
• Your profile photo from Firebase Cloud Storage.
• If you were paired, the pair document at /pairs/{pairId} and every subcollection (daily answers, custom questions, memories, nudges). Because all paired content lives on the pair — not on individual users — this means your partner's pair-side content created with you is also deleted. We will notify your partner that the pair was dissolved.
• Any open pair invite codes you sent (under /pair_invites/).

What is not deleted: Apple/Google receipt records on the store side (we don't control those) and our standard server logs, which contain no personal content and roll off on their own schedule.

Children and age 18+

TalkKnow is intended for adults in relationships. The app shows an age-gate during onboarding and will not let you continue if you indicate you are under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe someone under 18 has created an account, email privacy@talkknow.app and we'll delete the account immediately.

Region-specific rights

EU / UK / EEA (GDPR + UK GDPR)

Where GDPR or the UK GDPR applies, we are the controller and the legal bases for our processing are listed in the table above. You have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection. To exercise them, email privacy@talkknow.app. International transfers to Google's US infrastructure (where applicable based on your Firebase region) are governed by Google's Standard Contractual Clauses.

California (CCPA / CPRA)

We do not sell personal information and we do not share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising. California residents have the right to know, delete, and correct, and the right to non-discrimination for exercising these rights. Use the same email address above to make a request.

Other regions

Wherever you live, you can email privacy@talkknow.app with a privacy question and we'll respond within 30 days.

Security

Data in transit between your device and Google's servers is encrypted with TLS. Data at rest in Firestore and Cloud Storage is encrypted by Google. Access on our side is limited to the smallest possible engineering team via Google IAM, with two-factor authentication required.

No system is perfect. If you spot a security issue, please email privacy@talkknow.app rather than posting publicly so we can fix it first.

Changes to this policy

If we change anything material, we'll bump the "Last updated" date at the top and, for substantive changes, notify you in the app. Trivial typo fixes will not trigger a notification.

Contact us

For anything privacy-related: privacy@talkknow.app
For general support: support@talkknow.app
Or visit our support page.