Privacy Policy

Subtext ("we", "us", "our") is operated by Jameson Dog GmbH, registered in Munich, Germany. We take data privacy seriously — especially because the data you share with us is among the most personal information you have.

This policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, how we process it, and your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and applicable law.

1. What Data We Collect

Account Data

• Email address (if you sign in with email)
• Google or Apple account identifier (if you use social sign-in)
• Anonymous user ID (if you use the app without signing in)
• Platform preference (Android/iOS)

Chat Export Data

• Chat and message exports you choose to bring in — from WhatsApp, Telegram, Google Chat, Gmail (read-only access to the one thread you pick), SMS (via a backup file you export yourself; a separately distributed sideload build can instead read the one conversation you pick directly, with your permission), and iMessage (via the Subtext Mac helper, which uploads only the one conversation you select)
• Participant names as they appear in the export
• Message timestamps, sender attribution, and message text
• Voice notes, if you choose a WhatsApp "with media" export — these are transcribed to text by an AI transcription service so they can be part of your analysis (see Section 4). Video files are discarded on your device and never uploaded

Survey Data

• Personality survey responses (relationship role self-assessment)
• Relationship role quiz results (from the website quiz)

Usage Data

• Firebase Analytics events (aggregated; you can turn analytics off in the app under Settings → Privacy)
• Crash reports via Firebase Crashlytics (covered by the same toggle)
• Device type, OS version, app version
• Approximate location (country only) — derived once if the app shows you a therapy-referral option, from Google's infrastructure where possible, otherwise via a one-time IP lookup (see Section 4). We store only the country, never your IP or precise location.

2. How We Use Your Data

• Analysis: We process your chat exports using AI (Anthropic Claude) to generate relationship insights, communication profiles, and narrative reports. Voice notes in "with media" imports are transcribed to text by OpenAI's Whisper so they can be analyzed too.
• Improvement: Aggregated, anonymized analytics help us improve the product. We never use individual chat data for model training.
• Communication: We send transactional emails (report ready, account updates) and, only with consent, marketing communications.
• Safety: We run automated safety classification to detect indicators of harm. See Section 6.
• Compatibility and connection: If you opt in, we use insights about your communication style to power compatibility and connection features — including, where you choose, suggesting connections with other people. These features are off by default; you turn them on in the app, where we ask for your specific consent (including for any sensitive information) at that time, and you can withdraw it whenever you like.

3. How We Store and Protect Your Data

• Encryption: All data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest (AES-256, Google-managed keys). Subtext is not end-to-end encrypted — our servers process your messages in order to analyze them; that's the product.
• Location: Our database layer is hosted in the EU. Our production infrastructure is being set up in the EU (Frankfurt region); during the current beta, uploads and processing run on Google Cloud infrastructure in the US. AI analysis is carried out by our processors in the US — see Section 4.
• Access: Your chat data is processed automatically. A small number of authorized operators can access limited samples and diagnostic data through an access-controlled internal console — solely for support you request, quality assurance, and abuse prevention, under confidentiality.
• Retention: We delete your raw chat export within 3 days of upload — immediately once your deep dive is written — unless you explicitly ask us to keep it (the "Help improve Subtext" toggle). What stays is your story: the insights, plus the sampled messages that power your in-app chat, until you delete it. You can clear the retained messages behind any single story (keeping its insights, turning off its chat), delete any story, or delete your entire account — all from inside the app, any time (see Section 5).

4. Third-Party Processing

• Anthropic (Claude AI): A sample of your chat data is sent to Anthropic's API for analysis, along with your survey context and chatbot messages. Anthropic does not use API data to train its models. Processed in the US.
• OpenAI (images + voice transcription): Thematic image descriptions (no raw messages) are sent to OpenAI to generate relationship arc images. If your WhatsApp export includes media, voice-note audio is sent to OpenAI's Whisper for transcription (videos are discarded on your device and never uploaded). OpenAI does not use API data to train its models. Processed in the US.
• Spotify: To resolve your story's soundtrack, we search Spotify with AI-written track title + artist queries — no personal data is sent.
• Postmark: Sends our transactional emails (waitlist, access) — receives your email address and the email content.
• RevenueCat: Manages in-app purchases — receives your user ID and purchase receipts. No card details ever reach us or RevenueCat beyond what the app stores process.
• ipwho.is: If the app resolves a therapy-referral option and Google's own geo header is unavailable, your IP address is sent for a one-time country lookup. Only the country is stored.
• Google Cloud Platform: Infrastructure hosting (Firestore, Cloud Storage, Cloud Functions).
• Firebase: Authentication, analytics, crash reporting, push notifications. Push notification text can include participants' first names — visible on your lock screen.

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with any third party for advertising, marketing, or data brokerage purposes.

5. Your Rights Under GDPR

As a data subject in the EU, you have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of all personal data we hold about you (Article 15).
• Rectification: Correct inaccurate personal data (Article 16).
• Erasure: Request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten") (Article 17). We will delete all account data, chat exports, reports, and derived insights. You can do this yourself in the app, or via subtext.love/delete-account.
• Restriction: Request that we limit how we process your data (Article 18).
• Portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format (Article 20).
• Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interest (Article 21).
• Withdraw consent: Where processing is based on consent, withdraw at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@subtext.love. We will respond within 30 days.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. The authority responsible for us is the Bayerisches Landesamt für Datenschutzaufsicht (lda.bayern.de); you can also contact the authority of your own EU/EEA country.

6. Content Safety

Subtext runs automated safety classification during chat processing to detect potential indicators of domestic violence, self-harm, coercive control, and child safety concerns. This processing is done in the legitimate interest of user safety.

When safety concerns are detected, we surface relevant helpline information to the user. We do not report to authorities or share this information with third parties. The safety classifier runs locally on our servers — no raw messages are shared for this purpose.

7. Cookies and Tracking

The Subtext website uses essential first-party cookies (session management) and, only if you accept them in the cookie banner, Google Analytics 4 cookies for aggregated usage statistics. No advertising cookies or tracking pixels are used, and analytics is denied by default until you consent.

8. Children

Subtext is for adults only — you must be 18 or older to use it. We ask for your birth date once at sign-up, use it solely to confirm you're over 18, and don't store it. We do not knowingly collect data from minors; if we become aware that we have collected data from a user under 18, we will delete it promptly.

9. Changes to This Policy

We will notify registered users of material changes via email at least 30 days before they take effect. The current version is always available at this URL.

10. Contact

Jameson Dog GmbH
Klenzestr. 43, 80469 Munich, Germany
Privacy inquiries: privacy@subtext.love
Everything else: hello@subtext.love