Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy for Sruthi Kondiparthy, Einzelunternehmerin, doing business as Athirikya (“we”, “us”, or “our”) describes how and why we may access, collect, store, use, and/or share (“process”) personal information when you use our services (“Services”), including when you download or use the MyGermanFreund mobile application.

MyGermanFreund helps users understand German letters, prepare for everyday conversations, and discover practical information about life in Germany.

If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, please do not use the Services. If you have any questions or concerns, please use our Contact page.

Summary of Key Points

What personal information do we process?

When you use MyGermanFreund, we may process information depending on the features you use, such as scanned-letter text, app usage information, anonymous authentication identifiers, and technical service logs.

Do we process sensitive personal information?

Letters scanned by users may contain sensitive information, such as health, financial, student, government, or official reference information. MyGermanFreund applies best-effort redaction before AI-assisted analysis, but automated redaction may not remove all personal or sensitive information.

Do we collect information from third parties?

We do not collect personal information about you from third parties.

How do we process your information?

We process information to provide the requested app features, operate and secure the Services, manage scan limits, troubleshoot issues, and comply with applicable legal obligations.

With whom do we share information?

We may share information with service providers required to operate MyGermanFreund, including cloud, authentication, AI processing, and infrastructure providers. User-triggered sharing or calendar actions may send information to external apps or services selected by the user.

Do we use analytics or advertising?

The current version of MyGermanFreund does not use Google Analytics, Firebase Analytics, Crashlytics, advertising SDKs, or third-party advertising services.

How long do we keep information?

Uploaded letters, extracted letter text, and generated summaries are not permanently stored by MyGermanFreund as part of the normal current-version letter-analysis flow. Basic usage records and technical logs may be retained as needed to operate, monitor, secure, and protect the service.

What are your rights?

Depending on where you are located, you may have rights under applicable privacy laws. You may contact us through the Contact page with privacy-related questions.

Table of Contents

1. What information do we collect?
2. How do we process your information?
3. What legal bases do we rely on?
4. When and with whom do we share information?
5. Do we offer artificial intelligence-based products?
6. Is your information transferred internationally?
7. How long do we keep your information?
8. How do we keep your information safe?
9. Do we collect information from minors?
10. What are your privacy rights?
11. Controls for Do-Not-Track features
12. Letter Scanner and AI-assisted processing
13. Do we make updates to this Privacy Policy?
14. How can you contact us?
15. How can you review, update, or delete data?

1. What Information Do We Collect?

Personal information you disclose to us

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide when you contact us or use features of the Services.

The current version of MyGermanFreund does not require visible user registration, email/password login, a user profile, or direct account creation by the user. The app may use anonymous authentication identifiers to operate app functionality and manage monthly scan limits.

Sensitive information

When you use the Letter Scanner, the letters you scan may contain sensitive information. Depending on the document, this may include health data, financial data, student data, government identifiers, reference numbers, official case numbers, payment information, or other personal details.

We process such information only as needed to provide the requested letter explanation feature, with best-effort redaction before AI-assisted analysis. Automated redaction may not remove all personal or sensitive information.

Application data

If you use the MyGermanFreund mobile application, we may request access or permission to certain features on your device, including:

• camera access;
• storage or document/image selection;
• Android share functionality selected by the user;
• user-triggered calendar actions.

You can change app permissions through your device settings.

This information is primarily needed to provide app functionality, maintain the security and operation of the application, manage scan limits, troubleshoot issues, and monitor service reliability.

Information automatically collected

We automatically collect certain technical information when you use the Services. This information may include service-related, diagnostic, usage, and performance information, such as timestamps, request paths, request status codes, request duration, authentication status, and technical service metadata.

This information is primarily needed to operate, secure, troubleshoot, and protect the Services.

The current version of MyGermanFreund does not use Google Analytics, Firebase Analytics, Crashlytics, advertising SDKs, or third-party advertising tracking.

Google API services

Our use of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements, where applicable.

2. How Do We Process Your Information?

To deliver and facilitate the Services

We process information as needed to provide MyGermanFreund’s current features, including processing scanned-letter text to generate the requested explanation, operating app functionality, managing monthly scan limits, and enabling user-triggered sharing or calendar actions.

Uploaded letters, extracted letter text, and generated summaries are not permanently stored by MyGermanFreund as part of the normal current-version letter-analysis flow.

To respond to user inquiries

We may process information when you contact us with privacy-related or support questions.

To send administrative information

We may process information to provide notices about changes to our terms, policies, or service functionality where appropriate.

To protect our Services

We may process limited technical and usage information to operate MyGermanFreund, manage monthly scan limits, troubleshoot issues, maintain service reliability, prevent misuse, and protect the service.

To comply with legal obligations

We may process information where necessary to comply with applicable laws, regulatory requirements, legal processes, or enforceable governmental requests.

To protect vital interests

We may process information where necessary to protect the vital interests of a person, such as in situations involving potential threats to safety.

3. What Legal Bases Do We Rely On to Process Your Information?

If you are located in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, we rely on the following legal bases where applicable.

Consent

We may process your information if you have given us permission to use your personal information for a specific purpose. You may withdraw your consent at any time.

Performance of a contract

We may process your personal information when necessary to provide the Services you requested, including the Letter Scanner, German Buzz, Did You Know, app functionality, and related support.

Legitimate interests

We may process your information where reasonably necessary for legitimate business interests, provided those interests do not override your rights and freedoms.

These interests include:

• operating and maintaining the Services;
• managing monthly scan limits;
• troubleshooting issues;
• maintaining service reliability;
• preventing misuse;
• protecting the Services from abuse, fraud, or security risks.

Legal obligations

We may process your information where necessary to comply with legal obligations, respond to lawful requests, exercise or defend legal rights, or cooperate with regulatory authorities.

Vital interests

We may process your information where necessary to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another person.

4. When and With Whom Do We Share Your Information?

We may share information with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors, or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to perform that work.

The third parties we may use include:

AI service providers

• Anthropic

Cloud computing and infrastructure services

• Google Cloud Platform
• Cloud Firestore
• Railway

Authentication services

• Firebase Authentication

App functionality services

• Google ML Kit
• Google Document Scanner

App distribution and testing

• Google Play Console

User-triggered external services

• Google Calendar, when the user chooses to create a calendar entry
• Android share targets selected by the user, when the user chooses to share a summary

When you choose to share a summary using the Android share sheet or create a calendar entry, the selected external app or service processes that information according to its own terms and privacy policy.

We may also share or transfer information in connection with a business transfer, such as a merger, sale of assets, financing, or acquisition of all or part of our business.

5. Do We Offer Artificial Intelligence-Based Products?

Yes. MyGermanFreund includes AI-assisted features that help explain German letters in simpler language.

We provide AI-assisted functionality through third-party AI service providers, including Anthropic. Your input, output, and related information may be shared with and processed by these providers only as needed to provide the requested AI-assisted feature.

Our AI-assisted features are designed for:

• natural language processing;
• text analysis;
• plain-language explanation of scanned German letters.

You should not use the AI-assisted features in a way that violates the terms or policies of any AI service provider.

The current version of MyGermanFreund does not use scanned letters, extracted text, or generated summaries for advertising, user profiling, or training our own AI models.

6. Is Your Information Transferred Internationally?

We may transfer, store, and process information in countries other than your own.

Our servers and service providers may be located in the United States, the European Union, and other countries. This means your information may be transferred to, stored by, or processed by us or our service providers outside the country where you live.

If you are located in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, we will take appropriate measures to protect your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.

Where applicable, international transfers may rely on appropriate safeguards, such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent contractual safeguards provided by relevant service providers.

7. How Long Do We Keep Your Information?

We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

Uploaded letters, extracted letter text, and generated summaries are not permanently stored by MyGermanFreund as part of the normal current-version letter-analysis flow.

Basic scan-usage records and technical logs may be retained as needed to operate, monitor, secure, troubleshoot, and protect the service, according to provider settings and applicable requirements.

When we no longer have an ongoing legitimate need to process personal information, we will delete or anonymise it where reasonably possible. If deletion is not immediately possible, such as where information is stored in backup archives or provider logs, we will protect it from further active processing until deletion becomes possible.

8. How Do We Keep Your Information Safe?

We use appropriate and reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information we process.

These measures may include secure communication, authentication for backend requests, limited production logging, access controls, and operational safeguards.

However, no electronic transmission over the internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. We cannot promise or guarantee that unauthorised third parties will never be able to defeat our security measures or improperly collect, access, steal, or modify information.

You should use the Services only within a secure environment.

9. Do We Collect Information From Minors?

MyGermanFreund is not directed at children or users under the age of 18.

We do not knowingly collect, solicit, or market to children under 18. If we learn that personal information from a user under 18 has been collected without appropriate consent, we will take reasonable measures to delete such data from our records where possible.

If you believe we may have collected personal information from a child under 18, please use our Contact page.

10. What Are Your Privacy Rights?

Depending on where you are located, applicable privacy laws may give you certain rights regarding your personal information.

These rights may include the right to:

• request access to your personal information;
• request correction of inaccurate information;
• request deletion of personal information;
• request restriction of processing;
• object to certain processing;
• request data portability, where applicable;
• withdraw consent, where processing is based on consent;
• lodge a complaint with a data protection authority.

We will consider and act upon requests in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

The current version of MyGermanFreund does not provide visible user accounts or user profile management. Because the app uses anonymous identifiers and does not require account registration, some requests may be difficult to fulfil if the relevant data cannot reasonably be linked to you or your app installation.

You may contact us with privacy-related questions through the Contact page.

If you are located in the EEA or UK and believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you may also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.

If you are located in Switzerland, you may contact the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner.

11. Controls for Do-Not-Track Features

Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems include a Do-Not-Track setting.

At this stage, no uniform technology standard for recognising and implementing Do-Not-Track signals has been finalised. The current version of MyGermanFreund does not use third-party advertising tracking. We do not currently respond to Do-Not-Track browser signals.

If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform users in a revised version of this Privacy Policy.

12. Letter Scanner and AI-Assisted Processing

When you use the Letter Scanner, MyGermanFreund processes text extracted from the letter in order to generate the explanation requested by you.

Letters may contain personal or sensitive information. MyGermanFreund applies best-effort redaction before AI-assisted analysis, but automated redaction may not remove all personal or sensitive information.

MyGermanFreund does not permanently store uploaded letters, extracted letter text, or generated summaries as part of the normal letter-analysis process.

The Letter Scanner is provided for informational support only. It does not replace the original document and does not provide legal, tax, immigration, medical, financial, or other professional advice.

You remain responsible for checking the original document, verifying deadlines, confirming payment details, and deciding what action to take.

13. Do We Make Updates to This Privacy Policy?

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

The updated version will be indicated by an updated “Last updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy. If we make material changes, we may notify users by prominently posting a notice or by other appropriate means.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

14. How Can You Contact Us About This Privacy Policy?

If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, please use our Contact page.

Legal operator/controller:
Sruthi Kondiparthy, Einzelunternehmerin
doing business as Athirikya

Application:
MyGermanFreund

15. How Can You Review, Update, or Delete the Data We Collect From You?

Depending on the applicable laws of your country, you may have the right to request access to personal information we process about you, request correction of inaccuracies, request deletion, object to processing, restrict processing, or withdraw consent where applicable.

To make a privacy-related request, please use our Contact page.

Because the current version of MyGermanFreund does not provide visible user accounts or user profile management, and because the app may use anonymous identifiers, some requests may be difficult to fulfil if the relevant data cannot reasonably be linked to you or your app installation.

We will review and respond to requests in accordance with applicable data protection laws.