Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Voctale ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our audiobook platform (web and mobile).

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Account Information

When you create an account, we collect:

• Name and email address
• Password (encrypted with bcrypt; we never see the plaintext)
• Profile information (avatar, bio, username) if provided

2.2 Payment Information

Payment processing is handled by Stripe and/or PayPal. We do not store your complete credit card numbers. We may store:

• Last four digits of your card
• Billing address
• Transaction history and receipts

2.3 Usage Data

We automatically collect:

• Listening history and progress
• Playback preferences (speed, equalizer, sleep timer)
• Device and browser information
• IP address and approximate location

2.4 OAuth Sign-In Data

If you sign in with Google or Meta/Facebook, we receive from the OAuth provider:

• Your email address
• Your public name and profile picture (when available)
• A unique provider ID linking your account to your provider

We do not receive your password, your contact list, your friends, or any other data beyond the scope you approve at sign-in.

2.5 Push Notification Tokens

Our mobile app (iOS/Android) requests a device token from Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google) so we can deliver push notifications (for example: new episode releases, replies to your community messages, or a purchase confirmation). This token is anonymous, tied to your device install, and revocable at any time by disabling notifications in your OS settings.

2.6 Anti-Spam Signals

Registration and other sensitive forms are protected by Google reCAPTCHA v3. Google receives your IP address, browser information, and interaction signals to compute a risk score. See Google Privacy Policy.

2.7 Error Diagnostics

When enabled, we use Sentry to capture technical errors so we can fix bugs. Diagnostic events may include the URL of the affected page, browser and OS versions, and a stack trace. Personal identifiers (name, email) are stripped before transmission whenever possible.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Provide and maintain our service
• Process purchases and payments
• Save your listening progress and preferences
• Send service-related communications
• Improve our platform and personalize your experience
• Comply with legal obligations

4. Data Sharing and Subprocessors

4.1 General principles

We do not sell your personal data. We share personal data with third-party subprocessors only when strictly necessary to operate the service, and always under a written contract (Data Processing Agreement) that binds them to the same GDPR obligations we accept toward you.

4.2 Categories of recipients

• Payment processors - to process purchases and subscriptions
• Identity providers - for Sign in with Google / Meta
• Security tooling - anti-spam (reCAPTCHA)
• Notification providers - push notifications to your mobile device
• Diagnostic tooling - error monitoring (if enabled)
• Hosting infrastructure - server, storage, backups
• Authors - aggregated, anonymized sales and listening statistics
• Legal authorities - when required by law or court order

4.3 List of subprocessors

4.3.1 Stripe

Purpose: credit card and SEPA payments, subscription management, Stripe Connect payouts to authors.
Data shared: billing name, email, billing address, card token (Stripe hosts the card number - we never see it), transaction amount and reference.
Location: Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd - Ireland (EU). Some support and fraud-detection processing occurs in the United States under Stripe's Data Processing Addendum and Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC).
Legal basis: performance of contract (art. 6.1.b GDPR).
Policy: stripe.com/privacy

4.3.2 PayPal

Purpose: PayPal-account and card payments.
Data shared: billing name, email, transaction amount and reference.
Location: PayPal (Europe) S.a.r.l. et Cie, S.C.A. - Luxembourg (EU). Global processing may occur under SCC.
Legal basis: performance of contract (art. 6.1.b GDPR).
Policy: paypal.com/privacy

4.3.3 Google (Sign-In and Analytics)

Purpose: Sign in with Google (OAuth 2.0). Optionally, if you accept analytics cookies, aggregated audience measurement (Google Analytics 4).
Data shared: for Sign-In - your email and public profile from Google; for Analytics - pseudonymized visitor ID, page URL, referrer, browser/device info, approximate location.
Location: Google Ireland Ltd - Ireland (EU). Some processing occurs in the United States under Google's SCC.
Legal basis: Sign-In - performance of contract (art. 6.1.b); Analytics - consent (art. 6.1.a), which you can withdraw at any time via cookie preferences.
Policy: policies.google.com/privacy

4.3.4 Meta / Facebook (Sign-In and Pixel)

Purpose: Sign in with Facebook (OAuth 2.0). Optionally, if you accept marketing cookies, Meta Pixel for advertising conversion measurement.
Data shared: for Sign-In - your email and public profile from Facebook; for Pixel - pseudonymized event data (page views, purchases) tied to a browser cookie.
Location: Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd - Ireland (EU). Some processing occurs in the United States under Meta's SCC and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
Legal basis: Sign-In - performance of contract (art. 6.1.b); Pixel - consent (art. 6.1.a), withdrawable via cookie preferences.
Policy: facebook.com/privacy/policy

4.3.5 Google reCAPTCHA v3

Purpose: protect registration, password recovery, and contact forms from automated abuse.
Data shared: IP address, browser information, interaction signals, cookies.
Location: Google Ireland Ltd - Ireland (EU), with US processing under SCC.
Legal basis: legitimate interest in preventing fraud and abuse (art. 6.1.f GDPR).
Policy: policies.google.com/privacy

4.3.6 Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google)

Purpose: deliver push notifications to the Voctale mobile app (iOS/Android).
Data shared: anonymous device token, notification payload (typically a short text and a deep link).
Location: Google Ireland Ltd - Ireland (EU), with US infrastructure under SCC.
Legal basis: consent given via your OS notification permission (art. 6.1.a); revocable at any time by disabling notifications in your device settings.
Policy: firebase.google.com/support/privacy

4.3.7 Sentry (error monitoring)

Purpose: capture technical errors and crashes so we can fix bugs.
Data shared: stack traces, URL of the affected page, browser and OS versions. Personal identifiers (name, email) are removed before transmission whenever possible.
Location: Functional Software Inc. - United States, under SCC (an EU region in Frankfurt is also available).
Legal basis: legitimate interest in service reliability (art. 6.1.f GDPR).
Policy: sentry.io/privacy

4.3.8 Anthropic (AI features - internal only)

Purpose: assist our team with AI-powered content suggestions (image alt text, translations). Anthropic does not train on data submitted through the API.
Data shared: internal content only. No end-user personal data is sent to Anthropic today. This will change only if we launch a public-facing AI feature, in which case we will update this policy first.
Location: Anthropic PBC - United States, under SCC.
Legal basis: legitimate interest in editorial productivity (art. 6.1.f GDPR).
Policy: anthropic.com/legal/privacy

4.3.9 Hosting - o2switch

Purpose: host the application, database, and file storage.
Data shared: all data required to run the service. No third-party access beyond o2switch's operational staff.
Location: o2switch SAS - Clermont-Ferrand, France (EU). All data is stored in France.
Legal basis: performance of contract (art. 6.1.b GDPR).
Policy: o2switch.fr

4.4 International transfers (outside the EU/EEA)

Where a subprocessor listed above processes data outside the European Economic Area (typically in the United States), the transfer is governed by the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) and, where applicable, the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. We rely on the vendor's Data Processing Agreement, which we can provide on request.

4.5 Sharing with authors and legal authorities

Authors receive aggregated, anonymized statistics about the audiobooks they publish (unit sales, listens, revenue). Personal information about individual listeners is never shared with authors.

We disclose data to legal authorities only when compelled by a valid court order, law enforcement request, or applicable law.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal data as long as your account is active. You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time through your profile settings. Purchase records and invoices are kept for the period required by tax and accounting law (typically 10 years in France).

6. Your Rights (GDPR)

Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to:

• Access your personal data
• Rectify inaccurate data
• Erase your data ("right to be forgotten")
• Export your data in a portable format
• Object to processing of your data
• Restrict processing in certain circumstances
• Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (in France: the CNIL - cnil.fr)

To exercise these rights, visit your profile settings or contact us at contact@voctale.com.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate security measures including encryption at rest and in transit, HTTPS on every page, password hashing (bcrypt), session and concurrent-stream limits, and regular security audits to protect your data.

8. Children's Privacy

Our service is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "effective date". Material changes affecting how we share your personal data will be highlighted at the top of the page for a reasonable period.

10. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or want to exercise your GDPR rights, please contact us at contact@voctale.com.

Itamde - 12 avenue de la Gare, 38144 Notre Dame de Vaulx, France.