This Privacy Policy describes how Protogrove LLC (“Protogrove,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) collects, uses, and shares information when you use Ella, our AI companion web application (the “Service”). Please read this policy carefully. By using the Service you agree to the practices described here.
When you create an account, we collect your email address and a hashed password (or a Google account identifier if you sign in with Google). We do not store plaintext passwords.
Every message you send to Ella and every reply Ella sends to you is stored in our database. This is necessary for the Service to function — Ella uses your conversation history to remember context, personalize responses, and develop her understanding of you over time.
Ella builds and maintains a memory of facts, preferences, experiences, and emotional context that you share with her. This includes information you share explicitly (“my name is”, “I work as”) and information Ella infers from conversations over time. This data is stored in our database and in a semantic memory service (Hyperspell) to enable recall across sessions.
Given the nature of a companion application, you may share sensitive personal information with Ella, including information about your mental health, emotional state, relationships, and personal struggles. We recognize the sensitive nature of this information. We handle it with heightened care, use it only to provide and personalize the Service, and do not share it with third parties except as described in this policy (e.g., transmission to Anthropic’s API solely to generate Ella’s responses). You are not required to share sensitive information, and you may delete your account and associated data at any time.
If you send a photo to Ella, it is transmitted to our servers and processed by an AI vision model to generate a description that Ella can understand and respond to. Photos you send may be stored temporarily to support the conversation. Ella also generates images on your behalf when you ask her to; those images are stored in cloud storage and associated with your account.
If you use the voice feature, your speech is processed in real time using your browser’s built-in speech recognition (Web Speech API), which is handled by your browser and device, not by Protogrove servers. Ella’s spoken replies are synthesized using a text-to-speech service. We do not store audio recordings of your voice.
We automatically collect limited technical information including your browser type, operating system, timezone, IP address (used to infer general location for features such as weather context), and general usage patterns. We use this information to operate and improve the Service.
If you enable push notifications, we store a notification token associated with your account. This is used only to send you notifications from Ella. You can withdraw this permission at any time in your browser settings.
We use Google Firebase, which may set cookies and collect analytics data such as session duration and feature usage. This data is aggregated and used to understand how the Service is used and to improve reliability. We do not use advertising cookies or sell analytics data. For details, see Firebase’s privacy documentation.
We do not use your data to train AI models without your explicit consent, and we do not sell your personal information to third parties. Our AI providers — Anthropic and Google — process your messages only to generate responses and do not use API inputs to train their models, per their respective commercial API terms. This means your conversations with Ella are not used to improve any AI model.
We share your information only as necessary to provide the Service, and only with the following categories of parties:
We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, court order, or government request, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Protogrove, our users, or the public.
If Protogrove is acquired, merged, or transfers its assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
We retain your account information, conversation history, and memory data for as long as your account is active. You can delete your account at any time using the account deletion page. Upon deletion, your account data and conversation history will be removed from our primary systems within 30 days. Some data may remain in backups for up to 90 days before being overwritten.
Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:
To exercise these rights, contact us at the address below or use the in-app account deletion feature.
We use industry-standard measures to protect your information, including TLS encryption in transit and access controls on our backend systems. However, no method of internet transmission or electronic storage is 100% secure. We encourage you to use a strong, unique password and to notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access to your account.
The Service is intended for users who are 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.
The Service is intended for users located in the United States. We do not represent that the Service is appropriate or available in other jurisdictions. If you access the Service from outside the United States, you do so at your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws. Your data will be stored and processed in the United States.
If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, the right to request deletion, and the right to opt out of the sale of your personal information. We do not sell personal information. To exercise your rights, contact us using the information below.
In the event of a security breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you and relevant authorities as required by applicable law. We will provide notice by email to the address associated with your account as promptly as reasonably possible, and in any event within the timeframes required by applicable state law. The notice will describe the nature of the breach, the information affected, and the steps we are taking to address it.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy on this page with a new “Last updated” date. Where required by law, we will provide additional notice. Continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.