Privacy Policy

Last Updated: July 14, 2026

1. Introduction

Equator (equator.app, equator.zone, eqtr.io, and the Equator mobile application — collectively, the “Service“) is operated by Talk Don’t Shout, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Equator,” “Equator.app,” “Equator.zone,” “eqtr.io”, “TalkDontShout.com,” “we,” “us,” or “our“). We are committed to your privacy.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over it. By using the Service, you agree to this Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

This Policy works together with our Terms of Use, which describe the license you grant us when you upload videos and other User Content. Section 4 of the Terms is the source of truth for how we may use that content; this Policy describes our privacy practices around it.

2. Age Requirement (16+)

Equator is not intended for individuals under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If we become aware that a user under 16 has provided us with personal data, we will delete it promptly. See Section 14 for more.

3. Information We Collect

3.1. Account Data

When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, profile photo (if you provide one), username, and authentication credentials.

3.2. Third-Party Sign-In Data

If you register or sign in using a third-party identity provider (Sign in with Apple, Google Sign-In, or Facebook Login), we receive the public profile information, name, and email address that the provider shares with us based on your authorization. We do not receive your password.

3.3. User-Generated Content (the “Core”)

This is the heart of the Service. We collect and store the videos, audio recordings, comments, captions, and other content you upload as part of your discussion “takes” and opinions. This includes the images and voices of any people who appear in your recordings.

3.4. AI and Metadata Derived from Your Content

Our systems automatically process your User Content to power Service features. This processing produces derived data such as:

  • transcripts and translations of your audio;
  • captions and subtitles;
  • language detection;
  • sentiment, tone, and civility analysis;
  • topic, term, and entity extraction;
  • thumbnails, cover images, and other visual derivatives; and
  • moderation signals.

Processing involves analyzing the audio and visual data within your content. We may use first-party systems and third-party AI providers (such as OpenAI and Google) for this processing. See Section 6.

3.5. Automated Technical Data

We automatically collect certain technical data when you use the Service:

  • IP address, device type, operating system, browser type and version;
  • approximate location (derived from IP address);
  • usage patterns (pages viewed, videos watched, time spent, interactions);
  • referring URLs and exit pages;
  • crash logs, performance data, and diagnostic information; and
  • cookies and similar technologies (see Section 9).

3.6. Communications

If you contact us by email or through a form, we collect the contents of that communication and any information you choose to provide.

3.7. Information from Other Sources

We may receive information about you from third parties, such as fraud-prevention services, analytics providers, and partners who help us deliver the Service.

4. How We Use Your Data

We use the data described in Section 3 to:

  • Operate and maintain the Service — host, display, stream, and embed your User Content; manage your account; deliver features.
  • Process User Content for Service features — generate transcripts, captions, translations, civility scores, recommendations, search results, cover images, and other derivatives described in Section 3.4.
  • Develop, train, evaluate, and improve AI/ML systems that power the Service, consistent with the license you grant in Section 4.2 of the Terms of Use.
  • Maintain platform integrity and safety — detect and prevent fraud, abuse, harassment, “screaming,” and violations of our Content Standards.
  • Communicate with you — send service-related notices, respond to your requests, and (with your consent where required) send updates about Equator.
  • Personalize your experience — recommend discussions, suggest topics, surface relevant content.
  • Analyze and improve the Service — understand how people use Equator and improve the product.
  • Comply with law and protect rights — meet legal obligations, respond to legal process, and protect the rights, property, and safety of Equator, our users, and the public.

5. Legal Bases for Processing (EU, UK, and Similar Laws)

If you are in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction that requires a specified lawful basis, we rely on the following bases under the GDPR and UK GDPR:

  • Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) — to operate the Service, manage your account, and deliver the features you’ve requested.
  • Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — to maintain safety and integrity, prevent abuse, improve the Service, develop our AI/ML systems, conduct analytics, and protect our business. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we balance them against your rights and freedoms and you may object at any time.
  • Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) — for certain marketing communications, optional cookies, and any processing of special-category data where applicable. You may withdraw consent at any time.
  • Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)) — to comply with laws, court orders, and regulatory requirements.

If we ever process special categories of personal data (e.g., biometric data used for unique identification), we will rely on your explicit consent under Art. 9(2)(a), or another lawful basis under Art. 9. See Section 12.

6. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell your personal data. We share data only in the following circumstances:

6.1. Other Users and the Public

User Content you post publicly on the Service is, by its nature, visible to other users and to the public. Your username, profile photo, and any User Content you publish may be viewed, embedded, shared, and downloaded by others. This is a feature of a public discussion platform, not a “sale” or “share” of personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act / California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA/CPRA) or comparable laws.

6.2. Service Providers

We share data with vendors that help us operate the Service, including:

  • Cloud hosting and storage (e.g., Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform);
  • Content delivery and security (e.g., Cloudflare);
  • AI and machine-learning providers (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI) for transcription, translation, analysis, and image generation;
  • Analytics (e.g., Google Analytics, Microsoft);
  • Email and communications;
  • Fraud prevention and bot detection (e.g., Cloudflare Turnstile); and
  • Payment processors (if and when we offer paid features).

These providers process data only on our instructions and under written agreements that require them to protect your data.

6.3. Legal and Safety

We may share data when we believe in good faith that it is necessary to: (i) comply with applicable law, legal process, or government requests; (ii) enforce our Terms of Use; (iii) detect, prevent, or address fraud, security, or technical issues; or (iv) protect the rights, property, or safety of Equator, our users, or the public, including to address harassment or “screaming.”

6.4. Business Transfers

If Equator is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, or sale of assets, we may transfer your data to the successor entity, subject to this Policy.

6.5. With Your Direction

If you choose to connect or share with a third-party service (e.g., sharing a video to social media), the data you share will be governed by that service’s privacy policy.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this Policy, unless a longer retention period is required by law.

  • Account data and User Content: retained while your account is active and for a limited period after deletion (see Section 8 and Section 4(f) of the Terms of Use).
  • Backup copies: retained until they cycle out of our systems in the ordinary course (typically up to 90 days).
  • De-identified and aggregated data: retained indefinitely; this data cannot reasonably be linked back to you.
  • Logs and security data: retained for up to 12 months for security, troubleshooting, and fraud prevention.
  • Legal and compliance records: retained as required by applicable law.

8. Your Rights & Choices

You have the right to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of your personal data. You may also object to or restrict certain processing. Specific rights depend on where you live.

8.1. Deletion of Your Account and Data

You can request deletion of your account and personal data at any time:

We will remove your account and User Content from the live Service within 30 days. Some limited data may persist after deletion, consistent with Section 4.6 of the Terms of Use, specifically:

  • backup or archival copies that cycle out in the ordinary course;
  • de-identified or aggregated data derived from your User Content;
  • User Content that has already been shared, embedded, downloaded, or sublicensed by others, which we cannot recall from third parties; and
  • records we are required to retain by law or for legitimate fraud-prevention, security, or dispute-resolution purposes.

8.2. Other Rights

You may also:

  • Access the personal data we hold about you;
  • Correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
  • Port your data to another service in a structured, machine-readable format;
  • Object to certain processing, including direct marketing;
  • Restrict processing in certain circumstances;
  • Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

To exercise these rights, email contact@equator.app. We will verify your identity before responding. We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights.

8.3. European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland

In addition to the rights in Section 8.2, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection supervisory authority. A list of EU authorities is available at edpb.europa.eu.

8.4. California (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have specific rights:

  • Right to Know what personal information we collect, the sources, the purposes, and the categories of recipients with whom we share it. The categories we collect are described in Section 3.
  • Right to Delete your personal information, subject to legal exceptions.
  • Right to Correct inaccurate personal information.
  • Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not sell your personal information and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are defined under the CCPA/CPRA. If this changes, we will update this Policy and provide the required opt-out mechanism.
  • Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information. We do not use sensitive personal information for purposes that would trigger this right.
  • Right to Non-Discrimination for exercising your rights.

You may exercise these rights by emailing contact@equator.app. An authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf with verifiable written authorization.

8.5. Other U.S. States

If you reside in Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, Oregon, or another U.S. state with a comprehensive privacy law, you may have rights similar to those above, including access, correction, deletion, portability, and opt-out of targeted advertising or profiling. To exercise these rights, contact contact@equator.app.

8.6. Israel

If you reside in Israel, you have rights of access and correction under the Protection of Privacy Law, 5741-1981, as amended. Contact contact@equator.app to exercise these rights.

9. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies, local storage, SDKs, and similar technologies to:

  • keep you signed in and remember your preferences;
  • measure usage and improve the Service (analytics, including Google Analytics);
  • protect against fraud and abuse (including Cloudflare Turnstile bot detection); and
  • understand performance and diagnose issues.

You can control cookies through your browser settings or device controls. Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the Service. Where required, we will request your consent for non-essential cookies through a banner on first visit.

We currently do not respond to “Do Not Track” browser signals, but we honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals where required by law as an opt-out of “sale” or “sharing” (which, as noted, we do not engage in).

10. International Data Transfers

Equator is based in the United States, and we may process and store your data on servers in the United States and other countries. If you access the Service from outside the United States, you understand that your data will be transferred to, processed, and stored in the United States.

If you are in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, we transfer your data based on appropriate safeguards, including (where applicable) the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, or reliance on the EU–U.S. Data Privacy Framework or UK Extension where our vendors are certified.

11. Data Security

We implement administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your data — including encryption in transit (TLS), encryption at rest for User Content, access controls, and regular security review. No system is perfectly secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a personal-data breach affecting you, we will notify you and the appropriate authorities as required by law.

12. Biometric Data

We may use automated systems to detect faces and voices in your User Content for purposes such as framing and cropping, generating cover images and thumbnails, captioning and translation, and content moderation.

  • We do not create persistent biometric identifiers or biometric templates to uniquely identify individuals for security or surveillance purposes.
  • We do not sell, lease, trade, or otherwise profit from biometric information.
  • We do not use facial recognition to identify individuals across videos.

If we ever introduce features that involve biometric identifiers as defined under laws such as the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act (CUBI), or Washington HB 1493, we will provide a separate, conspicuous notice and obtain any required consent before doing so.

13. FERPA and COPPA (Educational Use)

  • FERPA. Where Equator is used by a U.S. educational institution that has executed a written agreement with us, we act as a “School Official” under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act with a legitimate educational interest. Schools retain ownership of student records and may direct us to access, correct, or delete them.
  • COPPA. Equator is not directed to children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Where Equator is offered through a school for users between 13 and 16, the school provides consent on behalf of parents to the extent permitted under applicable law and our agreement with the school.

14. Children Under 16

The Service is not intended for children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16 outside of an authorized school context (see Section 13). If you believe a child under 16 has provided us with personal information, please contact contact@equator.app and we will delete it promptly.

15. Third-Party Services and Links

The Service may contain links to, or integrate with, third-party websites and services (including Sign in with Apple, Google, and Facebook, embedded media, and external links shared by users). This Policy does not apply to those third parties. We encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing them with your information.

16. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email and/or by posting a prominent notice on the Service before the changes take effect. The “Last Updated” date at the top of this Policy indicates when it was most recently revised. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy.

17. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our handling of your data:

This Privacy Policy was last updated on July 14, 2026.