Emelio Privacy Policy

Effective date: June 1, 2026 (last updated July 19, 2026)

Who we are

Emelio is provided by Matt Reid, Switzerland ("Emelio", "we"). We develop and operate the Emelio mobile app and its backend services, and we are the controller for the personal data described in this policy. For privacy questions or requests, contact us at privacy@emelio.ai.

What we collect

We collect the minimum data needed to run the app, keep it reliable, and provide Free Play audio features. We do not run ads, do not collect advertising identifiers, and do not sell your data.

• Account data. When you sign in, we receive your email address, display name, and profile photo if your sign-in provider shares one. If you sign in with Google or Apple, this profile information comes from that provider.
• Usage analytics. App interactions, screen views, session data, device model and operating system, language, app version, country-level location derived from your IP address, and app-instance identifiers. If analytics is enabled, these events are linked to your account identifier so we can understand usage across your devices.
• Crash and performance diagnostics. Crash logs, stack traces, device state, timing and latency measurements, and app-instance and account identifiers.
• Notifications and configuration. A push-notification token (once notifications are available and enabled) and the identifiers needed to deliver the right app configuration.
• Practice and conversation records. Your practice progress and history, content you upload (such as tab files or photos used to build a playable version), and text transcripts of your conversations with the voice teacher, stored with your account.
• Purchases and subscription status. If you subscribe, we receive purchase and subscription information from Google Play: the product you bought, purchase and order identifiers, and the subscription's state (such as active, canceled, in grace, or expired) with its renewal and expiry dates. We use this to unlock what you paid for and to meter usage allowances. We never receive your card or payment details — Google processes the payment.
• Microphone audio in Free Play. Covered in its own section below.

Account data is needed to sign you in and provide the app; microphone audio is needed only for Free Play. If you choose not to provide them, those features will not work.

Microphone audio

Microphone audio is the core of Free Play. The microphone is active only during a session you start, after you grant the microphone permission, and the audio streams off your device in real time while the session runs. It may include your voice, your instrument, and background sounds.

During an active Free Play session, the app streams live microphone audio to two places:

1. Emelio's own audio-analysis service, which detects guitar activity, speech, pitch, timing, chords, and related practice signals.
2. OpenAI's Realtime API, which powers the voice teacher and returns its responses.

The app does not save the raw microphone stream on your device, and Emelio's services process the live audio in real time without storing recordings of your sessions. We treat microphone audio as sensitive data and use it only for the Free Play features you started.

How we use data

We use this data to provide the app, including account sign-in, Free Play, real-time guitar and speech analysis, the voice teacher, remote feature configuration, push notifications when enabled, and — if you subscribe — managing your subscription and the usage allowances it includes. We also use it for product improvement, crash diagnosis, and reliability work.

We do not use your data for advertising, sell it, or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not make automated decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects.

Legal basis

For users in the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland, Emelio relies on these legal bases:

• Analytics: consent. Analytics is off by default until you opt in on the first-launch consent sheet.
• Crash and performance diagnostics: legitimate interest. Emelio needs basic operational telemetry to find crashes and keep the app working.
• Microphone audio in Free Play: the processing is necessary for the feature you start. It is gated by the microphone permission and disclosed here because audio is sent off-device in real time.
• Account, content, and notification data: used to provide the app features you request.
• Purchase and subscription data: necessary to perform our contract with you — providing the subscription you bought.

You can withdraw consent at any time in Settings → Privacy or by emailing privacy@emelio.ai. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that happened before the withdrawal.

Emelio has no marketing or advertising legal basis because Emelio runs no ads.

Consent by region

In the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland, analytics starts off. Users in these regions see a first-launch consent sheet before analytics is enabled. If they opt in, they can opt out later in Settings → Privacy.

For the United States and the rest of the world, analytics is on by default and there is no in-app analytics opt-out toggle. You can still send deletion or opt-out requests to privacy@emelio.ai.

We apply these regional defaults using device region signals, such as the SIM or locale country.

Processors and recipients

• Google (Firebase and Google Cloud) provides sign-in, analytics, crash reporting, performance monitoring, remote configuration, and notifications. Google processes data under its Firebase and Google Cloud data-processing terms: see Privacy and Security in Firebase and the Firebase Data Processing and Security Terms.
• Google Play processes subscription payments and shares purchase and subscription-status information with us so we can activate what you bought. Google Play billing runs under Google's own terms and privacy policy.
• OpenAI powers the Free Play voice teacher. When you use it, OpenAI receives your live microphone audio and the session data needed to provide realtime responses, under the OpenAI Services Agreement and the OpenAI Data Processing Addendum.
• Emelio's own backend, including the audio-analysis service, runs on cloud infrastructure and is operated by us as a first-party service. It is not a third-party recipient.

International transfers

Emelio and its processors process data in the United States, and may process it in other countries where they operate. For transfers from the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland, Emelio relies on appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, including its UK and Swiss extensions, where the recipient is certified.

Security

Data is encrypted in transit. Access to production systems is limited to the developer. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we design the app to collect little and to protect what it does collect.

Retention

We keep data only as long as needed for the purposes described above:

• Usage analytics: up to 14 months.
• Crash and performance diagnostics: up to 90 days.
• Account data, practice and conversation records, and purchase and subscription records: until you delete your account.
• Uploaded content (tab files and photos): kept while your account is active, and deleted when you delete your account. You can also ask us to remove uploads earlier via privacy@emelio.ai.
• Live microphone audio: processed in real time and not stored as recordings by Emelio.

Details of Google's per-product retention are in Privacy and Security in Firebase.

Your rights and deleting your account

Depending on where you live, including under GDPR, UK GDPR, the Swiss nFADP, and similar laws, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, export, restrict, or object to processing.

To exercise your rights, email privacy@emelio.ai. We may need information to verify your identity.

You can delete your account and its data at any time in the app (Settings → Privacy → Delete account) or by emailing privacy@emelio.ai; see our account deletion page for exactly what gets deleted. In-app deletion takes effect immediately; email requests are completed within 30 days.

You can also lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: in Switzerland, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC); in the EEA or the UK, your local data-protection authority.

Emelio does not sell personal data and does not share personal data for cross-context behavioral advertising, so requests such as "do not sell or share my personal information" under California law are not applicable to the way Emelio operates.

Children

Emelio is not directed to children under 13, and you must be at least 13 years old (or the higher minimum age your country requires for consenting to data processing) to use it. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children below those ages. If you believe a child has provided personal data to Emelio, contact privacy@emelio.ai and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we will provide notice at least 30 days in advance when reasonably possible. For users in the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland, material privacy changes may also cause the consent sheet to appear again so you can review and update your choice.