# Privacy and On-Device Permissions on iPhone

> What stays on your phone and what the app asks to access.

Source: https://groupthink.com/docs/ios_privacy_permissions/
Last updated: 2026-09-16

Groupthink on iPhone is built to keep your captures on your device. Recording, transcription, and summaries all run locally, and the parts that reach a server only do so when you sign in and choose to send them.

## What stays on the device

When you record, the audio is transcribed **on your phone** using Apple's on-device speech models. Nothing is uploaded to transcribe it, and once the transcript is made, the audio recording is deleted. The short summary above a transcript is generated on-device too, using Apple Intelligence.

Your captures and the people you keep on-device live in local storage and, if you're signed into iCloud, back up to **your private iCloud** — a database Groupthink can't read. None of this reaches Groupthink's servers unless you sign in and file a capture to a person.

## The iOS permissions Groupthink asks for

These are standard iOS permissions. Granting one lets the app read that piece of system data; you can change any of them later in **Settings → On-device access** (in the app) or in the iOS Settings app. Groupthink asks only when you first reach a feature that needs it:

- **Microphone** — to record in-person conversations from the Interactions tab. Asked the first time you tap Start recording.
- **Contacts** — to seed the people you keep from the contacts already on your phone.
- **Calendar** — to show today's meetings in your Daily Overview.

If you've denied one and want it back, the app sends you straight to its iOS Settings page, since iOS won't re-ask once you've declined.

## What signing in sends

When you sign in with Google and file a capture to a person, the capture's text and who it's about are sent to Groupthink so it can log to that person's timeline. Your relationship list and history sync to the phone. Your on-device captures that you _don't_ file to anyone stay on the device.

## Optional: heart rate

Under **Settings → Labs**, there's an experimental toggle to read your heart rate from Apple Health for the length of a recording, so you can see how a conversation landed. It's off by default and asks for Health access the first time you turn it on. Turn it off any time.

## The full policy

This page covers how the iPhone app handles your data. For the complete policy, see the [Groupthink Privacy Policy](https://groupthink.com/privacy), also linked from **Settings → Help → Privacy policy**.

_Questions about your data? Email support@groupthink.com._