Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to personal information we collect through the Service, including the website at caramel.social, our APIs, mobile or web applications, and related interactions (such as customer support and marketing). It does not apply to third-party websites, products, or services, even if they are linked from the Service or used to deliver parts of it. Your use of the Service is also subject to our Terms of Service.

When you create an account, subscribe, or interact with the Service, you may provide us with the following:

• Account information: name, email address, password (stored hashed), profile image, and any optional profile details you submit.
• Authentication identifiers: if you sign in via Google or another OAuth provider, we receive a verified email address, profile name, and a unique provider identifier.
• Conversation content: the messages you send to AI companions, custom personas you create (including names, prompts, descriptions, tone settings, and uploaded images), and metadata such as timestamps and conversation IDs.
• Memories and embeddings: facts and context derived from your conversations, which we convert into vector embeddings to power the long-term memory feature.
• Subscription and billing information: plan selection, billing address, country, and the last four digits and brand of your card. Full payment card details are collected and stored by our payment processor, Stripe; we do not receive or store full card numbers.
• Communications: messages you send to support, feedback, survey responses, and other content you choose to share with us.

When you use the Service, we and our service providers automatically collect certain information, including:

• Device and connection data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device identifiers, language, and time zone.
• Usage data: pages visited, features used, buttons clicked, error logs, referring URLs, and timestamps.
• Cookies and similar technologies: cookies, local storage, and pixels used for authentication, analytics, attribution, and performance.
• Inferred data: subscription status, message volume, and usage patterns derived from the above.

We may receive information about you from third parties, such as:

• Identity providers (e.g., Google) when you sign in using their service.
• Payment processors (Stripe), including transaction status, billing country, and fraud signals.
• Marketing and attribution partners (such as TikTok and TrafficStars) that help us measure how visitors find the Service.
• Analytics providers (such as Google Analytics and Vercel Analytics) that report aggregated usage patterns.

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide and operate the Service, including delivering AI responses, generating images and voice, and maintaining persistent conversation memory.
• Authenticate your account, prevent fraud and abuse, and protect the security of the Service.
• Process payments and manage your subscription through Stripe.
• Personalize your experience by retrieving relevant memories and applying your custom personality settings within a conversation.
• Improve and develop the Service, including testing new features, debugging, and analytics. We use de-identified or aggregated data for product analytics whenever practical.
• Communicate with you, including sending account notifications, billing receipts, security alerts, and (where permitted) marketing or product updates.
• Respond to your support requests and feedback.
• Comply with legal obligations, enforce our Terms, and respond to lawful requests from authorities.

To deliver the Service, we send your messages, persona configuration, and a window of relevant conversation history and memories to third-party AI providers (such as OpenAI) for inference. Those providers process the data on our behalf to generate the response and to create vector embeddings used for memory search. We do not allow these providers to use your conversation content to train their models, except where required to deliver the Service or where you have explicitly consented.

We may also use a small portion of conversation content for safety review (for example, to detect content that violates our policies) and for limited internal evaluation, debugging, and quality improvement. Where possible, we de-identify content used for these purposes. You can request deletion of your conversations and memories at any time through your account settings.

The memory system stores facts and context derived from your conversations so that companions can remember details across sessions. Memories are scoped to a single conversation and are not shared across conversations or between users. Each memory is stored with a vector embedding and may include metadata such as importance and timestamps. You can review and delete your conversations and memories from your account settings.

We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:

• Strictly necessary: authentication tokens, session management, and security.
• Performance and analytics: Google Analytics and Vercel Analytics help us understand how visitors use the Service.
• Marketing and attribution: TikTok Pixel and TrafficStars help us measure ad performance and improve our campaigns.

You can control cookies through your browser settings and, where available, through cookie banners or privacy controls in your account. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may stop parts of the Service from working.

We do not sell your personal information for monetary compensation. We share information only in the following circumstances:

• Service providers: trusted third parties who process data on our behalf under written contracts, including AI model providers (e.g., OpenAI), cloud hosting (e.g., Vercel), database hosting, payment processing (Stripe), email delivery, customer support tooling, analytics, and marketing attribution.
• Legal and safety: with law enforcement, regulators, or other authorities when required by law, subpoena, or court order, or when we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to prevent harm, fraud, or violations of our Terms.
• Business transfers: in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of assets, where personal information may be transferred to the acquiring or successor entity.
• With your consent: when you direct us to share information or otherwise provide your consent.
• Aggregated or de-identified data: we may share data that has been aggregated or de-identified so that it cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

We are based in the United States and use service providers located in the United States and other countries. When we transfer personal information across borders, we rely on appropriate safeguards (for example, standard contractual clauses) where required by applicable law. By using the Service, you understand that your information may be stored and processed in countries other than your own, where data-protection laws may differ.

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide the Service, comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Specifically:

• Account data is retained while your account is active.
• Conversations and memories are retained while your account is active or until you delete them.
• Billing records are retained as required by tax, accounting, and anti-fraud obligations (typically up to seven years).
• Logs and analytics are retained for limited periods consistent with operational needs.
• After account deletion, we delete or anonymize your personal information within a reasonable period, except where retention is required by law or for legitimate business purposes (such as backups, fraud prevention, or legal claims).

We use technical and organizational measures designed to protect personal information, including encryption in transit (TLS), access controls, network protections, hashed passwords, and audit logging. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for keeping your credentials confidential and for promptly notifying us at [email protected] if you suspect unauthorized access to your account.

Depending on where you live, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, including the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you and request a copy.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Delete your account, conversations, and memories.
• Restrict or object to certain processing of your personal information.
• Port your information to another service in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Withdraw your consent where processing is based on consent (without affecting prior processing).
• Opt out of marketing emails by clicking the unsubscribe link or contacting us.
• Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

You can exercise most of these rights from your account settings or by emailing [email protected]. We will respond within the time period required by applicable law. We may verify your identity before fulfilling certain requests.

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended, including the right to know, delete, correct, and limit the use of sensitive personal information, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising those rights. We do not sell personal information for monetary value. We may share certain information for cross-context behavioral advertising (for example, through marketing pixels). You may opt out of such sharing through your browser settings or by contacting us at [email protected].

If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the legal bases for processing your personal information include:

• Performance of a contract: to provide the Service you have requested.
• Legitimate interests: to operate, secure, and improve the Service, prevent fraud, and conduct analytics, balanced against your rights.
• Consent: for certain marketing communications and optional cookies. You may withdraw consent at any time.
• Legal obligation: to comply with laws applicable to us.

You may contact your local data protection authority if you have concerns about how we handle your information.

The Service is intended only for adults aged 18 or older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, please contact us at [email protected] and we will take steps to delete the information and terminate any associated account.

The Service uses automated systems, including AI models and content classifiers, to deliver responses, recommend content, and detect violations of our Terms. These systems are not intended to make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you without human review. If you believe an automated decision has materially affected you, please contact us so we can review the matter.

The Service may contain links to third-party websites, services, or content that we do not operate. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any third-party services you use.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. If we make material changes, we will provide reasonable notice (for example, by posting on the Service or by email). Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of the updated Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the changes.

If you have questions, requests, or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://caramel.social
• Subject line for privacy requests: "Privacy Request"