Privacy policy

Charlio is a voice assistant for iPhone. This policy explains, in plain language, what Charlio does with your data.

The short version

• Your voice goes to OpenAI in real time during the call, and Charlio does not record it.
• Your conversations are kept on your iPhone, not on the server.
• Charlio does not read your Gmail.
• Charlio only sends emails if you turn that on, and every send asks for your confirmation.
• You can delete your account from the app, and everything on the server is deleted within 30 days at most.

Who is responsible

The controller of your data is Bruno Champion, as an individual. For any question about this policy, write to bruno@charlio.app.

What OpenAI receives

Charlio uses a single AI provider: OpenAI. It uses it for the voice, for working out the answers and for the agent that drives the browser. The cost is included in your subscription, so you do not need an OpenAI account.

Before your first call, the app explains what OpenAI receives and asks for your permission. OpenAI receives:

• Your voice, in real time, for as long as the call lasts.
• The text of the conversation: what you say and what Charlio answers, including the earlier lines when you resume a conversation.
• What Charlio uses to help you: for example, the calendar events or Drive files it reads to answer you, and the web pages it opens in your browser.

OpenAI uses this data to run Charlio. Under its API terms, OpenAI does not use it to train its models, because Charlio has not chosen to share it for that. OpenAI may keep it for up to 30 days to detect abuse, or longer if the law requires it.

Any third party that receives your data to run Charlio, including OpenAI, has to give it the same or equal protection as this policy.

What is not stored

• Your voice: Charlio does not record it, and it does not ask OpenAI to save a recording of the call. OpenAI’s abuse checks, described above, still apply.
• The text of the call is on the server only for as long as the call lasts. When you hang up, the server deletes it and keeps only the date, the duration and the cost of that call, and how it started (for example, from Siri or the button in the app).

What stays on your iPhone

Your conversations are kept on your iPhone, encrypted by iOS, and not on the server. If you use iCloud Backup, they are included in your iPhone’s backup in your Apple account. They are kept for 90 days by default, and in the app you can choose 30 days or “until I delete them”.

To resume a conversation, your iPhone sends the earlier lines again.

What the server stores

Each person has their own account, with their data kept separate from everyone else’s. The server stores, encrypted:

• The work in progress: the tasks Charlio is doing for you. It is stored so that Charlio can finish them after you hang up and call you with the result, and only what is needed is kept while they are in progress.
• Your browser sign-ins: the websites you have signed in to inside Charlio’s browser. They are stored so that those websites recognize you next time and you do not have to sign in every time. Each person has their own browser, in its own container, and nobody else can see it.
• Your Google connection, if you choose to make one.

In addition, so that your account works, the server keeps:

• Identifiers: the name and email you sign in with, through Apple or Google.
• Your minutes and purchases: the minutes used in each period, your plan and your packs, which are validated with Apple.
• The details of each call: the date, the duration, the cost and how it started.
• Your iPhone: an identifier, its name and the token Apple gives it to receive calls, so that your account recognizes it and Charlio can call you when it finishes a task.

This account data is kept for as long as your account exists.

The Google permissions

Charlio only asks for the Google permissions it uses. Calendar and Drive are requested the first time they are needed, with an explanation.

• Sign in with Google (name and email): to open your account. It asks for nothing else.
• Google Calendar, to read and create events: Charlio tells you what you have and creates the events you ask for. Every new event goes through a card you must confirm.
• Google Drive, with limited access only (drive.file): Charlio works only with the files it creates itself and the ones you choose in Google’s file picker. It cannot see the rest of your Drive. Creating, editing or copying a file goes through a card you must confirm.
• Sending email from Gmail (gmail.send): only if you turn on the “Send emails” toggle, which is off by default. This permission is requested when you turn it on. Every send shows you the recipient, the subject and the text, and waits for your confirmation.

Charlio does not read your Gmail and does not ask for permission to do so. With the toggle off, Charlio writes the email and you open it, already written, in your own email app, without using any Google permission, and you send it yourself.

Information from your Calendar and Drive is used only for what you ask Charlio to do, and it goes to OpenAI only to answer you. It is not sold, not used for advertising and not used to train AI models. Nobody reads it unless you agree, or unless it is needed for security or required by law.

You can remove Charlio’s access at any time from your Google Account’s security settings.

The use of information received from Google Workspace scopes will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Purchases

Apple handles the charges for subscriptions and minute packs. You will find the plans and conditions in the terms of use.

Where it runs and who it is for

Charlio’s server is in the United States. The app is available for iPhone in Latin America and the United States, and it is not yet available in the European Union.

How to delete your account

You can delete your account from the app. When you do, everything on the server is deleted, backups included, within 30 days at most. An iCloud Backup of your iPhone stays in your Apple account, where you manage it yourself.

Contact

If you have questions about your data, write to us at bruno@charlio.app.