Privacy

Ambiant tells interactive stories through your phone: fictional characters text you, call you and send you things. To do that we have to process what you say to them. This page explains what we collect, why, who helps us, and the choices you have. We keep it to what the stories need.

What we collect

• An account ID. Players start as a guest with a random ID; no name, email or phone number needed. Creators in the alpha sign in with an email and password.
• The name characters call you, if you choose one.
• What you send in a story: messages, reactions, photos or files you share, and what you say on calls (turned into text). This is how the story responds to you, and how characters remember your conversations.
• Story progress: where you are, choices, missions, and settings like play hours and quiet hours.
• A push notification token so characters can reach you when the app is closed.
• Waitlist emails you give us on ambiant.io, and what you told us you’re interested in.

Optional permissions (only if a story asks and you agree)

• Microphone and speech recognition for calls with characters. Speech is recognised on your device; we receive the text.
• Apple Health: read-only, and only what a mission needs (for example, steps since the mission began). We never write to Health and don’t store your health data.
• Location: checked on your phone for place missions. For weather and sunset moments we receive only a rough area (about 1 km).
• Music recognition (ShazamKit): listens for a few seconds only when you tap.
• Apple Home: only the lights you choose, briefly, and always restored. Nothing leaves your home network.
• Camera / NFC / QR: only when you scan or take a photo to send.

Who helps us

We use a small number of providers to run Ambiant. They process data on our behalf, for these purposes only:

• Anthropic (Claude) writes characters’ replies and runs the story, using your messages and the story so far.
• ElevenLabs turns characters’ lines into voices.
• Supabase stores accounts, stories and messages.
• Vercel hosts our servers and website, and routes AI requests (including image generation for creators).
• Apple delivers notifications and calls.

We don’t sell your data, and we don’t use it for advertising.

Stories are fiction, and AI-run

Everything inside a story channel is read by AI to run the story. Characters are fictional. Please don’t share anything in a story you wouldn’t want processed that way. If a message suggests someone may be in danger, we may show safety resources and review it.

How long we keep things

Story data is kept while your account exists so characters can remember you. Delete a story from its Settings (“Start over”) to erase that playthrough. To delete your whole account and its data, email us and we’ll do it within 30 days.

Children

Ambiant isn’t meant for children under 13, and some stories are rated for older audiences.

Contact

Questions or requests: privacy@ambiant.io.