Privacy Policy
Memory Care Companion is a California nonprofit corporation. We do not sell your information, we do not show advertisements, and we do not use your conversations to train artificial intelligence models. This policy explains exactly what the app collects and where it goes.
Who this policy covers
This policy applies to the Memory Care Companion iOS app and to this website.
The app is usually set up by a family member or caregiver on behalf of the person who will use it. If you are setting it up for someone else, please read this policy with them, or on their behalf, before use.
What the app collects
Your voice
When you tap the call button and speak, the app records audio from your microphone and sends it over an encrypted connection to OpenAI, which generates the companion's spoken replies. This is what makes the conversation possible — the app cannot work without it.
The microphone is only active during a call that you have started. The app does not listen in the background, and it does not activate the microphone on its own.
Your conversations
A written transcript of each conversation, along with a short summary, is saved on your device. These are used to give the companion memory of earlier conversations so it can refer back to things you have talked about.
Your profile
The app keeps a profile so conversations feel familiar — things like a preferred name, family members, interests, and memories worth returning to.
It is filled in two ways. You can enter details yourself under User Profile, and the app also fills it in automatically: when a call ends, the transcript is sent to OpenAI, which picks out personal details from what was said and adds them to the profile. You can review, edit, or delete anything in the profile at any time, and the app works fine if you leave it empty.
The profile is stored on your device, and it is included in the instructions sent to OpenAI at the start of each conversation so the companion can greet you by name and remember your family. Because it is built partly from conversation, it may come to hold personal details you mentioned in passing, including health-related ones. You can review the profile at any time under User Profile and delete anything you would rather it not keep.
A device identifier
When the app starts a call, it asks our server for the credentials it needs to connect. That request includes an identifier for your device, which we use to prevent abuse of the service. It is not linked to your name, email address, or any account — we hold no such information — and we do not use it to identify you.
What the app does not collect
- We do not require an account, a password, or an email address.
- We never ask for an address, a phone number, or any payment or financial information.
- We do not collect location data.
- We do not read your contacts, photos, calendar, or other files on your device.
- We do not use advertising or analytics trackers, and there are no ads in the app.
- We do not build a profile of you for marketing, and we do not sell or share your information.
Your voice, your conversations, and your profile are used only as described above. We ourselves never receive any of them.
Where your information is stored
Conversation transcripts, summaries, and profile details are stored only on your device. We do not upload them to our servers, and we cannot read them. If you use device backups (such as iCloud), your device may include this data in those backups according to your own Apple settings.
Our own servers store no conversation content. They keep operational logs containing the device identifier and the time of each request, which we use to detect abuse of the service. They contain nothing about you or what you talked about, and we keep them only as long as they remain useful for that purpose.
Third parties who process your information
OpenAI processes your voice and conversation text. This happens at two points: during a call, to hear you and generate the companion's spoken replies; and after a call ends, when the transcript is sent to be summarized and to have profile details picked out of it.
Under OpenAI's API terms, this content is not used to train their models, and it is retained for a limited period for abuse monitoring before being deleted. You can read their practices at openai.com/policies/privacy-policy.
Amazon Web Services hosts the server that issues connection credentials to the app.
We only use providers whose terms require them to keep this information confidential, to process it solely to provide the service to us, and to protect it to a standard at least equal to the one described in this policy.
We do not share your information with anyone else, and we never sell it.
Where your information is processed
We are based in California, and both OpenAI and our servers process data in the United States. If you use the app from outside the United States, including from the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, your voice and conversation content will be transferred to and processed in the United States, where privacy laws differ from those in your own country.
Where that transfer is governed by UK or EU law, it is made on the basis of your consent and of the standard contractual clauses our processors maintain for international transfers.
Deleting your information
You can erase everything at any time from inside the app: open the menu, go to User Profile, scroll to Privacy, and tap Delete All My Data. This permanently removes every saved conversation, summary, and profile detail from your device.
Deleting the app removes all of it as well. We hold no copy.
Children
Memory Care Companion is designed for adults. It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.
Security
All communication between the app, our servers, and OpenAI is encrypted in transit. No system is perfectly secure, but because conversation content never reaches our servers, there is no central store of conversations to breach.
Your rights
You have the right to access the information held about you, to correct it, to delete it, to restrict or object to how it is used, and to receive a copy of it. You may withdraw consent at any time by deleting the app. Because conversations and profile details never leave your device, the Delete All My Data button satisfies most of these immediately. For anything else — including the operational logs — email us.
If you are in the United Kingdom or European Economic Area: our legal basis for processing your voice and conversations is your consent, and for the device identifier our legitimate interest in preventing abuse of a free service. You also have the right to complain to your national data protection authority.
Governing law
This policy is governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any dispute arising from it will be handled in the state or federal courts located in California. Nothing here limits any right you have to bring a complaint before a data protection authority in your own country.
Changes to this policy
If we change how the app handles information, we will update this page and revise the date at the top. Significant changes will be noted in the app.
Contact us
Memory Care Companion, a California nonprofit corporation
max@memorycarecompanion.org
We are the data controller for the information described in this policy.
Important: Memory Care Companion provides conversation and companionship. It is not a medical device and is not a substitute for medical care, professional caregiving, or emergency services. It does not diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent dementia or any other condition. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.