ZeroCurse Privacy Policy
Last updated: 5 October 2026 (draft for owner and legal review). Applies to the ZeroCurse app for Android and the ZeroCurse app for Windows, and the ZeroCurse pages of this website. ZeroCurse is supplied by Kampamba Mashabe, an individual trading as PhiloSoft Ventures ("we", "us"), of Senior Teachers Compound, House Number 3, Mbala 10101, Zambia. We are the person responsible for the personal data described here (the "data controller").
The short version
- Your video file stays on your device. We never upload a video file, and the picture is never sent.
- Cleaning a video or sound file of up to 3 minutes, recording, and the free transcription (ten parts of one minute a day) happen on your device, and a free transcription never uses our cloud. For a longer video, or a transcript you have paid for that is 3 minutes or longer, a small audio file is sent to our cloud service (see "When audio leaves your device").
- The Android app can record from your microphone if you choose Record To Transcribe. Recordings stay on your phone until you delete them.
- The Windows app has an optional account (Google sign-in) for the free trial, Pro and purchases.
- We do not sell your data and we do not use your audio to train anything.
What the app does with your video and sound
ZeroCurse listens to the sound of a video, recording or sound file to find swear words, then bleeps or mutes those moments. Recognition runs on your device for files of up to 3 minutes (the next section says when it does not). The app needs access to the files you choose and permission to keep working in the background while it works.
Microphone (Android). If you use Record To Transcribe, the app asks for the microphone and keeps recording while the screen is off, with a notification showing. The recording is stored in the app's private storage on your phone, with noise reduction applied, until you delete it (for example with Record again or Cancel) or clear the app's data. It is only sent to us in the cases below.
What is saved on your device. Cleaned videos and sound files, and any transcripts, subtitles and audit files you create, are saved in your Downloads folder, in a folder called "Cleaned Up by ZeroCurse". Other apps that have storage access can read that folder. The optional audit file records the file names, checksums of the original and cleaned files, the cut times, and the words only if you choose to include them. It is not a guarantee that every word was removed.
When audio leaves your device
Audio leaves your device only in these cases:
- Android: a video, recording or sound file longer than 3 minutes that you ask us to clean, or a recording of 3 minutes or more that you ask us to transcribe after buying a transcription pack.
- Windows with a Pro plan: the audio of a video longer than 3 minutes, and audio of 3 minutes or more that you ask us to transcribe.
In each case the app extracts a speech-only audio file (the picture is never included) and sends it over an encrypted connection to our cloud service. The service finds the swear words and returns the times to censor plus the transcript of the speech, which is used for the result screen and the optional diagnostics report. The service keeps the audio, the result and the transcript only in memory, not in a database. The app asks the service to delete the job as soon as it has the result. A job that is never collected is removed when the service next clears jobs older than one hour, or when the service restarts or shuts down; after a restart, any leftover audio is removed at start-up. Your own always-censor and never-censor words are not sent to the service: it uses only the standard list, and the result tells you when your own words were not used.
Information we handle
| Information | Why | Where / how long |
|---|---|---|
| Audio sent to the cloud (only in the cases above) | To find the words to censor or make the transcript | Our cloud service's memory; deleted when the job ends |
| Recordings and sound files you make or choose | So you can clean or transcribe them | On your device (Android: the app's private storage) until you delete them or clear the app's data |
| Cleaned files, transcripts, subtitles and audit files you save | Your results | On your device, in Downloads / "Cleaned Up by ZeroCurse", until you delete them |
| Your own word list, settings, unfinished job progress, recognised words kept so a stopped job can resume (up to 14 days), run log | So the app works as you set it up and can resume | On your device only |
| Windows account: email address and an account identifier from your Google sign-in | To give you the trial, Pro and your purchases | Our database (Google Cloud) until you ask us to delete the account |
| Windows: an anonymous code for your computer (a one-way hash of the system's machine id, not the id itself) | To tie a licence to one computer and to give the free trial once per person and computer | Our database and your computer. It stays after you uninstall until the account is deleted |
| Windows: sign-in sessions (up to 180 days), licence checks (about once a week), credits and cloud time used, a one-way fingerprint of files you have paid to clean again, subscription reference, the day your free daily allowance was last used, and, for a purchase made before sign-in, the buyer's email until they sign in | To keep your plan, credits and allowance correct | Our database until the account is deleted |
| Windows update check: at every start the app requests a small file (version.json) from our website | To tell you when a new version exists | No account data is sent; our website host can see your IP address and the app's user agent in its logs |
| Windows crash reports (off unless you turn them on): a random install code, app version, edition, operating system, the error message and a stack trace, and the time. Software removes names and emails, but it can miss some | To fix bugs | Our database; deleted automatically after 30 days |
| Speech models: if a model is not already in the app, it is downloaded from huggingface.co (or hf-mirror.com) | So the app can recognise speech | Those sites can see your IP address and handle it under their own policies |
| Technical request data (IP address, time, request type) | To run and protect the service, and limit abuse | Standard server logs at our cloud provider, kept for a short period |
| Purchase information | To unlock what you bought | Android: Google Play handles payment and we receive a purchase token that we confirm with Google Play. Windows: our payment provider handles payment and sends us the order, product and your email; we never see your card details |
Diagnostics reports
The app can create a diagnostics report (settings, timings, the name of the video file, and a transcript of the speech that was heard) to help us fix a problem. It is created on your device and is only sent if you choose to share it.
Adverts
Videos up to 3 minutes are free in exchange for watching short adverts. On Windows, adverts are shown only while you are online and only on the free plan. Adverts are supplied by a third-party advertising service, which may collect device and usage information under its own privacy policy. We will name the service on this page before adverts go live. Pro users see no adverts.
Who we share information with
We use these service providers to run ZeroCurse: Google (Google Cloud and Firebase, for hosting, sign-in and our database; Google Play for Android payments), and, for Windows payments, our payment provider (a payment company licensed in Zambia), which collects the payment for us. We are the seller. They process data only to provide those services. We do not sell your information and do not share it for their own marketing.
Where it is processed, and security
Our cloud service runs in data centres operated by Google. Connections are encrypted. The database cannot be reached directly from the apps or the website; only our service can read or write it, and licences are digitally signed. No system is perfectly secure, but we design ZeroCurse so that it holds as little about you as possible.
This website
The ZeroCurse pages load fonts from Google Fonts, and the sign-in page loads Google and Firebase scripts, so Google receives your IP address when you visit them. We do not run analytics or advertising trackers on these pages.
Your choices and rights
- Keep everything on your device: keep videos, recordings and sound files to 3 minutes or less, and use the free transcription parts (each is one minute).
- Delete recordings with Record again or Cancel, or by deleting the files. Uninstalling the app or clearing its data removes what it stores privately. Files you saved to Downloads stay until you delete them.
- Windows account: there is no delete button yet, so email us to see or delete your account data. Deleting the account ends your Pro plan and unused credits and removes the computer code.
- Depending on where you live, you may have further rights over your information (access, correction, deletion, objection). Email us and we will respond.
Children
ZeroCurse is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. Parents who use it to clean videos for children are our intended audience.
Changes
If we change how we handle information, we will update this page and its date. Material changes will also be shown in the app.
Contact
Kampamba Mashabe, trading as PhiloSoft Ventures, Senior Teachers Compound, House Number 3, Mbala 10101, Zambia. Telephone +260 777 352 775. Email support@philosoftventures.com. Questions about your information, requests to see or delete it, and complaints about how we handle it go to this address. You may also complain to the Data Protection Commissioner of Zambia.