Katha (कथा / കഥ) — Privacy Policy

Effective date: 7 Apr 2026

Katha (“we,” “our,” or “the app”) is a family storytelling application that helps families preserve oral histories through voice recordings. We take your privacy seriously. This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, and how we protect it.

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly:

Account details — email address, display name, and password (or Google account credentials if you choose “Continue with Google”).
Profile information — preferred name, birth year, and an optional profile photograph.
Audio recordings — voice stories you record within the app.
Transcripts & edits — text generated from your recordings, including any corrections you make.
Photos — images you attach to stories.
Family information — names of family members you invite or tag, and the family albums you create or join.
Comments & reactions — text comments and heart reactions left on stories.
Feedback — bug reports or feature suggestions you submit through the in-app feedback form.

Information collected automatically:

Device information — device model, operating system version, and app version/build number, used for crash reporting and diagnostics.
Crash logs — anonymous crash and performance data collected through Firebase Crashlytics and Firebase Performance Monitoring to help us fix bugs.
Push notification tokens — device tokens used to deliver notifications about new family stories or comments.

2. How We Use Your Information

Preserve your stories — store and sync your audio recordings, transcripts, and photos so they are accessible to you and your invited family members.
Transcription & translation — process audio through speech recognition (on-device and cloud-based) to generate text transcripts, and optionally translate them for family members who speak different languages.
Family sharing — allow invited family members to listen to stories, leave reactions, and add comments within shared family albums.
App improvement — use crash reports and anonymous diagnostics to identify and fix technical issues.
Notifications — send push notifications when new stories are shared or family members interact with your recordings.

3. How We Store & Protect Your Data

Local-first architecture — recordings are saved to your device first and synced to the cloud only when a stable connection is available. You retain a local copy at all times.
Cloud storage — cloud data is stored on Google Firebase (Firestore, Firebase Storage, Firebase Auth) with encryption in transit and at rest.
Regional hosting — audio uploads are stored in the Asia–South 1 (Mumbai) region to minimize latency for users in India. Processing runs in the US–Central 1 (Iowa) region.
Authentication — passwords are handled by Firebase Authentication and are never stored in plaintext by Katha.

4. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate the app:

Google Firebase — authentication, database, file storage, push notifications, crash reporting, and performance monitoring.
Google Sign-In — optional sign-in method.
Google Vertex AI (Gemini) — speech-to-text transcription, translation, and content processing of transcripts.
Google Speech-to-Text — on-device speech recognition for real-time captions during recording. Processing happens locally on your device.

We do not sell your data to any third party. Audio and transcripts sent to AI services are used solely for transcription and translation and are not used to train third-party models.

AI Transcription Services

When you record a story, the audio file is sent to Google’s Vertex AI (Gemini) for transcription. Google processes this data solely for the purpose of generating a text transcript and does not use it to train AI models. The transcript is returned to Katha and stored in your family album. Audio files are stored in Firebase Storage (Asia–South 1, Mumbai); transcription processing occurs in US–Central 1 (Iowa, United States).

5. International Data Transfers

Your audio recordings are stored in Asia–South 1 (Mumbai, India). Transcription processing occurs in US–Central 1 (Iowa, United States) via Google’s Vertex AI services. Account authentication is handled by Firebase Authentication, which may process data in the United States. By using Katha, you consent to the transfer of your data to these locations for the purposes described in this policy.

6. Sharing Your Information

Your stories and profile information are shared only with family members you explicitly invite to your family album. We do not have public feeds, social discovery, or advertising. We will not share your personal information with third parties except:

With the third-party services listed above, solely to provide app functionality.
If required by law or to protect the safety of our users.

7. Your Rights & Choices

Access & export — you can request a copy of your data (audio and transcripts) by contacting us at kathalab.help@gmail.com. An in-app export feature is planned for a future update.
Correction — you can edit your transcripts and profile information at any time within the app.
Deletion — you can delete your account directly from the app’s Settings screen. The process includes multiple confirmation steps and re-authentication for your protection. You can also request deletion by contacting us at kathalab.help@gmail.com. See Section 8 for details on what happens to your data upon deletion.
Notifications — you can disable push notifications through your device’s system settings. In-app notification preferences are available in Settings; full server-side enforcement of these preferences is being developed for a future update.
Privacy controls — you can set listening preferences in the app’s Settings. Granular access controls are being developed for a future update.

8. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, your personal data (profile, comments, reactions, and family associations) is removed immediately. If you choose to delete your stories, audio recordings and transcripts are also removed immediately. If you choose to keep your stories for your family, they will be anonymized but the audio and transcript content will remain accessible to your family album members. Anonymous crash and performance data collected by Firebase may be retained for up to 90 days for diagnostic purposes.

9. Children’s Privacy

Katha is designed for adults and families. The app is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, please contact us at kathalab.help@gmail.com and we will promptly delete the account.

10. Additional Information for California Residents

If you are a California resident, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

Right to Know — you may request that we disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you.
Right to Delete — you may request that we delete personal information we have collected from you.
Right to Non-Discrimination — we will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights.
Authorized Agents — you may designate an authorized agent to submit requests on your behalf. We may require verification of your identity and the agent’s authority.

We do not sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. To exercise your rights, contact us at kathalab.help@gmail.com.

11. Compliance

Katha is designed to comply with:

India Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP)
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
Google Play Developer Program Policies

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Effective date” at the top of this page and, for significant changes, notify you through the app.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about this privacy policy or your data, please contact us:

Email: kathalab.help@gmail.com