Privacy Policy

Effective Date: November 2025

SayWhat? is committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about our data practices. This Privacy Policy explains how we handle information when you use our text capture and translation application ("SayWhat?," "Application," or "App"). By using SayWhat?, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Information We Collect

A. No Personal Data Collection

SayWhat? does not collect, store, or transmit any personal information about you. We do not require account registration, email addresses, names, or any other personal identifiers to use our Application.

B. Captured Text Data

When you use SayWhat? to capture and translate text, the following information is processed:

Text Content: The text you capture from your screen is temporarily processed to provide translation or dictionary services.
Language Detection Data: Information about the detected source language.
Temporary Screen Captures: Brief screen captures used solely to extract text via OCR (Optical Character Recognition).

Important Data Flow:

You activate text capture on a screen area.
A temporary image is captured and processed locally using OCR to extract text.
The extracted text (not the image) is transmitted to third-party translation services.
Translation results are displayed to you.
The temporary screen capture is immediately discarded.
Neither the original image nor the extracted text is permanently stored by SayWhat?

C. Network Data Transmission

CRITICAL: Unlike purely local applications, SayWhat? requires internet connectivity and transmits captured text to third-party services:

What is Transmitted: Only the extracted text content from your screen captures.
Where it Goes: Third-party translation and language processing APIs.
Purpose: To provide translation and dictionary functionality.

What is NOT Transmitted: Screenshots/images, personal identifiers, device information, usage patterns

Retention: We do not permanently store your captured text or translations

D. No User Tracking

We do not track, monitor, or collect:

Usage statistics or analytics
Application usage patterns
User behavior data
Device identifiers
IP addresses
Location data

2. How We Use Information

The only data processing that occurs is for core functionality:

Text Extraction: OCR processing happens locally to extract text from screen captures
Translation Processing: Extracted text is sent to third-party translation services
Dictionary Lookup: English text is sent to dictionary services for definitions
Result Display: Translation/definition results are displayed within the Application
No Storage: We do not retain, store, or archive your captured text or translations

3. Third-Party Translation Services

A. Data Transmission to Third Parties

SayWhat? relies on third-party translation and language processing services to function. When you capture text:

Text is transmitted to these services for processing
Third-party privacy policies may apply to this transmitted data
We do not control how these services handle data
Industry-standard services: We use reputable translation APIs

B. What Third-Party Services Receive

Third-party services receive only:

The extracted text content you capture
Source language information (auto-detected)
Target language (English)

They do NOT receive:

Your personal information
Device identifiers
Screenshots or images
Any data that identifies you

C. Temporary Processing

Text sent to translation services is processed temporarily and is not permanently stored by SayWhat?. However, third-party services may have their own data retention policies that are beyond our control.

4. Data Storage and Security

A. Local Storage

The Application stores minimal data locally:

Application preferences and settings only
No captured text or translations are stored
No screenshot images are retained

B. Data Security

While captured text must be transmitted for translation:

Transmissions use secure HTTPS connections
We do not store or log transmitted text
Screen captures are immediately discarded after text extraction
We encourage you to be mindful of capturing sensitive information

C. User Responsibility for Sensitive Content

IMPORTANT: Because captured text is transmitted to third-party services, you should:

Avoid capturing sensitive information (passwords, credit cards, personal data, confidential documents)
Not use for regulated content (medical records, legal documents, financial information) without appropriate safeguards
Understand that text is processed by external services

5. No Data Sharing or Sale

We do not sell, rent, lease, or share your data for commercial purposes:

No data sales to advertisers or marketing companies
No data sharing for commercial purposes
No user profiling or behavioral tracking
No data monetization

The only data transmission is to translation services for core functionality.

6. System Permissions and User Control

Why SayWhat? Requires Certain Permissions

To provide text capture and translation functionality, SayWhat? requires certain system-level permissions. These permissions are only activated when you explicitly initiate an action:

Screen Access: Required to capture screen regions for text extraction when you activate the capture function
OCR Processing: Required to extract text from captured screen images
Internet Connectivity: Required to transmit text to translation services
Clipboard Access: May be used to facilitate text sharing (optional)
Keyboard/Mouse Input Detection: Required to activate captures using hotkeys

Critical Clarification: These permissions enable functionality that you directly control and initiate. Screen capture happens only when you explicitly activate it. The captured image is used solely for text extraction and is immediately discarded—only the extracted text is transmitted to translation services.

7. Children's Privacy

SayWhat? does not collect any personal information from anyone, including children under 13. However, since captured text is transmitted to third-party services for translation, parents and guardians should:

Supervise children's use of the Application
Ensure children do not capture sensitive or personal information
Educate children about what content is appropriate to translate

8. International Users and Privacy Regulations

SayWhat? respects privacy rights worldwide. While we do not collect personal data about users, we acknowledge that:

User Responsibility

You are responsible for ensuring your use of SayWhat? complies with applicable laws in your region, including GDPR (European Union), CCPA (California), and other privacy regulations.

B. Personal Data in Captured Text

Possible Personal Data: Text you capture may contain personal data (names, addresses, email addresses, etc.).
Your Responsibility: You must ensure captured content complies with applicable privacy laws.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, services, or for legal compliance. Any changes will be posted within the Application or on our website. The "Effective Date" at the top of this policy indicates when the latest version became effective.

Continued use of the Application after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

10. Your Rights and Control

A. Control Over Captured Content

You maintain control over what you capture:

You decide what text to capture.
You initiate all capture actions.
You can avoid capturing sensitive information.
You control when and what to translate.

B. No Data Retention

Since we do not store your captured text or translations:

There is no data to access, delete, or modify on our servers.
All text processing is temporary.
You control whether to capture sensitive content.

C. Application Settings

You can modify application preferences and settings at any time within the Application.

11. Technical Information

For transparency, here's what happens technically when you use SayWhat?:

You activate the text capture tool via hotkey or interface
You select a screen region containing text
The Application captures a temporary image of that region
OCR processes the image locally to extract text
The temporary image is immediately discarded
The extracted text is transmitted via HTTPS to translation services
Translation/definition results are received and displayed
No permanent storage of captured text or translations occurs
You view the results within the Application

12. Content Responsibility

While SayWhat? does not permanently store your captured content, you are solely responsible for:

Legal Compliance: Ensuring captured content complies with applicable laws in your jurisdiction
Copyright Respect: Respecting intellectual property rights of others
Privacy Laws: Complying with privacy laws when capturing content containing personal data
Sensitive Information: Not capturing passwords, credit cards, medical records, or other highly sensitive data
Appropriate Use: Using the translation service only for lawful and appropriate purposes
Third-Party Terms: Understanding that translation services have their own terms and policies

13. Translation Service Limitations

Important Notice About Data Processing:

Translation requires transmitting text to external services
We use industry-standard, reputable translation APIs
These services have their own privacy policies
We do not control how these services process data
For highly sensitive content, consider alternative solutions that don't require external processing

14. Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or SayWhat?'s privacy practices, please contact us at:

Email: [email protected]

We will respond to inquiries in a timely manner and assist with any privacy-related concerns.

15. Transparency and Verification

For users who wish to verify our privacy claims:

Network monitoring tools will show connections to translation service APIs (this is necessary for functionality)
You can verify that transmissions are limited to text content only
You can confirm no user identifiers or tracking data is transmitted
This is offered as an additional transparency measure for technically inclined users

This Privacy Policy is effective as of the date listed above and applies to all users of the SayWhat? application.