MiniiMe Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

MiniiMe is made by Colin Boykin ("we", "us"). This policy explains what MiniiMe collects, why, where it goes, and the choices you have. It applies to the MiniiMe iPhone app and the MiniiMe servers it talks to.

2. What Stays on Your iPhone

Everything you put into MiniiMe is stored on your device first, including:

• Memories you write, record or talk (Daily 30s, video memories, time capsules), plus their tags, dates, titles and summaries
• Text versions of what you say in your videos. Speech is turned into text on your iPhone using Apple's speech recognition when your phone supports it
• Your pixel MiniiMe, the places you've lived, and the people and pets you add to My Life
• Places you add to memories (see Location below)
• Unfinished memories, kept as drafts so you don't lose them
• Songs you pick for a day, streaks, ranks, badges and app settings
• A "voice profile" measured on your phone from your own memories (things like sentence length, punctuation and favorite phrases) so your MiniiMes sound like you
• Your optional app passcode and security answers. These are never stored as written: only salted, one-way hashes are kept in your iPhone's Keychain, and they are never backed up or sent to us

Photos and videos from your library: When MiniiMe has full access to your photo library, an attached photo or video is saved as a link to the item in your library (plus a small thumbnail), so it isn't copied or uploaded. Without full access, a copy is saved in MiniiMe and backed up like your other recordings.

Filling in your past: When you import older photos, notes, journals or screenshots, the dates and words are read on your iPhone, including text in pictures. Photos may be grouped by when they were taken.

3. Location

MiniiMe uses your location only when you ask it to, and only while the app is open. It never tracks you in the background.

• "Add where I am": when you add a place to a memory, MiniiMe asks for your location once (iOS "While Using the App" permission) and Apple's geocoding service turns it into a place name, such as your city or neighborhood
• City (default): the place name is saved with coordinates rounded to about 1 km
• Exact spot (optional): if you turn on "Exact spot", the precise coordinates from your iPhone are saved, which can identify the exact address or spot where you were
• Past memories: a place can also come from where an attached photo was taken, or a place you type in (which is looked up with Apple's geocoding service)
• Where it goes: the place name and coordinates are saved with that memory on your iPhone and in your private cloud backup on Google Cloud. My Places in My Life shows them on a map
• Where it doesn't go: places are never shown to friends, never put on public links, and never sent to OpenAI
• You can remove a place from a memory, turn off "Exact spot", or turn off location access in iOS Settings at any time. Everything else in MiniiMe works without it

4. Private Cloud Backup

So you don't lose your journal, MiniiMe backs up your memories to our servers on Google Cloud (Firestore and Cloud Storage, in the United States). The backup includes:

• The text of your memories, video transcripts, titles, summaries, tags and songs
• Videos you record in MiniiMe and any photos or videos copied into the app (videos are compressed on your phone before upload)
• Places you added to memories: the place name, its coordinates (rounded to about 1 km, or exact if you chose "Exact spot"), and which of the two it is
• A random backup ID that links the backup to your install or account

Backups are only readable by your account and are used only to restore your journal after a reinstall or on a new phone. Sealed time capsules are backed up too, but stay sealed in the app until their date. You can turn backup off at any time in Settings.

5. Your Account

Signing in is optional for journaling. If you create an account, you sign in with an email address or phone number and a password through Google Firebase Authentication. Phone numbers are used only as a sign-in name; we don't send text messages. An account lets your backup follow you to a new phone and is required to talk to your MiniiMes, because that uses AI on our servers.

6. AI Features (Only With Your OK)

When AI is on, the memories that are relevant to a request, your voice profile, and the names of people in your story are sent through our server to OpenAI to:

• Write replies when you talk to your MiniiMe from a past year
• Write My Life chapter summaries
• Write titles and short summaries for memories and videos

If a friend shared a memory with you and it's part of a conversation, that shared memory may be included as well. Sealed time capsules are never sent. Our OpenAI key stays on our server, never in the app. Under OpenAI's API terms, data sent through the API is not used to train their models; OpenAI may keep it for a limited time for abuse monitoring, as described in their own privacy policy. We keep a count of how many chat messages you send each day to prevent abuse, not the messages themselves.

7. Friends and Shared Memories

Friends on MiniiMe is small and private, not a social network:

• You add someone with their friend code, and you're only friends once both of you say yes
• Friends see only your name, your pixel MiniiMe, and the memories you choose to share with them
• A shared memory appears in a friend's timeline only if they accept it, and you can take it back at any time
• A shared memory's song, photos and videos are shown to your friend through short-lived, view-only links to your private backup. Nothing is copied into their backup, and the links stop working if you unfriend them or take the memory back. Photos may be cached on their phone so they load quickly, and that cache is cleared when the memory is taken back
• On a memory you share, each of you can add a reaction (heart, laugh, wow or hug) and your own side of the story. These are visible to both of you, and the memory's owner can hide their friend's side
• Places you added to a memory are never shared with friends
• Notifications (friend requests, shared memories, reactions and "On this day" reminders) never include what a memory says, so nothing private shows on a lock screen

8. Public Links

"Make a link" lets you share one memory with anyone, even people who don't use MiniiMe. This needs an account.

• What's on the page: a frozen copy of only what you pick: the memory's title, words and date, your name and pixel MiniiMe, and up to 10 photos. Photos are resized on your iPhone and their hidden details (such as location, camera and time) are removed before upload
• What's never on it: places, videos, time capsules, memories friends shared with you, and anything else in your account
• Who can see it: anyone who has the link, which uses a long random code. Pages ask search engines not to list them. Anyone who views the page could copy or screenshot it, so only share links with people you trust
• Where it's stored: the copy is kept on our servers on Google Cloud, separate from your backup
• Expiry and turning it off: you choose 7 days, 30 days or until you turn it off. When you turn a link off, its words and photos are deleted from our servers. Expired links stop working
• View count: we count how many times a link is opened so you can see it in the app. We don't record who opened it
• Reports: every public page has a "Report this page" link. A report stores the reason the person typed, which link it's about, and when. To prevent spam, the reporter's IP address is turned into a one-way hash and used in a daily counter that is deleted after about 3 days; the IP address itself is not stored. We review reports and may turn off links that break our Terms of Use

9. Songs

When you search Apple Music in the app, only your search words are sent, directly to Apple. If you paste a YouTube, YouTube Music, Spotify or Apple Music link, MiniiMe asks that service for the song's name, and the song plays in the service's own player only when you tap play. Those services may collect information under their own privacy policies when their player loads.

10. Anonymous Usage Counts

MiniiMe can send simple counts of which features get used (for example, how many Daily 30s are filmed versus typed). These are event names and small labels only, never anything you wrote, said or recorded, and are not used for advertising or tracking. You can turn them off in Settings > AI & Privacy.

11. Feedback

If you send feedback from Settings, we receive your message along with your account email (if any), app version and device model so we can follow up and fix problems. Only we read it.

12. Purchases

Payments are handled entirely by Apple. We never see your payment details. To confirm your MiniiMe Yearly plan, the app sends your App Store transaction information to our server, which checks it with Apple. We also note when your account was created so we know when your free first month ends.

13. Permissions

• Camera and microphone: only when you choose to record a video or talk in a Daily 30
• Speech recognition: to turn what you say into text on your iPhone
• Photos: to attach photos and videos you pick
• Location (While Using the App): only when you add where you are to a memory (see Location above)
• Notifications: for your Daily 30 reminder, time capsules that open, "On this day" memories, and friend activity
• Apple Music (optional): to play full songs if you subscribe to Apple Music

MiniiMe does not access your contacts and never uses your location in the background.

14. Who We Share Data With

We do not sell or rent your data, and we don't use advertising networks. We share data only with the service providers needed to run MiniiMe:

• Google Cloud and Firebase: hosting, backup storage and sign-in
• OpenAI: AI replies, titles and summaries, only when you've agreed
• Apple: purchases, notifications, speech recognition, Apple Music, and turning locations into place names
• Friends you choose: only the memories you share with them
• Anyone with a public link you make: only that one memory, as described above

We may also disclose information if required by law or to protect the safety of our users.

15. Security

• All communication with our servers uses HTTPS encryption
• Your sign-in session is kept in your iPhone's Keychain
• Your backup is tied to your account, and shared media is only reachable through short-lived links
• An optional passcode (and Face ID) can lock the app, and the journal is hidden in the app switcher

No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information.

16. How Long We Keep Data

Your backup is kept as long as you have backup on or keep your account. When you delete a memory, it's removed from your backup too, along with its place. Public links last until they expire or you turn them off, and their words and photos are then deleted. Reports are kept while we review them and as needed to protect users. Daily usage counters used for rate limits (including hashed IP counters) expire after a few days. When you delete your account, your backup, places, public links and friend data are deleted from our servers.

17. Your Choices and Rights

• Delete memories: any time, in the app
• Turn off AI or usage counts: Settings > AI & Privacy
• Turn off backup: in Settings
• Remove a place or stop location access: on the memory, or in iOS Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services
• Turn off a public link: any time, in the app
• Delete your account: Settings > Account > Delete account. This deletes your sign-in, your cloud backup (text, videos, photos and places), your public links, your friend code, friendships and anything you've shared. When you sign out or delete your account, you can also choose to remove all memories from this iPhone; otherwise they stay on your iPhone
• Access or other requests: email us and we'll help, including requests under laws like the GDPR or CCPA

18. Children

MiniiMe is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it. Purchases made through Apple's Ask to Buy need a parent or guardian's approval.

19. Changes to This Policy

We'll post any changes on this page and update the effective date. For material changes, we'll also let you know in the app.