Lou Privacy Policy

Information we collect

• Account information: an authentication identifier Lou creates after you accept the privacy notice, plus your email address and sign-in method if you choose to back up or sign in to an account.
• Podcast activity: the shows you follow or flag, the feed links of shows you add by link or import from a file, episode queue choices, playback position, played/finished status, downloads, and app settings. A private feed's link can include your personal access key for that feed.
• Ad-detection data: episode identifiers, podcast feed metadata, scan requests, playback URL hashes, timestamped transcript text that your device produces from an episode, audio fingerprints, and detected segments: ad breaks and other segments such as intros. Lou does not collect podcast audio.
• Purchase information: your Lou app user id, subscription product, purchase and renewal history, entitlement status, expiry and restore or transfer events. Apple processes payment; Lou does not receive your full payment-card details.
• Install attribution: if you arrive from an Apple Ads campaign, the AdServices framework on your phone gives Lou a token, and our service exchanges it with Apple for the campaign, ad group and keyword behind the install, which we keep with your account. Apple can also send our service SKAdNetwork and AdAttributionKit summaries of installs and conversions from other ad networks; those carry no account or device identifier.
• Technical data: app version, device/platform information, request metadata, server logs, diagnostics, and approximate network information such as IP address that is normally sent with requests.
• Communications: information you include if you contact us for support, privacy, or feedback.

Lou does not sell personal information and does not use personal information to track you across other companies' apps or websites.

How we collect information

After you accept Lou's privacy notice, Lou creates a guest account so followed shows, playback activity, and scans can work without an email address. You may later add an email address to back it up. We also collect information when you follow or listen to shows, add a show by its link, import shows from a file, ask Lou to scan an episode, use account settings, or contact us. Some technical data is collected automatically by the app, our API, and the service providers that help operate Lou.

How we use information

We use information to:

• provide podcast search, followed shows, adding shows by link, importing and exporting shows, queue, playback, downloads, and progress sync;
• detect ads and other segments in podcast episodes and skip the ones you choose;
• authenticate accounts, prevent abuse, and keep the service secure;
• validate purchases, manage Plus access, and restore or transfer subscriptions;
• troubleshoot bugs, measure reliability, and improve app performance;
• respond to support, privacy, or feedback requests;
• if you gave us an email address, occasionally email you from the Lou team, for example to thank you, ask for feedback or feature requests, or ask you to rate Lou, which you can opt out of at any time;
• comply with legal obligations and enforce our rights.

Service providers and third parties

We share information only as needed to operate Lou, including with:

• Supabase, for authentication and account data storage;
• RevenueCat, for subscription management and purchase validation. RevenueCat receives your Lou app user id, purchase and entitlement information, and technical app and device information needed to provide that service. It does not receive your episode transcripts, fingerprints or listening history from Lou.
• Apple advertising attribution services (AdServices, SKAdNetwork and AdAttributionKit), which tell us whether an install came from an ad campaign. Lou does not request the advertising identifier and does not use this information to track you across other companies' apps or websites.
• infrastructure, database, cache, job-processing, and object-storage providers that host Lou's API and ad-detection artifacts;
• OpenAI, which receives the transcript text of a scanned episode so an AI model can classify its ad breaks and other segments, or another classification provider we may configure for the same purpose;
• podcast feed and audio hosts, when Lou's service fetches the RSS feeds of shows you follow or add (it identifies itself as Lou), and when your phone fetches artwork or the episode audio you choose to play or download;
• Apple, when you use Sign in with Apple, TestFlight, App Store downloads, or Apple platform services, and through Apple's public iTunes Search API, which receives your show searches from the phone and, when an imported feed link that Lou does not treat as private no longer works, the show's title from Lou's service so Lou can find the show's current feed. When Lou transcribes with Apple's on-device speech recognition, the audio does not go to Apple.

These providers are allowed to process information only for the purposes described in this policy or as required by law.

Feed links and private feeds

When you add a show by its link, or import a file of shows, Lou stores each feed link with your account, and Lou's service fetches the feed from its servers to list the show's episodes and find new ones. Lou does not change the feed or the episodes in it.

Some feeds are private: a membership or subscription service gives each member a feed link that works like a password. Lou treats a link as private when it carries an access key or comes from a known membership service. Lou uses a private feed's link only to fetch that feed for you. Lou does not give the link to other listeners, does not show other listeners a private feed or its episodes, and does not use private feeds in recommendations or charts. Lou removes feed link query values and access keys from its server logs and crash reports.

An OPML file you choose on your phone is read there. Only the feed links, show titles and show website links in it are sent to Lou; the file itself is not uploaded. If you paste a link to an OPML file instead, Lou's service fetches and reads that file to list the shows in it. A file you export from Lou includes every feed link you follow. Choosing "Export without private feeds" leaves out the links Lou treats as private; a private link Lou does not recognise is exported like any other. Anyone who has an exported file can use the links in it, so share it carefully.

Audio and ad-detection artifacts

Podcast audio stays on your phone. Lou transcribes an episode on your device with a speech-recognition model that runs entirely on the phone: the Parakeet model, which ships with the app or is downloaded to the phone on request, or Apple's SpeechAnalyzer framework, whichever is selected in Settings. The audio is not uploaded to our service, to Apple, or to anyone else for that step. Our service does not download episode audio to scan it.

Lou sends the timestamped transcript text from your device to our service, and our service sends it to OpenAI, so an AI model can classify the ad breaks and other segments. Lou has not opted in to sharing API inputs and outputs with OpenAI for model training. OpenAI may retain transcript text and model responses for up to 30 days for abuse monitoring, or longer when required by law or reasonably necessary to protect its services or others from harm. The transcript describes the podcast episode rather than you, and it is linked to your scan request only so that Lou can return the result to you.

Lou may also compute a compact audio fingerprint on your device for a detected ad segment and send it to our service. A fingerprint is a mathematical representation of the audio, not a playable audio recording. Lou uses it to recognize the same ad in other episodes and avoid repeating work.

Lou keeps transcript text only briefly. Our scan job system holds it while a scan runs and deletes a finished scan's records about a day after the scan ends. Diagnostic records kept for each scan hold timings and segment positions, not transcript text, and are deleted after 7 days. Server logs do not record transcript text.

Lou may retain non-playable fingerprints, transcript-derived signatures, episode metadata, and segment maps for as long as needed to recognize repeat ads and segments, improve scan quality, and avoid duplicate processing. A segment map includes a short generated label for each detected segment. Maps created before September 23, 2026 may also hold up to five transcribed words on each side of a detected ad boundary; newer maps do not, and those words are scrubbed from an older map whenever it is rewritten. Transcript-derived signatures are one-way hashes that cannot be turned back into text. These shared artifacts describe podcast episodes and detected segments rather than a listener's library or listening history.

Before September 23, 2026, Lou could upload episode audio or excerpts to our service and its transcription providers, and our service could download episode audio for scheduled scans. That audio is no longer collected, and the copies our service held for scanning have been deleted.

Retention and deletion

We keep account and app activity information while your account is active and for as long as needed to provide Lou, protect the service, resolve issues, or meet legal obligations. You can delete your account from Settings > Account > Delete account. This applies to guest accounts as well as accounts backed up with an email address. Deleting your account removes your Lou account, followed shows, the links of private feeds you added, listening data, and user-scoped backend data, then clears local app data, including downloads, on your device. When you unfollow a show you added by a private feed link, Lou erases that link, and the audio links of its episodes, once no account follows it. A public feed's link and show information are shared catalogue data, not tied to your account, and may be kept after you unfollow. Some information may remain for a limited time in backups, security logs, or legally required records before it is deleted through normal retention cycles.

Fingerprints, segment maps, and the brief scan records described above describe a podcast episode rather than a listener, so they are not tied to your account and are not removed by account deletion. They are kept or deleted on the terms described above under "Audio and ad-detection artifacts", which apply to every copy regardless of who triggered the scan.

You can also request deletion or ask privacy questions by contacting privacy@withlou.co.

Your choices

You can:

• unfollow shows and remove downloads in the app;
• edit the feed link of a show you added by link;
• export your shows, with or without private feed links;
• choose in the app which kinds of segment Lou skips, or turn skipping off;
• sign out of a backed-up account at any time;
• delete your account in Settings;
• opt out of emails from the Lou team by replying to one or contacting us;
• contact us to request access, correction, deletion, or help with privacy choices.

Children

Lou is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Changes

We may update this policy as Lou changes. If we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date and provide additional notice when appropriate.

Contact

Lou privacy requests: privacy@withlou.co

For product support, bug reports, and feedback, visit Lou Support.