Privacy Policy

SzewMate (“SzewMate,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information the SzewMate mobile app and website (together, the “Service”) collect, how that information is used, who it is shared with, how long it is kept, and how you can withdraw your consent or delete your data.

1. Information We Collect and How We Collect It

We only collect what the app needs to run a mock interview. All of it is information you type or speak into the app yourself — we do not buy data about you, and we do not use advertising networks, analytics SDKs, or tracking tools.

Profile information (entered by you)

When you set up your profile, the app asks you a set of questions so that your practice interview matches your real one. Depending on the visa type you select, this includes:

• Basic details — your age range, country of residence, and citizenship;
• Visa and travel details — the visa category you are applying for, prior travel history, prior refusal history, and prior nonimmigrant and immigrant visa history;
• Background details relevant to the interview — education level, employment status and duration, marital status, and family ties and information.

Practice information (created as you use the app)

• Typed answers. The text of the answers you write during a practice interview.
• Spoken answers. If you choose Voice mode, the app uses your device's microphone and streams your audio to OpenAI's real-time voice service, which conducts the interview and transcribes your answers. The app requests microphone permission first; you can decline and use typing mode instead, with no loss of functionality. We do not store your audio, and your transcripts and scores are saved on your device.
• Scores, feedback, and progress. The scores and written feedback returned for your answers and your session history.

Account information

• Sign-in details. To create an account we collect your name and email address and store them with our authentication provider, Supabase (see Section 3). Your password is handled by Supabase in encrypted form; we never see or store it. Your name and email are part of your account record only — they are not part of the case profile sent to our AI providers.

Support communications

• If you email us for support, we receive your email address and whatever you choose to tell us, and we keep that correspondence only as long as needed to help you.

Payments

• If SzewMate offers a paid subscription, the purchase is handled entirely by the Apple App Store or Google Play. We never see or store your payment-card details.

2. How We Use Your Information

Your information is used only to operate the features you asked for:

• To generate mock interview questions tailored to your visa type and profile;
• To evaluate your answers and produce scores, feedback, and coaching tips;
• To show your practice history and progress on your device;
• To answer your support requests;
• To comply with law and protect the security and integrity of the Service.

We do not use your information for advertising, profiling, or marketing, and we do not sell or rent it to anyone.

3. Who We Share Your Data With

We share your data with exactly three third parties, and only for the purposes described below:

• Supabase, Inc. (“Supabase”) — our authentication and database provider. It stores your account record (name, email, encrypted sign-in credentials) and your case profile (the visa/background details you enter during setup) so the app can sign you in and generate your interview. Supabase does not receive your interview answers, scores, or practice history, which stay on your device. Privacy information: supabase.com/privacy.
• OpenAI, L.L.C. (“OpenAI”) — if you use Voice mode, we send your profile and stream your live microphone audio to OpenAI's real-time voice API so it can conduct and score your spoken practice interview and transcribe your answers. Privacy information: openai.com/policies/privacy-policy.
• Anthropic, PBC (“Anthropic,” maker of Claude) — in text mode, we send your profile and your typed practice answers to Anthropic's Claude API to generate interview questions, scoring, and written feedback. Privacy information: anthropic.com/legal/privacy.

What is sent to the AI providers: In text mode, the content of your profile and your typed answers is sent to Anthropic (Claude). If you use Voice mode, your profile and your live microphone audio are streamed directly to OpenAI's real-time voice service, which also transcribes your spoken answers. What is never sent to either provider: your name, email address, password, payment information, device identifiers, contacts, photos, or location. What is sent to Supabase: your name, email address, encrypted credentials, and your case profile.

Third-party protection commitment. Each of these three companies processes your data solely as our service provider, under contractual terms that permit them to use it only to provide their service back to us. OpenAI and Anthropic do not use API data to train their models, and Supabase does not use your account data for its own purposes. All three are contractually required to provide the same or equal protection for your data as is described in this Privacy Policy and required by Apple's App Store Guidelines. None of them may use your data for their own purposes, and we do not have any parent, subsidiary, or affiliated entity that receives your data.

Beyond these three providers, we share information only if we are legally required to do so (for example, in response to valid legal process), or if we must do so to protect the rights, safety, or property of SzewMate or its users. If SzewMate is ever involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale, we will give notice before any user information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

4. Where Your Data Is Stored, and How Long We Keep It

• On your device. Your typed and spoken practice answers, your scores, feedback, and session history are stored locally on your phone. We do not maintain a copy of this content on our servers.
• On our server. Your account record (name, email, encrypted credentials) and your case profile (the visa/background details from setup) are stored with Supabase, hosted on our behalf, for as long as your account exists. Both are permanently deleted when you delete your account in the app.
• Voice mode audio. Your microphone audio is streamed live to OpenAI to power the spoken interview and is not stored by us. OpenAI may retain it briefly under its own retention policy — see openai.com/policies/privacy-policy.
• In transit only. Data sent to OpenAI or Anthropic is transmitted over an encrypted connection solely to generate a response. We do not retain it after the response is returned. Our AI providers may retain a copy briefly for abuse monitoring under their own terms before deleting it.
• Deleting the app. Because your practice answers, scores, and history live on your device, deleting the SzewMate app removes them from your device. To also remove your account record and case profile from our server, delete your account in the app first (Settings → Account → Delete Account).
• Support email. Correspondence you send us is kept only as long as needed to resolve your request.

5. Your Consent, and How to Withdraw It

Before you can use SzewMate, you must check a box confirming that you have read and understand this Privacy Policy. That check is your consent to the collection, use, and sharing described here. Nothing you pay for depends on granting access to any additional data, and we will never pressure you into permissions the app does not need.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by doing any of the following:

• Delete your account in the app. Open Settings → Account → Delete Account. This permanently deletes your account record and case profile from our server, along with the practice data stored on your device.
• Turn off microphone access in your device's iOS or Android settings and use typing mode instead.
• Delete the app from your device, which stops all further collection.
• Email us at support@szewmate.com to ask questions, request access to or correction of any information we hold, or request deletion.

6. Data Minimization

We ask only for information that is directly relevant to producing a realistic mock visa interview. We do not request access to your contacts, photos, location, health data, or advertising identifiers. Microphone access is optional and used only while you are recording an answer.

7. Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights under laws such as the EU/UK GDPR or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA), including the right to access, correct, delete, or port your personal data, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising those rights. Our legal basis for processing under the GDPR is your consent, which you may withdraw at any time as described in Section 5. We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. To exercise any right, email support@szewmate.com.

8. Children's Privacy

SzewMate is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age required in your country), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us information, please contact us and we will delete it.

9. Security

Your practice data is stored on your device under your device's own protections. Your account record and case profile are stored with Supabase, which encrypts data at rest and in transit and handles passwords in hashed form. All transmissions to our providers use industry-standard encryption in transit (TLS). No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Effective date” above and, where the change is material, we will ask for your consent again inside the app.

Terms of Use

By downloading or using SzewMate, you agree to these Terms of Use. Please read them carefully.

Acceptable use

SzewMate is provided for your personal, non-commercial use to practice and prepare for visa interviews. You agree not to misuse the Service, attempt to disrupt it, or use it for any unlawful purpose.

Not legal or immigration advice

SzewMate is a practice and preparation tool. It does not provide legal advice, immigration advice, or any guarantee of a visa outcome, and it is not a substitute for a licensed attorney or official guidance. Visa decisions are made solely by the relevant government authorities. SzewMate is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any government agency.

AI-generated content

Questions, scores, and feedback in SzewMate are generated by third-party AI models and may be inaccurate or incomplete. Treat them as practice material, not as a prediction of your interview or its outcome.

Subscriptions & payments

Some features may require a paid subscription. Purchases are billed through the app store you downloaded from and are subject to that store's terms. Manage or cancel your subscription in your app-store account settings.

Intellectual property

The SzewMate name, logo, mascot, content, and software are owned by SzewMate and protected by law. You may not copy, modify, or distribute them without our permission.

Disclaimers & limitation of liability

The Service is provided “as is” without warranties of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law, SzewMate is not liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Service.

Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.