Draft · under legal review

Privacy Policy

Draft — effective date: [DATE]. Last updated: [DATE].

Mello ("Mello", "we", "us") is a relationship assistant: it helps you remember the people, moments, and context that matter, and shows up at the right time to help you stay close to them. This policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have. It applies to the Mello mobile app, the Mello web app, and the Mello assistant you talk to over iMessage and Telegram.

We are the data controller for the information described here: [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], [ADDRESS]. Questions or requests: [privacy@mello.app].

Mello is in beta. The product is changing quickly. We will update this policy as features change and will tell you when we make material changes (see Changes to this policy).

The short version

Mello only knows what you bring to it — the people you mention, the plans you make, and your conversations with it. It does not read your address book or your other messages.
We use trusted AI providers (Anthropic and OpenAI) to power Mello's understanding, writing, and voice. Under their API terms, they do not use your data to train their models.
We do not sell your personal information.
You can delete your account and everything in it from inside the app, at any time.

Information we collect

Information you give us

Account details. A phone number or email address to sign in, and the authentication factor tied to it. Which channel you prefer (iMessage or Telegram) and the account handle you connect.
Your profile. Your name, anything you tell Mello about yourself, and preferences such as how often you want to hear from it and the voice you pick.
The people you tell Mello about. Names, how you know them, birthdays and other dates, photos you add, and the facts and context you mention in passing ("just went through a breakup", "loves pottery"). See About the people you tell Mello about below — this is personal information about other people, and it matters.
Plans and reminders. Events, occasions, dates, places, and the reminders you or Mello set.
Your conversations with Mello. The messages you exchange with Mello over your chosen channel, and — when you talk to Mello by voice — the audio of the call and its transcript.
Content you upload. Profile and event photos, and anything else you choose to add.
When you invite someone. If you choose to invite a friend to Mello, you select one contact to invite. Mello reads only the contact you pick to send that invitation; it never uploads or stores your address book.

Information we collect automatically

Device and app data. Device type and operating system, app version, language and time zone, and a device identifier used to deliver notifications.
Usage and diagnostics. How you use the app, and logs and error reports we use to keep the service working and to debug problems. These logs can reference your account and the content of a given interaction.

Information from others

Your messaging channel. When you talk to Mello over iMessage or Telegram, we receive the messages you send to Mello and the metadata needed to deliver replies on the same channel.
A person a friend introduces (if enabled). If a friend invites you to Mello, we may receive the introduction they wrote about you so your Mello can start warm; you control what becomes part of your account.

We do not collect precise background location, we do not track you across other companies' apps and websites, and we do not read messages you exchange with anyone other than Mello.

About the people you tell Mello about

Mello's whole purpose is to help you care for the people in your life, so it stores information about other people that you provide — their names, dates, and things you share about them. A few important points:

This information is private to you. It is used only to help you remember and show up for your people. It is not shown to those people, is not made public, and is not shared with other Mello users — except where you deliberately connect with another Mello user, and only as described in How we share information.
You are responsible for what you share. You should only tell Mello about people where it is appropriate for you to do so, and you should not share another person's sensitive information without a good reason to.
If you are one of those people: if someone has told Mello about you and you would like that information removed, contact us at [privacy@mello.app] and we will work with the account holder to address your request, consistent with applicable law.
Lawful basis. [REVIEWER: state the lawful basis — e.g. our legitimate interest, and the user's, in a personal relationship-management tool, balanced against the interests of the people mentioned; confirm for GDPR/PIPEDA.]

How Mello reaches you

Mello talks with you on iMessage or Telegram, whichever you connect, through a messaging delivery provider [REVIEWER: confirm naming of "Photon Spectrum"] that transmits messages between you and Mello. That provider processes the content and delivery metadata of your Mello conversations solely to deliver them. Standard carrier or messaging charges from your own provider may apply.

Mello may reach out to you proactively — reminders, nudges, and (if you turn it on) calls — based on the plans and cadence you set. You can change how often, or turn proactive messages off, in the app. Mello drafts messages for you to send to other people; it does not send messages to your contacts on your behalf — those go out only when you send them yourself.

Voice calls

When you talk to Mello by voice, the audio is streamed to our voice provider (OpenAI, via its Realtime API) to power the live conversation. The conversation is transcribed, and the transcript is stored with your account the same way a text conversation is, so Mello can remember what you talked about. Under OpenAI's API terms, your audio and transcripts are not used to train their models. [REVIEWER: confirm OpenAI zero-retention / no-training terms for your plan; state any audio retention by the provider.]

How we use your information

To run Mello — understand what you tell it, remember your people and plans, write and send you replies, and surface the right thing at the right time.
To personalize — Mello maintains a private, evolving understanding of you and how you like to be spoken to, so it sounds like your Mello. A separate, approval-gated public profile is never changed without your explicit approval.
To reach you — reminders, nudges, and calls you've opted into.
For safety and integrity — to prevent abuse, debug, and keep the service reliable and secure.
To improve Mello — to understand what works and fix what doesn't. [REVIEWER: if any human review of content occurs for quality/safety, disclose it here.]

We rely on Anthropic (Claude) as the engine that reasons and writes, and OpenAI for voice, to deliver these functions. Neither uses your data to train their models under their API terms.

AI and other providers we share with

We share personal information with service providers ("subprocessors") who process it only on our instructions to run Mello. We do not sell your personal information and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

[REVIEWER: verify this entire table against the codebase and your contracts; add DPAs. Names are inferred.]

Provider	What it does	What it receives
Anthropic (Claude)	Mello's reasoning and writing	The conversation and context needed to respond
OpenAI	Live voice calls	Call audio and transcripts
[Supabase]	Sign-in and account infrastructure	Account identifiers
[Messaging delivery provider]	Delivers iMessage/Telegram messages	Message content and delivery metadata
[Hosting provider]	Runs our servers and database	All stored data, at rest with us
[Expo / EAS]	App delivery and push notifications	Device push token, diagnostics
[GIPHY]	Optional GIFs on shared event pages	A search query when you add a GIF
[Apple / Apple Maps]	Maps in event plans, notifications	A place or address to look up

We may also disclose information: to comply with law or valid legal process; to protect the rights, safety, and security of users, the public, or Mello; and in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, in which case we will notify you and this policy will continue to protect your information.

If you connect with another Mello user (a consent-gated feature): the two Mellos negotiate on your behalf like diplomats, and only the specific information you agree to share crosses over. No feature ever gives another user direct access to your data.

How long we keep it

We keep your information for as long as your account is active and as needed to provide Mello. When you delete your account, we delete the personal information we hold about you and the people you told Mello about, removing or de-linking every reference to it, except where we must keep something to comply with law, resolve disputes, or enforce our agreements. Backups and logs age out on a rolling basis. [REVIEWER: set concrete retention periods for logs, backups, and provider-side data.]

Security

We protect your information with encryption in transit, access controls, and the principle that our trusted backend — not the AI models — is the only system that writes to your data. No method of storage or transmission is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and to limit who and what can reach it.

Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, export (port), object to, or restrict the processing of your personal information, and to withdraw consent. Specifically:

Delete everything, yourself: the app has a Delete my account control that erases every person, event, message, and note Mello keeps for you. It cannot be undone.
Access / export / correct: contact [privacy@mello.app] and we will respond consistent with applicable law.
Proactive messages: adjust the cadence or turn them off in the app.
California (CCPA/CPRA): we do not sell or "share" your personal information; you have the rights to know, delete, correct, and to non-discrimination for exercising them.
EEA/UK (GDPR): you may lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority. [REVIEWER: name the controller, lawful bases, and an EU/UK representative if required.]

We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

International transfers

We and our providers may process your information in countries other than your own, including [the United States and Canada]. Where required, we use appropriate safeguards for these transfers. [REVIEWER: specify mechanism — Standard Contractual Clauses, adequacy, etc.]

Children

Mello is not directed to children. You must be at least [13 / 16 / 18] to use it, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under that age. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact [privacy@mello.app] and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We will update this policy as Mello evolves. If we make a material change, we will notify you in the app or by message before it takes effect, and update the date at the top.

Contact us

[LEGAL ENTITY NAME] [ADDRESS] [privacy@mello.app]

This is a draft prepared for legal review and is not itself legal advice.