Privacy Policy

In short

• Your dictionary lives on your device and syncs through your own iCloud. We don’t need an account to use the app.
• If you sign in, we store your profile and the things you choose to put on our servers (shared dictionaries, an optional backup).
• AI features send what you type, say or scan to our AI service and then to OpenAI. We ask for your permission before the first AI request, and you can withdraw it in Settings. You can use the app without AI.
• We don’t sell your data, we don’t show ads, we don’t track you across other apps or websites, and we don’t work with data brokers.
• You can delete your account and server data in the app: Settings → Profile → Delete Account.

Who we are

My Dictionary is made by Aleksandr Riakhin, an independent developer. We are the controller of the personal data described here. Contact: hello@mydictionary.org.

What stays on your device and in your iCloud

• Your words, definitions, notes, tags, practice results and settings are stored on your device.
• They sync between your devices through Apple iCloud (CloudKit), in your own iCloud account. We cannot read that data; Apple’s terms and privacy policy apply to it.
• Photos you pick or take for OCR or word pictures stay on your device unless you use a feature that says it sends them (see AI features).

What we store on our servers

Only if you sign in (with Apple or Google) or use a feature that needs a server:

• Account and profile: your sign-in identifier, email address, name and nickname, kept in Firebase Authentication and Firestore (Google).
• Shared dictionaries: the words and notes in dictionaries you share, their collaborators (email, nickname) and likes or difficulty marks. Everyone you invite can see this content.
• Optional backup: if you tap “Upload backup”, a copy of your words is stored in Firestore under your account. It is replaced each time you upload and removed when you delete your account.
• Push notifications: if you allow them, your device’s notification token (Firebase Cloud Messaging).
• AI chat: your chat with Pip is kept on our AI service so the conversation can continue on your devices. It is deleted automatically about 30 days after the last message, when you clear the chat, or when you delete your account. Short-lived AI session data (about 30 minutes) and your AI credit balance and usage counters are also kept there.
• Voices: audio generated for premium voices is cached on our servers and may be reused for other users who request the same text and voice. The cache is not linked to you.
• Word cache: definitions generated for a word may be cached for up to 90 days and reused, without any link to you.

AI features

AI definitions, Pip chat, Scan, collections, quizzes, word forms and similar features are processed by our AI service (hosted on Cloudflare), which sends the request to OpenAI. What we send depends on the feature:

• words, phrases, definitions and notes you enter or ask about;
• your messages to Pip and the dictionary context Pip needs to answer (for example words from your dictionary);
• photos you scan, or text recognised from them, when you use Scan with AI;
• prompts for word collections and your language settings.

We ask for your permission before the first AI request, and you can withdraw it any time in Settings. Without it, AI features are off and everything else works. Some requests are checked with OpenAI’s moderation service.

OpenAI processes this data to provide the response. Per OpenAI’s API terms, it does not use API data to train its models by default, and it may keep requests and responses for a limited period (currently up to 30 days) to provide the service and detect abuse. We identify you to OpenAI only by a technical user identifier, not by your name or email. AI is not available in some regions.

Don’t put sensitive personal information in AI prompts or in what you scan.

Voices, pictures, translation and region

• Premium voices (Pro): the text to be read aloud is sent through our service to Speechify or ElevenLabs. Free online voices use Google Cloud Text-to-Speech the same way. Voices built into your device run on your device.
• Pronunciation practice: uses Apple’s speech recognition, which may run on your device or on Apple’s servers. Microphone audio is not sent to us.
• Word pictures: the word you search for is sent to Pexels, which also sees your IP address.
• Translation: a word you ask to translate is sent to Google Translate, which also sees your IP address.
• Region check: because AI is not available everywhere, the app asks the ipwho.is service where your IP address is located, and our servers read the country from Cloudflare. We use the result only to turn AI on or off. We don’t store your location.
• Abuse protection: Apple DeviceCheck gives us an anonymous per-device flag (for example, whether welcome credits were used). It does not identify you.

Purchases

Apple processes all payments; we never see your card. RevenueCat receives your purchase and subscription status together with an app user ID (a random ID, or your account ID if you are signed in) to unlock Pro. If you are signed in, we also pass your email and name to RevenueCat.

Analytics and diagnostics

• We use Firebase Analytics for usage events (for example, which screens and features are used), app version, device model, OS version and language, and Firebase Crashlytics for crash reports and error logs.
• We use them only to fix bugs and improve the app. There are no ads, no tracking across apps or websites, and no App Tracking Transparency prompt because we don’t track.
• You can turn analytics and crash reports off in Settings.

Who processes data for us

These providers act on our instructions or under their own terms and privacy policies. We do not sell your data and we do not share it for advertising.

Retention and deletion

• You can delete your account in the app: Settings → Profile → Delete Account. This removes your profile, shared dictionaries you own (for everyone), your entries in other people’s shared dictionaries, your backup, notification tokens, AI chat, AI credits and usage, and your RevenueCat record, and it deletes your sign-in. Words on your device and in your iCloud are not touched; delete them in the app or in iCloud settings.
• Deleting your account does not cancel an App Store subscription. Cancel it in Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions.
• We keep anonymous or aggregated usage statistics and crash reports for as long as needed to improve the app, and a per-device flag that stops welcome credits from being claimed twice.
• Providers keep data under their own policies (see above). Backups may take a short time to clear.

Your rights and choices

• You can access, correct, delete and export your data. Most of this is in the app (profile, export in Settings, account deletion). For anything else, write to us.
• You can withdraw your consent to AI features and turn off analytics and crash reports in Settings.
• EU and UK (GDPR): we process your data to provide the app you asked for (contract), with your consent for AI features, and for our legitimate interest in keeping the app secure and working (diagnostics, abuse protection). You may also object to or restrict processing, and complain to your local data protection authority.
• California (CCPA/CPRA): you can ask what we collect, and to delete or correct it. We do not sell or share personal information for advertising, and we won’t treat you differently for using these rights.
• To use a right, email hello@mydictionary.org from the address on your account. We reply within 30 days.

International transfers

Our providers run services in several countries, including the United States, so your data may be processed outside your country. Where required, we rely on safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses or the providers’ data-transfer frameworks.

Security

Data is sent over encrypted connections, provider keys stay on our servers and not in the app, and access to server data is limited. No system is perfectly secure, so please keep your device and sign-in safe.

Children

The app is not directed to children under 13 (the Terms require 13+). We don’t knowingly collect their personal data. If you think we have, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes

We may update this policy. We’ll post the new version here with a new date and, for big changes, tell you in the app or by email. If we need new consent, we will ask for it.