HalfKey Privacy Policy

The main points

• HalfKey processes typing, swipe typing and suggestions on your device. It does not upload your typing, learned vocabulary, personal dictionary or clipboard history to us.
• Personal learning and optional clipboard history can save information locally. You have controls to stop new learning and delete saved information.
• Google Play handles purchases and restoration separately. These operations can use Google's connection even though HalfKey's typing features work offline.
• There is no HalfKey account to create. HalfKey does not include advertising or analytics that track your use of the keyboard.

Typing and the app you are using

HalfKey uses your key presses, swipe movements and the text context made available by the app you are typing in to enter text, suggest words, correct spelling and move the cursor. This processing takes place on your device.

The text you type or paste is delivered to the app you have chosen to use. That app may store or send it under its own privacy policy. HalfKey's privacy controls do not control what other apps do with that text.

HalfKey does not keep a general log of everything you type or save raw swipe paths. Personal learning can retain individual words and adjacent word pairs, and optional clipboard history can retain complete copied text as described below. Practice text is not saved or used for personal learning.

Personal dictionary and learning

When learning is enabled, HalfKey can store learned words, their usage information, adjacent word pairs and spellings you choose to keep instead of an autocorrection. Words you manually add to your dictionary are also stored locally. These records help personalise suggestions and corrections. They can include names or short combinations of words with personal meaning.

The current storage limits are 2,000 learned words, 4,000 word pairs, 1,000 manually added dictionary entries and 256 kept spellings. These limits bound the stored records; they do not mean every record expires after a fixed number of days.

Private mode and learning pauses stop new personal learning. They do not erase information already saved and do not necessarily stop existing personal suggestions. The per-app option to use only the built-in dictionary also excludes personal suggestions for that app. You can remove personal words and related learning through the dictionary controls, or clear all personal words.

HalfKey suppresses personal learning when the receiving app identifies a protected field, such as a password field, or requests that personalised learning be disabled. These protections depend on the information Android and the receiving app provide.

Optional clipboard history

Clipboard history is off unless you enable it. When enabled, HalfKey can save text made available through Android's clipboard while an eligible keyboard input view is active. It keeps up to 10 recent entries and 20 entries you explicitly pin, with up to 20,000 characters per saved entry. Copied text may include a complete message or other personal information.

Private mode and protected input conditions pause new history capture. Items marked as sensitive by Android are excluded. Android and your device manufacturer also control which clipboard information HalfKey can access.

Turning history off clears recent entries but preserves pinned entries. Clear non-pinned removes recent entries only. You can delete pinned entries individually using the clipboard controls. Deleting HalfKey's saved copy does not clear the system clipboard or copies held by other apps.

Choosing Paste latest is a separate action that uses the current text available from Android's clipboard, subject to input-field protections. It does not require you to enable saved clipboard history.

Settings and per app rules

HalfKey stores settings such as your chosen layout, dimensions, colours, named themes, haptic preferences, privacy rules and tutorial progress on your device so it can remember your choices.

When you choose privacy rules for particular apps, HalfKey can display the names and package identifiers of launchable apps on your device. It stores the rules you select and uses the current input app's identity to apply them. This is not a history of every app you use, and HalfKey does not upload an app inventory to us.

Trial and Google Play purchases

HalfKey stores a trial start time and timing information locally to administer the trial. If you purchase the permanent unlock, it stores the signed purchase receipt and verification signature so it can verify your entitlement and support offline access. A receipt may include a product identifier, purchase token, order information, purchase time and purchase state.

Purchase, product-information, restoration and acknowledgement requests are handled through Google Play. Google may process account, transaction and device information for those services under its own terms and privacy policy. HalfKey does not receive your payment-card number or bank details through this purchase flow, and typing data is not included in purchase requests.

Google's privacy policy is available at https://policies.google.com/privacy. Deleting HalfKey's local data does not delete Google's transaction records, cancel a purchase or issue a refund.

Storage and security

Personal vocabulary, saved clips and other personal app records are held in Android's private app storage. On Android 7 and later, personal words, saved clips and named themes remain in credential-protected storage until the first unlock after a restart. Only essential allowlisted keyboard settings are made available before that unlock.

HalfKey relies on Android's storage isolation and device security. It does not add a separate encryption layer to these local records. Keeping your device updated and protected helps protect information stored on it.

HalfKey does not provide cloud synchronisation for personal vocabulary or clipboard history. It disables Android app backup and configures backup and device-transfer exclusions for its app storage. These controls do not govern copies made by other apps or device-management tools.

How long information is kept and how to delete it

Local information is retained while needed for the relevant feature, subject to its storage limits and your deletion choices. Learned records may be replaced as those limits are reached. Recent clipboard entries roll out as new entries replace them; pinned entries stay until you delete them. Settings and manual dictionary entries stay until changed or deleted.

You can use HalfKey's controls to remove dictionary entries and learning, delete saved clips, reset privacy rules, delete named themes and reset tutorial progress. Stopping learning is different from deleting previously saved learning.

Android's Clear storage function or uninstalling HalfKey removes its local app data. This also removes local preferences and trial or purchase records. An eligible purchase can be restored through Google Play. These actions do not delete text already entered into another app, your Google Play records or messages you have sent to our support address.

We delete ordinary support correspondence six months after the issue is resolved, allowing time to handle related follow-up questions. Where particular records are needed for an ongoing dispute or a legal obligation, we retain only the necessary records for as long as that purpose requires. Google manages retention of its own payment records under its policies.

Support messages

If you email halfkey.dev@gmail.com, we receive your email address, any name shown with your message, its contents and any attachments you choose to send. We use this information to respond, investigate problems and handle your request. Please avoid sending passwords, payment-card details or unrelated private conversations.

Our support inbox uses Google's Gmail service, which processes messages and associated technical information to provide the email service. Support messages are separate from the keyboard's local data; the app does not automatically attach your typing, dictionary or clipboard history. We do not use support correspondence for advertising.

The privacy policy website

Opening this policy on the web involves a request to the website host. This is separate from using the keyboard offline.

[TO COMPLETE BEFORE PUBLICATION: Cloudflare free hosting has been selected. Confirm the deployed website address, the Cloudflare service used, technical request data and logs, retention, cookies or analytics, provider terms and privacy-policy link. The site has not yet been set up or published.]

Who receives information

HalfKey sends the text you choose to enter to the app you are using. Google Play handles the purchase flow, Gmail handles messages you send to our support inbox, and the website host serves this policy page. Their roles are described above. We do not sell your personal information or share your typing with advertisers.

Where necessary, we may disclose information we actually hold, such as relevant support correspondence, to meet a legal obligation or establish, exercise or defend legal claims. This does not give us access to dictionary or clipboard records held only on your device.

Legal grounds for processing

Where data-protection law requires a lawful basis, we rely on the basis that applies to the particular purpose, rather than treating your use of the app as consent to every form of processing.

[TO COMPLETE: confirm the lawful basis for each purpose against the finished product and business arrangements. The accompanying internal-record guide sets out the decisions needed for keyboard functionality, optional learning and clipboard storage, trial and purchase handling, support and website operations. Insert the confirmed purposes, bases and any legitimate interests here before publishing.]

Your privacy rights

Depending on applicable law and the processing concerned, you may have rights to access, correct or delete personal information, restrict its use, receive a portable copy, or object to processing. Where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw that consent without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.

You can manage information held only in HalfKey through the app and Android controls described above. We cannot remotely retrieve or erase records that exist only on your device. For information we hold through support or other business activities, or for help with your rights, contact halfkey.dev@gmail.com. We may request proportionate information to verify a request.

You may complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ or to the relevant data-protection authority where you live. You do not have to contact us first.

International processing

HalfKey operates from the United Kingdom. Its keyboard vocabulary and clipboard records are processed locally on your device. Google services and the website host may process the information involved in their services in other countries.

[TO COMPLETE: identify relevant destinations and the lawful transfer arrangements for information handled by HalfKey's support and hosting services, including how to obtain information about safeguards. Confirm the actual provider terms; do not assume that a particular adequacy decision or contractual safeguard applies.]

Children and younger users

HalfKey is a general-purpose keyboard. We do not impose an age restriction on its use.

[TO COMPLETE: assess likely use by children and any applicable child-specific protections or notices, and confirm the appropriate Google Play target-audience declaration against the actual design. Broad availability does not by itself mean that every target age group should be selected.]

Changes and contact

We will update this policy when HalfKey's information handling changes and revise the effective date. Where a change requires an additional notice or consent, we will provide it before introducing the relevant processing.

For questions about this policy or a privacy request, contact HalfKey at halfkey.dev@gmail.com.