Privacy Policy

The Translate Blue application (hereinafter: 'App' or 'Service'), including its iOS app, macOS app, and extensions such as Widget, Keyboard, and Share, is created and operated by Translate Blue (hereinafter: 'Translate Blue', 'we', 'us' or 'our'). This Privacy Policy is written to meet the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR 2016/679), Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI), and the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the CPRA (CCPA/CPRA), and other applicable privacy laws. By using the App, you are consenting to our processing of data as set forth in this Privacy Policy.

1. What data do we collect?

1.1 Most of what the App handles stays on your device. This section describes what the App processes, where it is kept, and when it is sent to a third party.

a. Automatically Collected Data – The App records certain data on your device, such as: the type of device you use, your operating system, language settings, data connection status and success or failure of connection, and data about the way you use the App (such as translation history, language preferences, and feature usage). This data is used on your device to provide and improve the App's functionality. It is sent off your device only as described in this section: for example, the third-party components in 1.1 h and 2.2 process a device identifier and diagnostic data, and diagnostic logs are sent only if you turn them on (7.2).

b. User Provided Data – The App obtains the data you provide when you download and use the App. We may collect: (a) API keys or other credentials that your organization supplies through Managed App Configuration (MDM), which the App reads from that configuration when needed and does not copy elsewhere (the App does not ask you to enter your own API keys, and keys that earlier versions let you enter are deleted from the device Keychain); (b) transaction-related data, such as when you make in-app purchases or subscribe to premium features; (c) data you provide us when you contact us for help or support, including any logs or screenshot you choose to attach to a feedback email; and (d) data you enter into the App, such as text for translation, language preferences, and settings.

c. Translation Data – When you use the App to translate, the content you input is processed as follows.

- On-device translation uses Apple Translation, Google ML Kit, NLLB, MADLAD-400, or similar models on your device, and does not send your text to external servers. Some of these models and language packs, including Google ML Kit language packs and models hosted on Hugging Face, are downloaded to your device from the provider's servers before first use; that download is a network request to the provider (which receives your IP address and basic device information) and does not include your translation content. Apple Translation may involve network processing according to Apple's policies.

- Google's web translation service (translate.google.com) is used automatically, depending on your plan, for voice sessions between languages that Apple Translation does not support, and for online PDF translation unless you choose offline translation. The App sends the text to be translated to that service without an account or API key of yours; Google processes it under the Google Privacy Policy.

- Google Gemini is used through the App's built-in access when you select a Gemini model for online translation, and automatically as the backup when Google's web translation service cannot translate a segment in the voice sessions described above. The App's built-in Gemini access currently uses Google's unpaid service tier. Under Google's Gemini API terms, Google may use prompts and responses submitted through unpaid services to provide, improve, and develop its products, and human reviewers may read them. Do not enter sensitive or confidential information in a voice session or translation that uses Gemini; you can avoid Gemini by choosing on-device translation.

- Models hosted by Fireworks AI (for example GLM 5.3 Flash or gpt-oss-120b) are used only when you select them for online translation; your text is then sent to Fireworks AI through the App's built-in access. Fireworks AI processes API requests with zero data retention by default.

- OpenAI, Microsoft Azure Translator, and DeepL are used only when your organization supplies credentials for them through Managed App Configuration (1.1 g).

Translation history and translation memory: the App saves each translation (including voice-session transcripts) to a translation history and a translation memory on your device so that you can review it and so that later translations stay consistent. Translation history is stored with Data Protection. You can delete history and translation memory at any time from the App settings, and when Private Mode (1.1 k) is on, the App saves neither.

d. Speech and Audio Data – When you use speech recognition, text-to-speech, or simultaneous interpretation, audio is processed on your device (for example with Apple Speech, WhisperKit, or similar on-device engines). For languages that have no on-device Apple Speech model, Apple Speech sends the audio to Apple's servers for recognition under Apple's privacy policy; organization-managed offline-only installs never do this. Audio is sent to OpenAI only when your organization supplies OpenAI credentials through Managed App Configuration. Voice profiles for text-to-speech are stored on your device only. Recordings made during speech recognition are kept on your device temporarily and deleted automatically (the most recent 8 recordings are kept for at most 7 days); a voice-session recording leaves your device only if you share or export it yourself. What was recognised and translated is saved to translation history as described in 1.1 c.

e. Camera and Image Data – When you use camera translation, AR translation, or image translation, images are processed on your device for layout detection and OCR where that path is used. We do not send your images to servers operated by Translate Blue. Text extracted from an image is translated as described in 1.1 c. When you use online or cloud-assisted features, all or part of an image, extracted text, or related prompts may be sent to the online provider in use for that feature (for example a provider your organization has configured). Online PDF translation sends the document's text to Google's web translation service (1.1 c), or to OpenAI or Microsoft Azure Translator when your organization has configured them. Review in-app notices and your settings before sending sensitive documents or photos.

f. App Groups and Extensions – The Widget, Keyboard, and Share extensions share data with the main app via App Groups (group.Translate.Blue). This shared data includes language preferences, recent translation entries (limited in number and length, with the model used, its usage and estimated cost, and the location of any translated file) for display in the Widget, your custom glossary for the Keyboard, and text or files you share into the App through the Share extension. This data stays on your device.

g. Organization-managed use – If your organization deploys the App via Mobile Device Management (MDM), it may push a Managed App Configuration (e.g. API keys or policies). When the organization enables "offline only" (or equivalent) policy, the App does not send translation, speech, or image content to any external translation or speech service, including Apple's server-based speech recognition; all processing stays on your device. In that case, no translation or speech data is shared with third parties such as OpenAI, Google, or Apple, the advertising SDK is not started, and diagnostic uploads (7.2) are blocked.

h. Advertising Identifiers – We do not track you. The App never asks for permission under Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework and never accesses the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA). When you use the App on a free plan, advertising is served through the Google Mobile Ads (AdMob) SDK and is always non-personalized: ad personalization is disabled in the SDK for every user, and Google's publisher first-party identifier is switched off. Google still processes a device identifier, IP address, coarse location, and diagnostic and performance data in order to deliver, frequency-cap, and measure advertising and to prevent fraud, as described in Google's privacy disclosures; that data is not used to build a profile of you across other companies' apps or websites. The advertising SDK is not started for users on a paid plan or on organization-managed offline-only installs. Where consent is required (for example in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom), consent for the processing that remains is collected through Google's User Messaging Platform (UMP), and you can review or change it at any time from Settings → Privacy → Ad Privacy Settings.

i. Approximate Location – If you grant location permission, the App uses your approximate location (about one kilometre accuracy) while in use to suggest relevant languages in the language selector. The App resolves your location to a country or region using Apple's MapKit geocoding service, keeps only that country or region, and does not transmit your location to servers operated by Translate Blue. If you do not grant permission, the App uses your device's region setting instead.

j. iCloud Sync – The App can synchronize your translation memory, glossaries, and PDF annotations across your devices using Apple's CloudKit while you are signed in to iCloud on your device. This content is stored in the private CloudKit database associated with your own Apple ID. It is not stored on servers operated by Translate Blue, and we cannot read it. Translation memory, glossaries, and PDF annotations are encrypted on your device with a 256-bit key before they are uploaded; the key is kept in your Keychain and, on iOS, synchronized to your other devices through iCloud Keychain so that they can decrypt the content. You can stop synchronization by turning off iCloud for Translate Blue in your device's iCloud settings; doing so does not delete content already stored in your iCloud account, which you can remove through your Apple ID settings.

k. Private Mode – When you turn on Private Mode (Settings → Privacy → Private Mode), the App does not save translations to translation history or translation memory (so nothing new is synchronized through iCloud Sync), clears the current input, translation, and images when the App goes to the background, and does not upload diagnostic logs or audio clips (7.2), whatever that setting says.

l. Local Privacy Log – The App keeps a tamper-evident log of privacy-relevant events on your device (for example when Private Mode is turned on or off, or when session data is cleared), identified by a random identifier generated on your device. The log does not contain your translation content, is protected with Data Protection, and is never sent anywhere unless you export it yourself.

2. How we use your data

2.1 We use your data to provide, maintain, and improve the App's services, including:

- Processing translation requests (text, documents, images, and PDFs)

- Providing speech recognition, text-to-speech, and simultaneous interpretation

- Processing camera and AR translation

- Managing your subscription and in-app purchases

- Providing customer support

- Showing advertising on the free plan and measuring its delivery

- Improving App functionality based on anonymized usage patterns

- Sending important updates about the App

2.2 We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We may share your data with trusted service providers who work on our behalf and have agreed to adhere to the rules set forth in this Privacy Policy, such as:

- Apple, for in-app purchases and subscription management, for iCloud (CloudKit) storage of content you synchronize, for Apple Translation, and for server-based speech recognition in languages that have no on-device model (1.1 d)

- Google, for its web translation service (translate.google.com) used for voice sessions and online PDF translation as described in 1.1 c, and for Google Gemini when you select a Gemini model or when it is used as the backup described in 1.1 c

- Fireworks.ai, Inc., when you select a model hosted by Fireworks AI (for example GLM 5.3 Flash or gpt-oss-120b) for online translation

- Google, for advertising delivery and measurement through the Google Mobile Ads (AdMob) SDK and the User Messaging Platform, when advertising is shown on a free plan

- Google, for the Firebase Core and Google App Measurement components that are included as dependencies of Google ML Kit, and for downloading ML Kit on-device translation packs to your device. These components may send device identifiers and diagnostic data to Google. We have not enabled Google Analytics event or screen reporting

- OpenAI, Microsoft (Azure Translator), and DeepL, only when your organization supplies credentials for them through Managed App Configuration

- Stripe and our payment backend, when you complete optional web checkout for subscription or prepaid credits in regions and versions where that option is offered. In those versions our payment backend receives an app-specific user identifier, App Store or Stripe transaction identifiers, and the amount of credits used, so that it can verify payment and keep your credit balance. It does not receive your translation content

- Hugging Face, for downloading on-device models to your device, and for the diagnostic uploads you can turn on (7.2)

- GitHub and Google Fonts, for downloading OCR language data and fonts to your device; these downloads receive your IP address and do not include your content

- Other than the advertising and measurement components described above, we do not use third-party analytics SDKs. App usage data may be used in anonymized form to improve the App.

2.3 We may disclose your data as required by law, such as to comply with a subpoena or similar legal process, or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.

2.4 International transfers – The providers listed in 2.2 may process data in the United States or other countries outside your own. Where the GDPR applies, we rely on the provider's standard contractual clauses or an adequacy decision for those transfers. Where the APPI applies, this section together with 7.4 constitutes the information we provide about the countries in which those providers operate and the measures they take to protect personal information; the providers' own policies linked in 7.4 describe their protection measures.

2.5 Legal bases (GDPR) – We process data to perform our contract with you (providing translation, speech, purchase, and support features), on the basis of your consent (advertising consent collected through UMP where it is required, location permission, diagnostic uploads and optional cloud features that you enable), and for our legitimate interests in operating, securing, and improving the App. You can withdraw consent at any time through the relevant device permission or App setting.

3. Data Security

3.1 We are concerned about safeguarding the confidentiality of your personal data. We provide physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect data we process and maintain. Credentials supplied by your organization are read from Managed App Configuration, and the App clears its in-memory copy of credentials when it goes to the background. Translation history, translated files, and the local privacy log use Data Protection. With Private Mode on, the App also clears the current input, translation, and images when it goes to the background (1.1 k). We limit access to data to authorized employees and contractors who need to know that data in order to operate, develop or improve the App. Please be aware that, although we endeavour to provide reasonable security for personal data we process and maintain, no security system can prevent all potential security breaches.

3.2 Local Data Deletion & Zero Server Retention – The App is designed with privacy-first principles. Translate Blue does not store, collect, or retain your translation text, speech audio, or image content on any servers operated by Translate Blue. Content sent to third-party translation or speech providers is handled under their own policies (see section 7.4). If iCloud Sync is active (section 1.1 j), selected content is stored in your own iCloud account. If you turn on diagnostic uploads (7.2), the logs and audio clips described there are stored in a dataset we operate on Hugging Face. Apart from these, your content stays on your device, and you can clear translation history, translation memory, and cached data at any time from the App settings. Deleting locally stored data removes it permanently from your device.

4. Data Retention

4.1 We will retain User Provided Data for as long as you use the App and for a reasonable time thereafter. Translation history, translation memory, and translated PDFs are stored on your device until you delete them; you can clear them at any time from the App settings. Temporary speech recordings are deleted automatically as described in 1.1 d. We will retain Automatically Collected data for up to 12 months and thereafter we may store it in aggregate form. Diagnostic logs and audio clips you choose to upload (7.2) are kept only as long as they are useful for improving speech recognition, and you may ask us to delete them. Support correspondence is kept for as long as needed to handle the request and for a reasonable time thereafter. If you'd like us to delete User Provided Data that you have provided via the App, please contact us at TranslateBlue@proton.me and we will respond in a reasonable time. Please note that some or all of the User Provided Data may be required in order for the App to function properly.

5. Children's Privacy

5.1 We do not use the App to knowingly solicit data from or market to children under the age of 13, or under the age at which consent for data processing may be given without a parent or guardian in your country (16 in some EEA member states). If a parent or guardian becomes aware that their child has provided us with data without their consent, they should contact us at TranslateBlue@proton.me. We will delete or anonymize such data from our files within a reasonable time.

6. Your Rights

6.1 You have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal data. You can stop all collection of data by the App easily by uninstalling the App. You may use the standard uninstall processes as may be available as part of your device or via the application marketplace.

6.2 If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, you have certain data protection rights under the GDPR, including the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing, object to processing, and data portability, and the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. To exercise these rights, please contact us at TranslateBlue@proton.me.

6.3 If you are in Japan, you have rights under the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI), including the right to request disclosure, correction, addition, deletion, or cessation of use of your personal information held by us, and to be informed of the purposes of use. Requests are handled by email at TranslateBlue@proton.me; we may ask you to verify your identity. Because we hold almost no personal data outside your device, most requests can be fulfilled by deleting data in the App or your iCloud account yourself, as described in sections 3.2 and 1.1 j.

6.4 If you are a California resident, you have rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including the right to know what personal information we collect, the right to delete personal information, the right to correct inaccuracies, the right to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information, the right to limit the use of sensitive personal information, and the right to non-discrimination. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising as that term is used in the CPRA: as described in 1.1 h, the App does not request tracking permission, does not access the advertising identifier, and serves only non-personalized advertising. Where advertising consent is collected, you can review or change it at any time, with immediate effect, in Settings → Privacy → Ad Privacy Settings inside the App; no request to us is needed. We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16. In the preceding 12 months we have collected the categories of personal information described in section 1, from you and your device, for the purposes in section 2, and disclosed them to the providers in section 2.2. Content you translate, speak, or photograph may include sensitive personal information; we use it only to provide the requested feature. Requests made through an authorised agent must include your written permission and are verified by email with you.

7. Data Processing Commitments

7.1 No Server-Side Storage of Translation Data – Translate Blue does not permanently store your translation content on our servers. When an online translation service is used (Google's web translation service, Google Gemini, Fireworks AI, or a provider your organization configures such as OpenAI, Microsoft Azure Translator, or DeepL), your text (and, for some features, audio, images, or document excerpts as applicable) is sent to the respective third-party provider for processing and the result is returned to your device. That applies whether the App uses its built-in access or credentials your organization configures via MDM. We do not retain, log, or store the content of your translations on any server operated by Translate Blue.

7.2 Limited Use of Diagnostic Data to Improve Speech Recognition, and Your Control Over It – We do not use your translation content, images, or ordinary usage data to train, fine-tune, or improve any artificial intelligence or machine learning models. The one exception is narrow and user-controlled: when “Automatically send diagnostic logs” is turned on in Settings → Privacy → Privacy & Diagnostics, the App may upload diagnostic logs and short audio clips from speech-translation attempts where recognition likely failed (for example, no speech was detected in a noisy environment) to a Hugging Face-hosted dataset we operate, so that we can evaluate and improve on-device speech recognition (ASR) in difficult acoustic conditions. Diagnostic logs contain the error and where it occurred in the App, recent App log lines with personal information filtered out, your device model, operating system, and App version. Audio clips are accompanied by the speech engine, language pair, App and operating-system version, and time; they contain no transcript or translation. Neither carries an account, device, or advertising identifier, but an audio clip is a recording of a voice and may identify the speaker. This setting is off by default. If you turn it on, you can turn it off again at any time in the App with immediate effect and no further upload will occur; turning on Private Mode (1.1 k) also stops these uploads regardless of this setting, and organization-managed offline-only installs (section 7.3) block them entirely. We do not use this diagnostic data for advertising, profiling, or any purpose other than improving the App's speech recognition and fixing errors. Aside from this one exception, your data is processed solely to provide you with the requested translation or speech service.

7.3 Offline Mode Data Guarantee – When your organization's MDM policy configures the App in offline-only mode, all translation, speech recognition, and text-to-speech processing occurs entirely on your device. No translation content, audio data, or image data is sent to translation or speech providers (including Apple's server-based speech recognition), the advertising SDK is not started, and diagnostic uploads are blocked. The on-device models (Apple Translation, Google ML Kit, NLLB, MADLAD-400, WhisperKit, etc.) operate without any network connection once downloaded; speech recognition for a language with no on-device model is unavailable in this mode. The Firebase Core component required by Google ML Kit (2.2) may still contact Google with a device identifier and diagnostic data, without any of your content. iCloud Sync (1.1 j) is controlled separately by your device's iCloud settings.

7.4 Third-Party Data Handling – When content is processed by a third-party provider (including through credentials your organization supplies via MDM), your data is subject to the respective third party's privacy policy and data handling practices. We encourage users and organizations to review the privacy and data processing terms of Apple (https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/), Google (https://policies.google.com/privacy, and for Gemini https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/terms), Fireworks AI (https://fireworks.ai/privacy-policy), OpenAI (https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy), Microsoft Azure (https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement), DeepL (https://www.deepl.com/privacy), Stripe (https://stripe.com/privacy), and Hugging Face (https://huggingface.co/privacy) as applicable.

7.5 Data Processing Agreement (DPA) – Organizations that deploy the App and require a Data Processing Agreement may request one at TranslateBlue@proton.me. A DPA is provided on our standard terms.

7.6 MDM-Managed Data Controls – Organizations deploying the App via MDM can enforce the following data controls through Managed App Configuration: (a) restrict the App to offline-only mode, ensuring no translation, speech, or image content leaves the device; (b) specify which translation engines are permitted; (c) centrally manage API keys so individual users do not need to handle credentials; and (d) set default language pairs for the organization.

7.7 Third-Party Model Terms – Some on-device models made available in the App are provided by third parties under their own licences, which may impose use restrictions that apply to you as well. Where such a model is offered, the applicable licence and any use restrictions are identified in the Third-Party Licenses notice available within the App.

8. Changes to This Privacy Policy

8.1 This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes to our Privacy Policy by posting the new Privacy Policy within the App or by other means. You are advised to consult this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes. If you have any questions, please contact us at TranslateBlue@proton.me.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on October 1, 2026.