Privacy Policy

Talkaside runs on your computer without a Talkaside user account. The developer does not operate a call-content server. Local storage and local processing are different: an enabled online feature can send content that is also stored on your computer. This policy explains those choices and the separate licensing, support and website services.

What is stored on your computer

• Call history, transcripts, AI replies, notes, summaries and interview reviews. Optional audio and screen recordings, imported recordings and exported files may also be saved to disk.
• The CV, vacancy text and other context you load into the app.
• Your My Voice reference sample and voice embedding, and downloaded local models or runtimes.
• Settings, cached provider catalogues, licensing state and diagnostic logs. Saved provider secrets are protected for your Windows account using DPAPI; this is not encryption of all history, recordings, documents or backups, and does not protect against every program running as you.

The app does not automatically upload call content, local history or diagnostic logs to the developer for analytics or model training. Content can still be sent to an online provider by the features described below, or to support if you choose to share it.

Local models and downloads

Local speech recognition, Hy-MT2 translation, RapidOCR, Piper and My Voice process their respective inputs on your computer. Optional model and runtime downloads contact distribution services such as GitHub or Hugging Face, which receive ordinary request metadata including your IP address. A model may need to download files when you first install or use it.

Choosing local transcription, translation or speech output does not disable a separate online AI, Web search or voice service. A custom AI endpoint, including an Ollama-compatible server, processes data on the server you configure; a remote endpoint is not local to your computer.

What online features send

Depending on your settings and the action you request:

• Speech recognition: audio is sent to the selected online transcription service.
• Translation and AI: transcript text, prompts and relevant context may be sent to the selected providers. AI context can include your CV, vacancy text, previous replies or screen text. Summaries and interview review may send stored transcript content, not just the current phrase.
• Screen analysis: a requested screen, window or region capture may be sent to a vision provider. RapidOCR extracts text locally, but that text can then be sent to the selected AI provider. The one-shot capture store is temporary, with a 60-second lifetime; this is separate from optional screen recording, which writes media to disk. Provider-held copies and generated analysis have their own retention.
• Speech output: online voices, including Microsoft Edge and cloud voice providers, receive the text to synthesise. My Voice reference samples and embeddings are processed locally. If you enable generated speech into a call, the calling application and other participants receive that audio.
• Web search: AI source checking may send search queries derived from a conversation or question to Tavily or a fallback search service. Company research may send vacancy text. Search results may be included in a subsequent AI request.
• Tests and previews: testing an online provider, playing a cloud voice preview, loading a provider catalogue or checking a model may contact that service and send test text, audio, credentials or request metadata needed for the action.

Auto modes and fallback can send the same input to more than one configured provider, including when an earlier request fails. An unsuccessful response does not mean that the first provider received nothing. Review your enabled providers before using sensitive material.

Provider requests use the API keys, accounts, sign-in sessions or endpoints you configure. They do not pass through a developer-operated call server. Each provider controls its own processing locations, retention, training choices, fees and deletion procedures under its terms and privacy policy. Your proxy or custom endpoint can also receive connection metadata or content, depending on its configuration.

Retention, deletion and uninstalling

Local history and saved files may remain until you delete them. Use History controls to manage stored calls and their associated data, and My Voice controls to delete the local voice profile. Deleting an app record does not necessarily remove original imported files, exports, backups, synced copies or data already sent to a provider.

The Windows uninstaller keeps personal data and downloaded models by default. Its optional model-removal checkbox deletes Talkaside-managed STT, translation, OCR and Piper model folders. It keeps settings, history, recordings and My Voice samples, and does not remove shared Hugging Face or Ollama caches. Remove those separately if needed. Uninstalling does not send a deletion request to any provider or support service.

Licensing services

Licence activation or validation may contact the licensing service. Demo activation requests contain a licence or campaign identifier, an installation identifier, a device identifier and a request nonce. Depending on the activation format, the service stores:

• licence or campaign and installation identifiers, and a device binding or hashed device identifier;
• the date the licence was activated and the date it ends.

These are pseudonymous identifiers, not a promise of anonymity: they can distinguish an installation or device and may be linked to information you send to support. Activation does not require your call content, CV or recording. Hosting and rate-limiting services receive connection metadata, including IP addresses; an IP address is not part of the app's activation database record.

We use licensing records to provide and validate licences and prevent repeated demo activation or abuse. Where data-protection law applies, processing necessary to provide your licence supports the contract, and anti-abuse processing supports our legitimate interests, subject to your applicable rights. Records may outlast the demo or paid term where needed for licensing, fraud prevention, disputes or legal obligations; no automatic deletion at expiry is promised.

The Telegram bot

If you contact @TalkAside_bot, we process the messages, files and payment evidence you send, your Telegram name, username, numeric ID and message time to answer you, issue keys and handle payment or refund requests. Machine IDs, receipts and transaction hashes may be shared with the person issuing keys. Payment providers handle payment credentials under their own policies; licence and transaction records may still be held by us. Do not send call recordings, API keys or other sensitive material unless necessary for your request.

We retain support and transaction records as needed to handle the request, provide the licence, resolve disputes and meet applicable legal obligations. Telegram and payment providers apply their own retention rules. This processing supports your request or contract and our legitimate interests in support and fraud prevention, or a legal obligation where applicable.

This website

The site itself does not use advertising trackers or analytics cookies. Cloudflare serves and protects the website and processes request metadata such as IP address. If you start a payment or contact the bot, the information needed for that interaction is handled separately as described above. Third-party services may process data in other countries under their own policies.

Recording other people

You decide which conversations, screens and documents to capture or process and which providers to use. Obtain any required consent, notice or other lawful basis before doing so. Accepting our terms does not provide consent from other participants. Follow workplace, confidentiality and assessment rules as well as applicable law; see the Terms of Use.

Screen-sharing protection

Talkaside can ask Windows to exclude its suggestion window from capture. This does not guarantee exclusion from every recording or screen-sharing tool. Check the actual sharing preview before a call. Optional DNS and proxy settings apply to Talkaside, not every application on your computer, and do not guarantee anonymity.

Your rights, and how to reach us

Talkaside is published by madnessbrains. Contact @TalkAside_bot or madnednessbrainsphoto@gmail.com about privacy or the records we hold. Depending on applicable law, you may have rights to access, correct, erase, restrict or transfer your personal data, object to processing and complain to a competent data-protection authority. These rights can have exceptions, including where records must be kept for legal obligations or claims.

We cannot remotely erase files on your computer or copies held by an independent provider. Use the local deletion controls or contact the relevant provider. A deletion request is not a promise of another demo, and removing local files does not cancel provider accounts or subscriptions.