Privacy Policy for Sidekick Translate

Effective date: September 09, 2025

1. Introduction

Welcome to Sidekick Translate. This Privacy Policy explains how Ascenso Labs LLC ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, shares, and protects information in connection with our Sidekick Translate mobile application (the "Service"). Your privacy is critically important to us.

For the purposes of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Ascenso Labs LLC is the "data controller" of your personal information.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information that is essential for providing and improving our Service, ensuring security, and complying with legal obligations.

A. Information You Directly Provide

  • Account Information: When you create an account, we collect your first name, last name, email address, and a hashed version of your password. You may optionally provide a nickname.
  • Profile Picture: If you choose to upload one, we collect your profile picture.
  • User Preferences: We store preferences you set in the app, such as your pronouns, native and target languages/dialects, and content filter settings, to personalize your experience.

B. Information Collected Automatically

  • Device and Security Identifiers: To protect your account and prevent fraud, we collect a secure device identifier (using Apple's App Attest service) and your device's model name upon registration and sign-in.
  • Session Information: For security and to manage your active sessions, we automatically log your IP address, user agent (application type/version), and login time when you sign in.

C. Data Processed for Service Functionality

  • On-Device Translation: This feature is 100% private. All processing happens exclusively on your device. This data is never sent to our servers, and we have no access to it.
  • Cloud-AI Translation: To provide advanced AI translations, the text you submit and selected parameters (like tone) are sent to our secure servers for processing. We may temporarily log this data, associated with an internal, non-identifying user ID, for troubleshooting, quality assurance, and service improvement. These logs are deleted on a rolling basis.
  • Translation History: Your conversation history is stored locally and securely on your device via iCloud. We do not have access to this history. You have full control to manage or delete it from within the app.

D. Purchase and Transaction Information

All in-app purchases are processed by the Apple App Store. We do not collect or store your payment details (e.g., credit card numbers). We receive a transaction receipt from Apple, which we associate with your account to validate your purchase and grant you access to features like token packs.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

  • To provide, maintain, and improve the Service.
  • To create and manage your account and authenticate you.
  • To sync your purchases and preferences across your devices.
  • To ensure the security of your account and our Service.
  • To prevent fraud and abuse by monitoring account creation limits per device.
  • To communicate with you, including sending verification emails and responding to support requests.
  • To comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms.

4. Our Lawful Bases for Processing (for EEA/UK Users)

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK, our legal basis for collecting and using your personal information is as follows:

  • Performance of a Contract: Most of our processing is necessary to provide the Service you signed up for.
  • Legitimate Interests: We process some data for our legitimate interests, such as for fraud prevention, abuse monitoring, and service improvement, provided these interests are not overridden by your data protection rights.
  • Legal Obligation: We may need to process your data to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, such as retaining transaction records for financial auditing.

5. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell your personal information. We only share it in these limited circumstances:

  • With Service Providers: We use third-party vendors for services like cloud hosting and AI model processing. We share information with them only as necessary for them to perform their services for us, and they are bound by strict confidentiality obligations.
  • For Legal Reasons: We may disclose your information if required by law, subpoena, or other legal process, or if we have a good-faith belief that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.

6. Data Retention and Deletion

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with the Service.

When you request to delete your account, we perform an **anonymization** process. We permanently and irreversibly delete your personally identifying information, including your email, password, name, nickname, profile picture, and all session data. Your unique device identifier is removed from your user record.

Non-identifiable data, such as your purchase history (without your name or email), is retained for financial and legal compliance purposes. Diagnostic logs for AI Translations are deleted on a regular rolling basis.

7. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on your location, you have certain rights regarding your personal information:

  • Right to Access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
  • Right to Rectification: You can update your name and nickname directly in the app's account settings. For other corrections, please contact us.
  • Right to Erasure (Deletion): You can delete your account from within the app's account settings. This will trigger the anonymization process described in Section 6.
  • Right to Data Portability: You can request a copy of your data in a machine-readable format.
  • Right to Object to or Restrict Processing: You have the right to object to our processing of your data under certain circumstances.

To exercise any of these rights, such as to request a copy of your data or to ask for a correction, please contact our privacy team directly at support+privacy@ascensolabs.com.

Your California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have the rights listed above. We do not "sell" or "share" your personal information as those terms are defined under the CCPA.

8. Security

We implement industry-standard technical and organizational measures to protect your information from unauthorized access, loss, or misuse. However, no system is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your information.

9. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to, and processed in, countries other than the one you reside in. These countries may have data protection laws that are different from the laws of your country. We take appropriate safeguards to require that your personal information will remain protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

10. Children's Privacy

Our Service is not directed to individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have, we will take steps to delete that information.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Effective date" at the top.

12. Contact Us

If you have any general questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at hello@ascensolabs.com.