Privacy Policy

Last Updated: April 27, 2026

Dawn ("the App") is a voice journaling app for iOS developed by Big Water LLC. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, how we process it, and your rights regarding that data.

1. Data We Collect

Voice Recordings

When you record a voice entry, your device's microphone captures audio. Dawn uses Apple's Speech Recognition framework (SFSpeechRecognizer) to convert speech to text. Depending on your device and iOS version, Apple may process speech on-device or through Apple-managed services. Audio is not stored persistently by Dawn or sent to our servers — only the resulting text transcription is saved.

Journal Entries & Notes

Text transcriptions from your voice entries, along with any manually typed notes, are stored as journal entries. These entries include the text content, timestamps, and associated metadata (e.g., date, time of day).

AI-Generated Content

When you generate a daily summary, use the chat feature, or search your journal, your journal text is sent to our servers for AI processing (see Section 3). The AI-generated summaries and chat responses are stored alongside your journal data.

Account Information

Dawn requires an account after onboarding. When you sign in via Google Sign-In or Apple Sign-In, we collect:

• Email address
• Display name
• Authentication identifiers

Analytics Data

We collect usage analytics through Firebase Analytics, including:

• Screen views and feature usage (e.g., entries created, summaries generated, chat messages sent)
• Subscription events (paywall views, purchases)
• App opens and session data
• Device model and OS version

Bug Reports

If you submit a bug report, we collect the report content, your user ID, email, device model, OS version, and app version.

2. Voice Recording & Transcription

How it works: When you tap the record button, your device captures audio and transcribes it in real time using Apple's built-in speech recognition (SFSpeechRecognizer). Depending on your device and iOS version, Apple may process speech on-device or through Apple-managed services. Apple's handling of speech recognition is governed by Apple's Privacy Policy.

What we store: Only the text transcription — never the raw audio recording. Once transcription is complete, the audio data is discarded.

Apple's Speech Recognition: On-device speech recognition may use Apple's servers depending on your device and iOS version. This is handled by Apple's framework and subject to Apple's privacy practices. Dawn does not control or have access to this Apple-managed process.

3. AI Processing & Third-Party Services

OpenAI (GPT Models & Embeddings)

Dawn uses OpenAI's API to power several features:

• Daily Summaries: Your day's text entries are sent to OpenAI to generate a consolidated journal summary.
• Chat: When you chat with your journal, relevant entries and your message are sent to OpenAI to generate responses.
• Search Embeddings: Entry text is converted to numerical embeddings (via OpenAI's text-embedding-3-small model) to enable semantic search.
• Journal Profile: A compact profile of recurring names, places, and topics is maintained using OpenAI to improve chat and summary quality.

How it's secured: All OpenAI API calls are routed through Firebase Cloud Functions. Your data goes from your device to our Firebase backend, which then communicates with OpenAI. The OpenAI API key never touches your device.

Third-Party AI Disclosure (per Apple Guidelines): Your journal entry text is sent to OpenAI, a third-party AI provider, for processing. OpenAI processes this data according to their API Data Usage Policy. As of this writing, OpenAI does not use API data to train their models by default. OpenAI may retain API data for abuse monitoring, security, and service operation according to its policies. We encourage you to review OpenAI's policies directly.

Firebase (Google Cloud)

We use several Firebase services:

• Firebase Authentication: Account management and sign-in
• Firebase Firestore: Cloud sync of encrypted journal data, bug reports
• Firebase Storage: Encrypted journal backup storage
• Firebase Analytics: Usage analytics
• Firebase Cloud Functions: Server-side processing (OpenAI API proxy)
• Firebase App Check: App integrity checks and abuse prevention

Firebase services are governed by Google's Privacy Policy.

Apple StoreKit

Subscription purchases are handled through Apple's StoreKit framework and are subject to Apple's Privacy Policy.

4. Data Storage & Encryption

On-Device Storage

Journal entries are stored locally on your device. Entries are encrypted using AES-256-GCM encryption with a per-day data encryption key (DEK), wrapped by a key encryption key (KEK) associated with your account. Encryption keys are stored in the iOS Keychain.

Cloud Sync

Dawn's current production app requires sign-in after onboarding. When you use the App, your encrypted journal data is synced to Firebase (Firestore and Firebase Storage). Data is encrypted before leaving your device — our servers store only encrypted blobs. The sync process uses a manifest-based system to efficiently sync only changed entries.

Data in Transit

All network communications use TLS/HTTPS encryption.

5. Data Retention

• Journal Entries: Retained as long as your account exists, or until you delete them. Locally stored entries persist until you delete the app or clear app data.
• Cloud Data: Encrypted journal data remains in Firebase until you delete your account or specific entries.
• Analytics Data: Retained per Google/Firebase default retention policies (typically 14 months for user-level data).
• Bug Reports: Retained indefinitely for product improvement purposes.
• AI Processing: Journal text sent to OpenAI is processed under OpenAI's API policies. OpenAI does not use API data to train models by default, but may retain API data for abuse monitoring, security, and service operation. Generated summaries and responses are stored as part of your journal data.

6. Your Rights

Access & Export

You can view all your journal entries within the App. The App includes a data export feature that lets you download your journal data.

Deletion

• Individual Entries: You can delete individual journal entries, notes, and summaries within the App.
• Account Deletion: You can delete your account through the App settings, which removes your cloud-synced data from our servers.
• Local Data: Uninstalling the App removes all locally stored data.

Opt-Out

• AI Features: AI-powered summaries, chat, and search require sending journal text to OpenAI. You can use Dawn for voice recording and manual journaling without using these features, though they are core to the App experience.
• Account & Cloud Sync: Dawn currently requires sign-in after onboarding and does not offer a production local-only mode. You can delete your account in Settings to remove cloud-synced data from our servers.
• Analytics: You can limit ad tracking and analytics through your iOS device settings (Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements).

7. Children's Privacy

Dawn is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have collected data from a child under 13, please contact us so we can delete it.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes through the App or by updating the "Last Updated" date above. Continued use of the App after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

9. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, contact us at:

Email: hello@big-water.org

Summary of Third-Party Services