Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

This Privacy Policy explains how Relay Voice Ltd (“Relay”, “we”, “us”), a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17410664), processes personal data in connection with the Relay macOS application, the relay.tech website, and related services (together, the “Service”). For the purposes of the UK and EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Relay Voice Ltd is the data controller for the processing described here.

Relay is currently offered as a beta. Features, data flows, and sub-processors may change as the product evolves; we will update this policy and its “last updated” date when they do.

Questions, requests, or complaints: privacy@relay.tech.

2. What we collect, and when

We try to collect as little as possible and to keep most of your content on your own device. The categories below describe everything the app and our servers handle.

a. Voice audio

Audio is recorded only during an interaction you explicitly start with the trigger key, and stops when you release the key or press it again, depending on your trigger mode — there is no continuous or background recording. Before anything leaves your Mac, the audio is compressed locally and is then sent to an AI provider to be transcribed and turned into text. To handle situations where other people are speaking around you, the speech-recognition provider may separate speakers within a request so that only your words are acted on; this happens per request, and we do not create or store any voice profile. We do not store your audio on our servers.

b. Screen captures

Relay does not continuously or silently capture your screen. A screenshot of the current window (not your whole screen, and not the cursor) is taken only when a spoken instruction needs visual context to be carried out, or when you explicitly trigger a capture. When a screenshot is taken, it is sent to the AI provider together with that single request to be understood, and is not retained on our servers afterwards. You can turn visual context off in the app’s settings, in which case no screenshots are taken.

c. On-screen context

To understand what you mean (for example, which window to target, or which text to rewrite), Relay may read limited context through the macOS Accessibility API — such as the title of the active window and text you have selected. This context may be included with a request to an AI provider for the purpose of producing the right output.

d. Account information

To sign in you use a Relay account via our identity service at account.relay.tech. We process your email address, display name, and account identifier to authenticate you and manage your account.

e. Subscription & billing

If you purchase a paid plan, payments are handled by Stripe. We store the Stripe customer and subscription identifiers, your email, your plan, billing interval, and renewal dates. For orders that include hardware, Stripe Checkout also collects a shipping address and phone number, which we receive in order to fulfill and support the order (see our Shipping Policy and Refund Policy). We never receive or store your full card number — card data is collected and processed by Stripe.

f. Usage & quota

We keep a count of requests you make against your plan’s weekly allowance, in order to enforce quotas and prevent abuse.

g. Diagnostics & crash reports

If the app crashes, a crash log (exception type, error reason, stack trace, app and OS version) is saved on your Mac. Diagnostic data reaches us only when you choose to upload a diagnostic package from the app’s settings; the package includes recent crash logs and app logs, which describe the app’s behavior and do not include your recordings or screenshots. We use it only to investigate and fix issues.

h. Data that stays on your device

Several features keep data locally on your Mac (under Application Support). This data leaves your device only in two cases: when it is used as context for a specific request you make, and when Relay periodically sends excerpts of it to an AI provider to maintain these features for you — for example, organizing what the app has learned about your vocabulary and style, or summarizing your input history into your profile. In both cases it is processed in transit and is not stored on our servers.

• Your input history;
• Your personal dictionary;
• Your voice/style profile and any “memory” the app builds to personalize results;
• Names of people you write to and how you like to communicate with them, which Relay learns to tailor your messages;
• App settings and preferences.

3. How we use your data

• To transcribe your speech, understand your intent, and produce and insert text (the core Service);
• To authenticate you and manage beta access;
• To provide and bill subscriptions, and to enforce usage quotas;
• To diagnose crashes, fix bugs, and keep the Service secure and reliable.

Legal bases (GDPR). We rely on: performance of a contract (providing the features you ask for, and billing); your consent (the macOS microphone, screen-recording, and accessibility permissions you grant — which you can withdraw at any time in System Settings); and our legitimate interests (keeping the Service secure, preventing abuse, and fixing crashes).

4. Who we share data with (sub-processors)

Relay does not sell your personal data. To deliver the Service we share the minimum necessary data with the providers below. In particular, to produce a result, your audio, the current-window screenshot (when used), and on-screen context may be transmitted to one of the AI providers for processing:

Each provider processes data under its own privacy terms. We encourage you to review them. We do not use the content of your requests to train our own models, and our backend that relays AI requests does so as a pass-through — it does not store your audio, screenshots, or transcripts.

We may also disclose information if required by law, to enforce our terms, or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our users and the Service.

5. International data transfers

Relay’s providers operate in multiple countries, including the United States. This means your data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside your own, including ones that may not provide the same level of data protection as your home jurisdiction. Where we transfer personal data of EEA/UK users internationally, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses. If you are uncomfortable with these transfers, please do not use the Service.

6. Retention

• Audio, screenshots, and transcripts: not stored on our servers — they are processed in transit to fulfill your request and then discarded by us. AI providers may retain request data under their own policies.
• Account, subscription, and usage data: kept while your account is active and for as long as needed to provide the Service, comply with legal/accounting obligations, and resolve disputes.
• Diagnostic/crash reports: kept only as long as needed to investigate and fix issues.
• On-device data: remains on your Mac under your control; you can delete it by removing the relevant data or uninstalling the app.

7. Your rights

If you are in the EEA or UK (GDPR), you have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, or object to processing of your personal data; the right to data portability; and the right to withdraw consent at any time (without affecting processing already carried out). You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

If you are a California resident (CCPA/CPRA), you have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it, to request deletion or correction, and to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information. We do not sell or share your personal information as those terms are defined under California law, and we will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@relay.tech. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

8. Security

Data is transmitted over encrypted connections (TLS/HTTPS). Your authentication tokens are stored in the macOS Keychain. We restrict access to the limited account and billing data we hold. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, and because Relay is in beta you should not rely on it for highly sensitive information.

9. Children

The Service is not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them. If you believe a child has provided us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the Service changes. When we make material changes we will revise the “last updated” date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice.

11. Contact

Relay Voice Ltd, Cashmere House, 37 Leman Street, London, England, E1 8PT, United Kingdom — privacy@relay.tech.