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Privacy Policy

Last updated: March 16, 2026

1. Overview

Scowld is an open-source AI companion application for iOS. It is designed with a privacy-first architecture — your personal data stays on your device unless you explicitly configure a third-party AI provider. Scowld does not operate any backend servers, does not collect analytics, and does not track users in any way.

The complete source code is publicly available at github.com/apoorvdarshan/scowld under the MIT License. You can audit exactly what the app does at any time.

2. Data Collection

Scowld collects zero personal data. Specifically:

  • We do not have servers, databases, or any cloud infrastructure.
  • We do not collect, store, or transmit your name, email, location, device ID, or any other personal identifier.
  • We do not use analytics SDKs, crash reporting services, or advertising frameworks.
  • We do not track your usage patterns, session duration, or feature engagement.
  • There is no account creation, login, or registration of any kind.

3. Camera Access

Scowld requests access to your device's front-facing camera for the Vision feature. When enabled:

  • Camera frames are captured on-device and sent to your configured AI provider only when you explicitly send a message.
  • No images or video are stored on your device or transmitted anywhere else.
  • No images are saved to your photo library.
  • Camera data is never processed, cached, or buffered beyond the immediate frame capture.
  • The camera can be disabled at any time using the eye icon toggle in the app.
  • When the camera is disabled, no frames are captured and no camera data is accessed.

4. Microphone Access

Scowld requests microphone access for the hands-free voice chat feature. When enabled:

  • Speech is processed entirely on-device using Apple's built-in Speech framework (SFSpeechRecognizer).
  • Audio is never recorded, stored, or transmitted to any server.
  • Speech-to-text conversion happens locally — the recognized text (not audio) is what gets sent to your AI provider when a message is sent.
  • The microphone automatically pauses during AI text-to-speech playback to prevent feedback loops.
  • Voice mode can be toggled on/off at any time using the waveform icon.

5. Third-Party AI Providers

Scowld supports multiple AI providers. When you configure one, your text messages (and optionally camera frames) are sent to that provider's API for processing. This is the only network communication the app makes. Each provider has its own privacy policy:

You choose which provider to use. If you use Ollama, no data ever leaves your device/network. We have no relationship with, control over, or access to any of these third-party services.

6. API Keys

Your API keys for AI providers are stored securely in the iOS Keychain — Apple's hardware-backed encrypted storage. API keys are:

  • Never transmitted to us or any party other than the respective AI provider.
  • Never logged, cached, or stored in plain text.
  • Never included in crash reports or diagnostics (we don't collect those either).
  • Accessible only to the Scowld app on your device.

7. Local Data Storage

The following data is stored locally on your device using Apple's CoreData framework:

  • Chat history — your messages and AI responses.
  • Memory logs — AI-extracted summaries of key conversation details.
  • Memory slots — organizational containers for different conversation contexts.
  • Settings — your preferences (provider, model, TTS backend, etc.).

All of this data lives exclusively on your iPhone. It is not synced to iCloud, not backed up to any server, and not accessible to anyone but you. You can clear all data at any time from Settings → Clear All Memories.

8. Text-to-Speech

When using ElevenLabs or OpenAI TTS, the AI's response text is sent to the respective service to generate audio. When using Native iOS TTS, speech synthesis happens entirely on-device with no network requests.

9. Children's Privacy

Scowld is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect any data from anyone, including children.

10. Open Source Transparency

Scowld is fully open source under the MIT License. Every line of code is publicly auditable. There are no hidden data collection mechanisms, no obfuscated network calls, and no proprietary SDKs. If you have concerns about what the app does, you can read the source code yourself at github.com/apoorvdarshan/scowld.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected on this page with an updated date. Since the app has no server component, there is no way to push policy changes to users — you would need to check this page.

12. Contact

For any privacy concerns or questions, contact:
Apoorv Darshan — ad13dtu@gmail.com