Privacy Policy for Pencil
Last updated: August 10, 2026
Introduction
Billion Labs ("we," "our," or "us") operates the Pencil mobile application and the related news service (collectively, the "Service"). This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data when you use the Service and the choices you have associated with that data.
App Overview
Pencil turns the day's news into short, opinionated stories on the topics you follow. We source published news articles, use artificial intelligence to write short takes on them, and rank those stories against the interests you tell us about. The app also includes a chat where you can adjust what you follow using text or voice.
How Pencil's Stories Are Written
The stories in your feed are written by AI from real, published news articles. They are presented under fictional writer personas — the names, professions, and profile pictures attached to stories are AI-generated and do not represent real people, real journalists, or real publications. The stories are takes and summaries, not original reporting, and the source article is always linked so you can read the original. AI-generated text can be inaccurate or incomplete; treat it accordingly.
Information Collection and Use
Device Permissions
Pencil requests the following device permissions:
- Microphone: Required only when you tap the record button to describe your interests by voice during setup or to send a voice message in chat. We do not access your microphone in the background or without your explicit action to start a recording.
- Notifications: To deliver story notifications, when enabled by you.
- Network / Internet: To load your feed, sync your interests, transcribe audio, and stream AI responses.
- App Tracking (iOS): On iOS, we ask for your permission before any advertising-related measurement takes place. See "Advertising, Attribution and Analytics" below. If you decline, the app works normally.
Account Information
Pencil signs you in using anonymous Firebase Authentication. This means:
- We do not require your name, email, phone number, or any social-login profile to use the app.
- An anonymous, randomly generated User ID is created and stored locally on your device and on our servers to keep your interests, feed history, and chat associated with your install.
- Device Information: Device type, operating system version, and app version are collected for compatibility, crash reporting, and product analytics.
Data You Provide
- Your interests — the country you choose, the categories you select, and anything you describe in your own words during setup or later in chat.
- Imported interest summaries — if you use the optional setup step that invites you to paste a description of your interests from another AI assistant, the text you paste is processed to extract topics and stored as your interests. Do not paste anything you would not want stored; paste only the interest summary.
- Text messages you send in chat.
- Voice recordings you make. Audio is uploaded to Firebase Storage under your own user namespace (
users/{your-uid}/) and transcribed to text for processing.
- Feedback you submit through the in-app feedback form.
Data Generated by Your Use
- Feed engagement — which stories are shown to you, which you open, read, like, or bookmark. This is used to rank what you see next.
- Chat metadata — message counts, timestamps, and AI response latency, used to monitor quality.
- Error reports — crash logs and error reports, collected through Firebase Crashlytics to improve stability.
Data We Do Not Collect
We want to be clear about what we do not collect:
- We do not collect your real name, email address, or phone number.
- We do not track your precise location. Your feed is centred on the country you select yourself, not on GPS.
- We do not collect your browsing history outside the app.
- We do not access other apps, your contacts, your calendar, or your photo library.
- We do not collect biometric data.
- We do not record audio without your explicit action to start a recording.
Advertising, Attribution and Analytics
Pencil uses third-party measurement tools to understand how people find and use the app. This section describes them in full.
What We Use
- AppsFlyer (iOS) — mobile attribution. Tells us which campaign or link an install came from. AppsFlyer receives your anonymous Pencil User ID, device and install identifiers, and install/attribution events.
- Meta (Facebook) App Events — measures the effectiveness of campaigns we run on Meta platforms. Meta receives app events (such as first open, sign-in, and milestone counts like "sent 5 messages" or "read 10 stories") together with device and advertising identifiers.
- Firebase Analytics — feature usage, session duration, and performance metrics, keyed to your anonymous User ID.
- Firebase Crashlytics — crash and error reports.
What These Tools Do Not Receive
- The content of your chat messages, voice recordings, transcripts, or written interests is never sent to AppsFlyer or Meta. Events carry counts, timestamps, and the platform you are on — not what you said or read.
- Your name, email address, or phone number — which we do not hold in the first place.
Your Control (iOS App Tracking Transparency)
- On iOS, we show Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt before advertising-related measurement begins. If you choose Ask App Not to Track, we disable advertiser tracking in the Meta SDK and restrict AppsFlyer's consent signals accordingly, and no advertising identifier (IDFA) is used.
- You can change this at any time in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking on your device.
- On Android, you can reset or delete your advertising ID in your device settings.
- Declining tracking does not limit any feature of Pencil.
- To opt out of product analytics, contact us at support@billionlabs.in.
Data Shared with Third-Party AI Services
Pencil uses Google's Gemini family of models (via Google Vertex AI) to write stories, transcribe voice, interpret your stated interests, and power chat replies. The following describes exactly what is shared with Google, how, and what is not shared.
What Data Is Sent
- Chat messages and stated interests: The text of your messages — including topics, opinions, and follow-up questions you voluntarily share — is sent to Google Vertex AI for processing.
- Voice recordings: Audio you record is sent to Google Vertex AI for transcription. The resulting text and relevant conversation context may then be sent to the model to generate replies or extract interests.
- Imported interest summaries: Text you paste during the optional import step is sent to the model so it can be turned into structured interests.
- News article content: Published articles we source are sent to the model so it can write stories about them. This is not your personal data.
What Data Is NOT Sent
- Your name, email address, or any account credentials are never shared with third-party AI services.
- Your device information, location data, IP address, advertising identifiers, or unique device identifiers are not sent to the AI model.
- Your browsing history, contacts, or any data from other apps on your device are not shared.
Who the Data Is Sent To
How the Data Is Sent
- All data is transmitted securely via encrypted HTTPS (TLS) connections.
- Data is sent through our backend servers (not directly from your device to Google), allowing us to strip identifying information before forwarding.
- We use Vertex AI configurations that, where available, opt out of customer data being used to train Google's general-purpose models.
Your Consent
- Before you can use chat, Pencil shows an in-app screen that describes this sharing and asks you to confirm. By tapping I understand and agree, you consent to the sharing described in this section.
- You may withdraw consent at any time by deleting the app and contacting us at support@billionlabs.in to request deletion of any associated data.
- Without this consent, the AI chat and personalised feed features are not available.
Storage of Data
Server Storage
- Your interests, feed and engagement history, chat messages, voice recordings, transcripts, and AI responses may be stored on our servers (Google Firebase / Firestore / Cloud Storage and our own databases) to deliver the Service, improve quality, and provide history across sessions.
- We retain this data for as long as necessary for the purposes described above or as required by law.
- Upon verified request, we will delete or anonymise your data from our systems, subject to legal or legitimate business obligations.
Local Storage
- Recordings, downloaded media, and cached feed data may be stored locally on your device to support offline access and faster load times.
- You can clear locally stored data through your device's app-storage settings or by uninstalling the app.
- Local data is protected by your device's security features.
Third-Party Cloud Infrastructure
- We use Google Firebase, Google Cloud Platform, and Amazon Web Services to host and process data on our behalf under contractual and security obligations.
- All data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest.
- Access to your data is controlled and monitored.
How We Use Your Information
- Story Generation: Write short stories from published news articles.
- Personalisation: Rank and select which stories you see, based on your stated interests and your engagement.
- Chat: Generate replies and update your interests from what you tell us.
- Transcription: Convert your voice messages to text.
- App Improvement: Analyse aggregate usage patterns to enhance features and reliability.
- Measurement: Understand where installs come from and how campaigns perform.
- Communication: Send story notifications and important updates, when enabled.
- Technical Support: Diagnose and resolve issues you report.
Data Sharing and Disclosure
We DO NOT sell your personal data to third parties.
We may share information in these limited circumstances:
- Service Providers: Google Firebase / Cloud Platform for hosting, storage, and analytics; Amazon Web Services (S3) for media asset storage.
- Third-Party AI Services: Google Vertex AI / Gemini for story generation, transcription, interest extraction, and chat. Only your messages, transcripts, and stated interests are shared — no personal identifiers. See "Data Shared with Third-Party AI Services" above.
- Attribution and Advertising Partners: AppsFlyer and Meta, as described in "Advertising, Attribution and Analytics" above.
- Content Providers: We use third-party news sourcing and web search providers to find and rank published articles. These providers receive article and topic queries, not your identity or your messages.
- Legal Requirements: When required by law or legal process.
- Safety: To protect the rights, property, or safety of users or the public.
- Business Transfers: In case of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale.
Third-Party Services
Pencil integrates with the following third-party services, each with its own privacy policy:
- Google Firebase — anonymous authentication, Firestore database, Cloud Storage, messaging, analytics, and crash reporting.
- Google Vertex AI / Gemini — story generation, transcription, interest extraction, and chat; receives only messages, transcripts, and stated interests with no personal identifiers.
- AppsFlyer — mobile install attribution on iOS.
- Meta (Facebook) App Events — campaign measurement.
- Amazon Web Services (S3) — storage of generated media assets.
- News sourcing and web search providers — discovery and ranking of published news articles.
Your Privacy Rights
Access and Control
- Access: View your saved interests on the Interests screen, and your chat history and bookmarks inside the app.
- Delete: Remove bookmarks and messages in the app, or request deletion of your entire data set by emailing support@billionlabs.in.
- Correct: Update, add, or remove your interests at any time from the Interests screen or through chat.
Communication Preferences
- Notifications: Control push notifications in your device settings.
- Tracking: Control app tracking in your device settings, as described above.
- Analytics: Request opt-out of analytics by contacting support.
Data Retention
- Active Installs: Data retained while the app is installed and in use.
- Deleted Messages: Permanently deleted within 30 days.
- Deletion Request: All associated data deleted within 90 days of a verified request.
- Legal Hold: We may retain data longer if required by law.
- Backups: Data in encrypted backups is deleted according to our backup retention policy.
Children's Privacy
Pencil is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us to have the information removed.
International Data Transfers
Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your own, including the United States and the European Union, where Google Cloud and our other providers operate. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information during such transfers, including:
- Google Cloud Platform's global infrastructure and security controls.
- Compliance with applicable data protection regulations.
- Contractual protections (such as Standard Contractual Clauses) for international data transfers.
Security of Data
The security of your data is important to us. We implement administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the nature of the data, including:
- Encryption: TLS in transit and encryption at rest.
- Access Controls: Role-based access and Firebase Security Rules that restrict each user to their own data.
- Monitoring: Continuous logging and threat detection.
- Data Minimisation: We collect and retain only what is necessary.
While no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, we work to protect your information and continuously improve our security practices.
Your Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:
- Access, update, or delete your data.
- Control when and how recording takes place.
- Receive a copy of your data in a portable format.
- Withdraw consent for microphone, notifications, or tracking through your device settings.
- Request deletion of server-stored data.
- Object to or opt out of analytics and advertising measurement.
Compliance with Laws
This privacy policy is designed to be compliant with relevant privacy laws and regulations, including:
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — European Union
- California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) — United States
- Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP Act) — India
- Apple App Store and Google Play Store guidelines
- Industry best practices for mobile application privacy
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by:
- Posting the new Privacy Policy in the app.
- Sending a notification through the app.
- Updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this policy.
Your continued use of Pencil after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us: