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Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 4, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Tether AI, Inc. (“Tether”, “we”, “our” or “us”), a company registered in the United Kingdom, collects, uses, stores and protects your personal data when you use the Tether platform, accessible through the website https://therealtether.com, the Tether iOS app, and through native messaging services (iMessage, SMS).

This policy is written in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (“GDPR”), the UK Data Protection Act 2018, and the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) where applicable.

1. Data controller

The data controller is Tether AI, Inc. For any question relating to your personal data, contact us at contact@therealtether.com.

2. Data we collect

  • Account data: phone number (stored hashed and encrypted at rest), first name if provided, timezone, locale.
  • Conversation content: the messages you send to your Tether and the responses generated by our AI.
  • Companion memories: semantic, episodic, emotional and behavioral memories derived from your conversations, used to personalize the companion.
  • Device data: iOS push notification token (APNs), device identifier, app version.
  • Subscription data: Apple App Store transaction identifier, product identifier, purchase and expiration dates. We never receive your payment card details — Apple handles billing.
  • Technical data: IP address (hashed for rate-limiting), timestamps, delivery metadata.
  • Optional health data: if you connect an Apple Watch, aggregate signals (activity, sleep) used to make the companion contextually aware. Never shared with third parties.

3. Legal bases

We process your data on the following legal bases:

  • Performance of a contract (art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) — to deliver the Service you signed up for.
  • Consent (art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) — for optional features such as Apple Watch integration and model-improvement use of your content.
  • Legitimate interest (art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) — for fraud prevention, security, service quality and abuse detection.
  • Legal obligation (art. 6(1)(c) GDPR) — to comply with applicable tax, consumer and law-enforcement obligations.

4. How we use your data

  • Operate the messaging companion and generate responses.
  • Personalize the companion via memory and preferences.
  • Send push notifications and messages you have opted into.
  • Validate and honor App Store subscriptions.
  • Detect abuse, spam, and violations of our Terms.
  • Improve the Service and, unless you object, the underlying AI models — never by sharing your content with other users.

5. Sharing and subprocessors

We do not sell your personal data. We share data only with processors strictly necessary to operate the Service:

  • Supabase (database, storage) — hosted in the European Union.
  • Cloudflare Workers (edge compute) — global, GDPR-compliant, SCCs in place.
  • Twilio (SMS / phone number provisioning).
  • Apple Push Notification service (APNs) — for iOS notifications.
  • Apple App Store — for subscription billing and validation.
  • OpenAI and other AI providers — to generate companion responses. Providers are contractually bound not to train on your content.

6. International transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the EU/UK, we rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and equivalent UK safeguards.

7. Retention

  • Conversation messages: retained up to 90 days, then automatically purged.
  • Companion memories: retained for the lifetime of your account and deleted when you delete the account.
  • Account data: retained until you delete your account.
  • Subscription and billing records: retained for the period required by applicable tax and consumer laws (typically 6–10 years).
  • Rate-limiting logs: retained up to 7 days.

8. Security

We apply industry-standard security measures: encryption in transit (TLS 1.2+), encryption at rest for sensitive fields (phone numbers), least-privilege access controls, row-level security in our database, hashed API keys, and regular security review of our codebase.

9. Your rights

Under GDPR and the UK DPA, you have the rights of access, rectification, erasure (“right to be forgotten”), restriction, portability, and objection, as well as the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

You may exercise these rights at any time by writing to contact@therealtether.com. You may also delete your account and all associated data directly from within the Tether iOS app (Profile → Delete account). Deletion is immediate and irreversible.

California residents (CCPA) additionally have the right to know which categories of personal information we collect, the right to delete, and the right to non-discrimination for exercising these rights.

10. Children

Tether is not intended for users under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

11. Cookies and analytics

The Tether website uses only strictly necessary cookies. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party analytics that track you across sites.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified through the Platform or by email a reasonable time before they take effect.

13. Contact

Data protection contact: contact@therealtether.com.