Privacy policy
Heardloom is made by The Open Apps, Inc. ("we"). This policy explains what Heardloom collects when you use it in ChatGPT, on heardloom.ambientapp.ai and when you order a printed book, why, who receives it, how long we keep it and how to delete it. Last updated 14 October 2026.
The short version
- You choose one person's voice notes from a WhatsApp export. We keep only those. The chat text, photos, videos and other files in the export are deleted as soon as Heardloom has read who sent each voice note, seconds after the upload. Other people's voice notes are deleted when you choose, or two hours after upload if you don't.
- We never make a voiceprint or any other biometric identifier, and we never clone or imitate anyone's voice. We know who sent each voice note from the names WhatsApp writes in the export.
- Recordings are transcribed by software on our own server. They are not used for advertising or to train AI models.
- You can delete a memoir at any time: ask ChatGPT to delete it, or write to us.
What we collect and why
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| The WhatsApp chat export or recordings you attach or upload | To find the voice notes of the person you choose. We read the chat text once to see who sent each voice note, then delete it with the photos, videos and other files; only the voice notes are held, for at most 2 hours and only until you choose |
| The names of the people who sent voice notes in the export, and how many each sent | To let you choose whose voice to keep. Deleted with the export, except the name you choose |
| The chosen person's voice notes (audio), their dates and lengths | To transcribe them, play them on the listening pages and print the book |
| Transcripts of those voice notes, and any corrections you make | To print the book and show it in ChatGPT and on the listening pages |
| The book details you set: title, subtitle, the printed name, dedication, cover colour, chapters | To make the book |
| Your consent to use the recordings: the time, the wording you confirmed and the person's name | To show that the recordings were added with permission |
| A scrambled (hashed) form of ChatGPT's anonymous user ID | So your memoirs stay yours across chats. We never receive your ChatGPT name, email or chat history |
| Your language setting and approximate country from ChatGPT | To format dates and offer the right shipping |
| For an order: name, delivery address, email address, phone number, and payment status (not card details) | To print, ship and support your order |
| Technical logs: time, page or tool, status, the ChatGPT app and browser type, language, approximate country, and hashed user, conversation and workspace ids | To keep the service running and fix problems. Logs never contain names, transcripts, file names, audio or IP addresses |
Voice recordings can be personal data of the person speaking. We process them only to make the memoir you asked for, only for the person you chose, and only after you confirm that you are allowed to: the recordings are your own, the person agreed, or you are family keeping the voice of someone who has died.
Who receives it
- OpenAI (ChatGPT): the names of the people with voice notes in an export you attach (a sender saved only as a phone number is shown with its last four digits), and, after you choose, the transcripts and chapter details ChatGPT needs to help shape the book. Audio never goes to ChatGPT.
- Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany): hosts our servers.
- Lulu Press, Inc. (US): for an order, the book's print files, the delivery address and phone number.
- Stripe, Inc.: for an order, payment. Card details go to Stripe directly; we never see them.
- Postmark (ActiveCampaign, LLC): order emails.
If we ever move transcription to an outside service, we will update this policy before any audio is sent to it.
We don't sell personal data, show ads or use analytics or tracking cookies. Cloudflare runs DNS for the domain only; traffic doesn't pass through it.
How long we keep it
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| The chat text, photos, videos and other files in an export | Deleted as soon as Heardloom has read who sent each voice note, seconds after the upload |
| Other people's voice notes in an export | Until you choose the person, at most 2 hours |
| The chosen person's recordings, transcripts and chapters | While the memoir exists. A memoir that was never ordered is deleted 12 months after its last activity (a checkout that was never paid doesn't count as an order). After a paid order, at least 5 years after the last order, so the QR codes keep working |
| Book files at the printer's engine | Preview images while the memoir exists; print files 30 days after shipping |
| Your consent record | With the memoir, and deleted with it |
| Order name, address, email and phone | 12 months after delivery; amounts and references 7 years, for accounting |
| Logs | 30 days |
| Anything, on request | Deleted at once; files are erased within 24 hours |
Cookies
Heardloom's website, listening pages and ChatGPT card set no cookies. The checkout page loads Stripe, which sets its own cookies to process the payment and prevent fraud, as described in Stripe's cookie policy.
Listening pages
Each chapter's QR code opens an unlisted page on heardloom.ambientapp.ai that plays that chapter's recordings and shows their transcripts. Anyone with the book, the code or the link can open it; it is not listed or indexed by search engines. Deleting the memoir deletes these pages.
Your choices
- See and correct transcripts, leave notes out, and download every recording, in ChatGPT's card.
- Delete a memoir: ask ChatGPT ("Delete my Heardloom memoir") or write to us.
- Ask for a copy of your data, a correction or deletion, or object to processing: write to heardloom@ambientapp.ai. We answer within 30 days.
Children
Heardloom is not directed at children under 13 and is not for their use. People under 18 need a parent's or guardian's permission to order a book.
Contact
The Open Apps, Inc. Email: heardloom@ambientapp.ai.