Privacy Policy
Parenthesis (“Parenthesis”, “we”, “us”) is an AI study companion for secondary-school and university students. This policy explains what we collect, why, and the choices you have. It applies to the Parenthesis website, the Parenthesis iOS app, and related services.
Information we collect
We collect the information below, almost all of it provided by you through the app. We do not buy personal information about you or collect it from third-party data sources.
| Category | What it includes | Why we collect it |
|---|---|---|
| Account information | Your email address if you sign in with a link, or the name and email address Apple sends us if you use Sign in with Apple, which may be a private relay address. We do not use passwords and never receive one. | To create your account and sign you in |
| Profile information | The name you give, your academic level, your goals, and your programme of study. All of it is self-declared and you can change it. | To set up the app and pitch the companion at the right level |
| Conversations | The messages you send the companion and the replies it gives. In voice mode, the transcript of what was said. | To provide the service and give the companion the context of your earlier work |
| Content you upload | Files you choose to upload (syllabus, notes, past papers, photographs of a page), their filename, type and size, and the text extracted from them. | So the companion can work from your own course material |
| Study information generated for you | Topic names drawn from your uploads, short subject summaries, and mastery signals per topic. | To build your concept map and choose what to ask you next |
| Schedule information | Class days, times and locations taken from a syllabus you upload, and your term dates. | To time reminders and revision around your classes and exams |
| Usage information | Session start and end times, minutes studied, topics covered, quiz answers, scores and response times. | Your progress screens, and the weekly summary shared with anyone you have linked |
| Log and device data | Standard server logs, including IP address, browser and device type. | To operate, secure and debug the service |
| Reports and blocks | If you report someone, the reason you select, anything you write in the box, and the accounts on both sides. If you block someone, the fact that you did. | To act on reports and keep the people you have blocked away from you |
| Permissions you give | That you agreed to your messages being sent for AI processing, and separately that you turned on voice, with the date of each. | To record the permission before we act on it, and to ask again if what we do changes |
What we do not collect
We do not collect your date of birth, your precise or approximate location, or an advertising identifier. The iOS app requests two permissions only, microphone and speech recognition, and does not request access to your photo library. There are no advertising SDKs, analytics SDKs or tracking pixels in the app.
How we use your information
- To provide, operate, maintain and improve Parenthesis.
- To authenticate you and keep your account secure.
- To generate the companion’s responses, read the material you upload, and produce your concept map, quizzes, summaries and reminders.
- To show you your own progress, and the progress summaries you choose to share.
- To send transactional email, such as sign-in links and invitations.
- To detect, investigate and prevent abuse, and to keep the service secure.
- To comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms.
AI processing
Parenthesis is built on AI models operated by third parties. To generate a reply, the companion sends your messages and the relevant parts of your uploaded material to Google, whose models generate the answer. The request travels through Vercel, which hosts the app and routes it there. Spoken replies are produced by Groq, a separate speech provider, which receives only the text the companion is about to say, never your own words.
We ask before any of this happens. The first time you use the companion we set out what is sent and to whom, and nothing is sent until you agree. Voice is a separate permission, asked separately, because it works differently. We record the date of each so that if what we do materially changes we can ask you again rather than rely on an answer you gave to a different question. You can withdraw either permission at any time from your profile in the app; the companion then stops sending and asks again the next time you use a feature that needs it.
Parenthesis does not train AI models. We do not build models, and your content is not used to train one. Content sent to our text and speech providers is covered by agreements that prohibit its use for training their models. Voice mode works differently, and is described in the next section.
Voice mode
Voice is off until you turn it on. Before your first spoken session we set out what follows, and the microphone does not open until you agree. Agreeing to use the companion by typing does not turn voice on.
In voice mode, your device connects directly to Google’s speech service. The audio does not pass through our servers, so Google receives it, and your device’s IP address, directly from you. Our server only issues a short-lived token to start the session.
Audio in voice mode is handled under Google’s terms for that service, which permit Google to use it to improve its services. If you would rather your speech were not handled that way, use text rather than voice. We keep the transcript of the conversation with your other messages; because the audio never reaches us, we do not hold a recording of your voice. We do not create a voiceprint, use your voice to identify you, or use it to build any voice model.
Safety systems
Messages sent to the companion pass through an automated check for indications of self-harm, abuse or violence. Where the check flags something, we record a severity level, a category, your account identifier and the session identifier. The message itself is not stored by the check, the record is not visible to you, a parent or a partner through the app, and it is deleted after 90 days.
This check is automated. It is not monitored in real time and it does not alert anyone. If you need help, please speak to someone you trust or use the crisis lines set out in our Terms of Service.
Data retention
We keep your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the service. Safety-check records are deleted after 90 days, dismissed and expired reminders after 90 days, and internal usage records after 400 days. We may retain limited information where required to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.
You can delete documents you have uploaded, delete subjects, un-share a subject from a group, and leave a group at any time. Deleted content is removed from the active service; residual copies may persist in backups for a limited period before being overwritten.
Results you have already posted into a friends group stay with the group, because they form part of other members’ rounds. If you signed out of a guest account without ever signing in, or would rather we handled the deletion for you, email hello@arjunlohan.com.
Your rights and choices
- Access, correct, export or delete your personal information.
- Delete uploaded content, un-share subjects, and end a link or leave a group.
- Use text rather than voice, which keeps audio out of the service entirely.
- Report or block anyone you are linked with, from inside the app. Reporting tells us and we read it. Blocking acts immediately: it ends the link, cancels anything scheduled between you, and stops them linking to you again. The person is not told.
- Delete your account, and everything in it, from inside the app. See Data retention above.
To exercise any of these, email hello@arjunlohan.com. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under the GDPR, UK GDPR, or CCPA/CPRA, and the right to complain to your local data protection authority. We do not charge for these requests and we will respond within the period the applicable law requires.
International transfers
We are based in the United States and process information there and in other countries where our providers operate. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards for cross-border transfers, including the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses.
Children
Parenthesis is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If we learn that an account belongs to a child under 13, we delete the account and the information in it. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has an account with us, email hello@arjunlohan.com.
Security
Your information is encrypted in transit and at rest. Access to your data in our database is governed by per-row permissions, so one account cannot reach another account’s data, and access by personnel is limited to those who need it to operate the service, resolve a problem you have raised or meet a legal obligation. Some automated processing of your conversations is required to run the product, including titling sessions, building your concept map and producing your weekly summary.
No method of transmission or storage is fully secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the date at the top of this page, and for material changes we will provide additional notice in the app or by email before the change takes effect.
Contact
Questions about this policy, your information, or a request to delete your account: email hello@arjunlohan.com. See also our Terms of Service.