Privacy Policy

Your privacy is critically important to us. At Ouat, we have a few fundamental principles:

• We are thoughtful about the personal information we ask you to provide and the personal information that we collect about you through the operation of our services.
• We store personal information for only as long as we have a reason to keep it.
• We aim to make it as simple as possible for you to control what information in your journal is shared publicly (or kept private), indexed by search engines, and permanently deleted.
• We help protect you from overreaching government demands for your personal information.
• We aim for full transparency on how we gather, use, and share your personal information.

Below is our Privacy Policy, which incorporates and clarifies these principles.

Who We Are and What This Covers

We’re the team behind the Ouat application and its related websites (each, an “App” or a “Site”, respectively). Through Ouat’s App and Site, we offer you a journaling program to record your memories and, if you wish, share them with others as well. Below we explain how we collect, use, and share information about you, along with the choices that you have with respect to that information.

Throughout this Privacy Policy, we’ll refer to Ouat’s Sites, Apps, and other services collectively as “Services.”

Information We Collect

We only collect information about you if we have a reason to do so — for example, to provide our Services, to communicate with you, or to make our Services better.

We collect this information from three sources: if and when you provide information to us, automatically through operating our Services, and from outside sources. Let’s go over the information that we collect.

Information You Provide Us

It’s probably no surprise that we collect information that you provide to us directly. Here are some examples:

• Your Journal Entries: The most important thing we collect from you is your journal entries. Your journal entries are private. This means that when you use Ouat to create a journal, none of the entries in that journal are made publicly viewable on the Internet. Entries are not accessible to other Ouat users. We also offer End-to-End Encryption on our journals. If that option is enabled, it is impossible for our employees to access your journal data.
• Account Information: If you register and open an “Account” with us to use services like Sync and Backups, you provide us basic account information, including your email address and a password.
• Transactional Information: When you purchase Services, we may collect information to complete and record the transaction. For example, if you buy something from us, we’ll collect information like your name and credit card information to process those payments. We also keep a record of the purchases you’ve made.
• Communications with Us: You may also provide us with information when you provide us feedback or communicate with our customer support about a support question. When you communicate with us via form, email, phone, or otherwise, we store a copy of our communications (including any call recordings as permitted by applicable law). You can choose not to provide us with certain information, but this may limit the features of the Services you can use.

Information We Collect Automatically

We also collect some information automatically:

• Log Information: Like most online service providers, we collect information that web browsers, mobile devices, and servers typically make available, including the browser type, IP address, unique device identifiers, language preference, referring site, the date and time of access, operating system, and mobile network information. We collect log information when you use our Services — for example, when you log into your account or publish a journal entry.
• Device and Usage Information: We collect your device type, your wireless carrier, your individual device ID, and how you use our Services. In addition, in the event our App(s) crash on your mobile device, we will receive information about your mobile device model, software version, and device carrier, which allows us to identify and fix bugs and otherwise improve the performance of our App(s).
• Location Information: We may determine the approximate location of your device from your IP address. We collect and use this information to understand where our users are located so we can identify what features might be meaningful to them.
• Information from Cookies & Other Technologies: Like many online services, we use cookies to collect information. A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. Pixel tags (also called web beacons) are small blocks of code placed on websites and emails. Ouat uses cookies and other technologies like pixel tags to help us identify and track visitors, usage, and access preferences for our Services, as well as track and understand email campaign effectiveness.

Information We Collect from Other Sources

We may also get information about you from other sources. For example:

• Third Party Account Information: When you connect an account from another service, we typically get some basic information about your account with them. For example, when you connect Ouat to your Apple or Google account to log in, we may access certain user data such as your name, user ID, email, etc., to provide our Services.
• Motion, Activity, and Fitness Data: Motion and fitness information is used to enhance the metadata included in individual entries and personal journal summaries. We never use your motion, activity, or fitness data for advertising and similar services or for use-based data mining. We don’t disclose this information to a third party for their own use or sell it to advertising platforms, data brokers, or information resellers.

How We Use the Information We Collect

We use your personal information to:

• Provide you with Services and customer support;
• Market Services to you and send you news and information that we believe interests you;
• Respond to your requests, resolve disputes, and/or troubleshoot problems;
• Improve the Services and personalize your experience;
• Communicate with you about the Services;
• Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our Services;
• Detect, investigate, and help prevent security incidents and other malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, and help protect rights and property of ours and others; and
• Comply with our legal and financial obligations.

We will communicate with you primarily in the form of texts, push alerts, and emails. You can manage the frequency and/or opt out of receiving these communications by changing your settings on the App, texting STOP in reply to our daily reminders, and/or clicking the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of each marketing email. Please note that even if you unsubscribe or opt-out of our emails, we may still send you Services-related communications (e.g., emails related to your account or the App).

How We Share Information

We share information about you in limited circumstances, and with appropriate safeguards to protect your privacy. These are spelled out below:

• Third Party Vendors: We may share information about you with third-party vendors, consultants, and advisors who help us provide our Services or who otherwise perform services for us.
• Subsidiaries: We may disclose information about you to a current or future parent company, any subsidiaries, joint ventures, or other companies under a common control (“Affiliates”), in which case we will require our Affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy.
• Business Transfers: In connection with any merger, sale of company assets, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by another company, or in the unlikely event that we go out of business or enter bankruptcy, user information would likely be one of the assets transferred or acquired by a third party.
• Legal, Regulatory, & Other Obligations: We may disclose information about you if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to (a) resolve disputes, investigate problems, or enforce our Terms of Service; (b) comply with relevant laws, regulations, legal process (such as a court order or subpoena), or governmental request, or (c) protect and defend the rights, property, and/or safety of us, you, or third parties.
• With Your Consent: We may share and disclose information with your consent or at your direction.

We also reserve the right to disclose anonymous information and other information that does not personally identify you to third parties in any manner that we deem appropriate or necessary.

How Long We Keep Information

We retain information about you for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described above and as required by law.

Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your information from unauthorized access, use, or destruction. We encourage users to enable end-to-end encryption for added security.

Your Choices

You have several choices when it comes to managing your information:

• Review and Update Information: You can review, change, or delete your personal information through your account settings.
• Delete the App: Uninstalling the app will stop all data collection by Ouat.
• Opt-Out of Marketing Communications: You can opt out of receiving promotional messages by following the instructions in those communications.
• Reject Cookies: You can set your browser to reject cookies, though this may affect certain functionalities.

Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, such as the right to access, correct, or delete your data.

European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

If you are located in a country under the GDPR, you have rights regarding your personal data, including access, correction, deletion, objection to processing, and data portability.

US Privacy Laws

Certain US states grant residents additional rights regarding their personal information, including access, deletion, and correction rights. We do not sell or share your personal data as defined by relevant laws.

Appeals Process

If your request to exercise your rights is denied, you may appeal the decision by contacting us.

Other Things You Should Know

• Third-Party Software and Services: Our Privacy Policy does not cover third-party software and services that you may use in conjunction with our Services.
• Child Usage Restrictions: Ouat is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from users under 13.
• International Data Transfers: If you use our Services from outside the EEA, your data may be transferred internationally in compliance with applicable laws.

Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models

Ouat uses AI to enhance your journaling experience. By default, users are opted out of Ouat AI. We do not use your personal data for training our language models.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We encourage you to review this page frequently for any changes. Continued use of our Services after a change will be subject to the updated policy.

How to Reach Us

If you have any questions or suggestions about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact us at duchoan.dev@gmail.com.