Privacy Policy

1. Who this policy comes from

Urdu Keyboard: Easy Typing is an Android input method published by Aqeel Abbas (itsaqeel.dev), an independent developer. For the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation and the UK GDPR, the developer is the data controller for the limited information described in this policy and can be reached at hello@itsaqeel.dev.

This policy covers the Android application identified as com.urdukeyboard.easytyping and this website. It does not cover the other apps you type into, or the services your device sends data to on its own behalf.

2. What happens to what you type

A keyboard necessarily sees messages, search queries, card numbers and passwords. The app is built so that this content never leaves your phone:

• Direct hand-off to the system. Each character you press is passed straight to the Android InputConnection of the app you are typing in. It is not copied to a log file, queued for upload, or attached to any report.
• No text in analytics or crash reports. No keystroke, message, clipboard entry, learned word or field content is ever included in the usage events or crash diagnostics described in section 3.
• Suggestions computed offline. Word prediction, autocorrect, next-word suggestions and Roman Urdu transliteration all run against dictionaries bundled inside the app, with no network request involved.
• Sensitive fields are respected. The keyboard honours Android's privacy flags, including IME_FLAG_NO_PERSONALIZED_LEARNING, so nothing is learned from password fields or incognito input. Clipboard entries that an app marks as sensitive, and anything copied while a password field has focus, are not retained by the clipboard panel.
• Paste suggestions on number fields. When you open a verification-code or phone-number field, the keyboard may check the text you copied in the last few minutes and offer a single code or phone number from it as a one-tap suggestion. This check happens on your device, the value is held only in memory until you use it or it expires, and it is never stored or sent anywhere. Clips that an app marks as sensitive are never offered.
• Autofill suggestions. On Android 11 and later, suggestions from your device's autofill service (for example a password manager or Google autofill) can appear in the keyboard's suggestion bar. They are drawn by that service; the keyboard does not receive, read or store the values they contain.

3. Information the app collects

The app collects no name, email address, phone number, contact list, precise location or biometric data, and it has no user accounts. What it does collect is limited to the following.

These are handled by Google Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics (see section 7). We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising. The app shows no advertisements.

Where the GDPR applies, our legal basis for processing this diagnostic information is our legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f)) in keeping the app stable and improving it. You can limit it using the controls in section 9.

4. Permissions and why they exist

5. Voice dictation

When you tap the microphone key, the app asks Android's speech recognition service to transcribe what you say and inserts the text it returns. That service is provided by your device, and on most phones it is Google's — which means the audio is processed by Google, typically on its servers, under Google's privacy policy.

The app does not record, save, copy or transmit your audio itself, and it receives only the resulting text. If you would rather not use a network speech service, simply do not use the microphone key; every other feature works without it.

6. Local storage and your dictionary

• Preferences. Your theme, key style, font, key height, sound and haptic settings are stored in the app's private sandbox on the device.
• Learned words. Words you type often may be added to a personal dictionary so suggestions improve. This dictionary never leaves your device: it stays in the app's sandbox and is excluded from Google Drive backup and from device-to-device transfer, so it does not follow you to a new phone. It is permanently deleted when you clear the app's data or uninstall the app.
• Storage before unlock. So that the keyboard is available on the lock screen, some data is kept in Android's device-protected storage, which is available before the device is unlocked and is therefore not tied to your screen-lock credential. Typed text is never written there; only settings and learned suggestion data are.
• Clipboard. Recent and pinned clips shown in the clipboard panel are held in memory only, never written to storage, and are discarded when the keyboard restarts. You can also delete them individually or clear them from the panel.

7. Service providers

The app relies on Google services and on no other third party:

• Google Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics — process the usage and crash information in section 3. See Firebase privacy and security and Google's privacy policy.
• Google Play services and Google Play — handle distribution, updates and app integrity.
• Your device's speech recognition service — performs voice dictation, as described in section 5.

The app contains no advertising network, no attribution SDK and no in-app purchases or billing.

8. Retention

• On your device. Settings and learned words remain until you clear the app's data or uninstall the app. Clipboard entries are kept in memory only and are gone when the keyboard restarts.
• Usage events. Retained by Google Firebase Analytics under its own retention settings, currently a maximum of 14 months for event-level data, after which only aggregate reporting remains.
• Crash reports. Retained by Firebase Crashlytics for up to 90 days.

9. Your controls

• Clear learned words. Learned words never leave your device. To remove them, open Android Settings › Apps › Urdu Keyboard › Storage › Clear data, or uninstall the app. This also resets your keyboard settings.
• Revoke the microphone. Android Settings › Apps › Urdu Keyboard › Permissions. Dictation stops; nothing else changes.
• Limit advertising identification. Android Settings › Privacy › Ads lets you delete or reset your advertising ID, which the Firebase libraries then stop receiving.
• Delete everything. Android Settings › Apps › Urdu Keyboard › Storage › Clear data, or uninstall the app, removes all locally stored information.
• Ask us to erase diagnostics. Write to hello@itsaqeel.dev and we will ask Google to delete the diagnostic records associated with your installation.

10. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to the processing of your personal information, to withdraw consent, and to receive a copy of it in a portable form. Because the app holds no account and no directly identifying information, we will usually need the installation or advertising identifier to locate any records at all.

To exercise a right, write to hello@itsaqeel.dev. We aim to respond within 30 days. If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national supervisory authority.

For residents of California: we do not sell personal information, we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising, and we do not use it to profile you. You will never be treated differently for exercising a privacy right.

11. Children

The app is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided personal information through the app, contact hello@itsaqeel.dev and it will be deleted.

12. Security

The app runs inside Android's application sandbox, so its stored data is not readable by other apps. Diagnostics sent to Google are transmitted over encrypted connections. No safeguard is absolute, but because the app holds no account credentials and transmits nothing you type, the information exposed by any single failure is deliberately minimal.

13. International transfers

The diagnostic information in section 3 is processed by Google on infrastructure that may be located outside your country, including in the United States. Google relies on mechanisms such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses for those transfers.

14. Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the revised version will be published on this page with a new effective date. Where a change materially affects how information is handled, it will also be announced in the app's release notes. Continuing to use the app after a change takes effect means you accept the revised policy.

15. Contact

Questions, requests and privacy complaints are welcome:

• Email: hello@itsaqeel.dev
• Developer: itsaqeel.dev
• This policy: urdukeyboard.itsaqeel.dev/privacy