Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Linguifai, operating as a software publisher domiciled in Paris, France, hereby declares its commitment to protecting the privacy and personal data of all users of its desktop application and associated website services (collectively referred to as "the Service"). This Privacy Policy establishes the framework within which we collect, process, store, and protect personal information in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and applicable French data protection laws.

It is fundamental to understand that Linguifai has been architected as a local-first application, meaning that your translation files, project data, and all associated content remain exclusively stored on your personal computing device and are never transmitted to our servers unless you explicitly elect to utilize cloud-based features that require such transmission. This architectural decision reflects our commitment to data minimization and user privacy by design.

2. Categories of Personal Data Collected

2.1 Information Provided Directly by Users

In the course of providing our services, we collect certain categories of personal information that you voluntarily provide to us. This includes your email address, full name, and payment information when you acquire a license for our software, all of which are necessary for the performance of the contract between you and Linguifai. When you voluntarily subscribe to our newsletter service, we collect and process your email address solely for the purpose of sending you informational updates, product announcements, and marketing communications, subject to your right to withdraw consent at any time. Additionally, when you contact our customer support team, we collect and retain the information you provide in your communications, including but not limited to technical descriptions of issues, screenshots, log files, and any other information you choose to share for the purpose of resolving your inquiry.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically Through Use

Our Service automatically collects certain technical and usage information that is necessary for the proper functioning of the application and the improvement of our services. This includes anonymous usage statistics such as application version, operating system type and version, feature usage patterns, and crash reports, all of which are collected in an aggregated and anonymized manner to improve product quality and user experience. For the purpose of license validation and preventing unauthorized use of our software, we collect a hashed and anonymized machine identifier that uniquely identifies your device without revealing any personally identifiable information. Our website employs privacy-friendly analytics tools that collect standard web analytics data including page views, referrer information, browser type and version, and approximate geographic location based on IP address, all processed in accordance with GDPR requirements.

2.3 Data Explicitly Not Collected

We wish to make explicitly clear the categories of data that Linguifai does not collect, access, or process under any circumstances. Your translation files in any supported format including JSON and ARB are never uploaded to our servers, accessed by our systems, or transmitted beyond your local device. We maintain no access to your project source code, development files, or any proprietary information contained within your software projects. Furthermore, when you utilize AI translation features with your own API keys from providers such as Anthropic or OpenAI, the translated content is transmitted directly from your device to the AI provider without passing through our infrastructure, and we do not see, store, or retain any copies of such translations.

3. Legal Basis and Purposes of Data Processing

The personal data we collect is processed exclusively for specific, explicit, and legitimate purposes, and we do not process your data in any manner incompatible with these purposes. We process your account information and payment details on the legal basis of contractual necessity, as this processing is essential for validating your software license, preventing unauthorized use, and managing your subscription or one-time purchase. Payment processing is conducted through our certified payment processor Stripe, which maintains PCI-DSS compliance, and we emphasize that Linguifai does not store complete credit card numbers or sensitive authentication data on our own servers.

The processing of usage analytics and crash reports is conducted on the legal basis of our legitimate interest in improving the quality, performance, and functionality of our software, while ensuring that such processing does not override your fundamental rights and freedoms. When you contact our customer support team, we process your communications and associated data on the legal basis of contractual necessity and our legitimate interest in providing technical assistance and resolving issues you encounter with our Service.

Marketing communications, including newsletters and product updates, are sent exclusively on the basis of your explicit consent, which you may withdraw at any time by using the unsubscribe mechanism provided in each communication or by contacting us directly. Certain processing activities may also be conducted to comply with legal obligations imposed upon us by French and European Union law, including but not limited to tax regulations, accounting requirements, and lawful orders from competent authorities.

4. AI Translation Services and Data Processing

Linguifai's core functionality includes integration with artificial intelligence services provided by third parties, specifically Anthropic Claude and OpenAI GPT models, for the purpose of generating translations of your content. The manner in which your data is processed in connection with these AI services depends fundamentally on the configuration you select within the application.

4.1 Processing When Using Personal API Keys

When you configure Linguifai to use your own API keys obtained directly from Anthropic or OpenAI, translation requests containing your content are transmitted directly from your local device to the respective AI provider's infrastructure without any intermediation by Linguifai's servers. In this configuration, Linguifai acts solely as a client application facilitating the communication between your device and the AI provider, and we neither see, access, store, nor retain any copies of the content you submit for translation or the resulting translations. Your API keys are stored exclusively on your local device using encryption mechanisms provided by your operating system's secure storage facilities, and these credentials are never transmitted to Linguifai's servers. The processing of your content by the AI provider in this scenario is governed by their respective privacy policies and terms of service, to which we recommend you refer for complete information about their data handling practices.

4.2 Processing When Using Shared Account Option

As an optional convenience feature, Linguifai offers the ability to utilize our own API accounts with AI providers, thereby eliminating your need to obtain and configure personal API keys. When you elect to use this shared account option, translation requests are routed through our server infrastructure, which acts as an intermediary in transmitting your content to the AI provider and returning the resulting translations to your device. While this configuration requires your content to transit through our systems, we implement a zero-retention policy whereby translation content is immediately discarded after successful delivery to your device and is never written to persistent storage or retained in any form. We collect and retain only aggregated usage metrics including token counts for billing purposes, without any association to the actual content translated. All transmission of data in this configuration is encrypted using industry-standard TLS/SSL protocols to protect against unauthorized interception during transit.

5. Disclosure of Personal Data to Third Parties

Linguifai adheres to a strict policy of data minimization when it comes to sharing your personal information with third parties, and we disclose your data only in specific, limited circumstances that are necessary for the provision of our services or required by law. We engage Stripe, a payment services provider certified as compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS), to process payments on our behalf, and in connection with this service, certain payment information is shared with Stripe solely for the purpose of processing your transaction, all subject to Stripe's privacy policy and data protection obligations.

For the purpose of delivering transactional emails such as purchase confirmations, password resets, and license information, as well as marketing communications when you have consented to receive them, we utilize email service providers who act as data processors on our behalf and are contractually bound to process your data only in accordance with our instructions and applicable data protection laws. Our website employs privacy-friendly analytics services that process usage data in an anonymized or pseudonymized manner, and we ensure that such services are configured to minimize data collection and respect user privacy in accordance with GDPR principles.

When you elect to use our optional shared account feature for AI translations, your content is transmitted to AI service providers including Anthropic and OpenAI for processing, subject to their respective privacy policies, though as previously stated, such content is not retained by these providers beyond the time necessary to generate and return translations. We may also disclose your personal data when required to do so by applicable law, legal process, or lawful requests from public authorities, or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request. We unequivocally state that Linguifai never sells, rents, or otherwise commercializes your personal data to third parties for their own marketing or commercial purposes.

6. Security Measures and Data Protection

Recognizing the critical importance of protecting your personal data against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction, Linguifai implements comprehensive technical and organizational security measures that reflect industry best practices and comply with the security requirements set forth in the GDPR. All data transmitted between your device and our servers, including during the authentication process and when using shared account AI features, is encrypted in transit using Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols with strong cipher suites, ensuring that data cannot be intercepted or read by unauthorized parties during transmission.

The fundamental architecture of Linguifai as a local-first application means that your translation files, project configurations, and work product remain exclusively on your device and benefit from whatever security measures you have implemented on your own computing environment, without exposure to the risks inherent in cloud storage. API keys that you configure within the application are stored using operating system-level secure storage mechanisms such as the macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager, or equivalent Linux secure storage facilities, which provide encryption at rest and access control to prevent unauthorized applications from reading these sensitive credentials.

Access to our server infrastructure and databases is restricted through multi-layered access controls, requiring strong authentication and granted only to authorized personnel who require such access to perform their job functions, and all such access is logged for audit purposes. We conduct regular security assessments and updates to our systems to address newly discovered vulnerabilities and ensure that our security posture remains current with evolving threats and best practices. While we implement robust security measures, we acknowledge that no method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.

7. Data Retention Periods

In accordance with the data minimization principle enshrined in the GDPR, Linguifai retains your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected or to comply with legal obligations. Your account information, including your email address, name, and license details, is retained for the duration of your active account relationship with Linguifai and may be retained for a reasonable period thereafter to address any potential disputes, provide customer support for issues arising after account closure, and comply with our legal obligations.

Payment transaction records and associated financial information are retained for a period of seven years from the date of the transaction, as required by French accounting and tax legislation, after which time such records are securely destroyed. Usage analytics and technical telemetry data is retained in aggregated and anonymized form for a period of up to two years for the purpose of analyzing long-term usage trends and improving our Service, after which such data is deleted from our systems.

Translation content that you process using our Service is not stored by Linguifai due to our local-first architecture, and when you use the optional shared account AI feature, such content is immediately discarded after processing with no retention period. If you have subscribed to our newsletter, your email address is retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion, at which point it is promptly removed from our mailing list systems subject to any legal requirements to retain records of consent withdrawal.

8. Your Rights Under GDPR and French Data Protection Law

As a data subject whose personal data is processed by Linguifai, you are entitled to exercise certain rights in relation to your personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation and French Law No. 78-17 of January 6, 1978, relating to data processing, files, and individual liberties (commonly known as the "Informatique et Libertés" law). You have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you and to receive a copy of such data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, allowing you to understand what data we process and verify the lawfulness of such processing.

Where you believe that personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to request the rectification of such data, and we will take reasonable steps to ensure that inaccurate data is corrected or completed without undue delay. You possess the right to request the erasure of your personal data, commonly referred to as the "right to be forgotten," in circumstances where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, where you withdraw consent upon which processing is based, where you object to processing and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for continued processing, where the data has been unlawfully processed, or where erasure is required to comply with a legal obligation, subject to certain exceptions including our need to retain data to comply with legal obligations or establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

You have the right to data portability, which entitles you to receive personal data concerning you that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another data controller without hindrance from us, where technically feasible, in circumstances where processing is based on consent or contract and is carried out by automated means. Where processing is based on your consent or on our legitimate interests, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data, and we will cease such processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or where the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

You may request the restriction of processing in certain circumstances, including where you contest the accuracy of the data pending verification, where processing is unlawful but you oppose erasure and request restriction instead, where we no longer need the data but you require it for legal claims, or where you have objected to processing pending verification of whether our legitimate grounds override yours. To exercise any of these rights, you may contact us at support@linguifai.com, and we will respond to your request within one month of receipt, with the possibility of extending this period by two additional months where necessary taking into account the complexity and number of requests, in which case we will inform you of such extension and the reasons for delay. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), the French data protection supervisory authority, if you believe that our processing of your personal data violates applicable data protection law.

9. Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies

Our website employs cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience and enable certain functionalities, and we do so in compliance with the requirements of the ePrivacy Directive as transposed into French law. Essential cookies are strictly necessary for the operation of our website and enable core functionalities such as user authentication, session management, and security features, and these cookies are deployed without requiring your consent as they are essential for providing the service you have requested.

We also deploy analytics cookies that collect information about how visitors use our website, including pages visited, time spent on pages, and navigation patterns, all processed in an anonymized manner that prevents identification of individual users, and these cookies are placed only with your prior consent obtained through our cookie consent mechanism. You have the ability to control cookies through your web browser settings, where you can refuse or delete cookies, though we note that disabling essential cookies may impair certain functionalities of our website and limit your ability to use all features of the Service.

10. Protection of Minors

Linguifai's Service is not directed to individuals under the age of eighteen years, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children or minors as defined under applicable law. In the event that we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal data from an individual under the age of eighteen without proper parental consent, we will take immediate steps to delete such information from our systems. If you are a parent or legal guardian and you become aware that your child has provided us with personal data without your consent, we encourage you to contact us immediately at support@linguifai.com so that we may take appropriate action.

11. International Data Transfers

Linguifai's operations are based in Paris, France, within the European Union, and our primary server infrastructure is likewise located within the European Economic Area, ensuring that your personal data generally remains within the jurisdiction providing strong data protection under the GDPR. However, certain service providers that we engage, including AI services providers and infrastructure providers, may process data in countries outside the European Economic Area, including the United States of America. Where such international transfers occur, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with Chapter V of the GDPR, including reliance on the European Commission's adequacy decisions where available, implementation of Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission, or other legally recognized transfer mechanisms that provide adequate protection for your personal data equivalent to that afforded within the European Union.

12. Amendments to This Privacy Policy

Linguifai reserves the right to modify, amend, or update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our data processing practices, to accommodate new features or services, or to comply with changes in applicable laws and regulations. In the event of material changes that significantly affect your rights or the manner in which we process your personal data, we will provide notice of such changes by posting a prominent notice on our website, sending an email notification to the address associated with your account, or through in-application notification, and we will provide such notice at least thirty days prior to the changes taking effect where required by law. Your continued use of the Service following the effective date of modifications to this Privacy Policy constitutes your acknowledgment of the modifications and your consent to abide by the modified Privacy Policy, though we encourage you to review the updated policy carefully to understand your rights and our practices.

13. Contact Information and Data Protection Officer

Should you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy, our data processing practices, or the exercise of your rights under applicable data protection law, you may contact us using the following contact information: