SOND

In short

• SOND records audio on your phone and, when you process a recording, sends it to our server and to AI providers that transcribe and analyse it.
• There is no account and no sign-in. The app identifies itself with a random ID it creates on first launch.
• Recordings, transcripts and summaries live on your device. Copies on servers are temporary and are deleted automatically.
• We do not sell your data, show ads, track you across apps, or train AI models on your recordings.
• Recordings are encrypted in transit but not end-to-end encrypted: our server and our processors have to read the audio to transcribe it.
• You can delete any recording, or everything at once, from the app.

Who we are

SOND is an AI voice recorder developed by Alexey Evdokimov (Evdokimov.ai). The app is published:

• on the App Store by Polina Evdokimova;
• on Google Play by Alexey Evdokimov;
• on RuStore by Individual Entrepreneur Alexey Evdokimov (Evdokimov.ai).

The publishers above are responsible for the processing described here ("we", "us"). Contact for all privacy questions: sond@evdokimov.ai.

This policy covers the SOND apps for iPhone, Mac and Android (package and bundle ID ai.evdokimov.sond) and the website sond.live.

What data we process

Content you create

• Audio recordings you make in the app, and audio or video files you import (from Files, Photos, a shared file, a link, or YouTube). Imported links are sent to our server so it can fetch the audio.
• Transcripts, summaries, tags and titles produced from your recordings.
• Questions you ask in the chat about your recordings, together with the parts of your transcripts needed to answer them.

Identifiers

• A random app user ID created on first launch. It is not linked to your name, phone number or Apple/Google account.
• An installation or device ID used for diagnostics and to prevent abuse of free minutes and invite codes.
• A push notification token (Apple Push Notification service on iOS, Firebase Cloud Messaging on Android), so we can tell you when a recording is ready.
• Analytics instance IDs created by Firebase and, on iOS, AppMetrica. We do not collect the advertising identifier (IDFA / Android Advertising ID).

Email address (optional)

We ask for an email only if you pay with a Russian bank card or the Faster Payments System, because the law requires us to send you a fiscal receipt. On iOS the email can also be confirmed with a one-time code, so you can restore such a purchase on another device. People who pay through the App Store or Google Play are not asked for an email.

Purchases

Which subscription or minute pack you bought, when, its price and status. Card numbers and bank details never reach the app or our server: you enter them on the page of Apple, Google or YooKassa.

Usage and diagnostics

• App events such as opening a screen, starting a recording or completing processing, sent to Firebase Analytics and, on iOS, to AppMetrica.
• Crash reports on iOS (Firebase Crashlytics).
• Error and processing logs sent to our server: app version, device model, OS version, network type, and error text. On iOS, reports about failed or stuck processing (your app user ID, recording ID and duration, status, error text, device model, OS version, network type, whether a VPN is on, free memory) are also delivered to our internal support channel in Telegram, and when you tap "Report a problem".

What we do not collect

Your name, phone number, contacts, location, advertising ID, browsing history, SMS, or your photo library as a whole (only the files you pick). Calendar access, when you allow it, is used on the device only to show upcoming meetings and remind you to record. Calendar data is not sent to us. Face ID, Touch ID and fingerprint unlock are handled by your operating system and never reach us.

How processing works

1. Your recording is saved on your device.
2. When you process it (automatically after recording, if you keep that setting on), the audio is uploaded over an encrypted connection to cloud storage and passed to our server.
3. The server sends the audio to AssemblyAI for transcription with speaker separation, then sends the transcript to Google Gemini (and, as a fallback, to Alibaba Cloud Qwen) to write the summary.
4. The result returns to the app and is stored on your device. The server copy is deleted 24 hours after the app receives it, or after 7 days if the app never picks it up.

Search and chat across your recordings: on iOS, the app sends the relevant transcript passages and your question directly to Alibaba Cloud (Qwen) to build the search index and answer. On Android, chat questions go through our server, which uses the same AI providers.

Backups to iCloud Drive or Yandex Disk, if you turn them on, go straight from your device to your own cloud account. We have no access to them.

Service providers

We share data only with providers that process it on our behalf to run the app. None of them may use it for their own advertising.

• Render (server hosting, Frankfurt, Germany): processing jobs and results (24 hours after the app receives a result, up to 7 days if it is never picked up), purchase and account records.
• Yandex Cloud Object Storage (Russia): uploaded audio, deleted automatically after about one day.
• AssemblyAI (USA): audio for transcription. AssemblyAI may keep transcription results under its own data-retention terms.
• Google: Gemini API for analysis (Google does not use paid API content to train its models); Firebase Analytics; Firebase Crashlytics on iOS; Firebase Cloud Messaging on Android; Google Play billing.
• Alibaba Cloud (DashScope, Singapore region): transcript passages for fallback analysis, the search index and chat.
• Yandex AppMetrica (iOS): app events; location and advertising ID tracking are off.
• Yandex 360 (email): one-time codes for email confirmation.
• RevenueCat (USA): your app user ID and purchases made through the App Store and Google Play, to manage subscriptions.
• YooKassa (Russia): payments by Russian card or Faster Payments System, your email for the fiscal receipt.
• Apple: App Store purchases and push notifications.
• Telegram: delivery of iOS diagnostic reports to our support channel.
• Our own servers that relay requests to the AI providers and download audio from the links you import.

We may disclose data if the law requires it. We do not sell personal data.

How long we keep data

• Recordings, transcripts and summaries on your device: until you delete them or remove the app.
• Uploaded audio in cloud storage: deleted automatically after about one day.
• Processing jobs and results on our server: deleted 24 hours after the app receives the result, or after 7 days if the app never picks it up.
• Chat on our server: we keep only a daily count of questions, not their text.
• Purchase records, push token, minute balance and invite records: while you use the app, or until you delete your data in the app.
• Payment records required by tax and accounting law: kept for the legally required period, with your email removed if you delete your data.
• Analytics and crash data: under the retention settings of Firebase (up to 14 months) and AppMetrica.

Your choices and rights

• Delete a recording: swipe it in the list or use the menu in the recording.
• Delete everything: in the app settings, tap "Delete account & data". This erases the recordings on the device and removes from our server your minute balance, push tokens, subscription and invite records, and verification codes, and anonymises payment records. Active App Store or Google Play subscriptions have to be cancelled in the store settings.
• Analytics: on iOS you can switch off Firebase Analytics in the app's privacy settings.
• Notifications, microphone, calendar: you can withdraw these permissions at any time in your device settings.
• Requests: write to sond@evdokimov.ai with the subject "SOND Privacy Request" to ask for a copy of your data, a correction or deletion. Include your User ID (shown in the app under Support). We answer within 30 days.

If you are in the EU/EEA or the UK, you have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection, and the right to complain to your data protection authority. We process your content to provide the service you request (contract), payment data to meet legal obligations, and analytics and diagnostics on the basis of our legitimate interest in keeping the app working. California residents have the right to know, delete and correct their data; we do not sell or share personal information for cross-context advertising.

International transfers

Your data may be processed in Germany, Russia, the USA, Singapore and other countries where our providers operate. We use providers that apply appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses, where the law requires them.

Security

All connections between the app, our server and our providers are encrypted (HTTPS/TLS). Access to servers is limited to the developers. Recordings are not end-to-end encrypted, because transcription and analysis require access to the audio and text. On your device, data is protected by the operating system's encryption, and you can lock the app with Face ID, Touch ID or a fingerprint.

Children

SOND is not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has used the app, contact us and we will delete the data.

Website

The website sond.live uses Yandex Metrica to count visits. It sets cookies and records pages viewed, referrer and device type. The site does not collect your recordings.

Changes

We will update this page when our data practices change and change the date above. For significant changes we will also tell you in the app.