Privacy policy

Talkel is operated by an individual developer based in Pune, Maharashtra, India (“Talkel”, “we”, “us”). For anything about your data — including questions, requests or complaints — email talkel.app@gmail.com. We act as the data fiduciary for your personal data under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

• Account details: your name, email address and password (stored only as a secure hash). If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and profile picture from Google.
• Learning profile: what you tell us during setup and in settings — your English level, goals, native language, feedback language, time zone and preferences.
• Your voice during calls: while a call is active, your microphone audio is streamed to our AI provider so the AI partner can understand and answer you. We do not store this audio unless you choose to record the call (see below).
• Conversation content: the text transcript of each conversation, the scenario you practised, any job details you chose to enter (for example your job title or experience), custom topics you create (the situation you describe and the practice scenario built from it), and the feedback, scores, mistakes and suggestions we generate from it.
• Call recordings (optional, Pro): only if you tap “Record” during a call. A recording contains both your voice and the AI’s voice. It is private to you.
• Personal memory (optional, off by default): if you turn it on, short facts the AI learns from your chats (for example “is preparing for an interview”) so later conversations feel personal.
• Usage and technical data: call length and minutes used, call-quality measurements, your IP address and device/browser type for sign-in sessions and security (such as rate limiting), and basic server logs.

We do not use advertising trackers, we do not sell your data, and we do not use your data to target ads.

• To run your account and keep it secure (sign-in, email verification, password reset).
• To hold the conversation itself, and to give you feedback on grammar, vocabulary and fluency afterwards.
• To track your progress, recommend what to practise next, and personalise conversations if you turned memory on.
• To apply your plan’s limits (such as daily practice minutes) and prevent abuse.
• To send account emails — verification, welcome, password reset, password changed and account deletion. We don’t send marketing emails.
• To find and fix problems and improve the app.

We process your data on the basis of the consent you give when you create your account and agree to this policy, and where needed to provide the service you asked for. You can withdraw consent at any time by deleting your data or your account.

We use these service providers. Each one only gets what it needs to do its job:

• Google (Gemini API) — receives your voice during calls, conversation transcripts and the custom topics you write, to generate the AI partner’s replies, your practice scenarios and your feedback. Google processes this under its Gemini API terms. Depending on the service tier we use, Google may use this content to improve its products.
• Supabase — our database and file storage (account data, transcripts, feedback and recordings). Servers in South Korea.
• Render — runs our server. Servers in Singapore.
• Vercel and Cloudflare — host our website and route traffic to our server.
• Brevo — sends our account emails (your email address, name and the email content).
• Google Sign-In — only if you choose to sign in with Google.

Because these providers operate outside India, your data may be processed in other countries. We only use providers that protect it with appropriate security measures. We may also disclose data if the law requires us to.

• Your account, transcripts, feedback and progress: until you delete them or your account.
• Recordings: until you delete the recording, the conversation, or your account.
• Custom topics: until you delete the topic and the conversations that used it, or your account.
• Personal memory: until you delete a memory, turn memory off (which forgets everything), or delete your account.
• Sign-in sessions expire after 30 days of inactivity.
• When you delete your account, we delete your data from our active systems straight away. Copies in our providers’ backups are removed within 30 days.

You can do most of this yourself, inside the app:

• See and download your data: Profile → Your data → Download my data.
• Correct it: edit your profile and settings at any time.
• Delete it: delete single conversations, recordings or memories, or your whole account. See how to delete your account.
• Withdraw consent by deleting your data or account, and nominate someone to exercise your rights if you die or become unable to — email us.

For anything else, or if you are unhappy with how we handled your data, email our grievance contact at talkel.app@gmail.com. We reply within 30 days. If you are not satisfied, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS). Passwords are stored as secure hashes. Recordings are stored privately and are only ever streamed to their owner after we check who is asking. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your data and will tell you and the authorities about a breach as the law requires.

Talkel is for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If you believe someone under 18 has an account, email talkel.app@gmail.com and we will delete it.

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will tell you in the app and ask you to agree again before you continue. The date at the top shows when it last changed.