davida

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 23 July 2026

davida is a community-built dictionary and pronunciation archive for the Kidaw'ida (Taita) language. Contributors add words, meanings, and voice recordings of how they're spoken. This page explains what information we collect when you use the app, why we collect it, and how you can ask us to remove it.

What we collect

Account information

• Email address. We use this only to sign you in and to send account-related emails (confirming your address, resetting your password). We never show your email to other contributors.
• Password. This is stored securely by our authentication provider; we never see or store it in readable form.
• If you sign in with Google instead, we receive the name and email address on that Google account.

Your display name

Unlike your email, the name you give us is shown publicly inside the app next to every word, translation, or recording you contribute. This is intentional, so the community can see and credit who's building the dictionary.

What you contribute

Words, translations, example sentences, notes, category tags, and votes on other contributors' suggestions all become part of the shared Kidaw'ida dictionary. This content, together with the display name attached to it, is visible to other contributors inside the app, and is periodically included in a public dataset export used for language-preservation and research purposes.

Voice recordings

When you record audio in the app — a word's pronunciation, an answer to an open-topic prompt, or a cultural photo's narration — we store that clip so other contributors can listen to it in the app's Speech tab. Word pronunciations are short (a few seconds); prompt and photo recordings can run longer, up to about two and a half minutes. Recordings are attached to your display name, the same as any other contribution. Some recordings are typed out — by you right after recording, or occasionally by another contributor — so the words can be read as well as heard; that text is stored and shown alongside the recording. Other contributors can flag a recording as unclear or incorrect, which we use to identify clips that may need to be re-recorded or removed.

We only use your recordings for pronunciation and language-documentation playback within the app. We don't run voice recognition, speaker identification, or any other analysis on them, and we don't share them with any service beyond our hosting provider (see "Who we share it with" below).

Cultural photos

If you choose to share a cultural photo, we store the photo you take or select, the two paragraphs you write about it (what it shows, and why it matters), and your recording of reading that text aloud. Like other contributions, this is attached to your display name and visible to other contributors in the app. Choosing a photo uses your phone's camera or photo picker for that one photo only — we don't get ongoing access to your photo library beyond what you actively share.

Because open-topic recordings and cultural photos are about you and your life rather than a fixed word, please only share what you're comfortable being part of a public, shared archive.

What stays on your device

New entries are saved to your phone first, before they sync to our servers, so the app keeps working offline. This local copy is cleared automatically when you sign out.

What we don't collect

• We don't track your location.
• We don't use advertising or analytics trackers.
• We don't collect payment information. davida is free to use.
• We don't access your contacts or other apps, and we don't get ongoing access to your photo library — only the single photo you actively choose to take or select for a cultural photo contribution.

Who we share it with

We rely on third-party infrastructure providers to host our database, handle sign-in, and store audio recordings and photos on our behalf. If you choose "Continue with Google," Google handles that sign-in step directly. We don't sell your information to anyone, and we don't share it with advertisers.

How long we keep it

We keep your account and contributions for as long as your account exists, since your contributions are part of a shared community resource. If you ask us to delete your account, we'll remove your email and personal account details. Because words and recordings you contributed may already be part of the shared dictionary or an already-published dataset export, we'll remove your name from them on request, but can't guarantee removal of copies already downloaded or published by others before your request.

Your choices

• You can edit your display name at any time in the app's Settings.
• You can clear everything stored on your phone from Settings (this doesn't affect what's already synced to your account).
• You can ask us to delete your account and personal information by emailing us (see below).

Children's privacy

davida isn't directed at young children, and we don't knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child has created an account without a parent or guardian's involvement, please contact us and we'll remove it.

Security

We use industry-standard measures, including encrypted connections and reasonable security practices, to protect your information. No method of storage or transmission is ever 100% secure, but we take reasonable steps to keep your data safe.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we'll update the date at the top of this page. Significant changes will be noted here.