Privacy policy
Talkie lets paired Apple Watch users speak to each other live. It has no app account, address-book upload, advertising or saved voice messages.
Your name and friends are stored on your watch. Our service temporarily coordinates connections and forwards encrypted communication. Network providers and Apple’s TestFlight service also process information, as explained below.
Who is responsible
Lumen IO Ltd, registered in England and Wales (company number 17086006), operates Talkie and is responsible for the personal information we process for it. This policy covers Talkie, its connection service, this privacy page and our beta testing and support.
Contact us at noel@lumenio.uk with privacy questions or requests.
Your name, friends and voice
You choose a display name, which can be a nickname. Talkie stores your name, encryption identity and paired friends in device-only Keychain storage until you remove them. These records do not sync to iCloud. The app does not request your Apple Account, email, phone number, Contacts or location, and we have no cloud friendship directory.
Pairing uses a temporary six-digit code shared through a channel you choose. The watches then exchange names and friendship information in an encrypted session. Names are not verified. First pairing trusts our service to introduce the intended person; later connections check the identity saved on your watch.
With microphone permission, holding Talk captures and transmits live speech when your speaking turn is available. Audio is encrypted between the paired watches, using brief capture and playback buffers. Talkie does not save recordings, transcripts or message history. Our relay forwards encrypted content without decrypting names or speech. The other person can still retain your name or record what they hear outside Talkie.
You control receiving through Incoming and by opening a friend's conversation. Live communication requires the app to be ready in the foreground.
Temporary connection information
Our service processes invitation codes, connection identifiers, readiness and speaking status, encrypted packets and temporary security records to connect watches and prevent abuse. Identifiers and network metadata can distinguish connections even without an app account.
The relay keeps this information in memory, without an application database:
- Pairing: codes expire after 30 seconds or are used or cancelled sooner. Pairing session records expire within six minutes, usually sooner when pairing finishes or becomes inactive.
- Live connections: routing and readiness records last for the connection; abandoned connections expire after a short timeout. Audio is forwarded live, without storage for later delivery.
- Security: anonymous service-access records expire after one hour. Network-based abuse records last for short rate-limit windows or the connection's lifetime.
Expiry makes records unusable; physical memory cleanup may happen later. These limits do not cover the separate provider, TestFlight and support records below.
Cloudflare and this page
Cloudflare hosts our connection service and website. It processes IP addresses, traffic timing and routing, request, error and security information. Operational information may be available to us through its dashboards. Cloudflare retains infrastructure records separately under its privacy policy.
The Talkie relay does not log message content. The app has no advertising or analytics SDK, and this page has no analytics scripts, advertising, page-set cookies or third-party fonts.
TestFlight and support
For an email invitation to TestFlight, Apple and Lumen IO receive the tester's email and any supplied name. Apple automatically shares beta crash and usage information with us, including device and software details, installs and sessions. You can also submit feedback and screenshots. We use this information to manage the beta and fix or improve Talkie, not for advertising, and do not share TestFlight information with third parties. You can stop testing in TestFlight.
If you email us, we receive your address and message. Avoid sending private conversations, pairing codes or other people's personal information.
We retain beta invitation records while needed to manage participation. We retain support messages and diagnostic information while needed to investigate an issue, verify its resolution or meet a specific legal or security need. These records are separate from the relay's temporary memory. Apple's own retention includes one year for beta feedback; it may keep crash and usage data until bugs are resolved. See TestFlight & Privacy.
Purpose, legal basis and sharing
We rely on legitimate interests to provide the communication you request, prevent abuse, answer support requests and investigate beta problems. Microphone permission and receiving controls let you choose when to communicate; they are separate from this legal basis. Where the law requires processing, we rely on that legal obligation.
Recipients are the friend you choose, Cloudflare for hosting, Apple for beta distribution and reporting, and our email provider for support messages. We may also disclose information we hold when required by law. We do not sell personal information, use it for targeted advertising or make automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects about you.
Providers can process information outside the UK, including in the US. Cloudflare describes its UK–US Data Privacy Framework arrangements in its privacy policy and contractual safeguards in its data processing addendum. Apple describes standard contractual clauses for UK data in its privacy policy. These documents explain the providers' arrangements; contact us for information or copies of safeguards applicable to our processing.
Deletion and your rights
Use Profile → Delete all Talkie data to erase this watch's identity, name, friends and stored service credentials. You will need to pair again. You can also remove individual friends. Uninstalling alone does not guarantee Keychain deletion. Reset does not erase another person's saved copy or separate beta, support or provider records.
Depending on the circumstances, you can request access, correction, deletion, restriction or a portable copy of information we hold. You can object to processing based on legitimate interests. Email noel@lumenio.uk; we may need proportionate information to verify your request. We cannot retrieve unrecorded speech or look up anonymous relay records by your name.
You can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office or your local data-protection authority.
Policy updates
Changes to this policy will appear here with an updated date.