Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Last updated: October, 3rd 2026

 

SilkIdea s.r.o. (“SI”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) operates mobile applications and related services (the “Service”). This Privacy Policy explains how information is collected, used, and protected when you use our Service.

 

By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

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1. Data Controller

For the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (“GDPR”), the data controller is:

 

SilkIdea s.r.o.

Kosova 1242/1c

160 00 Praha 6

Czech Republic

Email: privacy@silkidea.com

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2. Scope of This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all mobile applications and related services provided by SilkIdea s.r.o., unless a specific application provides a separate privacy policy.

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The terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms of Use, unless otherwise defined herein.

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For handyREADER, the section “handyREADER – cloud features” below applies; where it differs from sections 3–8, it takes precedence.

 

 

3. Information We Collect

 

3.1 Personal Data

We do not require users to create accounts and we do not collect directly identifiable personal data such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses, or device identifiers.

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3.2 Anonymous Identifiers

The Service may generate and use an anonymous, non-identifiable unique identifier (UUID) to distinguish data records. This identifier cannot be used by SI to identify an individual user.

 

 

3.3 User-Submitted Data

The Service allows users to voluntarily submit content and data, including but not limited to operational notes, remarks, or other domain-specific information (“User-Submitted Data”).

 

User-Submitted Data:

 

• is provided voluntarily,

• is not linked to personally identifiable information,

• may be stored, processed, aggregated, anonymized, and published as part of the Service’s functionality.

 

Users are responsible for ensuring that they do not submit personal data of identifiable individuals unless legally permitted.

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4. How We Use Information

Collected information is used solely for the following purposes:

 

• operating and maintaining the Service,

• processing and managing user-submitted content,

• improving functionality, quality, and reliability of the Service,

• ensuring security and preventing misuse,

• aggregating and publishing anonymized or de-identified data where applicable.

 

We do not use collected data for marketing, profiling, or advertising purposes.

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5. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

Under GDPR, information is processed on the following legal bases:

 

• Performance of a contract – to provide and operate the Service,

• Legitimate interests – to maintain, improve, secure, and analyze the Service,

• Compliance with legal obligations, where applicable.

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6. Data Storage and Processing Location

Information processed by the Service is stored and processed on servers located within the European Union, primarily in Germany, in accordance with applicable EU data protection laws.

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7. Data Retention

User-submitted and technical data is retained only for as long as necessary to:

 

• provide and maintain the Service,

• fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy,

• comply with legal obligations.

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Where possible, data may be anonymized or aggregated for long-term analytical or statistical purposes.

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8. Third-Party Service Providers

We may use trusted third-party service providers to support the operation of the Service (e.g., hosting, infrastructure).

 

These providers may process data on our behalf solely for performing their assigned tasks and are contractually obligated to protect the data and not use it for other purposes.

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9. Security

We use commercially reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect information processed by the Service.

 

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

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10. Links to External Services

The Service may contain links to external websites or services not operated by SI.

 

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of third-party services. We recommend reviewing their privacy policies before use.

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11. Children’s Privacy

The Service is not directed at children under the age of 13.

 

We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe that a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will take appropriate action.

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12. Your Rights Under GDPR

Where applicable, users have the right to:

 

• request access to processed data,

• request rectification or erasure,

• restrict or object to processing,

• request data portability.

 

Requests regarding data protection rights may be submitted to privacy@silkidea.com.

 

Due to the anonymous nature of the Service, certain requests may not be technically feasible where data cannot be linked to an identifiable individual.

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13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

 

Changes become effective upon publication. Users are encouraged to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

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14. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or data protection practices, please contact:

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privacy@silkidea.com

 

handyREADER – cloud features

(version 4.00 and later)

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Reading books and converting them to audio with the voices on your device (the System quality) happen entirely on your device – no content leaves it. If you use iCloud, your reading and listening positions and the list of books you have unlocked are kept in your private iCloud storage so that your devices, including Apple Watch, stay in sync; Apple stores this data in your iCloud account and we have no access to it. Audiobooks you send to Apple Watch are copied directly from your iPhone to the watch. The following applies only when you use the optional cloud features: converting a book to an audiobook in the Medium or Expert quality, translating a book, and buying credits.

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What we process and why

• Account and device identifiers. When you first use a cloud feature, the app creates a random account identifier. It is stored in your device's Keychain and in your iCloud key-value storage so that your devices share your credits. Each device also gets a random device identifier and secret (the server stores only a hash of the secret), together with the app version, device language and region, and whether purchases come from the App Store or a test environment. We do not ask for your name, e-mail address or phone number. Legal basis: performance of the contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

• Notification token. If you allow notifications, the device's Apple Push Notification service token is stored so that we can tell you when a conversion or translation is ready or about to expire. The notification contains only the title of the book. Legal basis: performance of the contract.

• Purchases of credits. Credits are bought through the App Store. We store the Apple transaction identifier, the product, the date, a pseudonymous account token and the movements of your credit balance (purchases, reservations, charges per chapter, refunds). Apple handles payment; we never see your payment details. Legal basis: performance of the contract and our legal obligations (accounting).

• Book content. To convert or translate a book, the app sends the text of the selected chapters, the book title and chapter titles to our server. Before the first conversion in the Medium or Expert quality and before the first translation, the app tells you what is sent and to whom and asks for your explicit permission; without it nothing is sent. You can withdraw the permission at any time under Credits. The text of a chapter is deleted as soon as that chapter has been processed. For translations, a short list of names and terms and the last few paragraphs are kept while the translation runs so that the chapters read consistently; they are deleted together with the job. The result (audio or translated text) is kept until the app downloads it, at most 14 days. Basic job data without the text (book and chapter titles, number of characters, status and times) is kept for 90 days after the job ends so that we can handle complaints, and is then deleted. Nothing is shared between users and nothing is cached for other users. Legal basis: performance of the contract.

• Refund requests. If you ask Apple for a refund of credits, Apple may ask us how many of the purchased credits you have used. We answer only if you have agreed to it in the app (you can change this at any time under Credits). We then tell Apple the share of the purchase you have used and whether the credits were delivered – nothing else. Legal basis: your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR).

• Technical logs. Our server logs contain identifiers, counts, times and error codes, never the text of your books; IP addresses are not written to access logs. To protect the service against abuse, the server counts device registrations and failed authentication attempts per IP address in one-hour windows; these counters are deleted automatically after about an hour. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in a secure service (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

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Processors and recipients

• Hetzner Online GmbH – hosting of our server in Falkenstein, Germany (EU).

• Google Cloud (Google Cloud Text-to-Speech) – speech synthesis for the Medium and Expert qualities, using Google's European endpoint. Google processes the text only on our behalf under its Cloud Data Processing Addendum.

• OpenAI (OpenAI Ireland Ltd.; processing in the United States) – translation of books. OpenAI processes the text only on our behalf, receives no information about you, does not use the text to train its models and may keep it for up to 30 days to detect abuse, after which it is deleted. Transfers to the United States are protected by the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46 GDPR).

• Apple – App Store purchases and refunds (Apple is an independent controller) and delivery of notifications.

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Artificial intelligence and age.

The voices of the Medium and Expert qualities are synthetic voices and the translations are machine translations, both created by artificial-intelligence services; the resulting files are marked as such. The cloud features (Medium and Expert quality, translations) are intended only for users aged 18 or over – the app asks you to confirm this. Reading and the System quality on your device are available to everyone.

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We do not sell your data, do not use it for advertising or profiling, and do not track you across apps or websites.

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Your rights.

You can ask for access, correction, deletion, restriction or portability of your data, object to processing and withdraw consent at any time, by writing to privacy@silkidea.com. Because we do not know who you are, please include the account code shown in the app under Credits. You may also lodge a complaint with the Czech data protection authority (Úřad pro ochranu osobních údajů, www.uoou.cz).