Last updated: [Insert Date]
This Privacy Policy explains how Sidi ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and protects information when you use the Sidi mobile application ("Sidi" or "the App"). By using Sidi, you agree to the practices described here.
Sidi is a Yoruba voice assistant designed to make everyday tasks — calling, messaging, and more — easier through natural voice commands, with a special focus on serving elderly users, visually impaired users, and Yoruba-speaking families.
2.1 Account Information When you sign in with Google, we receive your name and email address to create and recover your Sidi account. You must create a Sidi username before you can use Sidi's voice or video calling features. If you choose to add a profile photo, you upload it directly within the app, and it is stored to enable the profile visibility described below.
2.2 Voice Audio When you speak to Sidi, we may collect and store your audio commands. This audio may be used to fine-tune and improve Sidi's ability to understand Yoruba speech over time, and may also be reviewed to investigate suspected abuse or misuse of the App.
2.3 Contacts If you grant permission, Sidi accesses your device contacts so you can call or message people by name using your voice. This matching happens entirely on your device using phonetic (sound-based) matching — your contact list is never uploaded to or stored on our servers, so your contacts can never be identified by us. The only contact-related information we store is the Sidi username of other Sidi users you interact with through the app (for example, for Sidi-to-Sidi calling and messaging).
2.4 Messages If you use Sidi's messaging feature, your message content and timestamps are stored so conversations can sync across your devices and remain available to you. Because Sidi is built for elderly and vulnerable users, we keep the ability to review message content when abuse, fraud, or a violation of these Terms is reported — this is what allows us to investigate and act on behalf of users who are targeted by scams or harassment. As a result, messages are stored as plain text in our database rather than end-to-end encrypted. We're actively exploring stronger protections that preserve this safety capability while better protecting your privacy, and will update this Policy as that work progresses.
2.5 Calls Sidi's voice and video calls are connected directly between users through our calling provider (Agora). We do not log or store a record of who you called or when — call sessions are not saved to our database, so we have no way of knowing who you called.
2.6 Usage Information We may collect information about your usage of the App and how you interact with other users through Sidi, to help maintain and improve the service.
2.7 Profile Visibility to Other Users Your Sidi username and profile photo (if you've added one) are visible to other Sidi users once you've mutually accepted a message request with them — either because you accepted their request, or they accepted yours. This information is not visible to Sidi users you have not connected with.
We use the information above to: - Provide and operate Sidi's core features (calling, messaging, voice commands, and more) - Recognize and recover your account - Improve Sidi's voice recognition accuracy for Yoruba - Maintain the security and reliability of the App
We never sell your personal information. We do not share your contacts, messages, or account details with advertisers, data brokers, or any outside company for marketing purposes.
The one exception is transcription. To convert your spoken words into text, your audio is sent to a third-party transcription provider (Google Speech-to-Text). Before this happens: - All metadata (your name, phone number, device ID, location, and any other identifying information) is stripped from the audio file - The audio is sent as a completely anonymous clip that cannot be traced back to you or your device - The transcription provider receives only the anonymous audio and returns only the transcribed text — it does not receive any other information about you
Other service providers that help Sidi function include: - Supabase — stores account and message data, and the Sidi usernames of other Sidi users you interact with (your device contacts are never uploaded or stored here) - Firebase Cloud Messaging — delivers notifications - Agora — powers voice and video calls between Sidi users
These providers process data only as needed to provide their specific service to Sidi, and are required to maintain confidentiality and data protection standards equivalent to our own.
Legal disclosure. We may share your information with law enforcement or other legal authorities when required by law, or when we believe in good faith that doing so is necessary to protect the safety of our users or the public, or to prevent exploitation or abuse.
Your information may be processed and stored on servers located in countries other than the one you reside in, including where our service providers (such as Supabase, Firebase, Google Speech-to-Text, and Agora) operate their infrastructure. By using Sidi, you understand that your information may be transferred to, and processed in, countries that may have different data protection laws than your own.
We retain your account information, messages, and voice data for as long as your account is active, or as needed to provide the App's features. Anonymized audio used for improving Sidi's accuracy may be retained separately from your account, since it cannot be linked back to you.
We remove or anonymize your data once it is no longer needed for these purposes, except where continued retention is required for compliance with the law, resolving disputes, or safety and moderation purposes (for example, retaining records related to a reported account during an investigation).
We may automatically close accounts that have been inactive for an extended period. We may also suspend or close accounts that we determine, at our discretion, are being used fraudulently or to abuse the App — including harassment, scams, or attempts to circumvent Sidi's safety features such as the message request system. If your account is closed for inactivity or abuse, your data is handled the same way as described in the Data Retention and Deletion sections of this Policy.
Some parts of Sidi rely on automated processes — for example, on-device phonetic matching to recognize contact names from your voice, and automated detection of inactivity or suspicious activity patterns that may lead to account suspension or closure. These automated processes do not make final decisions without the ability for human review: if your account is suspended or closed by an automated process and you believe this was a mistake, you can contact us at [Insert Contact Email] to request a human review.
You have the following rights regarding your information:
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [Insert Contact Email]. When you request deletion, your account information, messages, and stored contacts are permanently removed from our systems, with the exception of anonymized audio already used for model improvement, which cannot be traced back to you and therefore cannot be selectively deleted.
Sidi is a command recognizer. It listens only when activated and only carries out the specific actions listed in its capabilities (such as calling contacts, sending messages, opening apps, or turning on the flashlight). Sidi does not act on its own without your voice command, and it does not listen in the background or record you without your knowledge — your privacy is respected at all times.
Sidi is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.
We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information. However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will notify you within the App. Continued use of Sidi after changes take effect means you accept the updated Policy.
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how your data is handled, please contact us at [Insert Contact Email].