Privacy Policy

Penbeam is a teleprompter and recording tool for talking-head video. This policy explains what we collect, how we use it, where we store it and who we share it with when you use the mobile app. By using the app you confirm that you have read and agree to this policy. If you do not agree, please stop using the features concerned.

This page covers the mobile app. The desktop version has its own policy at penbeam.app/privacy.

1. What we collect and why

a. Account information (email) — Collected when you choose to sign up or sign in. Used to authenticate you, sync your subscription entitlement and scripts, and provide support. Signing in is optional: you can record and export without an account.

b. Scripts and written content — If you sign in and turn on cloud sync, your scripts, collections and preferences are uploaded to our servers and stored against your account so you can continue on another device. You can turn sync off or delete the content at any time.

c. Camera and microphone — When you record or use on-camera prompting, the app captures video through the camera and audio through the microphone to produce your recording. Those recordings are stored only on your own device by default.

d. Voice / audio (for real-time speech recognition) — When you use voice features (“voice-follow prompting”, “dictate to text”, “sensitive-word check”, “extract script from video”), the audio picked up by the microphone is streamed in real time to our own speech recognition service and transcribed into text (for example, to highlight the sentence you are currently reading). Recognition is real-time: once the text is returned, no audio file is retained. No such transmission happens when you are not using these features. The app asks for your consent before the first use, and you can withdraw it at any time under “Me → Privacy”.

e. Purchase and transaction information — When you buy a Pro subscription, we and the payment channel process order, payment and subscription-status information in order to grant, verify and restore your entitlement.

f. Photo library and local files — When you actively choose “save the finished video to my library”, pick a local video/audio file to extract a script from, or pick an image for a sticker, the app reads or writes the relevant library or file after you grant permission. This only happens when you initiate it.

2. Your recordings are not uploaded

The videos and audio you record are stored on your device only. We do not upload them to our servers and we do not back them up to the cloud. They leave your device only when you choose to share them or save them elsewhere yourself. Cloud sync covers text — scripts and settings — and never includes any recorded footage.

3. What we do not collect

We do not collect your location, contacts, SMS messages, call logs, calendar, government ID, biometric data, health data or the list of apps installed on your device. The app contains no advertising SDK, no third-party analytics SDK and no crash-reporting SDK, and is not used for ad targeting or user tracking.

4. Sharing and third-party services

Beyond what is necessary to deliver the features you use, we do not provide your personal information to third parties, and we never sell it. To deliver specific features we interact with the following services:

• In-app purchase services (RevenueCat on iOS / Google Play; Huawei IAP on HarmonyOS) — manage subscriptions and entitlements; involves purchase receipts and a subscription identifier.
• AI text generation (DeepSeek, api.deepseek.com) — an independent third-party AI provider. When you use “AI draft”, “AI rewrite / polish” or “AI livestream script”, the topic or script text you type, plus the style and target length you pick, are forwarded through our server to DeepSeek to generate or rewrite that piece of content, and the result is returned to you. Your account, email, contacts, location and recorded media are never sent. Our server does not retain the text; DeepSeek's own privacy policy governs what it retains. The app asks for your consent before the first use of any AI feature and you can withdraw it at any time under “Me → Privacy”. If you decline or withdraw, AI features are disabled and everything else keeps working.
• Speech recognition (self-hosted by us, based on FunASR — not a third party) — processes the real-time audio stream for the voice features above and returns text. No audio is retained. Consent is requested before first use and can be withdrawn at any time.
• Account and data backend (self-hosted by us, based on Supabase) — stores your email, synced scripts and entitlement records.
• Alipay — processes payment for Pro. Mainland-China Android build only; not present in the Google Play or App Store build.

The table below lists every third-party SDK / service, as required by app stores. Any SDK not listed here is not integrated — no advertising SDKs, no third-party analytics SDKs, no crash-reporting SDKs, no user tracking.

5. Permissions

Every sensitive permission is requested at the moment you use the feature that needs it, never on launch, and you may decline: camera (on-camera recording), microphone (audio and speech recognition), display over other apps (floating teleprompter), notifications (recording / processing progress), network (sign-in, sync, recognition, payment), photo library and storage (saving finished videos, picking local files). Declining a permission only disables the matching feature; everything else keeps working.

6. Storage and security

Email, scripts and subscription information you upload are stored on our servers and transmitted over encrypted connections. We apply reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect them. You can sign out or delete your scripts at any time in the app, or delete your account outright (see the next section).

7. Account deletion and data removal

You can delete your account from inside the Penbeam app — no need to contact us and no waiting for manual processing.

How: open Penbeam → “Me” tab → in the signed-in account area tap “Delete account” → read the notice and confirm twice. The account is deleted immediately.

What gets deleted (immediately, with no retention period):

• your Penbeam account itself (sign-in email and identity information);
• cloud-synced scripts and collections tied to that account;
• entitlement and subscription authorisation records, and device binding records.

What does not get deleted:

• Scripts and recordings saved locally on your phone are unaffected — they only ever existed on your device and we hold no copy. To remove them, delete them in the app or uninstall it.
• Transaction and accounting records we are legally required to keep (for example, orders already placed). We keep these for the shortest period applicable law allows, use them only for compliance and reconciliation, and for nothing else.

About subscriptions: deleting your account does not automatically cancel or refund an active subscription. If you subscribed through Google Play or the App Store, cancel it in that store's “Subscriptions” page as well.

Deletion cannot be undone. If you cannot get into the app (for example you have already uninstalled it, or cannot sign in), email [email protected] to request deletion and we will process it after verifying your identity.

8. Children

This app is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you are a minor, please use the app under the guidance of a parent or guardian.

9. Changes to this policy

If a change in functionality changes how information is handled, we will update this policy and publish the new date on this page.

10. Contact us

For any privacy question or data deletion request, contact [email protected].