← Return to Earth-System Hub

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Last Updated: October 2026

This document serves as the official Privacy Policy and Terms of Service (ToS) for the mobile applications developed by Ndovu (including Verdatrace Daily (uk.org.ndovu.verdatracedaily), Dyson Soundbrief 'wiresync', Dyson-Fereday Notes, the Dyson-Mills STEM Racing Trainer, and Dyson-Fereday News) and the educational web portals hosted under dyson-fereday.ovh and ndovu.org.uk (collectively referred to as "the Services").

We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy in strict compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Luxembourg Act of 1 August 2018 on the protection of persons with regard to the processing of personal data, and the French Data Protection Act (Loi Informatique et Libertés).

1. Data We Collect: Dyson Soundbrief 'wiresync'

Dyson Soundbrief 'wiresync' is an audio streaming and RSS parsing application. To deliver its services, process optional subscriptions, and provide personalized experiences, this specific application connects to external networks and utilizes third-party SDKs.

Audio Streaming & External Network Requests (Art. 6(1)(b) - Contract)

To fetch and play podcasts or news updates (e.g., from BBC, NPR, Al Jazeera Arabic, or custom user URLs), Soundbrief uses background services (Jetpack Media3 ExoPlayer, OkHttp, Retrofit). When requesting audio from these external Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), your device naturally exposes standard HTTP data, including your IP address and User-Agent string, to these third-party servers. We do not control the privacy policies of these third-party audio hosts.

Monetization & Advertising (Google AdMob & AdSense) (Art. 6(1)(a) - Consent)

To keep the core app free, Soundbrief 'wiresync' integrates the Google Mobile Ads SDK. This service may collect:

• Device identifiers (Advertising ID / AAID).
• IP address, approximate location, and device technical specifications (OS version, screen size).
• Ad interaction data (impressions, clicks) for fraud prevention and performance measurement.

EU/EEA Consent Requirement: We employ the Google User Messaging Platform (UMP) SDK. If you are located in the EU, France, or Luxembourg, you will be presented with a Consent Management Platform (CMP) dialog upon first launch. No personalized ads will be served, and no ad-tracking cookies/identifiers will be accessed without your explicit, verifiable consent.

In-App Purchases (Google Play Billing) (Art. 6(1)(b) - Contract)

If you upgrade to an ad-free or premium subscription, transactions are processed securely via the Google Play Billing Library. We receive transaction IDs, purchase tokens, and subscription status to unlock features. We do not collect, process, or store raw credit card numbers or financial data.

Background Sync & Text-to-Speech (Art. 6(1)(f) - Legitimate Interest)

The app uses Android WorkManager for background feed synchronization and local Text-to-Speech (TTS) for article rendering. TTS processing happens entirely locally on your device.

2. Zero-Telemetry Apps (Local Processing)

Our productivity, news, sustainability, and simulation applications operate under a strict Zero Telemetry & Zero Ad Identifier policy. They do not utilize AdMob, analytics trackers, or behavioral profiling.

2.1 Dyson-Fereday Notes, STEM Racing Trainer & Dyson-Fereday News

• 100% Local Processing: Reaction times, spatial corkboard notes, sketches, and audio voice memos are stored entirely in your device's private application sandbox (context.filesDir) or local web storage (localStorage).
• Right to Erasure (Art. 17): Users maintain complete control over this data. Pressing "Clear History" in the Racing Trainer, or deleting app data in Android Settings instantly purges all stored content.
• Optional Play Games Services: In the STEM Racing Trainer, if you explicitly choose to log into Google Play Games for leaderboards, your score is transmitted to Google Ireland Limited. This is entirely optional.

2.2 Verdatrace Daily (uk.org.ndovu.verdatracedaily)

A. Zero Telemetry & Privacy-First Architecture

• No Account Registration: Verdatrace Daily requires no user account, username, password, email address, or third-party social login.
• No Analytics or Trackers: The application does not bundle Google Analytics for Firebase, Adjust, AppsFlyer, or any behavioral telemetry SDKs.
• No Advertising Identifiers: The application does not collect, read, or transmit the Android Advertising ID (AAID) or hardware identifiers (IMEI, MAC address).
• No Network Calls for Core Play: All game levels, path-routing puzzles, Climate Fresk codex cards, IPCC scientific dossiers, and simulated global temperature models operate 100% offline.

B. On-Device Storage & System Modules Used

• AndroidX Room (SQLite Database): The app uses an encrypted, local-only database sandbox (verdatrace_database) via Android Room to persist your daily puzzle progress, carbon footprint calculations, global warming temperature anomaly counter, streak days, high-contrast visual preferences, and selected language. This data never leaves your device.
• AndroidX Media3 (ExoPlayer): Used exclusively to render the local introductory video file (res/raw/intro.mp4) directly from the device's compiled assets. Media3 makes no remote streaming calls, CDN requests, or external network requests during playback.
• Jetpack Compose UI Toolkit: Renders the vector path-drawing canvas, high-contrast mode, and dynamic difficulty rendering entirely on-device using local CPU/GPU hardware acceleration.

C. Outbound External Links

• The application contains explicit, optional user-facing links to external web resources:
  • Scientific documentation on IPCC.ch (https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/)
  • This Privacy Policy (https://ndovu.org.uk/soundbrief/privacy.html)
• When a user taps these links, standard HTTP request metadata (IP address, browser User-Agent) is handled directly by the user's default web browser and the destination server, not by the Verdatrace Daily app.

D. Data Erasure & Portability (GDPR Art. 17 & 20)

• Because all game progression and settings are stored locally on your device, you have complete control over your data.
• You can completely and permanently erase all saved progress, cards, streaks, and settings at any time by going to Android Settings > Apps > Verdatrace Daily > Storage > Clear Data / Clear Storage, or by uninstalling the application.

E. Google Play Console Data Safety Alignment

• Data Collection: No ("Does your app collect or share any of the required user data types?" ➔ Select No).
• Data Transfer: No data is transferred over an encrypted connection to an external server (because no data is collected or sent).
• Account Deletion: Not applicable (app does not support account creation).

3. Data We Collect on Our Websites

Our educational hub (dyson-fereday.ovh) utilizes third-party services, including Google AdSense, to support our infrastructure.

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to our websites or other websites on the Internet.
• Opt-Out: EU/EEA users can manage their cookie preferences via our website's CMP banner. You may also opt out of personalized advertising globally via Google Ads Settings.

4. International Data Transfers

Data processed by Google (via AdMob, AdSense, and Google Play Billing) may be transferred to and stored on servers located in the United States. These transfers are protected by the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) ensuring a level of data protection equivalent to the GDPR.

5. Your GDPR Data Protection Rights

Under GDPR (Articles 15–22), you hold the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of Access & Portability: You may view or export your locally stored app data at any time.
• Right to Erasure (Art. 17): As detailed above, you can delete your local app data instantly.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: You can revoke advertising tracking consent in Soundbrief at any time via the app's privacy settings (calling the UMP SDK revocation form), or on our websites via the "Manage Cookie Consent" footer link.

6. Supervisory Authority Disclosures

If you believe your data protection rights have been violated, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your respective national data protection authority:

7. Terms of Service & Acceptable Use (EULA)

By downloading, accessing, or using any of our mobile applications or web portals, you agree to the following Terms of Service. This document serves as the official Terms of Service URL for Google Play Store distribution.

• License Grant: We grant you a personal, worldwide, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and revocable license to use the Services for personal and educational purposes.
• Restrictions on Use: You agree not to reverse engineer, decompile, maliciously scrape, or attempt to disrupt the operation of our applications or web portals.
• Disclaimer of Warranties: The zero-telemetry educational apps and web portals are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties of any kind.

8. EEA & UK Consumer Protection (App-Level Trader Status)

In compliance with European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom (UK) digital storefront regulations (such as the EU Digital Services Act), we provide the following declarations regarding our App-Level Trader Status on the Google Play Store:

• Commercial / Monetized Apps: For applications that include in-app purchases or paid subscriptions (such as Dyson Soundbrief 'wiresync'), the developer acts as a Trader. Consequently, EEA and UK consumer protection laws apply to your purchases within these specific apps.
• Free / Non-Trader Apps: For our completely free, zero-telemetry educational applications (such as Dyson-Fereday Notes, Dyson-Mills STEM Racing Trainer, Dyson-Fereday News, and Verdatrace Daily), our trader status does not apply at the individual app level. Therefore, users in the EEA and UK are informed that consumer protection laws (specifically those governing commercial distance contracts) do not apply to these specific free applications.

9. Developer Identity & Contact Information

This application suite (Dyson-Fereday News / Ndovu Apps) is published and maintained by:

• Publisher / Developer: James Dyson (Ndovu / Dyson-Fereday Education)
• Direct Contact Email: j.dyson@orange.fr
• Educational Portal: https://dyson-fereday.ovh/
• Location / Jurisdiction: Moselle, France

Users and regulatory bodies may reach out directly via the email above for editorial inquiries, technical support, or data privacy requests.