Privacy policy

Who we are

Rusty is an app for learning languages by talking with an AI teacher. It’s made by Lucas T., an independent developer based in the United Arab Emirates, who decides how your data is used. “We” means Lucas and anyone who helps run Rusty; “you” means you. This policy goes together with our Terms of use.

What we collect

Only what Rusty needs to work:

• Your account. You start with an anonymous account that has no name or email. If you sign in with Apple or Google to keep your progress, we receive what they share with us, such as an account ID and, if you allow it, your name and email address.
• Your learning. Your language, goals, skills, words, corrections, and what your teacher has learned about you to teach you better.
• Your calls, as text. The conversation, plus a short review after each call. Your voice itself is not kept (see below).
• Voice notes. The notes your teacher sends you, and the ones you send back.
• Your profile photo. Only if you add one. It’s stored with your account.
• Your picture. After your first call, Rusty can draw a small cartoon-style picture of you. It’s made from a few short, cleaned words (like your city, languages and a hobby), never from your voice or photo.
• Reminders. If you allow notifications, your device’s notification address and your reminder settings, so your teacher can reach you at the right time.
• Purchases and minutes. What you’ve bought and your minute balance. Apple handles the payment, and we never see your card details.
• Invites. Your invite code and how many friends have joined with it.
• Technical logs. Our servers keep basic logs, like error messages, so we can keep Rusty running and fix problems.

Your voice

When you talk to your teacher, your voice is streamed to our voice provider so the teacher can hear and answer you in real time. We don’t save the audio. It’s only kept if you switch on “Keep my call recordings” in the app’s Privacy settings. Then your side of each call is saved in your account to check your review and to improve the teacher. You can switch it off any time, and deleting your account deletes the recordings too.

The microphone is only used when you’re talking to your teacher or recording a note. You can turn off microphone access in your phone’s Settings at any time.

After a call: your feedback

After a call you can hold a button and tell us what you thought (up to two minutes). It’s completely optional. If you do, we save the recording with a copy of the conversation and its review, so we can check what you said against what really happened and make Rusty better. We may keep this feedback after you delete your account, without your name or your voice.

After Class (Rusty Pro)

If you use After Class, you record a lesson with your real teacher, or add a recording of one, and Rusty writes you a lesson sheet. The recording stays on your phone and is sent to Google’s Gemini to write the sheet. Once you’ve saved the sheet, the audio is deleted. Only the sheet you keep is stored in your account.

Who helps us run Rusty

We use a few trusted services. They process your data to provide their service to us, and each has its own privacy policy:

• OpenAI for the teacher’s voice and for understanding what you say.
• Google for Firebase, which holds our accounts, database, file storage and notifications, and for Gemini, which writes lesson sheets and draws your picture. Google also runs “Sign in with Google”.
• Apple for “Sign in with Apple”, purchases and subscriptions, and push notifications.

Our servers run on Google Cloud, with our app functions in Europe, and some of these services process data in other countries, including the United States. We don’t sell your data to anyone.

No ads, no tracking

Rusty has no ads. We don’t use advertising trackers, and we don’t follow you across other companies’ apps and websites. We don’t use your calls to advertise.

How long we keep it

• Your data stays in your account for as long as you keep it.
• If you use Rusty without signing in, your progress is deleted after 48 hours without use.
• When you delete your account in Profile, everything is deleted for good: your data, files, recordings, minutes, and the account itself. The one exception is feedback you sent us, which may stay without your name or voice.
• You can also “Start over” in Profile to delete your skills, words, calls, voice notes and what your teacher knows, while keeping your account.

Your choices

• See and copy it. In Privacy, tap “Copy everything the app knows about me”.
• Delete it. In Profile, choose “Delete my account”.
• Recordings. Switch “Keep my call recordings” on or off in Privacy.
• Notifications and microphone. Change them any time in your phone’s Settings.

Depending on where you live, the law may give you more rights over your data, such as correcting it or objecting to how it’s used. Write to us and we’ll help. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

How we protect it

Data travels over encrypted connections. Our keys for AI services stay on our servers and never reach the app, and our servers check that requests come from the real Rusty app. No system is perfectly secure, but we take care to keep what you tell us safe and to keep only what we need.

Age

You need to be at least 16 to use Rusty. We don’t knowingly collect data from anyone younger. If you think a child has used Rusty, write to us and we’ll delete their account.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we’ll tell you in the app before it takes effect, and update the date at the top of this page.

Questions

Write to us at support@rusty.talk. We read every message.