Talky Privacy Policy
Version: 2026-10-14 · Effective: 14 October 2026
This policy explains what personal information the Talky mobile app and the talky.cat website collect, why, who receives it, how long we keep it, and the choices and rights you have. Because Talky is run from Türkiye, Turkish data protection law (KVKK) applies to every user; the notice it requires is at talky.cat/en/kvkk-notice.
1. Who we are
Talky is provided by Ata Kılıç, an individual based in Türkiye, who is the data controller for your personal information. "We" and "us" in this policy mean Ata Kılıç. For anything about your data, write to ata@kilicov.dev.
2. What Talky does and doesn't do
Talky is a diction and speaking-practice app. It transcribes the speech you record, measures your pace, pauses, filler words, pronunciation and intonation, and suggests what to practice next.
- Talky is not a medical product or therapy service. It does not diagnose or treat speech disorders and does not process health data.
- We do not create a voiceprint from your voice and never use your voice to identify, distinguish or authenticate you.
- We show no ads and do not sell your personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. The app contains no third-party advertising or analytics SDKs, and we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites.
- Apart from Amazon Transcribe, which converts your speech to text, no artificial intelligence or large language model service receives your data.
3. Information we collect
| Information | Where it comes from | What we use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Account: the unique ID of your Apple or Google account, the email address that account shares with us (with Apple this may be a private relay address), display name, app language, time zone. If you sign in with Apple, a refresh token issued by Apple | Sign in with Apple / Google, Settings | Create and recognize your account; schedule your day in your time zone. We keep the Apple token only so we can revoke Sign in with Apple when you delete your account |
| Sessions: a hash of the session token, a device label, when the session started and ended | The app | Secure sign-in, "sign out of all devices" |
| Onboarding answers: your goals, level, speaking situations, and optional free text of up to 1,000 characters | First questions in the app | Set up your plan and starting level |
| Voice recordings | The microphone, only when you tap record | Transcribe and measure your speech. Deleted after analysis (see §4) |
| Speech analysis: transcript, word timings, measurements such as pace, pauses and filler words, scores, voice snapshot summaries, findings and suggestions. Findings include short quotes of your words (up to 14 words) | Analysis of your recording | Give feedback, show progress, update your plan |
| Practice progress: lessons, exams, certificates, points (XP), streak, badges, quests, weekly league position | Using the app | Show your path, progress and certificates |
| Notifications: push token, platform, app version, time zone, last seen time, which notification was sent when | When you allow notifications | Send notifications without duplicates |
| In-app events: paywall shown or closed, trial, purchase and restore, your answer to the reminder card, certificate shared, store rating prompt requested; with time, platform and app version | The app | See which steps work. No speech or text you wrote |
| Purchases: plan, trial status, start and end dates, store transaction IDs, renewal status, the store's purchase notifications | App Store, Google Play, RevenueCat | Unlock and maintain Talky Plus. We never receive your card details; Apple or Google takes the payment |
| Crash and error reports: error and stack trace, device model, operating system, app version, screen, account ID | The app and our servers | Find and fix bugs (see §6) |
| Consent and acknowledgment records: record type, document version, time, app version, platform, language, method | When you accept the Terms, acknowledge a notice or the voice screen, or give or withdraw marketing consent | Show that you took these steps |
| Support messages | When you write to us | Resolve your request |
| Server logs: request time, error details, IP address | Our servers | Security, debugging, abuse prevention |
Please don't write health information (conditions, diagnoses, treatment, medication) in the onboarding free-text field. Talky doesn't need it.
Weekly league. Other users in your group see your first name and the initial of your last name (for example "Ashley K.") and that week's points. Your full name and email are never shown. You can change your display name in Settings.
4. Voice data
This section is our public policy for the retention and destruction of voice data.
What we collect and why. The microphone records only when you tap record. The recording is uploaded over an encrypted connection to Amazon Web Services storage in Frankfurt, Germany (eu-central-1), and transcribed by Amazon Transcribe, also in Frankfurt. Our own software then measures pronunciation, stress and intonation. We use your recordings only to give you feedback on your speech.
No biometric identifiers. We do not create a voiceprint, faceprint or any other biometric identifier or template from your voice. Your voice is never used to identify you, tell you apart from other people, or authenticate you, and it is never sold, leased, traded or otherwise disclosed for profit.
Consent. Before your first recording, the app explains how your voice is processed and asks for your affirmative consent. In the US you tap "I agree" on the voice screen; we record that you did so, with the version of the text you saw.
Retention and destruction.
| Data | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Audio recording on our servers | Deleted as soon as analysis finishes, fails or is cancelled. A storage rule deletes anything left behind within 24 hours |
| Transcript and quotes of your words in findings | 180 days, then deleted |
| Measurements, scores and voice snapshot summaries | While your account is open |
| All speech data | Deleted within 24 hours after you delete your account, or at any time through Settings › Account and data › Delete speech data |
Deleted audio is removed from storage, and deleted transcripts and measurements are removed from our database; they are not kept in any other form. We will not keep voice data longer than these periods, and in any case not longer than 3 years after your last interaction with Talky.
A copy on your phone. If you choose, you can keep your voice snapshot recordings only on your own phone so you can hear before and after (Settings › Preferences › Keep voice snapshots). This is off by default. The copies are never sent to us and are deleted when you turn the option off or sign out.
If we start working with any new speech recognition or analysis provider, we will update this policy before any voice data is sent to it.
5. Legal bases and retention
Under Turkish law (KVKK Art. 5) we process your information on these grounds: performance of a contract (Art. 5(2)(c)), legal obligation (Art. 5(2)(ç)), establishing, exercising or protecting a right (Art. 5(2)(e)), and legitimate interest (Art. 5(2)(f)). We rely on explicit consent only for marketing communications (see §6).
| Information | Legal basis | Retention |
|---|---|---|
| Audio recording (on our servers) | Contract | Deleted after analysis; leftovers within 24 hours |
| Transcript and quotes in findings | Contract | 180 days |
| Measurements, scores, voice snapshot summaries, progress, certificates | Contract | While your account is open |
| Account, profile, onboarding answers, settings, sessions | Contract | While your account is open |
| Push token and notification history | Contract, legitimate interest | While your account is open; the push token is disabled when you sign out or it becomes invalid |
| In-app events | Legitimate interest | While your account is open |
| Purchase and subscription records | Contract, legal obligation, protecting a right | 10 years |
| Consent and acknowledgment records | Protecting a right | 10 years after account deletion |
| Crash and error reports | Legitimate interest | Up to 90 days |
| Server logs | Legitimate interest | Up to 30 days |
| Staff audit logs (staff actions on your account) | Protecting a right, legitimate interest | 10 years |
| Support messages | Contract, protecting a right | 2 years after the request is closed; KVKK requests 10 years |
| Waitlist email (website) | Legitimate interest | Until we announce launch or you leave the list, at most 2 years |
| Use of your contact details for marketing, if you agreed | Explicit consent | Until you withdraw consent |
When a period ends, the data is deleted or irreversibly anonymized.
6. Notifications, marketing and crash reports
Service notifications. Practice reminders, streak warnings, quests about to expire, the weekly summary, a trial about to end, an exam or remediation ready, and messages from our team about the service. These are part of the service. We can send them only if you allow notifications on your phone; you can turn that off in your phone settings and turn reminders off in Settings › Preferences.
Marketing. We send promotional notifications or emails (campaigns, discounts, Talky Plus offers) only if you separately opt in. Details are in the Marketing Consent text. Every Talky feature works without it.
Crash reports. When the app or our servers hit an error, a report goes to Sentry. It contains no email address, IP address, audio or transcript. This relies on our legitimate interest; you can turn it off in Settings › Privacy › Crash reports.
7. Who receives your information
We share information only with service providers that help us run Talky, and only as much as their work needs. They process it on our instructions and on our behalf.
| Recipient | Purpose | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Web Services (including Amazon Transcribe) | Servers, database and queue; temporary storage and transcription of recordings | Germany (Frankfurt) |
| Functional Software, Inc. (Sentry) | Crash and error reports | Data stored in the EU (Frankfurt); company in the US |
| 650 Industries, Inc. (Expo) | Delivering notifications through Apple and Google push services (push token and notification text) | US |
| RevenueCat, Inc. | Managing Talky Plus purchase status (your Talky user ID and store transaction data) | US |
| Tally BV | Waitlist form on the website (email address) | Belgium |
Apple and Google act as separate controllers, under their own privacy policies, for Sign in with Apple, Google sign-in and store purchases; that relationship is between you and them. Notifications are delivered through Apple Push Notification service and Firebase Cloud Messaging.
We disclose information to public authorities only when the law requires it, and only what is required.
8. International transfers
Our servers are in Germany, and some providers are based in the US or Belgium. There is no Turkish adequacy decision for these countries, so transfers rely on the standard contracts published by the Turkish Personal Data Protection Board (KVKK Art. 9), signed with each provider and notified to the Board.
9. Deleting your account
You can delete your account in the app at any time: Profile › Settings › Account and data › Delete account. All your sessions end immediately, your Apple or Google link is removed, and if you used Apple, Sign in with Apple is revoked. Within 24 hours we delete your speech data, transcripts, onboarding answers, profile, settings, device and session data, in-app events, messages sent to you and notification history.
Some records remain without your name or email and are no longer linked to you through sign-in: an anonymized account row with your points and progress history, purchase records (10 years), consent records (10 years) and staff audit logs. For details, and what to do if you can't use the app, see Delete your account.
Deleting your account does not cancel a subscription bought through the App Store or Google Play; cancel it in your store subscription settings.
10. Reviewing and changing your information, and your rights
You can review and change your display name, language, time zone, daily goal and notification preferences in Settings, delete your speech data, and delete your account. You can also ask us to tell you what we hold about you, give you a copy, correct it, delete it, or stop a particular use. Under KVKK you may also object to an outcome against you that results solely from automated analysis and claim compensation for damage caused by unlawful processing.
Send requests in writing to ata@kilicov.dev from the email address registered in your Talky account. We answer within 30 days, free of charge as a rule. If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Turkish Personal Data Protection Board or to the data protection authority where you live. Depending on your state or country, local law may give you additional rights; we honor them on the same terms.
11. Security
All connections between the app and our servers are encrypted (HTTPS). Session tokens are stored only as hashes. Recordings sit in access-restricted storage only while they are analyzed. Only authorized people can access our servers, and every action in the admin panel is logged with the staff member's IP address. No system is perfect; if a breach occurs, we will notify the authorities and affected users as the law requires.
12. Children
Talky is for people aged 18 and over in Türkiye and 13 and over everywhere else. It is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. By accepting the Terms of Use you confirm that you meet this requirement; we do not ask for your age separately. Outside Türkiye, users aged 13 to 17 may use Talky only with a parent's or guardian's permission. If we learn that a child under the age limit has used Talky, we delete the account. Parents can contact us at ata@kilicov.dev.
13. Washington consumer health data
We do not collect, share or sell consumer health data as defined in Washington's My Health My Data Act (RCW 19.373). Voice recordings are used only for speech-practice feedback and are not used to extract biometric identifiers or templates. Please don't enter health information in the app. Questions: ata@kilicov.dev.
14. Do Not Track
We do not track you across third-party websites or apps over time, and we do not allow third parties to do so through Talky. Because of that, Do Not Track browser signals do not change what we do.
15. Website
If you join the waitlist on talky.cat, we collect your email address through Tally BV's form service and use it only to tell you when Talky launches or about major news. To leave the list, write to ata@kilicov.dev. The website uses no advertising or tracking tools.
16. Changes to this policy
When we change this policy, we publish the new version here with a new version date. We announce material changes in the app before they take effect. The effective date is shown at the top.
17. Contact
Ata Kılıç · ata@kilicov.dev
Related: KVKK Notice · Terms of Use · Delete your account · Marketing Consent