1.Who We Are and What We Do
Soniz (“Soniz,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) provides an AI study companion made up of the Soniz browser extension for Google Chrome (the “Extension”) and the website at soniz-ai.web.app (the “Site,” and together with the Extension and any related features, the “Services”). The Services explain text you highlight, analyze screenshots you capture, and answer the questions you ask.
This Privacy Policy explains what Personal Information we collect, how we use and disclose it, how long we keep it, and the choices and rights you have. It should be read together with our Terms of Service.
2.Scope and Definitions
This Privacy Policy applies to Personal Information we Process in connection with the Services. In this Policy:
- “Personal Information” means information that relates to you and identifies you, or could reasonably identify you, on its own or combined with other information. It does not include information that has been de-identified or aggregated so that it no longer identifies you.
- “Process” or “Processing” means any operation performed on Personal Information, such as collecting, recording, storing, using, disclosing, or deleting it.
- “Content” means anything you choose to submit to the Services to get an answer, including text you highlight or type, screenshots and images, and page text sent with a chat message, together with the answers generated for you.
- “Service Providers” means companies that Process Personal Information on our behalf and under our instructions to help us run the Services.
3.Personal Information We Collect
We collect only what we need to provide the Services. The Extension does not read or send the pages you browse in the background; Content is sent only when you take an action that asks for an answer.
Information you provide to us. When you use the Services, you provide:
- Account information. Your email address and a password when you create an account with email (passwords are stored only in hashed form by our authentication provider; we never see them), or, if you sign in with Google, the name, email address and profile picture Google shares with us.
- Content. Text you highlight and ask about; the region of the screen you select when you take a screenshot; images you paste or upload; and the questions you type or dictate.
- Page text. When you send a chat message, the visible text of the tab you are viewing, including text you have typed into fields on that page, is included so the answer can refer to what you are studying. Password fields, hidden fields, and fields marked for payment card details or one-time codes are never included.
- Quiz questions. On Canvas quiz pages, the Extension recognizes questions inside your browser to show its Solve buttons. A question is sent only when you click one of those buttons.
- Communications. Messages you send us through the contact form, including the category you choose, your email address if you enter it, and the page address and browser type the form attaches to help us reproduce problems.
Information collected automatically. When you use the Services, we and our Service Providers automatically collect:
- Usage information. How many questions you ask each model each day and month, and what those answers cost to produce, so we can apply your plan’s limits. These counters are reset as each day and month rolls over.
- Technical information. Standard technical records created when your browser contacts our Services, such as IP address, date and time, browser and device type, and error details.
- Install identifier. The Extension creates a random identifier when it is installed and sends it with its requests. It contains no personal details and is used only to allow one free trial per computer. Reinstalling the Extension creates a new one.
- Trial records. When you start a free trial we keep a one-way hash of your email address and of your IP address, used only to allow one trial per inbox and a limited number per network. We keep the email hash even if you delete your account, so deleting and signing up again does not restart the trial; the IP hash is reset after 30 days.
Information from third parties. We receive:
- From Google, if you choose to sign in with Google: your name, email address and profile picture.
- From Stripe, our payment processor, if you subscribe: a customer identifier and the status, plan, trial and renewal or cancellation dates of your subscription, and, if you start the trial that needs a card, the card’s fingerprint, a code Stripe creates that identifies a card without revealing its number, which we keep to allow one trial per card. We do not receive or store your full payment card number.
Information we do not collect. We do not use advertising or analytics trackers, we do not build advertising profiles, and we do not collect your browsing history. Your chat history and settings are kept on your own device (see Section 8).
4.How We Use Personal Information
We Process Personal Information only for the following purposes:
To provide the Services. We create and secure your account, generate answers to the Content you submit, show your plan and remaining usage, and keep you signed in.
To manage plans and payments. We start and end free trials, process subscriptions, apply plan limits, and handle cancellations and refunds.
To keep the Services safe. We prevent fraud, abuse and violations of our Terms of Service, protect the security of the Services, and debug errors.
To communicate with you. We respond to your messages and requests and to send notices about your account, subscription, or changes to our terms.
To comply with the law. We meet legal, tax and accounting obligations and establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
We do not use your Content to train artificial intelligence models, and we do not sell your Personal Information or use it for advertising.
5.How We Disclose Personal Information
We disclose Personal Information only as described below.
Service Providers. We use the following Service Providers, who may Process Personal Information only to provide their services to us:
- Google LLC — the artificial intelligence model that generates answers (Content you submit is sent to Google to produce your answer), as well as hosting, database and account sign-in services. Under Google’s Gemini API Additional Terms of Service for paid services, Google does not use this Content to improve its products and retains it only for a limited period to detect abuse.
- Stripe, Inc. — payment processing, subscription billing and the customer billing portal. Stripe Processes your payment details under its own privacy policy.
- Web3Forms — delivery of messages sent through our contact form (privacy policy).
Legal requirements. We may disclose Personal Information if we believe in good faith that doing so is required by law, subpoena or other legal process, or is necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of Soniz, our users, or others.
Business transfers. If Soniz is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization or sale of assets, Personal Information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to the commitments in this Privacy Policy.
With your consent. We may disclose Personal Information for any other purpose with your consent.
We do not sell Personal Information, and we do not “share” it for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are defined under U.S. state privacy laws.
6.Chrome Web Store User Data Policy
The use of information received from the Extension adheres to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Data collected through the Extension is used only to provide and improve the Extension’s single purpose of helping you study, is never transferred for advertising, credit or lending decisions, or sold, and is not read by humans except with your consent, for security purposes, to comply with the law, or where it has been aggregated and de-identified.
7.Data Retention
We keep Personal Information only as long as needed for the purposes described in this Policy:
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Content (questions, highlighted text, screenshots, page text, answers) | Not stored by us once your answer has been delivered. Our AI provider may retain it for a limited period solely to detect abuse, as described in Section 5(a). |
| Account, plan and trial information | Until you delete your account. |
| Usage counters | Reset daily and monthly; deleted when you delete your account. |
| Technical records | Up to 30 days. |
| Payment and subscription records | Kept by Stripe, and by us as needed, for as long as required by tax, accounting and other laws. |
| Contact form messages | As long as needed to resolve your request. |
| Chat history and settings on your device | Until you clear them or uninstall the Extension. |
8.Information Stored on Your Device
The Extension stores your chat history, settings and sign-in session in your browser’s local extension storage. This information does not leave your device except as part of the Content you choose to send. You can start a new chat or clear history at any time, sign out from the Extension to remove your sign-in session, and remove all locally stored data by uninstalling the Extension.
Voice input uses your browser’s built-in speech recognition, and read-aloud uses your browser’s text-to-speech voices. In Google Chrome, speech recognition is provided by Google under Google’s own terms. We do not receive or store audio.
The Site keeps you signed in using your browser’s local storage. The Site does not use advertising or analytics cookies. Fonts on the Site are loaded from Google Fonts.
9.Your Choices and Rights
Your account. You can see your plan and usage in the Extension and on your account page, cancel your subscription, and permanently delete your account and its data yourself from your account page at any time. Deleting your account also cancels any active subscription immediately.
Privacy rights. Depending on where you live, including California and other U.S. states with comprehensive privacy laws, the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area, you may have the right to:
- know about and access the Personal Information we hold about you, and receive a portable copy;
- correct inaccurate Personal Information;
- delete your Personal Information;
- object to or restrict certain Processing, and withdraw consent where Processing is based on consent;
- opt out of the sale of Personal Information, targeted advertising and profiling (we do none of these); and
- appeal our decision on a request.
How to make a request. Submit a request through our contact form or by email at sebastian.08ld@gmail.com from the email address on your account. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request, and we will respond within the time required by applicable law. You may use an authorized agent where the law allows. If we deny your request, you may appeal by replying to our response.
No discrimination. We will not treat you differently for exercising any of your privacy rights.
Legal bases (UK and EEA). Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we Process Personal Information to perform our contract with you (providing the Services and your plan), for our legitimate interests (keeping the Services secure and preventing abuse), to comply with legal obligations, and with your consent where required. You may also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
10.Children’s Privacy
The Services are not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 13. Users between 13 and the age of majority where they live may use the Services only with the permission of a parent or guardian. If you believe a child under 13 has given us Personal Information, please contact us and we will delete it.
11.Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect Personal Information, including encryption of data in transit, sign-in checks on every request to our Services, and restricted access to our systems. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please keep your sign-in details confidential.
12.International Users
Soniz is operated from the United States, and our Service Providers Process information in the United States and other countries. If you use the Services from outside the United States, your Personal Information will be transferred to and Processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country.
13.Third-Party Websites and Services
The Services work on websites run by others, such as your school’s learning management system, and link to third-party services such as Stripe. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those websites and services, and we are not responsible for their privacy practices.
14.Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the “Last Updated” date above, and if a change is material we will give you notice through the Services or by email before it takes effect. Your continued use of the Services after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Policy.
15.Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, or would like to exercise your rights, please contact us through our contact form or by email at sebastian.08ld@gmail.com.