Release is an AI mental-game coaching tool, not a human. It's an app for golfers 13 and older; if you're under 18, a parent's consent is required.
On-device first. Your journal entries, round notes, and the things you're working on are stored on your iPhone. Spoken journal entries are transcribed on your device, and the audio is discarded.
Voice coaching: audio is processed live during the session and discarded when it ends. We don't retain it.
We don't train AI models on your content, and we don't sell your data.
Your rights: you control your data and can delete it. Email privacy@releasegolf.app with any question.
1. Who we are
Release: Golf Mental Game is operated by Daniel Kernan (referred to here as "Release," "we," "us," or "our"), an independent iOS developer based in the United States. You can reach us at privacy@releasegolf.app for any privacy question or request.
2. Scope of this policy
This policy applies to the Release iOS app and any related services. It explains what we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and what rights you have. Release is intended for users 13 or older; minors under 18 may use it only with verifiable parental consent obtained through the App Store. Release is currently offered to users in the United States only. If you access Release from outside the United States, your information will be processed in the United States, where data-protection laws may differ from those in your home country.
3. What we collect
3.1 Voice audio (during coaching sessions)
When you start a live voice coaching session, your microphone audio is streamed in real time to Hume AI's Empathic Voice Interface to power the conversation. Voice audio is not retained past your session. It is processed live and discarded when the session ends — not stored on Release's servers, in iCloud, or anywhere else.
3.2 Spoken journal entries (on-device)
Voice journaling happens on your device. When you speak a journal entry, the audio is transcribed locally on your iPhone using Apple's on-device speech recognition. The audio is discarded; only the resulting text is saved, on your device.
3.3 Journal entries, round notes, and working-on items
These are stored on your device — not in our cloud. Your free-form journal entries, your structured round notes, and the items you choose to work on live in local storage on your iPhone. You can edit or delete any of them at any time within the app. Deleting the app removes this content from your device.
3.4 Post-round summaries
To help you reflect after a round, Release can turn your spoken debrief into a short structured note. Some of this drafting runs on your device using Apple's on-device models. In some cases, post-round summary text is generated by sending your debrief content to Anthropic's Claude models through our backend under a no-training arrangement (see Section 5). The resulting note is stored on your device, where you can edit or delete it.
3.5 Account information
To use Release you need an Apple ID. From your Apple device we receive an opaque user identifier and your subscription status. We may also collect:
- Your name — only if you provide one during onboarding so the coach can address you naturally. Stored on your device.
- Your golf profile — the preferences you set during onboarding (such as skill level, the states you play your best from, what you tend to struggle with, and your cue word) so the coach can personalize. Stored on your device.
3.6 Subscription and payment information
All payments are processed through Apple's App Store. Release does not receive or store your credit-card or bank information. We receive your subscription status, plan tier, renewal date, and trial status from Apple, and we use RevenueCat to manage and validate subscription state.
3.7 Usage analytics
We may collect aggregated, anonymized usage information to understand which features are working — for example, how often a context is used or whether sessions complete successfully. This is not linked to your individual identity.
3.8 Server logs
Our backend (Firebase Cloud Functions) logs basic request information including IP address, timestamp, and request type for security and reliability. These logs are retained for 30 days on a rolling basis and then automatically deleted.
4. How we use your information
- To provide the coaching service. Voice audio and live transcripts are used in real time to enable the conversation.
- To draft and store your round notes and journal, on your device, so you can return to them and so the coach can reference what you've been working on.
- To generate post-round summaries when you use that feature, on your device or via a no-training endpoint.
- To manage your subscription and provide support.
- To improve the product through aggregated, anonymized usage patterns not linked to individuals.
- To comply with the law when required, only to the extent legally required.
5. What we do NOT do
- We do not use your conversations or journal to train AI models. Release uses no-training arrangements with its AI providers.
- We do not sell your personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising as defined under the CCPA.
- We do not use your content for advertising. Release shows no ads and integrates no advertising SDKs.
- We do not retain voice audio. Coaching audio is transient and discarded when the session ends; journaling audio is discarded after on-device transcription.
6. Third-party services
6.1 Hume AI (voice coaching)
Hume AI provides the Empathic Voice Interface that powers Release's live coaching, and the text-to-speech used in onboarding. Audio and the live transcript are streamed to Hume during your session and processed in real time, under no-training terms. Hume's privacy policy: hume.ai/privacy.
6.2 Anthropic (post-round summaries)
Anthropic's Claude models may generate post-round summary text from your debrief, via our backend, under no-training terms. Anthropic's privacy policy: anthropic.com/legal/privacy.
6.3 Apple (on-device intelligence, App Store, platform)
Release uses Apple's on-device models for round-note drafting and Apple's on-device speech recognition for voice journaling — both run on your iPhone and do not send that content to Apple or to us. Apple also processes your subscription payments through the App Store and provides platform services. Apple's privacy policy: apple.com/legal/privacy.
6.4 Google Cloud / Firebase (backend)
Release uses Firebase Cloud Functions (operated by Google Cloud) for backend tasks such as minting ephemeral API tokens and generating post-round summaries. Firebase's privacy and security details: firebase.google.com/support/privacy.
6.5 RevenueCat (subscription management)
RevenueCat manages and validates your subscription status across the App Store. It receives purchase and subscription data associated with an app-specific identifier, not your journal or coaching content. RevenueCat's privacy policy: revenuecat.com/privacy.
7. Data retention and deletion
- Voice audio: not retained past the session.
- Journaling audio: discarded after on-device transcription.
- Journal entries, round notes, working-on items, profile, name: stored on your device until you delete them in the app or delete the app.
- Account and subscription status: retained while your subscription is active and for a limited period after, then deleted.
- Aggregated, anonymized analytics: may be retained indefinitely as they are not linked to you.
- Server logs (including IP addresses): retained for 30 days on a rolling basis, then purged.
How to delete your data
Because your journal and round notes live on your device, you can delete any entry or note in the app at any time, and deleting the app removes that content from your iPhone. To request deletion of any account or subscription information we hold, email privacy@releasegolf.app and we will confirm completion within 30 days.
8. Your rights under U.S. privacy laws
8.1 California residents (CCPA / CPRA)
If you are a California resident, you have rights to know, access, correct, delete, and port your personal information, to opt out of sale or sharing (Release does neither), to limit the use of sensitive personal information, and to non-discrimination for exercising these rights. Email privacy@releasegolf.app to exercise them.
8.2 Sensitive personal information
The content of your journal entries and round notes may include personal reflections. Release uses this content only to provide the service you requested (coaching, drafting and storing your notes, and security/integrity), and not to infer characteristics about you, for advertising, or for profiling. Most of this content never leaves your device.
8.3 Other state privacy laws
Residents of Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Oregon, and other states with comprehensive consumer-privacy laws have similar rights. Email us to exercise any of them.
9. How to exercise your rights
Email privacy@releasegolf.app from the address associated with your account. We will respond within 45 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing certain requests.
10. Security
- Encryption in transit. Communications between the app, our backend, and our AI providers use TLS 1.2 or higher.
- On-device storage. Your journal and round notes are stored on your device rather than in a cloud database.
- No-training arrangements. Our AI providers process your content under terms that prohibit training their models on it.
- Ephemeral API tokens. The app never holds long-lived AI provider keys; tokens are minted per session by our backend.
- Access controls. Only the founder has administrative access to backend systems.
No system is perfectly secure, but we apply protections appropriate to the sensitivity of the information involved.
11. Children's privacy and minors
Release is intended for users 13 or older. We do not knowingly permit or collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn we have collected information from a child under 13, we will delete it; if you believe a child under 13 has provided us information, contact privacy@releasegolf.app.
For users aged 13 to 17, Apple obtains verifiable parental consent through the App Store before download or purchase, consistent with applicable App Store Accountability laws. Where the App Store provides us a user's age range or parental-consent status, we use that information only to provide an age-appropriate experience and to meet our legal obligations, and we apply it under the data-minimization principles those laws require. Release shows no behavioral advertising to any user.
12. AI conversation: what to know
Release's coaching is generated by artificial intelligence, not a human. The live coach is powered by Hume AI; post-round summaries may be generated by Anthropic's Claude; round-note drafting and voice-journal transcription run on your device using Apple's on-device models. The AI may sound conversational and attuned, but it does not have feelings, awareness, or memory of previous sessions the way a person does. Release is not a substitute for licensed mental health care and does not make automated decisions that significantly affect you.
13. Data breach notification
If Release experiences a security breach that compromises your personal information, we will notify affected users without unreasonable delay and within the timeframes required by applicable law.
14. International users
Release is operated from the United States and currently offered to users in the United States only. All data is processed and stored in the United States. Release is not designed to comply with the EU GDPR or UK Data Protection Act and is not currently offered in the EU, UK, or EEA.
15. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you in the app, by email, or both, and update the effective date above. We will not retroactively reduce your privacy protections without your consent.
16. Contact us
Privacy questions and requests: privacy@releasegolf.app
General contact: daniel@releasegolf.app