Privacy Policy
1. Scope
This policy describes how the Service handles information for its users. Merlin is a private, invite-only personal assistant operated for the Operator and a small number of individuals he personally invites ("Users"). It is not offered to the public, has no public registration, and is not a commercial product.
2. Information the Service handles
- Account information: name, email address, phone number, birthday, and per-user preferences (assistant name, personality settings, voice selection) provided at account creation.
- Conversation content: messages exchanged with the assistant across its channels (web, messaging apps, SMS/RCS, voice calls), including extracted "memory" facts the assistant retains to serve the User.
- Connected-service data: where a User explicitly connects an account (for example a calendar or email account), the Service accesses that data solely to fulfill the User's own requests. Access tokens are encrypted at rest.
- Usage records: an internal ledger of feature and model usage (timestamps, token counts, computed costs) kept for cost accounting and abuse prevention.
2a. Website analytics
The public pages at projectmerlin.app use three privacy-respecting analytics services to count visits and understand how the site is used: Cloudflare Web Analytics, Google Analytics 4, and Microsoft Clarity. All three are configured to run without cookies on this site (Google Analytics in Consent Mode with storage denied; Clarity with cookies disabled and its default masking of typed input). Clarity may record anonymised session replays and heatmaps. No analytics data is sold or used for advertising, and the demo chat itself is not recorded by these services beyond page views.
3. How information is used
Information is used for exactly one purpose: providing the assistant's functionality to the User it belongs to. The Service does not sell, rent, or share personal information; it serves no advertising; it performs no cross-user profiling. Each User's data is isolated from every other User's at the database layer.
4. Processing by AI providers
To generate responses, the content of a User's request (and relevant context) is transmitted to third-party AI model providers (such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and others) under their respective API terms. Voice audio is processed by a speech provider to enable spoken conversations. Text-message delivery is handled by a telecommunications provider. These providers act as processors for the Service; the Service does not permit them to use its data for advertising.
5. Messaging (SMS/RCS)
The Service sends text messages only in reply to messages initiated by a registered, allowlisted User. It sends no marketing, no bulk messages, and no messages to third parties. Message frequency varies with the User's own use. Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to stop all messages; text HELP for assistance. We do not share, sell, or otherwise provide your mobile phone number or messaging consent information to any third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. The complete SMS program description, including the opt-in workflow, is published in the SMS Program Disclosure.
5a. Browser extension
The Service offers an optional Chrome extension that connects a User's browser to their own Merlin account. The extension activates only after the User pairs it with a one-time code generated inside their account. It reads the content of a web page (its text, title, and address) only when the User asks a question about that page, requests a summary or translation, or approves a page action — and only for websites the User has placed on their own per-site allowlist. Page content travels exclusively to the User's own Merlin server, is used solely to answer that User's request, and is never sold, shared with third parties, or used for advertising or profiling. The extension stores its pairing token and display preferences locally in the browser. The optional "answer beside Google" feature is off by default; when enabled, the search query is sent to the User's own server to produce an answer. Browser-operation ("drive") features require the User's explicit per-action approval, and every such action is recorded in the audit log described below.
6. Storage, security, and retention
- Data is stored on infrastructure controlled by the Operator, protected by passkey (WebAuthn) authentication, encrypted transport (TLS), database-level per-user isolation, and encrypted secrets.
- Every action the assistant takes on a User's behalf is recorded in an audit log.
- Backups are taken automatically and retained on a rolling basis.
- Conversation history and memories are retained until the User asks for their removal or the account is closed, at which point associated data is deleted from the live system.
7. Children
The Service is not directed to children under 13, and no accounts are created for them.
8. Your choices
Users may review their stored memories in the application, request correction or deletion of their data, disconnect any connected service at any time, and stop text messaging with STOP. Because the Service is private and invite-only, requests are handled directly by the Operator.
9. Changes
Material changes to this policy will be reflected on this page with an updated date above.
10. Contact
Privacy questions or requests: legal@dustinmooney.com