LEGAL · PRIVACY POLICY

Privacy Policy

How Screen Translate treats your privacy and protects your data. With ML Kit your data stays on your device; with Gemini/Cloud, cloud processing is handled transparently.

Last updated: 15 October 2026

Privacy policy summary

The essentials of how Screen Translate approaches privacy

Our core privacy principles

At AURSAL, protecting your privacy in Screen Translate is our highest priority. The app is built on the principle of Privacy by Design, and every data-processing step is designed to protect user privacy.

Our privacy guarantees

Important

Screen Translate requires no user account and there is no sign-up at all. Personal identifying information (name, email, phone number) is never collected.

However: Google AdMob ads are used so the service can be offered free of charge, and AdMob collects certain technical data (Advertising ID, IP address). The details are explained below.

Use of the Accessibility Service (AccessibilityService)

The special permission used for Chat Mode, and how that data is handled

Chat Mode and the Accessibility API

The Chat Mode feature in Screen Translate uses the Android Accessibility Service API so it can read text in messaging apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and so on). It works as follows:

What is the Accessibility Service used for?

•Reading text: reads the message text in the active chat window

•Real-time translation: translates incoming and outgoing messages instantly

•Keyboard detection: detects the typing area and excludes it from the translation area

•Focus tracking: follows the messaging app you are using

Protecting accessibility data

When is it active?

The Accessibility Service is active only when Chat Mode is selected. The other modes (Default, Touch, Game, Social Media, Manga) do not use it and work only through MediaProjection (screen capture); Travel Mode uses only the camera.

Mode

Screen capture

Accessibility API

Default Mode

Used

Not used

Touch Mode

Used

Not used

Chat Mode

Not used

Used

Game Mode

Used

Not used

Social Media Mode

Used

Not used

Important information about the accessibility permission

Android's Accessibility Service is a sensitive API that grants broad permissions. Screen Translate uses it only to read message text. The app never abuses these permissions and does not do any of the following:

✕It does not record or read your passwords

✕It does not access your banking information

✕It does not send your personal data to any server

✕It does not perform hidden operations in the background

✕It does not interfere with other apps

Data we collect

A detailed breakdown of what is collected and what is not

Data collection table

Screen Translate is built around privacy-first design. The table below shows in detail which data is collected and which is not:

Data type

Status

Description

Security

Translated text

Not collected

ML Kit: local; Gemini/Google: processed in the moment and never stored

Deleted immediately

Screenshots

Not stored

Used only for OCR processing in the moment

Temporary memory

Personal identifying information

Not collected

Name, email and phone number are never requested

No app access

App settings

Local

Language preferences and theme settings stay on the device

AES-256 encryption

Crash reports

Anonymous

Data with no identity attached, used to improve the app

Anonymized with a hash

Location

No access

No access to GPS or location data at all

Blocked at system level

Device information

Technical

Android version and model (for compatibility only)

Local system API

Advertising ID (AdMob)

Collected

By Google AdMob, to serve ads

Google privacy policy

IP address (AdMob)

Collected

For approximate location and ad targeting

Google AdMob

Ad interactions

Collected

Ad impression and click data

Google Analytics

App configuration

Received

Firebase Remote Config — feature management

Google Firebase

App integrity

Verified

Firebase App Check / Play Integrity — protection against forged requests and abuse (not stored)

Google Firebase / Google Play

Pro membership and billing data

Pro membership runs through Google Play Billing. You do not need to create any account for it — your subscription is tied to your Google Play account.

What we collect

•Purchase token: a unique code generated by Google Play proving your subscription is valid. It is NOT personal data — it is only proof of a subscription. It is sent to our server and verified through the Google Play Developer API.

•Anonymous device identifier (SHA-256 hash): a one-way cryptographic hash of the Android ID plus the package name, used to track your daily free minutes. The value cannot be reversed and cannot identify you personally.

•App version: added to the server logs for debugging and version compatibility.

•Capture session ID (UUID): a temporary identifier generated for each screen capture. It is valid only during that session and is never stored.

•App integrity token (Firebase App Check / Google Play Integrity): a short-lived token verifying that a request to our server came from the genuine, unmodified Screen Translate app. It is generated by Google Play, does not permanently identify you or your device, and is not stored by us; it is verified in the moment purely to block abuse and forged requests.

What we do not collect

✕Credit card / bank details (handled by Google Play)

✕Personal details such as first name, surname or email

✕Address or phone number

✕Location data

✕Unique device identifiers (IMEI, MAC address and so on)

GDPR and KVKK compliance

The data collected cannot identify you on its own. It is processed under Article 5/2-c of the Turkish KVKK (necessary for performance of a contract), so explicit consent is not required. To have your data deleted, simply uninstall the app.

How data flows during payment

Buying a Pro membership is handled entirely by Google Play. AURSAL never has access to your financial data at any stage.

The flow

•You tap the "Go Pro" button in the app

•Google Play opens its own secure payment system

•You give your card or Play credit details to Google Play

•Google Play processes the payment and gives you a unique "purchase token"

•Our app sends that token to our server (Cloud Run, Europe)

•Our server verifies the token with the Google Play Developer API

•If verification succeeds, the Pro features are unlocked

The result: our server only ever gets a yes/no answer to the question "does this user have a valid subscription?". The amount paid, your card details and similar data are never shared with us.

Third-party services

The external services the app uses and how they handle data

Google AdMob (advertising services)

Screen Translate uses the Google AdMob advertising platform so the service can be offered free of charge. AdMob collects certain data in order to serve ads and personalize them.

Data collected by AdMob:

What the data is used for:

•Serving personalized ads

•Analyzing ad performance

•Detecting and preventing fraud

•Ad measurement and reporting

Data processor:

Google LLC (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA)

Your control options:

For more information:

•Google AdMob privacy policy: https://support.google.com/admob/answer/6128543

•Google privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

•Google ad personalization: https://adssettings.google.com

Firebase Remote Config

Firebase Remote Config is used so app features and settings can be managed remotely.

Data collected:

•App version: to decide which features to show you

•Language preference: to deliver configuration values in the right language

•Country code: approximate IP-based location (NOT precise location)

•Device type: Android version and device category

What it is used for:

•Updating app settings remotely

•Rolling new features in and out gradually

•Segmenting users for A/B tests

•Configuring the translation services dynamically

Data processor:

Google LLC (Firebase Platform)

Important note:

Firebase Remote Config NEVER collects your translations or personal content. It only receives technical configuration values used to optimize how the app behaves.

For more information:

•Firebase privacy policy: https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy

Firebase App Check (Google Play Integrity)

Firebase App Check is used to protect our servers from forged clients, automated bot traffic and quota abuse. The app attaches a short-lived integrity token generated by Google Play Integrity to each server request; the server verifies that token with Google and confirms the request came from the genuine, unmodified Screen Translate app.

Data collected:

•Integrity token: a signed token generated by Google, valid for about an hour, containing no personal data

•App ID and signature: used (on Google's side) to verify which app the token was generated for

What it is used for:

•Rejecting requests from forged or modified apps

•Preventing abuse of the free translation allowance and of Pro subscriptions

•Protecting server costs and keeping the service running

Important note:

•The token is not stored by us; it is verified in the moment on each request and then discarded

•Play Integrity does not provide any persistent identifier for your device or you; your translations and screen content are not part of this process

•Verification happens on Google's infrastructure: https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy

Third-party data processing guarantees

On data shared between Screen Translate and the third-party services we use, we make the following guarantees:

How data is processed

The technical detail of how your data is processed and protected

9 translation engines and privacy

Screen Translate offers 9 different translation engines. Each has its own privacy characteristics:

Gemini AI (Google)

•How it works: the text to be translated is sent to Google's servers

•Data processor: Google LLC

•Internet: required

•Privacy: subject to Google's privacy policy

DeepL (Pro)

•How it works: the text to be translated is sent to DeepL's servers

•Data processor: DeepL SE

•Internet: required

•Privacy: subject to DeepL's privacy policy

Claude AI — Anthropic (Pro)

•How it works: the text to be translated is sent to Anthropic's servers

•Data processor: Anthropic PBC

•Internet: required

•Privacy: subject to Anthropic's privacy policy

ChatGPT — OpenAI (Pro)

•How it works: the text to be translated is sent to OpenAI's servers

•Data processor: OpenAI LLC

•Internet: required

•Privacy: subject to OpenAI's privacy policy

Azure Translate — Microsoft (Pro)

•How it works: the text to be translated is sent to Microsoft Azure's servers

•Data processor: Microsoft Corporation

•Internet: required

•Privacy: subject to Microsoft's privacy policy

Groq (Pro)

•How it works: the text to be translated is sent to Groq's servers (the open-source gpt-oss model)

•Data processor: Groq, Inc.

•Internet: required

•Privacy: subject to Groq's privacy policy

ML Kit (offline)

•How it works: 100% on-device processing, no internet required

•Data processor: none (local)

•Internet: not required (only to download the models)

•Privacy: no data leaves your device — maximum privacy

Manga OCR (offline, optional)

•How it works: an extra OCR model that recognizes Japanese balloon text in Manga mode. It is downloaded once, optionally (~119 MB), and runs 100% on your device; balloon images are never sent to any server for recognition

•Data processor: none (local). The model files are downloaded from GitHub Releases; during the download GitHub keeps only standard server logs (IP address)

•Internet: not required (only to download the model)

•Removing it: Settings › Privacy and Data › Clear Translation Cache removes the model from your device completely

Your control

You can choose which translation engine to use in the app settings:

•Default mode: automatic fallback (Groq → Gemini → Google Cloud → ML Kit)

•Gemini AI only: the highest quality

•DeepSeek only: an alternative AI translation

•Groq only: an ultra-fast open model (Pro)

•Google Cloud only: fast and reliable

•ML Kit only: maximum privacy, offline

If privacy is your priority: choose the ML Kit engine and your data will never leave your device.

OCR options

•ML Kit OCR: entirely offline, runs on your device

•Cloud Vision OCR: cloud-based, supports 50 languages

•Your control: you can choose the OCR engine in the settings

•Memory management: cleared automatically after processing

Permissions and access

The permissions the app uses and what each one is for

Android permissions

Screen Translate uses the following Android permissions, each for a specific purpose:

•Display over other apps (SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW): to show the floating button and the translation layer on top of other apps. The app cannot work without it.

•Screen capture (MediaProjection): to read the text on your screen once you start translating. Android shows its own consent screen each session, and the permission is released when you close the app.

•Internet (INTERNET): to send requests to the cloud translation and OCR engines. If you choose the ML Kit engines it also works without internet.

•Camera (CAMERA): only in Travel Mode, when you take a photo. It is never opened in the background.

•Access to photos (READ_MEDIA_IMAGES / READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE on Android 12 and below): requested only if you turn on Screenshot translation . While that setting is on, the app finds the screenshot you have just taken and reads its text in order to translate it; no other image of yours is read, and no image is ever uploaded, copied or stored. When the setting is off, the access is not used.

•Notifications (POST_NOTIFICATIONS): for the ongoing notification of the running service, and for the notification shown when a screenshot translation is ready.

•Accessibility Service (BIND_ACCESSIBILITY_SERVICE): only for Chat Mode. The other modes do not use it, and you can switch it off from Android Settings at any time.

•Foreground service (FOREGROUND_SERVICE and its subtypes): so translation can keep working while you are in other apps. Android requires such a service to show an ongoing notification.

•Start at boot (RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED): only when screenshot translation is enabled, to re-register that feature's listener after the phone restarts.

•Keep the screen awake (WAKE_LOCK) and battery optimization exemption (REQUEST_IGNORE_BATTERY_OPTIMIZATIONS): so the system does not stop the service during long translation sessions. The battery exemption is optional and you may decline it.

Our permission guarantee

Screen access is used only for OCR. No screenshot is ever recorded, shared or stored. All temporary data is deleted immediately after processing. The whole process is transparent and auditable.

Third-party services

The technologies used and the data-sharing policies behind them

Technology partners

Screen Translate uses services from established technology companies:

Our third-party security protocol

•Personal information is never shared with any third party

•API calls are encrypted with HTTPS

•Temporary processing data is deleted immediately

•No data is transferred without your consent

Your rights

The rights you have under the GDPR and the Turkish KVKK

Your legal rights

The rights you have under the KVKK and international privacy standards:

Data security

The technical and organizational measures we take to protect your data

Security architecture

Layered security

How Screen Translate approaches security

Encryption

AES-256 encryption: all local data TLS 1.3: API communication Hash algorithms: data integrity

Memory protection

Automatic clearing: after processing Secure memory: for sensitive data Garbage collection: optimized

Security auditing

Code review: audited regularly Penetration testing: for vulnerabilities Updates: fast patches

Monitoring

Anomaly detection: unusual behaviour Real time: instant protection Automatic response: threat blocking

Children's privacy

Special protections for users under 13

Child protection protocol

Screen Translate takes special measures to protect the digital privacy of children under 13:

A note for parents

If your child uses this app, make sure the sensitive-information protection features are enabled. Check the app settings regularly and talk to your child about digital privacy.

If you have questions about this document, get in touch.

info@screentranslate.com