Privacy Policy
Last updated: 20 September 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how BTechnology GmbH ("we", "us") handles information in connection with the CatWOW mobile app ("the App"). We designed CatWOW to collect as little personal data as possible.
1. Controller
2. Data we process
Data stored on your device
Your cat's profile (name, breed, age, size class, optional photo), your reaction history, your meow journal, your own recorded sounds, your videos, usage counters, app settings and language preference are stored locally on your device. Your cat's profile photo never leaves your device. Name, breed, age and size class are sent to our server only when you use the meow translator, "talk to your cat" or the cat trainer (see below).
AI trainer (our server and OpenAI)
When you use the in-app trainer, your question, your cat's profile (name, breed, age, size class) and the last few messages of the conversation are sent to our own server (api.catwow.app, hosted by OVH GmbH, Saarbrücken, Germany, data centre in Limburg, Germany). Our server forwards the conversation to OpenAI, L.L.C. (USA) to generate the answer and to classify the topic of your question. If you attach a photo to a question, that photo is sent along for this one question only and is not stored by us. OpenAI does not use data sent via its API to train its models.
Our server keeps a topic label (for example "scratching furniture") together with a pseudonymous hash for 12 months, so we learn which topics matter to CatWOW users. The trainer also keeps a short memory of durable facts about your cat (for example "lives indoors with a second cat") for 12 months after your last use; you can erase it anytime in Settings > AI & data > Forget everything. The full conversation is stored only if you switch on "Share chats anonymously" in Settings > AI & data; those conversations are kept under a pseudonymous hash for 90 days and used to improve the trainer. You can switch sharing off at any time. Daily usage counters (how many questions per day) are kept for 30 days. Please do not enter personal data about people in the trainer. Answers are generated by AI and do not replace a veterinarian.
Meow translator (microphone, our server and OpenAI)
The meow translator uses the microphone. Your phone checks the recording locally first and cuts it down to the relevant part, a clip of a few seconds. That clip, together with a few measurements your phone computed (pitch, length, loudness), your cat's profile (name, breed, age, size class) and your app language, is sent to our own server (api.catwow.app, hosted by OVH GmbH, Saarbrücken, Germany, data centre in Limburg, Germany). Our server forwards the clip to OpenAI, L.L.C. (USA) to generate the translation. If you keep the conversation going with your cat in the app, those turns are sent the same way. OpenAI does not use data sent via its API to train its models. Without an internet connection, a simpler analysis runs on your device instead.
We keep the clip, the measurements, the generated answer, the conversation and your thumbs-up or thumbs-down under a pseudonymous hash for 180 days to evaluate and improve the translator. No name and no account data are stored with it. The App tells you this before your first recording. Please avoid recording conversations of other people; the clip is meant to contain your cat. Deleting your account deletes your clips at once. Daily usage counters (how many translations per day) are kept for 30 days.
"Talk to your cat" (microphone, our server and OpenAI)
When you say a sentence for "talk to your cat", that recording is sent the same way: to our server in Germany and on to OpenAI, L.L.C. (USA), which decides which cat sounds fit the sentence. The cat sounds themselves are composed by us from real cat recordings. Your recording is kept under a pseudonymous hash for 180 days to evaluate and improve the feature, and is deleted with your account. Sentences you pick from the ready-made list are answered without any model call.
"Your voice" (microphone)
"Your voice" uses the microphone to record your own sounds. These recordings are processed on your device only and never leave your phone.
In-app feedback
Feedback you send from Settings > Feedback goes to our own server without any user identifier and is kept for 24 months. Please do not include personal data.
Purchases & subscriptions
Purchases are processed by Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play). We never receive your payment details. We use a subscription management provider (RevenueCat) to verify whether you have an active trial or subscription, using a randomly generated, non-identifying app user ID.
Analytics
To understand how the App is used and to improve it, we use PostHog (EU cloud, Frankfurt) for product analytics (which features are used), under a pseudonymous identifier that is also used by our subscription provider RevenueCat, so we can understand which features lead to subscriptions. Free text you enter in the App and the content of trainer conversations are never sent to PostHog; for the trainer, PostHog only receives the topic label. The App does not use advertising SDKs, does not read your device's advertising identifier, and does not track you across other apps or websites. We never sell your personal data.
App updates
The App checks for updates through Expo/EAS Updates (Expo, Inc., USA). This request contains technical information about the app version and platform, not your profile or your trainer conversations.
Optional sign-in
CatWOW works without an account. If you choose to sign in with Apple or Google once that option is available in the App, we receive a pseudonymous account identifier and, if you allow it, your email address, so we can link your trainer memory across devices and delete it on request. Sign-in is optional and is switched off in the current version. See Delete your account and data.
Website analytics (catwow.app)
Our website uses Google Analytics (provided by Google Ireland Ltd.) to measure how the site is used so we can improve it. Analytics cookies are set only after you accept them via the cookie banner; you can decline, and you can withdraw your consent anytime by clearing the site data in your browser. Some data may be transferred to Google. Legal basis: your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR).
Notifications
If you allow notifications, we may send optional reminders. You can turn them off anytime in your device settings.
Diagnostics
We may collect anonymous crash and performance diagnostics to keep the App stable.
3. Permissions
- Microphone: to record your cat's meow for the translator and your sentence for "talk to your cat" (a clip of a few seconds is sent to our server, see above), to record your own voice sounds, and for sound in your videos. Voice sounds and video audio stay on your device.
- Camera: only to record videos of your cat. Videos stay on your device unless you share them yourself.
- Photos: to let you choose a picture of your cat (stored locally) or to attach a photo to a trainer question (sent for that question only).
- Notifications: optional reminders.
4. How we share data
We share data only with service providers that help us operate the App: Apple, Google, our subscription provider (RevenueCat), our analytics provider (PostHog, EU cloud), our hosting provider for our server (OVH GmbH, Germany), OpenAI (USA) for generating trainer answers, meow translations and the cat sounds of "talk to your cat", and Expo (USA) for app updates. Transfers to the USA rely on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. We do not sell your personal data.
5. Legal bases (GDPR)
We process data to perform our contract with you (providing the App, subscriptions, the meow translator, "talk to your cat" and the cat trainer; Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR), based on your consent (notifications, storing full trainer conversations, optional sign-in; Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR), and based on our legitimate interest in a stable, improving product, which includes keeping audio clips for 180 days to evaluate and improve the translator (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
6. Your rights
You have the right to access, correct, delete and port your data, to withdraw consent at any time, and to object to or restrict processing. Because most data lives only on your device, deleting the App removes it. Data on our trainer server is stored under a pseudonymous hash and is deleted automatically after the retention periods below. To exercise any right, contact contact@catwow.app. You may also lodge a complaint with a data protection authority.
7. Data retention
On-device data remains until you delete it or uninstall the App. Subscription status is kept for the duration of your subscription plus any legally required period. On our trainer server, a cleanup job deletes data after these periods:
| Data | Retention | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Audio clips of the translator and of "talk to your cat" | 180 days | pseudonymous hash, with the answer and your rating |
| Daily usage counters | 30 days | for support questions |
| Full trainer conversations | 90 days | only if you switched on "Share chats anonymously" |
| Topic labels | 12 months | salted hash, no personal reference |
| Trainer memory about your cat | 12 months after last use | erasable in the App at any time |
| In-app feedback | 24 months | anonymous, without user ID |
8. Children
CatWOW is not directed at children and is intended for users aged 16 and over.
9. Changes
We may update this policy. Material changes will be posted here with a new "last updated" date.