Dearly — Privacy
Dearly ("we", "the app") is a voice journaling app by Swapnil Tiwari (contact: swapniltiwari775@gmail.com). Your journal is deeply personal; this policy says plainly what we collect, where it goes, and how to erase it.
What we collect
- Account: your Google account name, email, and photo, via Google Sign-In (Firebase Authentication) — to create and secure your account.
- Voice recordings: stored only on your device. We never upload or keep your audio on our servers. To transcribe an entry, the audio is sent over an encrypted connection to Google's Gemini API, transcribed, and not stored by us.
- Journal content: your transcripts, edits, moods, notes, and the AI-derived people/places/topics and feelings from your entries are stored in your private space in Google Cloud Firestore, so your journal syncs and restores.
- Subscription status: processed by Google Play Billing. We never see your payment details.
- App usage & crash data: lean, privacy-first analytics and crash reports (see below). We run no advertising and no ad tracking — the advertising ID is disabled.
AI processing
Transcription and reflection features are powered by Google's Gemini API (Google acts as our processor). Entries you analyze are sent as text for processing. We use the Gemini API under terms whose paid tier does not permit Google to use your content to train its models. Temporary server-side caches that make retries cheaper are removed when you delete your account.
Analytics and crash reporting
To learn which core features are used and to fix crashes, we use Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics (Google acts as our processor). These collect app-usage events (such as screens opened and features tapped), a pseudonymous app-instance identifier, and crash and diagnostic logs. We keep this deliberately lean: the advertising ID is turned off, ad-personalization signals are disabled, and this data is not linked to your account or identity. Your journal content — transcripts, audio, moods, and notes — is never included in any analytics event or crash report.
Sensitive content
A journal can contain anything — including health, beliefs, or relationships. We treat all journal content as sensitive: it is never sold, never shared with third parties beyond the processors named above (Google Firebase, Google Gemini API), and never used for advertising.
Security and access
Data in transit is encrypted (TLS). Your Firestore space is protected by per-user security rules — only your signed-in account can read it. You can additionally lock the app behind your fingerprint (biometric lock).
Retention and deletion
Your data stays until you delete it. Settings → Delete account permanently removes your Firestore data, your account, and all local data (database and audio recordings) from the device. Individual entries can be deleted anytime. See how to delete your account (including if you've uninstalled the app). For common questions, visit dearly faq.
Legal bases (EEA/UK)
Performance of contract (providing the journal), consent (AI analysis of your entries; revocable by not using analysis or deleting your account), and legitimate interest (abuse-prevention rate limits).
Children
Dearly is not directed at children under 13 (or the applicable age in your country) and we do not knowingly collect their data.
Changes
We will update this page and the date above if our practices change.