Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 2026

Tookoo is a real-time speech translation service. This policy explains what personal data is processed when you use the Tookoo website and the Tookoo apps (Android/iOS).

In short: Tookoo streams your microphone audio in real time to a translation service (Google Gemini) in order to translate it. Audio and transcripts are processed solely for live translation and are not permanently stored by us. There are no user accounts. To fund the service, the Tookoo app occasionally shows ads (Google AdMob); where required, you are asked for consent first.

1. Controller

B. Grabowski
Beethovenstraße 36
76275 Ettlingen, Germany
Email: grabow.commuter@gmail.com

2. What data we process

Data type	Purpose	Storage
Microphone audio (your speech during a session)	Real-time transmission and translation	Processed transiently during the session; not permanently stored by us
Transcripts & translations (text)	Displaying the translation in the conversation view	Held only in the running session on your device; discarded on leave/reload
Room code, technical connection data (e.g. IP address, connection time)	Establishing the WebRTC connection, pairing participants, operational security	Briefly in server/connection logs
Settings (language, microphone calibration, options)	Convenience — remembering your choices	Stored locally on your device only (local storage / app settings)

Tookoo requires no registration. We do not collect a name or email address and do not build user profiles.

3. Recipients / third-party services

The following processors and services are used to provide the service:

Google Gemini (translation)

To perform the translation, your microphone audio is transmitted to Google's Gemini Live interface (Google Ireland Ltd. / Google LLC). Processing may take place on servers outside the EU, in particular in the USA. This constitutes a transfer to a third country (see section 6).

LiveKit (real-time audio transport)

Audio transport uses a self-operated LiveKit server (WebRTC) hosted at Hetzner Online GmbH in an EU data centre.

Google Cloud Run (application hosting)

The website and signalling server run on Google Cloud (region europe-west1, Belgium).

Google AdMob (advertising, app only)

The Tookoo app is funded by occasional full-screen ads (interstitials) from Google AdMob (Google Ireland Ltd. / Google LLC). Google processes device and usage data — including advertising ID, IP address, approximate region and ad interactions — to serve and measure ads. In the EU we ask for your consent through a Google consent form (UMP) before showing personalised ads; without consent only non-personalised ads are shown. On iOS, Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt applies in addition. This may involve transfers to the USA (see section 6). The website itself shows no ads. More: Google AdMob – data usage.

4. Legal basis

Processing is carried out to perform the service you requested (translation) on the basis of Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (contract/pre-contractual measure) and Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in secure, functional operation). Where consent is required for the transmission of voice data, it is given by your active use of the translation function (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR).

5. Retention

Audio and transcripts are processed only for the duration of the active translation and are not permanently stored by us thereafter. Technical log data is retained only as long as necessary for operation and security and is then deleted. Local settings remain on your device until you delete them.

6. Transfers to third countries

Using Google Gemini may involve transfers to the USA. Google relies on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses and/or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework for such transfers. Despite these safeguards, third countries may in principle offer a lower level of data protection. By using the translation function you consent to this transfer.

7. Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the following rights:

Access (Art. 15), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17)
Restriction of processing (Art. 18) and data portability (Art. 20)
Objection to processing (Art. 21)
Withdrawal of a given consent with effect for the future (Art. 7(3))
Complaint to a supervisory authority (Art. 77), e.g. the State Commissioner for Data Protection of Baden-Württemberg

To exercise your rights, an email to grabow.commuter@gmail.com is sufficient. As we do not maintain user accounts, we are generally unable to attribute stored session data to a specific person.

8. App permissions

The Tookoo app requires access to the microphone to capture and translate your speech, and to the internet to perform the translation. Microphone access is only used during an active session.

9. Children

Tookoo is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children.

10. Changes

We will update this privacy policy when the service or the legal situation changes. The current version is always available at this address.