Privacy Statement

At Speechmatics we are committed to safeguarding and preserving the privacy of our users, and value the confidence of our customers. We strive always to comply with the laws of the countries in which we do business. The following Privacy Statement ("Privacy Statement") explains what happens to any Personal Data that you provide to us, or that we collect from you when you use our Flow App (the “App”) and how we use cookies on the App.

Under the data protection laws of the United Kingdom (“UK GDPR”), ‘Personal Data’ is defined as being any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. This means any data/information which can identify you or which can be used together with other information we are likely to have access to identify you will be Personal Data.

We process your Personal Data when we perform (whether or not by automated means) any operation or set of operations on it. For example, we process Personal Data when we collect, record, organise, structure, store, alter, retrieve, consult, use, disclose, disseminate, restrict, erase or destruct such Personal data.

1. About Speechmatics

Cantab Research Limited (trading as "Speechmatics") is a company incorporated in England and Wales (Company Number: 05697423) with its registered address at 296 Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WD, United Kingdom.

For the purposes of the UK GDPR, Speechmatics is a data controller in respect of the Personal Data it gathers from you and other users of the App.

Speechmatics is registered in the UK with the Information Commissioner's Office under registration number ZA137980.

2. Information that we collect

In the course of your use of the App and our maintenance of the App we may collect the following Personal Data:

Information You Give Us

This is information about you that you give us when you register for an account on our App, when you login to your account and when you fill out any other forms within our App, including when you report a problem with the App or send any other communication through the App. You may also provide us with Personal Data if you correspond with us by phone, e-mail or otherwise. The information you give us may include names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers.

Information We Collect About You

When you use the App, we will automatically collect the following information:

  • technical information, including the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your device to the internet, your login information, device information, time zone setting, screen resolution, operating system and usage data (inc. interaction patterns and timestamps); and

  • voice recording and/or transcripts of any submissions you make through the App.

Information we receive from other sources

We may also be provided with your Personal Data by other organisations we work with, such as our billing providers. We only use this data in order to enhance the functionality and user experience of the the App. We do not process any special categories of data (also commonly referred to as “sensitive personal data”).

3. How we use and process your Personal Data

The below paragraphs set out the lawful basis (as required by UK GDPR) upon which we rely in order to process your Personal Data and the scope of the processing we undertake.

To perform the contract we have entered into with you.

You enter into a contract with us when you download and use the App. We need to process the Personal Data you provide to us when registering for an account/logging in in order to provide the services offered through the App to you. Our use of your Personal Data in this way includes sharing your personal data with the third-party agents, consultants and contractors we need to in order to provide the App, as well as for the purposes of assessing fraud and/or security risks.

We may also process the Personal Data you provide to us when you communicate with us via any in-App form or otherwise in order to provide various supporting customer services to you (such as where you contact us with a question in connection with our other services which we might be able to provide to you).

We will retain the Personal Data we use for this purpose for the duration of your use of the App and for so long as necessary for our internal audit purposes and as required by law. More information about our retention policy is available on request to compliance@speechmatics.com.

To make our the App better – for our legitimate interests

We will also process your Personal Data in order to provide you with a more effective user experience (such as by displaying the App in a way which is tailored for your device and usage habits). This processing means that your experience of the App will be more tailored to you, and that your user experience on the App may differ from someone accessing the same App with different usage habits.

We also use various cookies to help us improve the App (more details are set out in our Cookies section), and share your Personal Data with third party analytics that assist us in the improvement and optimization of the App.

We will also process your Personal Data for the purposes of making the App more secure, to administer the App and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical and survey purposes. The lawful basis we rely on in these circumstances is our legitimate interest to provide you with the best customer experience we can, and to ensure that the App is kept secure. You can prevent us from using your Personal Data in this way by using the 'do not track' functionality in your device settings. If you enable do not track functionality, our App may be less tailored to your needs and preferences.

We may use your voice recordings and/or transcripts of any submissions you may make for our legitimate interests in developing the App and our other products and services.

We will retain the Personal Data we use for this purpose for the duration of your use of the App and for so long as necessary for our legitimate interests to continue in developing the App and our other products and services. More information about our retention policy is available on request to compliance@speechmatics.com.

If our business is sold

We will transfer your Personal Data to a third party:

  1. In the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we will disclose your Personal Data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets (at all times in accordance with data protection legislation); or

  2. If Cantab Research Limited or substantially all its assets are acquired by a third party, in which case Personal Data held by us about our customers will be one of the assets transferred to the purchaser.

In each case, the lawful basis we rely on when we process your data in these circumstances is our legitimate interest to ensure our business can be continued by a purchaser. If you object to our use of your personal data in this way, the relevant seller or buyer of our business may not be able to provide services to you.

For marketing purposes

If you have opted in to receive marketing communications from us, we will handle your Personal Data, for example (your name, email address and postal address and telephone number) to provide you with marketing communications in line with any preferences you have told us about. When we send you marketing emails, we rely on your consent to contact you for marketing purposes. Every email we send to you for marketing purposes will also contain instructions on how to unsubscribe from receiving them. You are not under any obligation to provide us with your Personal Data for marketing purposes. You can tell us that you do not want your Personal Data to be processed in this way at any time by contacting us at info@speechmatics.com or, where relevant, by following the unsubscribe link shown in every marketing communication you receive from us.

4. Keeping your information secure

Speechmatics takes seriously the trust you place in us. To prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, to maintain data accuracy, and to ensure the appropriate use of the information, Speechmatics utilises reasonable and appropriate physical, technical, and administrative procedures to safeguard the information you send us.

5. Where we store your data

As some of our hosting is provided by third party cloud providers, the Personal Data that we collect from you may be stored and processed in a location outside of the United Kingdom. For example, some of our third party cloud providers use servers that are located in the USA. We take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy.

Where disclosure to one of the parties mentioned above results in your Personal Data being transferred outside of the United Kingdom, we will only make such disclosure where we have a lawful basis for doing so and we shall ensure that the disclosure complies with all requirements of UK GDPR including, where necessary, by ensuring that there are ‘Appropriate Safeguards’ in place to protect your Personal Data.

6. Use of cookies

Cookies provide information regarding the device used by a visitor. We may use cookies, where appropriate, to gather information about your device in order to assist us in improving the App.

Please refer to our cookie policy for a full explanation, use and your management options for the control of cookies.

7. Your rights under UK GDPR

Right of Access

You have the right to receive confirmation as to whether your Personal Data is being processed by us, as well as various other information relating to our use of your Personal Data. You also have the right to access your Personal Data which we are processing. You can exercise the right in a variety of ways, and the easiest way for you do to this is likely to be contacting us at the email address detailed at the bottom of this Privacy Statement.

Right to Rectification

You have the right to require us to rectify any inaccurate Personal Data we hold about you. You also have the right to have incomplete Personal Data we hold about you completed, by providing a supplementary statement to us.

Right to Restriction

You have the right to restrict our processing of your Personal Data where:

  1. The accuracy of the Personal Data is being contested by you;

  2. The processing by us of your Personal Data is unlawful, but you do not want the relevant Personal Data erased;

  3. We no longer need to process your Personal Data for the agreed purposes, but you want to preserve your personal data for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; or

  4. We are processing your Personal Data because of our legitimate interest to improve the App, provide customer services, or on the sale of our business (as set out above) and you:

  5. Object to our processing as set out above; and

  6. Want processing of the relevant Personal Data to be restricted until it can be determined whether our legitimate interest overrides your legitimate interest.

Where any exercise by you of your right to restriction determines that our processing of particular Personal Data is to be restricted, we will then only process the relevant Personal Data in accordance with your consent and, in addition, for storage purposes and for the purpose of legal claims.

Right to Data Portability

You have the right to receive your Personal Data in a structured, standard machine-readable format and the right to transmit such Personal Data to another controller.

Right to Data Erasure

You have the right to require we erase your Personal Data which we are processing where one of the following grounds applies:

  1. The processing is no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which your Personal Data were collected or otherwise processed;

  2. Our processing of your Personal Data is based on your consent, you have subsequently withdrawn your consent and there is no other legal ground we can use to process your Personal Data;

  3. You object to the processing in as set out in this Privacy Statement and we have no overriding legitimate interest for our processing;

  4. The Personal Data has been unlawfully processed; and

  5. The erasure is required for compliance with a law to which we are subject.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office, the supervisory authority for data protection issues in England and Wales.

8. Your right to object under UK GDPR

You have the right to object to us processing your Personal Data where we are processing your Personal Data:

  1. Based on our legitimate interests to improve the App, or on the sale of our business (as set out above). If you ask us to stop processing your Personal Data for these reasons, we will stop processing your Personal Data unless we can demonstrate compelling grounds as to why the processing should continue in accordance with data protection laws; and

  2. For direct marking purposes. If you ask us to stop processing your Personal Data on this basis, we will stop.

9. Children's Privacy

The App is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly solicit or collect Personal Data from children under the age of 13. If we learn that any Personal Data has been collected inadvertently from a child under 13, we will delete such Personal Data as soon as possible. If you believe that we might have collected information from a child under 13, please contact us at compliance@speechmatics.com

10. Third Party Links

On occasion we include links to third party applications, websites, products or services on our App for your convenience and information. Where we provide a link, it does not mean that we endorse, make representations or approve that site's policy towards visitor privacy. You should review their privacy policy before sending them any Personal Data.

11. Changes to our Privacy Statement

Any changes we may make to our Privacy Statement in the future will be posted on our website and, where appropriate, notified to you by email. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our Privacy Statement.

12. Contacting us

Please do not hesitate to Contact Us regarding any matter relating to this Privacy Statement at compliance@speechmatics.com