Dote Privacy Policy
Effective Date: April 12, 2024
The Dote mobile app and the dote.app website (together, “Dote”) are developed and maintained by Aura Home, Inc. Both are intended for use by individuals in the United States who are at least 18 years of age, or who are at least 13 years of age and who have the consent and supervision of a parent or guardian.
Dote understands the importance of your privacy. You trust us with your photos and your family stories. In return, we will work diligently to protect your information and to ensure it is shared only when you choose to share it.
This Privacy Policy describes the information that we gather and the steps that we take to protect it. It also explains certain of your legal rights and some actions you can take to manage how we use your information. To understand how Dote processes your photos and other information (including its use of artificial intelligence tools), please visit the Dote Frequently Asked Questions page.
This Privacy Policy applies when you visit our website at dote.app (the “Website”), use our iOS application Dote: AI Photo Journal (the “App”), interact with us, or use any and all of our products and services (collectively, our “Services”). Our Privacy Policy describes our collection of information during your interactions with our Services, and the rights and choices you have regarding your information.
By using our services, you agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, and our Terms of Use.
Information Collection
When operating our services, Dote collects data, including Personal Information about you. “Personal Information” means information that can reasonably be linked to a particular individual or household.
To use Dote, you provide access to your photos and answer interview questions about those photos. Dote gathers that information and stores it on your phone and in your iCloud account. Dote will also send your photos and interview responses to outside services (“AI Providers”) that provide image and text analysis using artificial intelligence.
We don’t store any of your photos or your audio and text responses on our own servers. Likewise, our AI Providers do not store or persist any of your information; they use the information solely to prepare a response to Dote, after which they discard it. Dote does, however, store photos and interview data, plus responses from AI Providers, on your phone and in your iCloud account and will use that information as relevant context and history for future interviews. That’s how Dote gets better at understanding your family and its stories.
We may in the future begin storing some photo and user interview information on our own servers, in which case we will change this Privacy Policy and notify you about the changes.
In the previous twelve months, we have collected various types of personal information, including:
Data CategoryExamples of Specific Data When the Data is Collected
Examples of Specific Data
When the Data is Collected
- IP address
- Browser type
- Browser settings
- Operating system
- Cookie identifier
- Login activities
- Photos and photo metadata
- Device identifier
- Audio and text provided by App user in the course of Dote interviews
- Transaction details, such as subscription information
- App usage time and other usage metrics
- Contact details, such as email address and phone number
- Apple ID
Website visitors. We collect browsing information automatically from those who visit our website.
App Users. We collect app usage information automatically from those who use our App.
Customers, vendors, and service providers. We will collect commercial information, contact information, and financial information when you voluntarily become our customer, vendor, or service provider.
Cookies and trackers. We use cookies and other embedded tracking technology like web beacons which automatically collect users’ browsing information when they use our website. You will find other parties’ trackers on our website. Other parties like our analytics and advertising partners place code with cookies or web beacons embedded in them. These are called third-party cookies. Some third-party cookies are used to track a particular user’s activity across the Internet.
Sensitive Information. Dote does not collect, use, or process certain Personal Information classified as sensitive information under U.S. state or foreign legislation.
Personal information retention. Dote uses several criteria to determine how long we should keep categories of Personal Information. We will retain your Personal Information for the time period reasonably necessary to achieve the business purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy to the extent permitted by applicable law.
How we use collected information. Dote uses data and Personal Information for a variety of purposes, as described below. We use the information we obtain about you to:
Manage our business and provide our Services. Dote uses data and Personal Information to maintain user accounts, provide Services, facilitate usage of the Services, and complete necessary tasks to manage our business and provide our Services.
Facilitate customer purchases. Dote uses data and Personal Information to provide customers with information about products, services, or other requested material, and to process, validate, and deliver purchases.
Conduct research and improve our business. Dote uses data and Personal Information to conduct marketing research, such as questionnaires and surveys, and to analyze and enhance our marketing communication strategies.
Provide special offers. Dote may use data and Personal Information to alert you to special offers, updated information, and other new products or services from Dote. Dote may also use Personal Information to manage your participation in our events and other promotions, where you have signed up for such events and promotions.
Communicate. Dote uses data and Personal Information to communicate important business information, including delivering notices to you about the use of our services.
Protect our business. Dote uses data and Personal Information to protect against fraud, unauthorized transactions, and other liabilities, and to secure our services by identifying potential hackers and unauthorized users.
Ensure security and efficiency and to comply with the law. We may use data and Personal Information for other purposes with your consent or where permitted by law, for example to comply with applicable legal requirements, court orders, legal proceedings, document requests, industry standards, and our internal policies.
Disclosure of Personal Information. We may disclose your data and Personal Information in the following ways and circumstances:
When you consent. Dote will not disclose your data and Personal Information to others without your consent, except as specified in this Privacy Policy.
With our service providers and vendors. We transfer all or a portion of your data and Personal Information to our service providers who help us deliver our products and services to you and for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. These service providers are required by contract or law to only use or disclose the information as necessary to perform services on our behalf or as otherwise required by law. Although Dote requires that these third parties meet our privacy and security requirements, Dote does not control the privacy or security policies of such third parties.
For a merger, acquisition, change in ownership, or reorganization. Data and Personal Information we have collected may be disclosed to a third party in the event of a merger, transfer of ownership or assets, bankruptcy, or other corporate reorganization.
For data analytics. We may share your data and Personal Information with analytics service providers such as AppsFlyer. You can request to remove your device from AppsFlyer here: https://www.appsflyer.com/legal/opt-out/
When we are legally permitted or required to do so. Dote may disclose without your prior consent any data or Personal Information about you or your use of our services, if we believe disclosure is necessary or required by law.
For Legitimate Interests. Dote may disclose without your prior consent any information about you or your use of our website, if we believe disclosure is necessary, including to:
o Protect and defend the rights, property, or safety of Dote, employees, other users of the website, or the public;
o Enforce the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy;
o Respond to a legally valid request from a competent governmental authority;
o Respond to claims that any content violates the rights of third parties;
o Correspond with law enforcement agencies, if we are required to do so; and
o Satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request.
Your Privacy Options
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia provide (now or in the future) their state residents with rights to:
Confirm whether Dote processes their Personal Information.
Request access to the Personal Information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”) that Dote has about you.
Request correction of the Personal Information that we hold about you. This right allows you to request that Dote correct incomplete or inaccurate data Dote holds about you (excluding Iowa and Utah).
Request deletion of the Personal Information that we hold about you. This right allows you to ask us to delete or remove Personal Information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which we will tell you about, if applicable, at the time of your request.
Object to processing of your Personal Information for the purposes of targeted advertising (excluding Iowa), sales, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects (excluding Iowa and Utah).
Request a transfer of your Personal Information to a third party.
Either limit (opt-out of) or require consent to process sensitive Personal Information.
The exact scope of these rights may vary by state.
Nevada provides its residents with a limited right to opt-out of certain Personal Information sales. Residents who wish to exercise this sale opt-out right may submit a request to this designated address: privacy@dote.app. However, please note that we do not currently sell data triggering Nevada’s opt-out requirements.
Exercising Your Options
To delete all the data from your account, select that option from the menu in the settings screen in the Dote App. Uninstalling the Dote App from your phone will also delete all of the data in your account. [Ben to revise to include how to delete from iCloud]
To exercise any of the other options or rights above, you may contact us at privacy@dote.app
To appeal a decision regarding a consumer rights request please contact us at legal@auraframes.com
Please include your email address, full name, and specific information about your request(s). If you would like to update or correct your email address or other Personal Information with us, please include specific details about the information you wish to have updated or corrected.
Messaging and Newsletter Communications
You may control how you receive certain types of communications by unsubscribing within the body of the communication. Note that some messages are required, service-related messages such as transaction confirmation messages, legal notices, or updates.
Do Not Track Signals
CalOPPA requires us to let you know how we respond to web browser Do Not Track (“DNT”) signals. DNT is a privacy preference you can set in your web browser to indicate that you do not want certain information about your webpage visits collected across websites when you have not interacted with that service on the page. For details, including how to turn on DNT, see here. Because there currently isn’t an industry or legal standard recognizing or honoring DNT signals, we don’t respond to them at this time.
Third-Party Websites
This Privacy Policy applies only to our website, software, and services. Our website may contain links to other websites including those that permit online transactions. We have no control over the privacy practices or the content of any of our business partners, advertisers, sponsors, or other third parties we link to from our website. Dote does not endorse, approve, or certify these other websites, and we do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, efficacy, or timeliness of the information contained on those websites. You should check the applicable privacy policy of the website sponsor when linking to other websites.
Security
Dote takes reasonable steps to secure your Personal Information. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to ensure that Personal Information is stored and processed responsibly. However, no internet transmission is ever fully secure, and we cannot guarantee that information transmitted via our App or our website will remain confidential at all times.
Age Restrictions
Dote takes children’s privacy seriously. By accepting the Privacy Policy, you certify that you are at least 18 years of age, or at least 13 years of age and are using Dote with the consent and supervision of a parent or guardian. If you are under the age of 18, do not submit any information to us without the consent or supervision of a parent or guardian. If we find that a minor has submitted any information to us without permission, we will delete it immediately upon discovery.
Changes to Privacy Policy
We may update or change this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the changes on our website and will indicate the effective date. Your continued use of services after the changes are effective constitutes your acceptance of the Privacy Policy.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us at privacy@dote.app
