Privacy Policy

Last updated: February 2026

SpeakUp is operated by Alexandra Mihaela Nedelcu (data controller), Waldemarstr. 56, 13156 Berlin, Germany. Contact: contact@getspeakup.app.

SpeakUp is built on a simple principle: your data stays on your device. This privacy policy explains what data we do and don’t collect across the app, the website, and the optional voice demo.

1. The App

SpeakUp processes your voice entirely on your Mac using a local AI model (Whisper). Here’s what that means:

  • No audio leaves your Mac. Voice data is processed on your GPU and immediately discarded from memory.
  • No transcription data is stored. Your transcribed text is pasted into your active app and not saved by SpeakUp.
  • No telemetry. We do not collect analytics, crash reports, usage data, or any other information.
  • No account required. There is no sign-up, no email collection, no user profile.
  • No network connections. The app does not connect to the internet for transcription. The only network requests are: (a) checking for updates via Sparkle (can be disabled), and (b) license activation/validation via Creem.

Lawful basis: The app does not process personal data beyond what is necessary for its core functionality. License activation is based on contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

2. The Website (getspeakup.app)

This website is hosted on Cloudflare Workers. Cloudflare collects standard server logs (IP address, browser type, page visited) as part of normal website operation. Lawful basis: legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) for website operation and security.

Retention: Server logs are retained by Cloudflare for up to 7 days.

Support widget: We use Featurebase for our support widget and help center. When you interact with the support widget, Featurebase may process basic interaction data. See Featurebase’s privacy policy: https://featurebase.app/privacy. Lawful basis: legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Analytics: We use Cloudflare Web Analytics, a privacy-first, cookieless analytics service. It collects aggregate page view data without tracking individual visitors or using cookies.

3. Voice Demo

Our website includes an optional interactive demo that lets you test speech-to-text transcription in your browser. This demo is separate from the SpeakUp app, which processes all audio 100% on your device.

When you use the demo:

  • What we collect: Your voice audio, recorded through your browser’s microphone with your permission.
  • How it’s processed: Audio is sent to Cloudflare Workers AI (operated by Cloudflare, Inc.) for transcription. The transcribed text is returned to your browser and displayed. Audio is processed in real-time and not stored by us or by Cloudflare. Cloudflare does not use your audio to train any AI models.
  • Lawful basis: Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). By clicking “Try it with your voice” and granting microphone access, you consent to this processing. You can withdraw consent at any time by stopping the recording or leaving the page.
  • Rate limiting: We use your IP address in memory to limit demo usage. This data is not persisted to any database and is discarded when the server restarts.
  • Operational logs: Basic request metadata (country, response status, detected language, text length) may be retained for up to 7 days by Cloudflare for operational purposes. These logs do not contain your audio or the transcribed text.
  • Data transfer: Audio is processed on Cloudflare’s global network. While requests from Europe are typically routed to European datacenters, we cannot guarantee EU-only processing. Cloudflare is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and operates under EU Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs).

4. Purchases

When you purchase a SpeakUp license, payment is processed by Creem OÜ (Estonia) as Merchant of Record. Creem collects your payment information (card details, email, billing address) and handles VAT calculation and invoicing. We do not have access to your payment details.

We receive from Creem: your license key and order reference. That’s it.

Creem’s privacy policy: https://creem.io/privacy

Lawful basis: contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

5. License Activation

When you activate your license key, SpeakUp sends the key to Creem’s API to verify it. This is the only personally-identifiable data exchange. Your machine receives a hardware-bound activation token stored locally.

Lawful basis: contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

6. Updates

SpeakUp uses Sparkle for automatic updates. This checks our public update feed (hosted on GitHub) for new versions. No personal data is sent. You can disable automatic update checks in Settings.

Lawful basis: legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) for providing software updates.

7. Data Retention

  • App: No personal data stored.
  • Website server logs: Up to 7 days (Cloudflare).
  • Voice demo audio: Not stored. Transient processing only.
  • Purchase records: As required by German tax law (10 years).
  • License keys: Stored locally on your device until deactivation.

8. Sub-processors

Sub-processor Purpose Location
Cloudflare, Inc. Website hosting, CDN, Workers AI (demo transcription) Global (EU DPF + SCCs)
Creem OÜ Payment processing (Merchant of Record) Estonia, EU
Featurebase Support widget, help center EU
GitHub (Microsoft) Update feed hosting (Sparkle) USA (EU DPF + SCCs)

9. Your Rights (GDPR)

Under the GDPR, you have the right to: access your personal data, rectify inaccurate data, erase your data, restrict processing, data portability, object to processing, and withdraw consent at any time.

Since the SpeakUp app does not collect personal data, these rights primarily apply to:

  • Purchase data: Contact Creem.
  • Website server logs: Contact us at contact@getspeakup.app.
  • Voice demo data: Withdraw consent by not using the demo.

To exercise your rights, contact us at contact@getspeakup.app. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The responsible authority is the Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit (BlnBDI).

10. Changes

We may update this policy if we add new features. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated date.

11. Contact

Data Controller: Alexandra Mihaela Nedelcu

Waldemarstr. 56, 13156 Berlin, Germany
contact@getspeakup.app