SavelaPrivacy Policy
The short version
- We keep what you save in Savela so that we can show it back to you. Nobody else sees it unless you share it.
- With your permission, what you save is sent to OpenAI so that Savela can turn it into cards. We never send your name or email.
- No ads, no analytics, no tracking, no selling of data. This website sets no cookies.
- You can delete any find, or your whole account, in the app. Deleting your account erases your data from our systems.
- Who we are
- What we collect
- Why we use it, and our legal basis
- AI processing
- What other people can see
- Who else handles your data
- International transfers
- How long we keep it
- Your rights
- Security
- Children
- This website
- Changes to this policy
- Contact and complaints
1. Who we are
Savela is an iPhone app and its online service, run by Vera Modenova, a sole trader based in England, United Kingdom (“Savela”, “we”, “us”). We are the controller of the personal data described in this policy under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Contact: support@savela.co.uk.
2. What we collect
| Category | What it includes | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Account | If you use Sign in with Apple: an anonymous identifier that Apple gives us (we do not keep the email address Apple may share). If you sign in with email: your email address. Also the date you joined. | You, Apple |
| Profile | Display name, short bio, profile photo or the animal picture Savela gives you. Location and other hidden data are removed from profile photos before they are stored. | You |
| What you save | Links, the text that comes with them (for example a post caption), the text and pictures of the pages behind your links, screenshots, photos, videos, your own notes and descriptions, and which app you shared from. | You, and websites you save |
| Cards and organisation | The cards Savela makes from your finds (for example a recipe’s ingredients or a restaurant’s address), your edits, reactions, folders, custom sections and their cover images, collections, reminders and their times. | You, and our AI processing |
| Search | Words you search for. If you allowed AI processing, a numerical “meaning” fingerprint of your cards and searches, used for search by meaning. | You |
| Sharing activity | Share links you create, the shared collections you own or join, who added which find, reactions, and gift reservations. | You, other users |
| Settings | Interface language, time zone (for reminders), notification preference, and the date you allowed or withdrew AI processing. | Your phone, you |
| Usage records | How many AI requests your finds needed and what they cost us, and your free allowance. We use this to run the service and to calculate limits. | Our systems |
| Technical data | Our hosting provider records the IP address and time of requests to our servers in its own logs. Savela itself does not log your IP address. | Your device |
We do not collect your contacts, your precise location, your photo library (you pick each picture yourself through the iPhone’s photo picker) or your calendar (when you add an event, the iPhone shows its own screen and Savela does not read your calendar). We do not use advertising identifiers or analytics tools.
Please do not save sensitive information about yourself or others (such as health details) unless you are comfortable with it being processed as described here.
3. Why we use it, and our legal basis
| Purpose | Legal basis (UK GDPR Art. 6) |
|---|---|
| Creating your account, storing your finds and showing them to you, reminders, search by words | Contract: we need it to provide the service you asked for |
| Fetching the pages behind your links to get their title, text and picture | Contract |
| Sending your content to OpenAI to make cards, and to Google to look up places; search by meaning | Consent, which you give in the app and can withdraw at any time |
| Sharing finds and collections with the people you choose | Contract |
| Keeping the service secure, preventing abuse, handling reports under our Community Guidelines | Legitimate interests (a safe, working service), and legal obligations |
| Answering your messages to support | Legitimate interests |
| Managing subscriptions and keeping business records | Contract and legal obligations |
We do not make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects by automated means. AI is only used to sort and describe what you save.
4. AI processing
Before Savela sends anything to its AI service, the app asks for your permission. If you agree:
- The content of each find (page titles and text, captions, your own description, and the screenshots and photos you add) is sent to OpenAI, which reads it and fills in the card. Up to eight images can be sent for one find.
- The names of your custom sections and their descriptions are sent with it, so that the AI can file finds there.
- The text of your cards and your searches is sent to OpenAI to make the “meaning” fingerprints used for search by meaning.
- For restaurants, places and event venues, the name and address the AI found are sent to Google Places to find the exact place, its opening details and photos.
We never send your name, email address or account identifier to OpenAI or Google. Under OpenAI’s terms for business customers, data sent through its API is not used to train its models; OpenAI may keep it for a limited time (normally up to 30 days) to detect abuse.
If you choose “Not now” or later withdraw permission in Settings → Account & Data, your links and screenshots are still saved, but no new cards are made and nothing new is sent to OpenAI or Google. Withdrawing does not affect processing that already happened.
AI can make mistakes. Please check important details, such as allergens in a recipe or an event’s date, at the original source.
5. What other people can see
Your library is private. Other people only see what you choose to share:
- A shared find. Anyone who opens your share link in Savela sees the card, its picture (which may be your screenshot), the original link, and your profile (name, bio, photo). They do not see your personal notes, reactions or other finds. Anyone with the link can save a copy of the card to their own library. You can stop sharing at any time; copies already saved stay with the people who saved them.
- The share link’s web page. If someone opens your link in a browser, the page shows only your display name, and for a collection its name. It never shows the find itself.
- Shared collections. Members see the finds in the collection, who added each one, and in “Together” collections each other’s profiles and reactions. In a gift wishlist, guests do not see each other; the owner sees which gifts are reserved but not by whom.
Your email address is never shown to other users.
6. Who else handles your data
We do not sell your data or share it for anyone’s marketing. We use these service providers, who process data on our behalf or as independent providers of their own services:
| Provider | What for | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Railway Corp. | Hosting our servers, database and stored files | United States (US East) |
| OpenAI | Making cards from your finds, search by meaning (only with your consent) | United States |
| Google (Places API) | Looking up places by name and address (only with your consent) | United States |
| Google (Maps SDK in the app) | Showing your saved places on a map. When you open a map, your phone contacts Google, which receives your device’s IP address and the map area you view, under Google’s Privacy Policy. | United States |
| Apple | Sign in with Apple, App Store downloads and subscription payments. Apple handles payments under its own privacy policy; we never see your card details. | Ireland, United States |
| Open Library (Internet Archive) | Book covers. Only the book’s ISBN is sent. | United States |
| Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons | Film details and posters. Only the film title and names of people in it are sent. | United States |
When you save a link, our server visits that web page to read it, and your iPhone may load a preview of it. The website sees a request from our server or your phone, as with any visit.
We may also disclose data if the law requires it, to protect people’s safety, or as part of a transfer of the Savela business, in which case this policy will continue to apply.
7. International transfers
Our servers and several providers are in the United States. Where we transfer personal data outside the UK, we rely on the UK–US data bridge for providers certified under it, or on the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses included in the provider’s data processing terms.
8. How long we keep it
- Your finds, cards and files are kept until you delete them. Deleting a find deletes its cards and files.
- Your account. When you delete your account in Settings → Account & Data → Delete account, we erase your account, profile, finds, cards, files, collections and usage records straight away. Collections you owned disappear for their members; finds you added to other people’s collections are removed. Copies that other people saved to their own libraries stay with them.
- Backups and logs. Residual copies may remain in our hosting provider’s backups and logs for a limited period until they are overwritten.
- Place details from Google are refreshed or deleted within 30 days, as Google requires. They contain no personal data.
- Support emails are kept for as long as needed to help you, and no longer than two years.
- Subscription and tax records are kept for as long as UK law requires (normally six years).
9. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- get a copy of your personal data (access, and to receive it in a portable format);
- have inaccurate data corrected;
- have your data erased;
- restrict or object to our use of your data;
- withdraw consent at any time, without affecting what was done before.
You can do much of this yourself in the app: edit any card, withdraw AI consent, delete finds or your whole account. For anything else, email support@savela.co.uk. We will answer within one month and may need to confirm your identity first.
10. Security
All traffic between the app and our servers is encrypted (HTTPS). Access to the servers is limited to the person running Savela, who acts as administrator and looks at your data only when needed to run the service, fix a problem you report, handle a report of abuse, or comply with the law. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach puts your rights at risk, we will tell you and the Information Commissioner’s Office as the law requires.
11. Children
Savela is not for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from them. If you believe a child under 13 is using Savela, contact us and we will delete the account.
12. This website
savela.co.uk sets no cookies, has no analytics or tracking, and loads no fonts, scripts or images from other companies. Our hosting provider logs requests (IP address, time and page) to keep the site running and secure.
13. Changes to this policy
If we make important changes, we will tell you in the app before they apply. The date at the top shows the latest version.
14. Contact and complaints
Questions or requests: support@savela.co.uk.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, please contact us first. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office: ico.org.uk, telephone 0303 123 1113.