eSpeak NG Text-to-Speech — Privacy Policy
This policy explains how the Android app eSpeak NG Text-to-Speech (package com.redzoc.ramees.tts.espeak) handles your information. The app is made by RedZoc, which is run by Ramees Muhammed, an individual developer in Kochi, Kerala, India. It is an independent Android build of the open-source eSpeak NG speech engine and is not the official eSpeak NG project.
In short
- The text you have spoken or read aloud stays on your phone. It is never sent to RedZoc or anyone else.
- The app shows ads from Google AdMob and uses Google Analytics for Firebase to understand how the app is used.
- If you choose to post in the Community Forum, you sign in with Google, and your name, profile photo and posts are visible to other app users.
- If you use the contact form, your name, email address and message are sent to RedZoc.
1. Speech, Reader and your text
- Text-to-speech: when the app speaks for TalkBack, another screen reader or any other app, the text is turned into speech on your phone. It is not stored, logged or sent anywhere.
- Reader: text you share to the Reader, or open from the clipboard, stays on your phone and is not saved. The clipboard is read only when you tap the clipboard-reader notification. On Android 13 and later, clipboard content marked as sensitive (such as passwords) is skipped.
- Pronunciation dictionary: your entries are saved only inside the app on your phone.
- Saved audio: if you save speech as an audio file, it is saved in the app's own storage on your phone and is shared only when you choose to share it.
- Settings: your voice, speed, pitch and other settings are saved only on your phone.
- Voices: all voice data is included in the app. Nothing is downloaded when you choose a language.
- The app does not use Android backup, so none of this is copied to cloud backups.
2. Ads
The app shows ads from Google AdMob on its own screens (such as the home, settings, Reader and forum screens). Ads never appear in the speech used by TalkBack or other screen readers.
To show and measure ads, Google may collect and use your device's advertising ID, your approximate location derived from your IP address, and information about your device and how you interact with ads. Where available, the app also allows Android's Privacy Sandbox ad features (Topics and Attribution).
- If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, the app asks for your consent before ads are requested, and you can change your choice later from Privacy options in the app menu.
- You can reset or delete your advertising ID, or opt out of personalised ads, in your phone's settings (Settings → Google → Ads, or Settings → Privacy → Ads, depending on your phone).
- Buying Remove Ads turns off all ads in the app.
How Google uses this information is described at https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
3. Analytics
The app uses Google Analytics for Firebase. It automatically collects information such as when the app is first opened, sessions, screens viewed, purchases, ad impressions, an app-instance ID, the advertising ID, device model, Android version, app version and approximate country. The app does not send your text, forum posts or contact messages to Analytics.
Analytics data is collected whether or not you consent to personalised ads.
4. Community Forum
You can read the forum without signing in. To browse, the app creates an anonymous Firebase account that contains no personal information.
To ask a question or reply, you sign in with your Google account. The app then stores:
- Visible to all app users: your Google display name, your Google profile photo, and the questions and replies you post, with their date. Your questions also appear in the forum's search, together with an internal user ID.
- Private (not visible to other users): your email address, your internal user ID, the app version, a notification token, the threads you follow, the people you have blocked, and whether you have accepted the forum guidelines.
- Reports: if you report a post, the report (the post, your reason and your user ID) is seen only by the forum administrator.
- Badges: the forum counts the questions you have answered and may show a Helper or Top helper badge next to your name.
Forum data is stored in Google Firebase (Firestore and Firebase Authentication) and is kept until you ask for it to be deleted (see section 8). The forum administrator can hide or remove posts and ban accounts that break the forum guidelines.
5. Notifications
If you post in the forum, the app uses Firebase Cloud Messaging to notify you of replies in threads you follow. Regular helpers may also receive a daily notification about unanswered questions. Notifications include the name, photo and part of the text of the post they refer to. The app also shows notifications for Reader playback and, if you turn it on, the clipboard reader. You can turn off notifications in your phone's settings.
6. Contact form
If you send a message through Contact in the app, your name, email address and message are sent securely to RedZoc through Amazon Web Services (AWS) and delivered by email. They are used only to answer you and are not used for marketing.
7. Purchases and donations
Remove Ads and donations are handled entirely by Google Play. RedZoc does not receive your payment details. The app stores only a note on your phone that Remove Ads is active.
8. Your choices and deleting your data
- Delete your forum account and data: email info@redzoc.com from the email address of the Google account you used in the forum, with the subject "Delete my eSpeak forum account". Your account, private details and posts (or the name and photo on them) will be deleted within 30 days, and you will receive a confirmation.
- Remove a single post: email info@redzoc.com with a link to or the text of the post.
- Contact form messages: ask at info@redzoc.com to have your messages deleted.
- Everything on your phone (settings, dictionary, saved audio) is deleted when you uninstall the app or clear its data.
- Ads: see section 2 for consent, advertising ID and Remove Ads options.
9. Who processes your data
- Google (AdMob, Google Analytics for Firebase, Firebase Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Functions, Firebase Cloud Messaging, Google Sign-In and Google Play): https://policies.google.com/privacy
- Amazon Web Services (contact form delivery): https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/
Your data may be processed in countries other than your own, including the United States. All data is sent over encrypted (HTTPS) connections. RedZoc does not sell your personal information.
10. Children
The app is not directed at children under 13, and the Community Forum is not intended for children under 13. If you believe a child has posted in the forum, email info@redzoc.com and the data will be deleted.
11. Changes to this policy
This policy will be updated when the app changes how it handles information. The effective date above shows when it was last changed.
12. Contact
Questions about this policy or your data: info@redzoc.com
RedZoc · Ramees Muhammed · Kochi, Kerala, India