Privacy Policy

1. The Short Version

• You don’t sign up. The app works with anonymous identifiers tied to your installation, not to your identity.
• We measure how the app is used (which screens are opened, which stories are read) to improve it.
• If you ask a question in a story chat, your question is sent to an AI provider to answer it, and the conversation is stored so you can return to it. You can delete it at any time.
• Subscriptions are paid through Apple or Google. We never see your payment details.
• The app includes Meta’s (Facebook’s) software development kit, which, only if you agree when the app asks, tells Meta when the app is installed, opened and subscribed to, so we can measure our advertising. Section 5 explains this and how to change your mind.

2. Information We Collect in the App

a) Identifiers

Because there are no accounts, the app relies on identifiers that are not linked to your name or contact details:

• a device identifier your phone provides to apps (Apple’s identifier for vendor on iOS, the Android ID on Android), which we use to keep your story chats together
• random identifiers created by our analytics and subscription providers, and by Meta if you agree to ad tracking, to recognise the same installation over time
• your device’s advertising identifier, only if you agree to ad tracking (see section 5)
• a push notification token issued by Apple or Google, so notifications can reach your device

b) How you use the app

We record events such as opening a briefing, swiping through stories, opening or sharing a story, tapping a source or glossary term, sending a chat question (not its content — see c), changing settings like your default tab or reading language, and viewing or using the subscription screen. These events come with technical details: app version, device model, operating system, and an approximate location (country or city) derived from your IP address. We also collect error reports when something goes wrong.

c) Story chat

When you ask a question about a story, we send your question and the conversation so far to our AI provider to generate the answer. We store the conversation (your questions, the answers and their sources) linked to the device identifier in (a), so you can see it again later. You can delete a conversation with the trash button in the chat. We also keep a copy of chat questions and answers in our analytics tool to monitor the quality and cost of AI answers; that copy is not linked to your device identifier.

Please don’t include personal information in chat questions.

d) Subscriptions

Purchases are handled by the Apple App Store or Google Play, which process your payment. We and our subscription provider receive a record of the purchase (product, price, trial and renewal status, dates) and an anonymous subscriber identifier, never your card details or store account. We also keep records of your access to Implica, linked to that anonymous subscriber identifier.

e) Region and language

The app works out which local edition to offer from your device’s language and region settings. It does not use GPS or request access to your location.

f) Information that stays on your device

Your preferences (notification switches, default tab, reading language), which stories you have already seen, and whether you have completed onboarding are stored only on your device. On story screens, the app notices when you take a screenshot so it can offer to share the story; the screenshot itself is never uploaded.

3. Information We Collect on the Website

• Analytics. We record page views and clicks on app store links, along with your browser, device type, approximate location from your IP address and any campaign parameters in the link you followed. Our analytics tool stores a random identifier in your browser to recognise repeat visits.
• Server logs. Our hosting provider records technical request data, including IP addresses, to operate and secure the site.

4. How We Use Information

• to provide the app: briefings, story chat, notifications and subscriptions
• to understand how Implica is used and improve it
• to find and fix errors and to monitor the quality and cost of AI answers
• to measure how well our advertising works and to help advertising platforms show our ads to people likely to be interested (section 5)
• to prevent misuse of Implica and of access to it
• to respond when you contact us, and to comply with legal obligations

We do not use your information to train AI models, and the AI-generated news content is the same for every reader.

5. Advertising and Meta

The app includes the Meta SDK, software provided by Meta Platforms. At the end of the app’s introduction screens we ask whether you agree to ad tracking; on iPhone, Apple’s “Allow tracking” prompt records your answer. The Meta SDK stays switched off and sends nothing unless you agree. If you agree, through it we collect information from the app and share it with third parties, including Meta. This includes when the app is installed and opened, in-app purchases such as trial starts and subscriptions, device and app information, the identifiers Meta creates, and your advertising identifier where available.

Meta and other third parties use this information to provide measurement services and to target and deliver ads, including ads for Implica, and may combine it with information they hold about you, for example if you use Facebook or Instagram on the same device. Meta’s use of this information is governed by Meta’s Privacy Policy.

How to say no or change your mind

• iPhone: choose “Ask App Not to Track” when the app asks, or turn tracking off later in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. The Meta SDK then stays off from the next time you open the app.
• Android: choose “Not now” when the app asks, or turn off Ad tracking in the app’s Settings at any time. The Meta SDK then stops collecting from the next time you open the app. You can also go to Settings › Privacy › Ads (the path varies by device) and delete your advertising ID.
• Meta: manage how Meta uses information from apps and websites to show you ads in your Meta ad preferences, including the “activity information from ad partners” setting.

We don’t sell personal data for money. Sharing information with Meta for advertising, as described here, may count as “sharing” or “selling” under some laws, such as California’s; the opt-outs above apply.

6. Legal Basis for Processing (EU, EEA and UK)

• Performance of a contract: providing the app, story chat and subscriptions.
• Legitimate interests: understanding and improving the app and website, fixing errors, monitoring AI answers, preventing abuse and securing our services.
• Consent: push notifications, and ad tracking with Meta in the app, including access to your advertising identifier. You can withdraw consent at any time as described in section 5.
• Legal obligations: where the law requires us to keep or disclose information.

7. Who We Share Information With

We use these service providers, each of which receives only what it needs for the purpose shown:

• Apple and Google: app distribution, payments, and delivering push notifications (Google’s Firebase Cloud Messaging).
• RevenueCat: managing subscriptions and checking whether you have access.
• PostHog: app and website analytics, error reports, and AI answer monitoring. Data is stored in the EU.
• Meta Platforms: advertising measurement and ad delivery (section 5).
• Perplexity: generating answers to story chat questions.
• Google Cloud: hosting our servers.
• MongoDB Atlas: the database that stores chat conversations and records of access to Implica.
• Vercel: hosting the website.

The AI providers that write our news briefings work only from published news sources and receive no information about you. We may also disclose information if required by law, or as part of a merger or sale of our business.

8. International Data Transfers

We are based in Hungary, in the European Union. Our analytics data (PostHog) is stored in the EU. However, our servers run on Google Cloud in the United States, and several of our other providers, including Meta, RevenueCat, Perplexity and MongoDB, are based in the United States, so some of your information is transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

Where information is transferred outside the EEA, we rely on a safeguard recognised by the GDPR: where the recipient is certified under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, the European Commission’s adequacy decision for that framework; otherwise, the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses included in our agreements with that provider. You can contact us to find out which safeguard applies to a particular provider and to obtain a copy of it.

9. How Long We Keep Information

• Story chat conversations: until you delete them in the app or ask us to delete them.
• Records of access to Implica: as long as needed to manage your access and prevent misuse.
• Analytics and error data: as long as useful for understanding long-term trends in how Implica is used, and no longer than 7 years.
• Emails you send us: as long as needed to handle your request.

Apple, Google, RevenueCat and Meta keep information according to their own policies. Deleting the app removes the information stored on your device.

10. Your Choices and Rights

In the app you can turn notifications on or off in Settings, delete chat conversations, and control tracking as described in section 5.

Under the GDPR, you have the right to access, correct or delete your personal data, to object to or restrict its processing, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time (this does not affect processing that happened before you withdrew it). Other laws may give you similar rights depending on where you live. To make a request, email us. Because we don’t know who you are, we may need details from you, such as roughly when you used a feature, to find the data related to your device, and in some cases we may be unable to identify it.

If you think we have handled your data unlawfully, you can complain to a data protection authority. Our lead authority is the Hungarian National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Nemzeti Adatvédelmi és Információszabadság Hatóság, NAIH):

1055 Budapest, Falk Miksa utca 9–11, Hungary
Postal address: 1363 Budapest, Pf. 9.
Email: ugyfelszolgalat@naih.hu
Phone: +36 1 391 1400
Website: naih.hu

You can also complain to the data protection authority in the EU country where you live or work, or where you believe the problem occurred.

11. Children

Implica is a general news app for all ages and is not specifically directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has used the app and shared personal data, for example in a story chat, contact us and we will delete it.

12. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures, including encrypted connections, to protect information against unauthorised access, loss or misuse. No system is completely secure.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy. We will change the date at the top, and if the changes are significant we will let you know in the app or on the website.

14. Contact Us

For privacy questions or requests, contact:

Fly Straight Media Kft.
Implica
Registered office: Nyúl utca 12, 2094 Nagykovácsi, Hungary
Email: hello@implica.app

Company registration details are listed in our Terms & Conditions.