Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 24, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Bonfire (“Bonfire,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information when you use the Bonfire mobile app (the “App”) and this website, including the waitlist (together, the “Services”). By using the Services, you acknowledge the practices described here.

1. Summary

• Bonfire records your voice during speaking exercises so it can score your delivery and give you feedback.
• To analyze an exercise, your recording is sent to Deepgram, a speech-to-text service, to be transcribed. To produce written feedback, the transcript and your scores are sent to an artificial intelligence (AI) model provided by Anthropic and accessed through Amazon Web Services. We ask for your permission before either happens.
• We do not sell your personal information or use it for targeted advertising.
• You can delete your account and associated data at any time.

2. Information we collect

Information you provide

• Account information: your email address and password, or the identifier and email address provided by Sign in with Apple or Google if you choose those options. Passwords are handled by our authentication provider and are never stored by us in readable form.
• Profile and social information: your display name, username, friend connections, friend requests, and the people you have blocked.
• Onboarding answers: optional answers about your speaking goals and practice preferences, used to personalize your learning plan.
• Waitlist information (website): your name, email address, and, if you choose to provide it, your phone number.
• Communications: information you include when you contact us.

Voice recordings and speech data

• Audio recordings of your speaking exercises, captured only while an exercise is recording and only after you grant microphone permission.
• Transcripts and speech analysis derived from your recordings, such as the words you spoke, timing, pace, pauses, filler words, volume, and pitch measurements.
• Performance reports, including skill scores and written feedback.

We use voice recordings to analyze how you speak. We do not use them to identify you by your voice, and we do not create voiceprints or other biometric identifiers.

Information collected automatically

• Progress and usage data: exercises completed, XP, levels, streaks, and similar in-app progress.
• Technical data: IP address and request details recorded in standard server logs, used for security, debugging, and abuse prevention.
• Website spam protection: the waitlist form uses Google reCAPTCHA, which collects hardware and software information and sends it to Google.

We do not use third-party advertising or cross-app tracking, and we do not access your contacts, photos, or precise location.

3. How we use information

• To create and manage your account and provide the App's features.
• To analyze your recordings and generate scores, feedback, and practice suggestions.
• To save your progress and keep your Speech Journal and reports available to you.
• To operate social features, such as showing your streak, level, and activity to friends you have connected with.
• To send reminders you have opted into and service-related messages.
• To notify waitlist members when Bonfire launches, with an unsubscribe link in every email.
• To secure the Services, prevent fraud and abuse, and fix problems.
• To comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms.

We do not use your recordings, transcripts, or feedback to train AI models, and our AI providers do not use them to train their models.

4. AI-generated feedback and third-party AI

Bonfire uses two third-party AI services. Your recording is transcribed by Deepgram, a speech-to-text provider, and Bonfire's written feedback is generated by Claude, an AI model developed by Anthropic, which we access through Amazon Bedrock, a service operated by Amazon Web Services (AWS). When you request feedback on an exercise:

• Your audio recording is sent to Deepgram to be transcribed. We instruct Deepgram not to retain it beyond processing the request and not to use it to train its models. If Deepgram is unavailable, the recording is transcribed on Bonfire's own servers instead.
• The audio itself is not sent to Claude.
• An excerpt of your transcript, your skill scores, and related speech measurements are sent to the AI model to write your feedback. We do not include your name, email address, or account details in these requests.
• Under AWS's terms for Amazon Bedrock, this content is processed to generate a response and is not used to train the models or shared with the model provider for that purpose.

Your consent. We ask for your explicit permission in the App before any of your speech data is shared with these AI services. If you do not give permission, or later withdraw it, you can still record exercises and use features that do not depend on AI-generated feedback. AI feedback is automated and may sometimes be inaccurate; it is intended for practice, not as professional advice.

5. How we share information

We share personal information only as described below:

• Service providers that process data on our behalf under contractual confidentiality and security obligations, including:
  • Amazon Web Services: hosting, databases, file storage, authentication (Amazon Cognito), email delivery (Amazon SES), and AI model access (Amazon Bedrock, including Anthropic's Claude models).
  • Deepgram: speech-to-text transcription of exercise recordings.
  • Apple and Google: optional sign-in and app distribution.
  • Google: reCAPTCHA spam protection on the website.
• Other Bonfire users: friends you connect with can see your display name, username, streak, level, and in-app activity (for example, completing an exercise). Your recordings, transcripts, and feedback are never shared with other users.
• Legal and safety reasons: when required by law or legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Bonfire, our users, or others.
• Business transfers: in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, subject to this Policy's protections.

We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

6. Purchases

Paid subscriptions, if offered, are processed by Apple or Google through their app stores. We do not receive or store your payment card details; we receive only the information needed to confirm your subscription status.

7. Data retention

• Account, profile, progress, and reports are kept while your account is active and deleted when you delete your account.
• Audio sent for analysis is deleted from our analysis system once your report has been generated and saved. Deepgram keeps it only as long as needed to transcribe it.
• Speech Journal recordings are kept so you can revisit them. To have your recordings deleted, contact us at the address below and we will delete them.
• Waitlist information is kept until launch communications are complete or until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it.
• Server logs are kept for a limited period for security and troubleshooting.

We may keep limited information longer where required by law or to resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.

8. Your choices and rights

• Delete your account at any time in the App's settings, or by contacting us.
• Microphone access can be turned off at any time in your device's settings.
• AI feedback consent can be withdrawn in the App or by contacting us.
• Notifications can be turned off in the App or your device settings.
• Emails can be stopped using the unsubscribe link in any message.

Depending on where you live, including the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and certain U.S. states such as California, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of your personal information, to object to or restrict certain processing, and to withdraw consent. To make a request, email us. We will respond within the time required by applicable law and will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights. Where applicable, you may also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

Where the GDPR applies, we rely on the following legal bases: performance of our contract with you (providing the Services), your consent (microphone access, AI-generated feedback, and marketing emails), and our legitimate interests (securing and improving the Services).

9. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your information, including encryption in transit and at rest, access controls, and per-account authentication. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. International transfers

Bonfire is operated from the United States, and our service providers store and process data in the United States. If you use the Services from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country.

11. Children's privacy

The Services are not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or the minimum age required in your country). If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the date above and notify you in the App or by email where appropriate. If a change affects how your speech data is shared with third parties, we will ask for your consent again.

13. Contact us

For questions about this Privacy Policy or to exercise your privacy rights, contact us at hello@trybonfire.app.