Privacy Policy
The short version
- Maridian turns a voice note or message into an invoice and a payment link. We collect only the information needed to do that and to run and improve the service.
- When you send a voice note, we transcribe it and read out the order details to build your invoice. We do not use recordings to identify you, and we do not create voiceprints.
- We keep recordings only as long as needed to complete your request, then delete or de-identify them. Information about your invoices is kept as your record.
- We use de-identified information from your submissions to make the service more accurate and reliable. You can ask us not to.
- Payments are handled by licensed payment providers. We do not hold, route, or settle funds, and we never receive your full card number.
- We do not sell your personal information.
01 Who we are and what this covers
Who we are and what this covers
Privacy is a founding principle at Maridian, not an afterthought. We collect only what the Service needs, we are transparent about how we use it, and we do not sell your personal information. Because the Service is built on voice, we handle recordings with particular care.
Maridian is a software service that converts voice notes and text messages sent through supported messaging channels into structured invoices and payment links. This Privacy Policy explains what information Maridian, Inc. ("Maridian," "we," "us," or "our") collects, how we use and share it, how long we keep it, and the choices and rights you have.
This Policy applies to the Maridian website, our waitlist and onboarding pages, and the Maridian messaging service (together, the "Service"). It does not apply to the messaging platforms you use to reach us, to the payment providers who process payments, or to any other company's website or service. Those are governed by their own privacy policies.
The Service is used by two kinds of people. A merchant is a business or operator who uses Maridian to create invoices and payment links. A payer is a customer who receives an invoice or a payment link. If you are a payer, some of the information in your invoice was provided to us by the merchant you are dealing with. The merchant is responsible for its own relationship with you and for obtaining any consents required to send us information about you or a recording that includes your voice.
By using the Service, you agree to this Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.
02 Information we collect
Information we collect
We collect the information described below. We collect it directly from you, automatically as you use the Service, and from the third-party providers that help us operate.
Information you provide
- Contact and account information. Your name, business name, phone number, email address, and similar details you give us when you join the waitlist, onboard, or communicate with us.
- Voice notes and messages. The voice recordings and text messages you send to the Service, and the transcription and extracted details produced from them. See the section on voice notes and audio.
- Invoice and transaction information. The items, quantities, prices, totals, currency, payer name and contact details, notes, and other information used to create an invoice and a payment link, together with the resulting invoice records.
- Support and correspondence. Information you share when you contact us, respond to a confirmation prompt, or provide feedback.
Information collected automatically
- Message metadata. Information that accompanies your messages, such as the phone number associated with your messaging account, message and delivery timestamps, and message identifiers, which we use to route and process your request and to detect duplicate messages.
- Usage and log information. Records of how the Service is used, including invoice events, confirmations, errors, and processing outcomes.
- Website information. When you visit our website, standard technical information such as your device and browser type, general location inferred from your IP address, referring pages, and interactions with the site, collected through cookies and similar technologies. See cookies and analytics.
Information from third parties
- Messaging platforms. The messaging platform through which you reach us delivers your messages and associated metadata to the Service.
- Payment providers. The payment provider that processes a payment gives us limited confirmation and status information, such as whether an invoice was paid. We do not receive your full payment card number.
We do not intentionally collect more sensitive categories of information than the Service requires. Please do not include sensitive personal information in a voice note or message unless it is necessary for the invoice you are creating.
03 How we use information
How we use information
To provide the Service
We use your information to receive your voice notes and messages, transcribe and read the order details, generate invoices and payment links, deliver them in your messaging thread, maintain your invoice records, respond to confirmation prompts, and provide support. This is the primary purpose for which information is collected, and it is directly related to the reason you provided it.
To improve and develop the Service
We use information derived from your use of the Service to improve its accuracy, reliability, and performance, including the speech-recognition and information-extraction systems at the core of the product. Where we use information for these purposes, we work to use de-identified or aggregated information, such as transcribed text, extracted fields, confidence and accuracy signals, and error records, rather than raw recordings, and we do not use it to identify you. We describe how this applies to audio in the voice notes and audio section, and you can ask us not to use your information for improvement as described under your choices and rights.
To communicate with you
We use your contact details to send messages that are part of the Service, such as confirmation prompts, invoice deliveries, and important notices about the Service, your account, or this Policy. We will only send you promotional messages where permitted, and you can opt out of those at any time.
For safety, security, and integrity
We use information to keep the Service secure, to detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and duplicate or erroneous processing, to maintain records of invoice events, and to protect the rights and safety of our users and Maridian.
To comply with law
We use information to meet our legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations, to respond to lawful requests, and to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.
With your consent
We use information for any other purpose we describe to you at the time we ask for it, where you have given your consent.
04 Voice notes and audio
Voice notes and audio
Voice is the heart of the Service, so we want to be clear about how we handle it.
What happens to a voice note
When you send or forward a voice note, we receive the audio recording and its metadata. We convert the recording to text using automated speech recognition, and we then use automated systems to extract the details needed to build your invoice, such as items, quantities, prices, and totals. When the system is not confident about a price, quantity, or amount, it asks you to confirm rather than guessing. Only confirmed information is used to complete an invoice.
Using recordings to run the Service
We process your recording to generate and deliver the invoice and payment link you asked for, and to provide support related to that request. This is the reason recordings are collected.
Using information from recordings to improve the Service
The Service is designed to get better with use. To do this, we use information derived from processing recordings, such as transcribed text, the fields we extracted, whether you confirmed or corrected them, the language or dialect used, and signals about audio quality, to improve the accuracy and reliability of our transcription and extraction systems. For these improvement purposes we work to use de-identified information rather than the raw audio, and we do not associate it with your identity.
What we do not do
- We do not use voice recordings to create voiceprints or other biometric identifiers, and we do not use voice recognition to identify who is speaking.
- We do not sell recordings or the information derived from them.
- We do not use recordings for advertising.
Recordings that include other people
A voice note you send us may include the voice or personal information of another person, such as a customer placing an order. If you send us a recording that includes another person, you are responsible for having any consent required by law to make and share that recording. We describe this obligation in our Terms of Service.
Retention and controls
We keep raw recordings only for as long as needed to process your request and provide the Service, after which we delete or de-identify them. We keep the structured information derived from a recording, such as the resulting invoice record and de-identified transcription and accuracy data, for the periods described under data retention. You may ask us to delete your information, and you may ask us not to use your information to improve the Service, as described under your choices and rights.
06 Third-party services
Third-party services
The Service works together with services operated by other companies, and your use of those services is governed by their terms and privacy policies, not this one. In particular:
- Messaging. You reach the Service through a third-party messaging platform. The messaging platform through which the Service currently operates is the WhatsApp Business Platform, provided by Meta Platforms, Inc. Your use of that platform is subject to Meta's terms and privacy policy.
- Payments. Payments are processed by licensed payment providers. Your payment is subject to the payment provider's terms and privacy policy.
We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of these or other third-party services. We encourage you to review their policies.
08 Data retention
Data retention
We keep personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, and then we delete or de-identify it. In practice:
- Raw voice recordings are kept only for as long as needed to process your request and provide the Service, after which they are deleted or de-identified.
- Invoice and transaction records are kept for as long as needed to maintain your records and to meet our legal, tax, and accounting obligations.
- De-identified information used to improve the Service may be kept for longer, because it can no longer reasonably be used to identify you.
- Account and contact information is kept while you use the Service and for a reasonable period afterward, unless a longer period is required or permitted by law.
When we no longer need information, we delete it or de-identify it using reasonable measures. You may ask us to delete your information as described below.
09 How we protect information
How we protect information
We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect information against unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. These measures include encrypting information in transit, limiting access to information to the people and providers who need it to operate the Service, and relying on established providers for payments so that we do not receive or store full payment card numbers.
No method of transmitting or storing information is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for keeping the device and messaging account you use to reach the Service secure. If we become aware of a security incident that affects your information, we will notify you and the appropriate authorities where required by law.
10 Your choices and rights
Your choices and rights
You have choices about your information, and depending on where you live you may have specific legal rights described in the next section. Regardless of where you live, you can ask us to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you.
- Correct information that is inaccurate.
- Delete your personal information.
- Receive a copy of certain information in a portable format.
- Stop improvement use. Ask us not to use your information to improve the Service. We will honor this request where it is technically feasible and will not affect our ability to provide the Service to you.
- Opt out of promotional messages at any time.
To make a request, contact us at privacy@maridian.co. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request, and we will respond within the time required by applicable law. Some information may be retained where we are permitted or required to keep it, for example to meet a legal obligation or to complete a transaction you requested. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.
11 U.S. state privacy rights
U.S. state privacy rights
Several U.S. states give their residents specific privacy rights. Where these laws apply to us and to you, you have the rights described below, in addition to the choices above. We honor these rights for residents of any state that grants them.
Rights that may apply
- The right to know and access the personal information we have collected and how we use and share it.
- The right to correct inaccurate personal information.
- The right to delete personal information.
- The right to a portable copy of your personal information.
- The right to opt out of the sale of personal information, the sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, and certain profiling. We do not sell personal information and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
- The right not to receive discriminatory treatment for exercising these rights.
How to exercise them
Submit a request by emailing privacy@maridian.co. You may use an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf where the law allows, and we may ask the agent to provide proof of authorization. If we decline a request, you may ask us to reconsider by replying to our response.
California
If you are a California resident, you have the rights described above under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended. We collect the categories of information described in the information we collect section, use it for the purposes described in how we use information, and disclose it to the categories of recipients described in how we share information. We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under California law, and we do not knowingly collect or sell the personal information of anyone under 16.
Voice and biometric information
Some states regulate biometric information, including voiceprints used to identify a person. As described above, Maridian does not use voice recordings to create voiceprints or other biometric identifiers and does not use voice recognition to identify individuals. If that ever changes, we will provide the notice and obtain the consent required by law before doing so.
12 Children's privacy
Children's privacy
The Service is intended for businesses and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@maridian.co and we will take reasonable steps to delete it.
13 Where information is processed
Where information is processed
The Service is currently offered and operated in the United States, and information is processed and stored in the United States, including by the providers described in this Policy. If you access the Service from outside the United States, you understand that your information will be processed in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those in your location, and you consent to that processing.
Maridian is building toward a global service. We apply the core commitments in this Policy to every user, wherever located, including collecting only what the Service needs, being transparent about how we use it, keeping it no longer than necessary, and not selling it. As the Service becomes available in new countries and regions, these practices may be supplemented by additional notices, rights, and choices required by local law, and we will make those available where they apply to you.
14 Changes to this policy
Changes to this policy
Maridian is an evolving service, and we may update this Policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date above and post the revised Policy on this page. If the changes are material, we will provide additional notice through the Service or by messaging you where appropriate. Your continued use of the Service after an update takes effect means you accept the revised Policy.
15 How to contact us
How to contact us
If you have questions about this Policy or how we handle your information, or if you want to exercise a right or choice, contact us at:
Maridian, Inc.
Privacy requests: privacy@maridian.co