herself — Privacy Policy

herself is operated by omgochi ("we", "us"). This policy explains what the herself iPhone app collects, why, where it goes, and the choices you have. We wrote it in plain English. If anything here is unclear, email hi@omgochi.com.

1. The short version

• Your conversations are used to answer you. They are never sold.
• If you don't sign in, your chats, memories and name stay on your phone. Our server passes your messages to the AI model to get a reply and does not keep them.
• If you sign in with Apple or Google, your name, memories and chat text are saved to your account so you don't lose them. Photos are never saved to your account.
• You can delete your account and everything saved to it from Settings at any time.
• herself is an AI. It is not a therapist, doctor, lawyer or emergency service.

2. What we collect

a) Things you give us

• Messages you write, and photos or screenshots you choose to attach.
• Your first name, if you give one.
• Memories: short details you approve so herself can use them in later replies. You choose each one and can turn it off or delete it.
• Your answers during onboarding, such as who a situation is about.

b) Things created when you use the app

• An anonymous account identifier. When you first talk to herself, the app creates an anonymous account with Google Cloud Identity Platform so our server can tell your requests apart and protect the service from abuse. It is not linked to your name, email or phone number unless you sign in.
• Usage counters: how many requests an account has made in a minute and in a day. These are kept for up to 3 days to enforce fair-use limits.
• Basic error records: when something fails, our server records the type of error and a status code. It does not record your messages, photos, memories or sign-in tokens.

c) If you sign in with Apple or Google

• The sign-in provider shares an identifier for your account and, depending on what you allow, your email address and name. We use your first name to personalize the app.
• Your name, approved memories, and the text of your conversations (including the emoji reactions shown in them) are saved to your account. Photos stay on your device and are not uploaded to your account.

d) Settings on your phone

• Light mode, check-in preferences and similar settings are stored only on your device.

We do not collect your contacts, location or health data. The app does not currently include third-party analytics software.

3. How we use it

• To reply to you. Your recent messages, any photo attached to them, and the memories you approved are sent to the AI model to write each reply.
• To keep your history. On your phone, and in your account if you sign in.
• To remind you, if you allow notifications. Check-ins and reminders are scheduled on your phone. They never include what you talked about.
• To keep the service safe and working. Rate limits, preventing abuse, and fixing errors.

We do not sell or rent personal information.

3A. Advertising

herself may show ads in the free version to keep it free. Any ads will not be chosen using your conversations, memories or chat history, and we will not share that content with advertisers. The paid subscription described in the Terms removes ads.

Before we introduce ads, we will update this policy to name the ad partners involved, what device information they receive, and your choices, including any permission iOS requires to ask you.

4. Who processes your data

• Google Cloud (Vertex AI, Gemini). Generates replies. Messages, attached photos and approved memories are sent to Google for each reply. Under Google Cloud's terms for Vertex AI, this content is processed to provide the service and is not used by Google to train its models.
• Google Cloud (Cloud Run, Identity Platform, Firestore). Hosts our server, anonymous and signed-in accounts, usage counters, and saved account data. Servers are in the United States.
• Apple and Google. Only if you choose Sign in with Apple or Google, under their own privacy policies.
• Apple Push Notification service. Not used: check-ins and reminders are local notifications created on your device.

We may disclose information if the law requires it, to protect someone from serious harm, or as part of a merger or sale of the business, in which case this policy continues to apply to your information.

5. How long we keep it

• On your device: until you delete a chat or memory, delete your account in Settings, or delete the app.
• Messages sent for a reply: not stored by our server after the reply is returned.
• Usage counters: up to 3 days.
• Error records: up to 30 days.
• Saved account data (signed-in users): until you delete your account.

6. Your choices and rights

• Memories. Review, turn off or delete them in Settings > What I remember.
• Notifications. Turn check-ins off in Settings, or turn notifications off in iOS Settings.
• Delete everything. Settings > Delete account and data permanently deletes your account, everything saved to it, and the chats, memories and settings on your phone. This cannot be undone.
• Access, correction and portability. Email hi@omgochi.com and we will respond within 30 days.

Depending on where you live (for example the UK, the EU or California), you may have additional rights, including to object to processing or complain to your data protection authority. We rely on performing our contract with you to provide the app, and on our legitimate interest in keeping it secure. Where the law requires consent, we ask for it.

7. Sensitive information

People often talk to herself about relationships, family, work, health and feelings. Only share what you are comfortable sharing. We treat everything you write as confidential and use it only as described above.

8. Children

herself is for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone younger. If you believe a child has used herself, email hi@omgochi.com and we will delete their data.

9. Security

Data is encrypted in transit. Sign-in credentials are stored in the iOS Keychain. Our server only accepts requests with a valid account token. No system is perfectly secure, so please protect access to your phone.

10. Changes

If we make a material change, we will tell you in the app before it takes effect. The date at the top shows when this policy last changed.

11. Contact

omgochi — hi@omgochi.com — omgochi.com