Privacy Policy
Last updated 9 November 2026
Pidgin translates your messages. To do that it has to send what you want translated to an AI model, and it needs your email so your free translations belong to you. That's most of it. Here's the detail.
Who we are
Pidgin is made by Dupital Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 16539546), 178 New Road Side, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4DP. We are the controller of your personal data under UK data protection law. Contact us at hello@heypidgin.com.
What we collect
| What | Why | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Your email address | To sign you in with a one-time code and keep your free translations and subscription with you, even if you reinstall. | Until you delete your account. |
| Whether you want update emails | To send occasional Pidgin news only if you said yes. | Until you delete your account or unsubscribe. |
| How many translations you've used | To count your free allowance. | Until you delete your account. |
| Sign-in records (time and IP address) | Security, and stopping abuse of the free allowance. | Kept by our hosting provider for a short period, then deleted. |
| Your subscription status, once subscriptions launch | To unlock unlimited translations. Apple handles the payment; we never see your card. | While you're subscribed, and as long as the law requires for records of sales. |
What you translate
When you ask Pidgin to translate something, it sends that recording or text, with your two languages and any notes on how they speak, to our server, which passes it to Google's Gemini AI model and sends the translation back. We don't store what you translate on our servers or read it, and we don't use it to train anything.
Google processes it to produce the translation under the terms for paid use of the Gemini API: Google doesn't use it to train its models, and may keep it for a limited time only to detect abuse.
Pidgin only sends what you ask it to translate:
- Copied text is read from your clipboard only when you run Pidgin's shortcut or tap Paste.
- The Pidgin keyboard reads the message in the text field you're typing in, so it can translate it. To have the answer ready sooner, it may start translating that message as soon as you switch to it. It never sees what you type with other keyboards, and it doesn't log keystrokes.
- Your voice is recorded only while you're speaking to Pidgin, from the moment you tap the mic until you stop.
What stays on your phone
Your translation history, your voice notes (kept for 30 days so you can play them back, and you can turn this off) and your language pairs are stored on your iPhone, not on our servers. Clear History in Pidgin, or deleting the app, removes them.
Who we share it with
We don't sell your data or show ads. We use a few providers to run Pidgin, each only for the job below:
- Supabase hosts our server, database and sign-in, in Ireland (EU).
- Google (Gemini API) produces the translations.
- Our email provider sends sign-in codes and, if you asked, updates.
- Apple handles App Store downloads and payments, and Sign in with Apple if you use it.
- RevenueCat keeps track of subscriptions, once they launch.
Some of these providers may process data outside the UK, for example in the United States. Where they do, we rely on the UK's adequacy regulations or the standard data protection clauses approved for UK transfers.
Our legal reasons
- To provide Pidgin (contract): your email, translations and usage count.
- Legitimate interests: keeping Pidgin secure and the free allowance fair.
- Consent: update emails. You can say no when you sign up, or unsubscribe any time.
Your rights
You can ask for a copy of your data, ask us to correct it, delete it, or stop using it, and object to how we use it. The quickest way to delete everything is in the app: Configure › Delete Account. That deletes your email and usage count from our servers straight away, and your history from your phone. For anything else, email hello@heypidgin.com and we'll reply within a month.
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
Children
Pidgin isn't meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their data. If you think a child has signed up, tell us and we'll delete the account.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top, and tell you in the app or by email if the change is significant.