Privacy Policy

01 Who We Are

LiveHi ("we," "us," or "our") is a real-time voice translation application developed as part of a Stanford University course project (FA25). We operate the mobile application "LiveHi" available on the Apple App Store, and the associated services accessible at livehi.net and api.livehi.net.

For privacy inquiries, contact us at: support@livehi.net

02 Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

• Apple Account Information: When you sign in with Apple, we receive a stable user identifier, and optionally your name and email address (which may be anonymized by Apple's relay). We do not require your real email to use the app.
• In-App Purchase Information: When you make a purchase, Apple processes the transaction. We receive only a non-sensitive receipt token to verify your subscription status — no payment card details ever reach our servers.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Voice Audio (Real-Time Only): The app captures microphone audio while translation is active. This audio is streamed in real-time to our speech-to-text provider (Soniox) solely to produce text transcriptions. Audio is not recorded, stored, or retained by LiveHi after the session ends.
• Usage Data: We record the number of seconds of translation you use per session to calculate credit consumption and billing. This data is stored as usage statistics, not as audio content.
• Device & Technical Information: We may collect your device type (iPhone/iPad), operating system version, app version, and anonymous crash logs to diagnose issues. This data is not linked to your identity.
• Session Tokens: We issue short-lived JWT access tokens and refresh tokens stored securely in your device's Keychain (via iOS Secure Enclave). These are not accessible to other apps.

2.3 Information We Do NOT Collect

• Precise GPS location
• Contacts, photos, or camera access
• Persistent audio recordings of your conversations
• Browsing history or cross-app tracking
• Biometric data

03 How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To provide the translation service: Streaming audio to Soniox's API for real-time speech-to-text and translation processing.
• To manage your account: Creating and maintaining your user account, authentication, and session management.
• To process payments: Verifying your subscription or credit purchases through Apple's StoreKit, tracking credit balances, and enforcing usage limits.
• To improve the service: Analyzing aggregate, anonymized usage patterns to improve performance, fix bugs, and plan new features.
• To communicate with you: Sending transactional emails about your account (e.g., subscription renewals) if you have provided an email address.
• To ensure security: Detecting and preventing fraud, unauthorized access, or abuse of the service.
• To comply with legal obligations: Responding to lawful requests from government authorities.

We do not use your data to serve advertisements, build behavioral profiles, or train AI/ML models on your voice content.

04 Third-Party Service Providers

We share data with the following trusted third-party service providers solely to operate the app:

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for their own marketing or advertising purposes.

05 Data Retention

• Voice Audio: Not retained. Audio streams are discarded immediately after real-time processing.
• Account Data (Apple User ID, email): Retained for the lifetime of your account. Deleted within 30 days of account deletion request.
• Usage Data (seconds consumed): Retained for 12 months for billing purposes, then aggregated and anonymized.
• Transaction Records: Retained for 7 years as required by applicable tax and financial regulations.
• Crash Logs: Retained for 30 days, then automatically deleted.
• Session Tokens: Access tokens expire after 1 hour. Refresh tokens expire after 30 days of inactivity.

You may request deletion of your account and all associated data at any time by contacting support@livehi.net.

06 Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information:

• Encryption in Transit: All data transmitted between the app and our servers uses TLS 1.3. All API endpoints are HTTPS-only.
• Encryption at Rest: Database contents are encrypted at rest using AES-256. AWS SSM Parameter Store is used for secret management.
• Authentication Tokens: JWT tokens are short-lived and stored in the iOS Keychain (Secure Enclave), not in plaintext storage.
• Infrastructure Security: Our servers run in AWS (Tokyo region) with restrictive security groups permitting only necessary traffic.
• Soniox API Keys: Temporary, short-lived API tokens (max 3600 seconds) are used for each session, minimizing exposure if intercepted.

No system is completely secure. If you discover a security vulnerability, please disclose it responsibly to support@livehi.net.

07 Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

7.1 Access

You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you by emailing support@livehi.net. We will respond within 30 days.

7.2 Correction

If your account information is inaccurate, you may request correction. Note that your display name and email are managed through Apple's Sign in with Apple — changes must be made in your Apple ID settings.

7.3 Deletion

You may request deletion of your account and all personal data associated with it. To do so:

• Email support@livehi.net with the subject "Account Deletion Request," or
• Use the "Delete Account" option in the app under My Account settings.

We will process deletion within 30 days. Note that transaction records required for tax compliance (up to 7 years) may be retained in anonymized form.

7.4 Portability

You may request an export of your personal data in a machine-readable format (JSON).

7.5 Opt-Out of Communications

Transactional emails (e.g., subscription confirmations) cannot be disabled as they are essential to the service. We do not send marketing emails.

7.6 Microphone Permission

The app requires microphone access only when you actively start a translation session. You can revoke microphone permission at any time in your iPhone Settings → Privacy → Microphone → LiveHi. Revoking microphone access will prevent the core translation feature from functioning.

08 Children's Privacy (COPPA)

If you are under 13 years of age, please do not use LiveHi or provide any personal information to us. If we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete such information immediately.

Users between 13 and 17 years of age should obtain consent from a parent or guardian before using LiveHi. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us at support@livehi.net.

This policy applies in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA, USA), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, EU/EEA), and other applicable children's privacy laws.

09 International Data Transfers

LiveHi is operated from servers located in the AWS Tokyo (ap-northeast-1) region. If you use the app from outside Japan, your data will be transferred to and processed in Japan.

For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland: Data transfers are conducted in compliance with applicable data protection law. When we transfer data to third parties (e.g., Soniox), we rely on appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses or the provider's own adequacy mechanisms.

Soniox processes audio data in accordance with their privacy policy. Please review Soniox's data processing terms at soniox.com/privacy.

10 California Privacy Rights (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) grant you additional rights:

• Right to Know: You may request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you in the past 12 months.
• Right to Delete: You may request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
• Right to Correct: You may request correction of inaccurate personal information.
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale: We do not sell personal information. No opt-out is required.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any CCPA rights.

To exercise these rights, contact us at support@livehi.net with "California Privacy Request" in the subject line. We will respond within 45 days as required by law.

Categories of Personal Information Collected (CCPA)

11 European Privacy Rights (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and equivalent laws give you additional rights:

Legal Basis for Processing

Your GDPR Rights

• Right of Access (Art. 15): Request a copy of your personal data.
• Right to Rectification (Art. 16): Request correction of inaccurate data.
• Right to Erasure (Art. 17): Request deletion ("right to be forgotten").
• Right to Restrict Processing (Art. 18): Request that we limit processing of your data.
• Right to Data Portability (Art. 20): Request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to Object (Art. 21): Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Right to Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection supervisory authority.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@livehi.net. We will respond within 30 days (extendable to 90 days for complex requests).

12 Sign in with Apple

LiveHi uses Apple's "Sign in with Apple" feature as our primary authentication method. By using this feature:

• Apple generates a unique, stable user identifier for your account. This identifier is consistent across your devices but is different from your Apple ID.
• You may choose to share or hide your real email address. If you choose to hide it, Apple provides a private relay email address.
• We do not receive your Apple ID password at any point.
• Apple may collect additional information about your use of Sign in with Apple in accordance with Apple's Privacy Policy.

To revoke LiveHi's access to your Apple ID, go to: Settings → [Your Name] → Sign-in & Security → Apps & Websites using Apple ID → LiveHi → Stop Using Apple ID.

13 In-App Purchases & Billing

LiveHi offers in-app purchases (credits and/or subscriptions) processed through Apple's StoreKit framework and the App Store. Regarding billing data:

• All payment processing is handled by Apple. LiveHi never receives or stores your credit card number, Apple Pay information, or other financial payment details.
• We receive a receipt token from Apple which we verify server-side to confirm successful purchases.
• We record the type of purchase, the amount in credits, and the timestamp for your billing history.
• Subscription management (cancellation, renewal settings) is done through your Apple ID: Settings → [Your Name] → Subscriptions.
• For refund requests, please contact Apple Support, as all payments are processed through the App Store.

14 Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will:

• Update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page.
• Post a notice within the LiveHi app (for significant changes).
• Send an email notification if you have provided an email address (for material changes affecting your rights).

Your continued use of LiveHi after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy. If you disagree with any changes, you may delete your account and stop using the service.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically. The most current version is always available at https://livehi.net/privacy.

15 Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

For urgent security disclosures, please use the same email with "Security Disclosure" in the subject line.