Privacy Policy for BRIEF

1. Introduction & Core Privacy Philosophy

BRIEF ("we", "us", or "our", operated by TheWhiteCarp) is designed with a local-first, privacy-focused architecture. We believe that your personal automations, private thoughts, and daily intelligence summaries should remain strictly under your control.

To ensure total transparency, we clearly distinguish between our application's direct operations and third-party advertising services:

• Zero Developer Data Collection (First-Party): We do not collect, store, transmit, or monetize your personal data, chat transcripts, or automation configurations. We do not operate external application servers, central user databases, or user profiling systems. No account or email registration is required to use BRIEF.
• Third-Party Advertising Data Collection (Google AdMob): To support the ongoing maintenance and availability of the app, the public release of BRIEF displays native and app open advertisements served by Google AdMob. While we as the developer collect no personal data, the Google Mobile Ads SDK independently collects and processes certain device-level information (including your Google Advertising ID, device identifiers, and IP address for approximate location and fraud prevention) as described in Section 4(C).
• Direct AI Communication: When generating summaries or executing automations, your prompts travel directly from your device to Google AI Studio over an encrypted HTTPS connection; we do not intercept or store your queries.

This Privacy Policy explains how information is handled, secured, and transmitted when you use the BRIEF mobile application on Android.

2. Bring-Your-Own-Key (BYOK) Model & Key Security

BRIEF operates on a Bring-Your-Own-Key (BYOK) model. To generate AI summaries and perform automated briefings, you supply your personal Google AI Studio (Gemini) API key.

• Zero Developer Access: Your API key is stored exclusively on your physical device. It is never transmitted, copied, logged, or accessible to the developers of BRIEF.
• Direct Transit: When an AI request or automation runs, the application sends your API key directly over an encrypted HTTPS connection to Google's official Generative Language API endpoint (https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com).

3. Local Data Storage & User Custody

All conversation data, automation schedules, and application preferences are stored strictly inside the private, sandboxed internal storage of your Android device:

• Chat Transcripts: Messages between you and the AI are written locally to JSON files utilizing atomic write operations (android.util.AtomicFile) to prevent data corruption.
• Automation Profiles: Your daily topic configurations, notification conditions, and scheduled trigger times are stored in local preferences.
• Complete User Custody: Because this data resides entirely on your device, you have complete control over its retention:
  • You can clear chat history at any time using the in-app chat menu.
  • You can delete individual automation profiles or reset them in Settings.
  • Clearing the app’s storage via Android System Settings or uninstalling BRIEF permanently erases all stored keys, transcripts, and automations immediately.

4. Third-Party Data Transits & Service Providers

While BRIEF maintains no servers of its own, specific app features communicate directly with third-party service providers to function.

A. Google AI Studio / Google Generative Language API

When you send a message or when a scheduled automation executes, your text prompt and conversation context are transmitted to Google:

• Endpoints: Direct HTTPS calls to Google's official API servers.
• Google's Privacy Governance: Your interaction with Google's API is governed by Google's Privacy Policy and the Google AI Studio Terms of Service.
• Free Tier vs. Paid Tier Notice:
  • Free Tier: Under Google's API terms, if you use a free-tier Google AI Studio API key, Google may log and review your API input prompts and generated responses to improve Google products. Human reviewers may read these logs.
  • Paid Tier: If you attach a billing account to your Google Cloud / AI Studio project, Google treats your data under Google Cloud enterprise privacy commitments and does not use your prompts to train models.

B. Public Web Search & Content Synthesis

To deliver up-to-date daily briefings (such as weather, financial updates, or breaking news), BRIEF queries public web search engines (e.g., DuckDuckGo HTML / public search feeds):

• Only the search keyword or topic specified by your automation prompt is transmitted.
• No personal identifying information, device ID, or user profile is attached to web search requests.

C. Advertising Networks (Google AdMob / Google Mobile Ads)

BRIEF displays native and app open advertisements supported by Google AdMob to fund ongoing maintenance.

• Data Processed by AdMob: The Google Mobile Ads SDK may collect and process device information (device model, OS version, carrier), the Google Advertising ID (GAID), IP address (for approximate location/fraud detection), and ad interaction metrics.
• User Choice & Opt-Out: Users within the EEA/UK will be presented with a consent dialog to manage ad preferences. All users can reset or delete their Advertising ID at any time in Android settings: Settings > Google > Ads > Delete advertising ID.

5. Android Device Permissions & Technical Justification

BRIEF does not request or access location, camera, microphone, contacts, or external storage files.

6. Generative AI Safety & Content Reporting

In accordance with Google Play's Generative AI Policy:

• AI outputs are generated dynamically by large language models and may occasionally produce inaccurate, misleading, or unexpected responses. BRIEF implements upstream safety filter checks to block restricted content categories.
• In-App Reporting & Immediate Removal: Every response generated by the AI includes an in-app Report action. Users can flag responses across standard policy categories (Inaccurate or Misleading, Offensive or Harassing, Sexually Explicit, Dangerous or Violent, or Other). Submitting a report immediately purges the offending AI response from the user's conversation history and device storage.
• Local Safety Logging: Flagged responses are logged strictly on-device in private storage to help users track safety issues. Users can review or clear logged reports at any time via Settings > About & Legal > Reported AI Issues.
• Direct Google AI Abuse Reporting: For upstream model safety violations, the in-app reporting dialog provides a direct link to Google's official Generative AI Abuse & Legal Troubleshooter.

7. Children's Privacy (COPPA & Age Restrictions)

BRIEF is not directed at children under the age of 13 (or under 16 within the European Economic Area). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Furthermore, pursuant to Google AI Studio's Terms of Service, users must be at least 18 years of age (or the legal age of majority in their jurisdiction) to create a Google AI Studio account, obtain an API key, and use generative AI features.

8. International Privacy Rights & Regulatory Compliance

A. European Economic Area (EEA) & UK Users (GDPR)

You maintain direct control over all personal data stored locally on your device. For queries transmitted to Google's API, Google acts as an independent data processor/controller. Processing is conducted on the basis of Contract Performance (delivering requested AI summaries) and Legitimate Interest (ensuring application stability and displaying contextual advertisements). You can exercise your right to erasure immediately by clearing app storage or deleting chat history inside the app.

B. California Residents (CCPA / CPRA)

BRIEF does not sell or share personal information or sensitive personal information to third parties or data brokers.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When updates occur, the "Effective Date" at the top of this document will be revised. The latest version will always be publicly accessible at https://thewhitecarp.github.io/BRIEF.github.io/.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or BRIEF's privacy practices, please contact us at:

• Email: thewhitecarp@protonmail.com
• Developer / Publisher: TheWhiteCarp
• Application: BRIEF (com.thewhitecarp.brief)