Privacy Policy
Arqenne LLC Effective Date: April 1, 2026 Last Updated: September 25, 2026
1. Introduction
Arqenne LLC, a California limited liability company ("Arqenne," "we," "our," or "us"), provides an AI-powered creative writing and audiobook production application. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding that data.
By using Arqenne Studio, you agree to the practices described in this policy.
2. Local-First Architecture
Arqenne Studio is built with a local-first architecture. This means:
- Your projects, manuscripts, and creative files are stored on your device by default
- AI models for text generation, text-to-speech, and embeddings run locally on your hardware when available
- Image generation is a cloud feature: images are rendered by Arqenne Cloud or by a ComfyUI server you connect yourself, never inside the application
- When using local AI features, your content does not leave your device
- Cloud features are optional and clearly indicated in the application
This design ensures you maintain sovereignty over your creative work.
3. Data We Collect
3.1 Account & Authentication Data
| Data | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Email address | Account creation and login |
| Display name (optional) | Display name within the app |
| User ID (UUID) | Internal account identifier |
| JWT access & refresh tokens | Session authentication |
Account authentication is managed through Supabase. Tokens are stored locally on your device and encrypted with AES-256-GCM using restricted file permissions (owner-only access).
3.2 User-Generated Content (Local)
The following content is stored exclusively on your device unless you explicitly use cloud features:
| Data | Location |
|---|---|
| Projects, manuscripts, scenes, and files | Local device (project directory) |
| Conversations with local AI | Local device (SQLite per-project database) |
| Generated audio (local TTS) | Local device |
| Generated images (rendered by Arqenne Cloud or your own ComfyUI server, then saved to your project) | Local device |
| Knowledge base / indexed files | Local device (per-project SQLite with vector embeddings) |
| Exported files (PDF, audiobook, storyboard video) | Local device |
3.3 Data Transmitted to Cloud Services
When you use cloud-powered features, the following data may be transmitted:
| Data | When | Destination |
|---|---|---|
| Message content and context files | Cloud AI chat/completions | Cloud AI provider (see Section 6) |
| Text content | Cloud text-to-speech | Our server or RunPod (see Section 6) |
| Image prompts and reference images | Cloud image generation (storyboard) | Our server and a third-party image provider (see Section 6.6), or a ComfyUI server you configure |
3.4 Usage & Billing Data
We collect usage data for billing, budgeting, and service operation:
- Cloud LLM usage: Model name, provider, token counts, cost, response time, success/error status
- Cloud TTS usage: Provider, job ID, character count, audio duration, cost, GPU type, status
- Subscription data: Tier, billing cycle dates, budget remaining
- Payment events: Stripe customer ID, subscription ID, invoice IDs, payment amounts, currency
We do not log the content of your messages or prompts in usage records. We do not log any data from local AI operations (local TTS, local text generation, local embeddings).
3.5 UI Preferences
We store minimal UI preferences in your browser's local storage:
- Dark mode setting
- Sidebar width and collapse state
- Active sidebar view
These contain no personally identifiable information.
3.6 Analytics and Crash Reporting
Arqenne Studio includes crash reporting. It is enabled by default and can be disabled at any time in Settings. The current version of Arqenne Studio does not collect product analytics.
Crash Reporting:
While crash reporting is enabled, crash reports are sent to a third-party error tracking service when the application encounters an error. Crash reports may include:
- Error messages and stack traces
- Operating system and application version
- Device type (e.g., macOS, Linux)
- Your user ID (UUID), so a report can be linked to your account
- IP address (incidentally collected by the service provider)
Crash reports do not include your project content, manuscripts, messages, or generated audio/images.
The specific third-party provider we use for crash reporting is listed at https://arqenne.com/subprocessors. We will update that page when providers change.
4. Data We Do NOT Collect
- Device hardware identifiers or fingerprints
- Location or geolocation data
- Browsing history
- Keystroke or input logging
- Screen recordings
- Advertising identifiers
- Content processed by local AI models
We do not use any advertising trackers or sell your data to third parties.
5. How We Use Your Data
| Purpose | Data Used |
|---|---|
| Provide and operate the service | Account data, usage logs |
| Process cloud AI requests | Message content and context files (sent to cloud AI provider) |
| Generate cloud text-to-speech audio | Text content (sent to TTS processing server) |
| Billing and budgeting | Usage logs, subscription data, Stripe payment data |
| Security and authentication | JWT tokens, user IDs |
| Software updates | Version check (no personal data transmitted) |
| Crash reporting | Error data, OS/app version, device type, user ID (sent to crash reporting provider) |
6. Third-Party Services (Sub-Processors)
When you use cloud features, we share data with the following third-party services:
6.1 Supabase (Authentication & Cloud Database)
- Receives: Email, user credentials, usage logs
- Purpose: Authentication, database hosting
- Privacy Policy: https://supabase.com/privacy
6.2 Stripe (Payments)
- Receives: Payment and subscription information
- Does not receive: Project content, messages, or files
- Purpose: Payment processing and subscription management
- Privacy Policy: https://stripe.com/privacy
6.3 Cloudflare (Infrastructure)
- Receives: Network requests routed through Cloudflare infrastructure; presigned URLs for model downloads
- Does not receive: User content or project files
- Purpose: CDN, DNS, DDoS protection, secure tunnel infrastructure, model file distribution (via R2 storage)
- Privacy Policy: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/
6.4 RunPod (Cloud Text-to-Speech Overflow)
- Receives: Text content for speech synthesis, voice parameters
- Purpose: GPU-accelerated text-to-speech generation when primary server is at capacity
- Privacy Policy: https://www.runpod.io/privacy
6.5 Crash Reporting Provider
- Receives: Error data (crash reports), including your user ID
- Does not receive: Project content, manuscripts, messages, or generated files
- Purpose: Application error tracking and diagnostics
- Opt-out: Crash reporting is enabled by default. You can disable it at any time in Settings.
- Current provider: Listed at https://arqenne.com/subprocessors
6.6 Cloud AI Providers
When you use cloud-powered AI chat or completions (as opposed to local AI), your message content and attached context files may be sent to third-party AI providers. When you generate storyboard images in Arqenne Cloud, your image prompts and reference images are sent to a third-party image provider. The specific provider depends on the model you select. Under standard API terms, these providers do not use your data to train their models. We identify the active cloud AI and image providers on our website at https://arqenne.com/subprocessors.
6.7 Local AI Models
When you use locally-hosted AI models (local text generation, local text-to-speech, local embeddings), your data stays entirely on your device and is not transmitted to any external service. Local AI processing is the default for all supported features. Image generation is not one of them: images are rendered by Arqenne Cloud (see Section 6.6) or by a ComfyUI server you connect yourself, in which case your prompts go to that server and nowhere else.
7. Voice Data and Audio
7.1 Local Text-to-Speech
Arqenne Studio includes a local text-to-speech engine that runs entirely on your device. Text you synthesize using local TTS is processed on-device and never transmitted externally. Generated audio files are stored locally.
7.2 Voice Cloning
Arqenne Studio includes voice cloning capabilities that allow you to create custom voice profiles from audio samples. Voice cloning runs entirely on your device:
- Voice reference audio you provide is processed locally and is never transmitted to our servers or any third party
- Voice profiles (voice models) derived from your reference audio are stored locally on your device
- We do not have access to, collect, or store your voice reference audio or derived voice profiles
- Voice profiles derived from reference audio may constitute biometric-adjacent data under certain jurisdictions. By using the voice cloning feature, you acknowledge and consent to the on-device processing of your voice data for this purpose
- You may delete your voice profiles at any time through the application. Deletion is immediate and permanent since the data exists only on your device
7.3 Cloud Text-to-Speech
When you use cloud-powered TTS, the text content is transmitted to our server infrastructure (and potentially RunPod as overflow) for processing. Generated audio is returned to your device and the text input is not retained on our servers after processing.
8. Data Storage & Security
8.1 Local Storage
- Project files are stored on your device in your designated project directory
- Authentication tokens are encrypted with AES-256-GCM and stored with restricted file permissions (owner-only access)
- Local databases (SQLite) store per-project conversations, audio metadata, knowledge base embeddings, and project settings
8.2 Cloud Storage
- Cloud data is hosted in Supabase-managed PostgreSQL databases
- Row-Level Security (RLS) is enforced on all database tables, ensuring users can only access their own data
- All network communication uses HTTPS/TLS encryption
- SQL queries use parameterized statements to prevent injection attacks
- Payment data is handled entirely by Stripe; we do not store credit card numbers
8.3 Model Distribution
AI models are downloaded to your device from Cloudflare R2 storage using time-limited presigned URLs. Model files are stored locally after download. No user data is transmitted during model downloads.
9. Data Retention
| Data Type | Retention Period |
|---|---|
| Account data | Retained until account deletion |
| User-generated content (local) | Retained on your device until you delete it |
| User-generated content (cloud) | Retained until you delete it or request account deletion |
| Conversations and messages (local) | Retained on your device until you delete them |
| Cloud LLM usage logs | Retained for up to 12 months, then archived |
| Cloud TTS usage logs | Retained for up to 6 months, then archived |
| Payment event history | Retained as required for financial audit and legal compliance |
| UI preferences | Retained in browser local storage until cleared |
10. Your Rights & Controls
10.1 Access and Portability
- Your project files are stored locally on your device in standard formats (Markdown, JSON, WAV, PNG) and are always accessible to you without requiring our software
- You may request a copy of your cloud-stored data at any time
10.2 Deletion
- You can delete individual conversations, projects, audio files, and other content at any time
- You may request full account deletion by contacting us at legal@arqenne.com
- Upon account deletion, we will remove your account data and usage logs, except where retention is required by law
- Local data remains on your device under your control regardless of account status
10.3 Data Correction
- You may update your account information (email, display name) through the app settings
10.4 Opt-Out of Cloud Features
- Cloud features are optional; you may use the app in a fully local mode
- You may choose to use only local AI models, in which case no content is transmitted externally
- Cloud AI features are clearly labeled in the interface
11. AI-Specific Disclosures
11.1 How AI Features Work
Arqenne Studio includes AI features that operate in two modes:
Local AI (on-device): Text generation, text-to-speech, and embeddings can run entirely on your device using bundled AI models. No data leaves your device.
Image generation (cloud or your own server): Storyboard images are never rendered inside the application. They are rendered by Arqenne Cloud through a third-party image provider, or by a ComfyUI server you configure yourself. The finished images are saved to your project on your device.
Cloud AI (optional): When local processing is unavailable or you select a cloud model, your content is sent to our servers or third-party providers for processing. This includes the text of your messages, any context files you attach, and conversation history within the current session.
11.2 AI Provider Data Practices
- API usage: We access third-party AI providers through their APIs. Under standard API terms, providers do not use your data to train their models.
- Local models: When using local AI models, no data leaves your device. We have no visibility into what you process locally.
- No training on your data: We do not use your content, prompts, or generated output to train AI models.
11.3 No Automated Decision-Making
We do not use AI to make automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you. AI features are creative tools under your direct control.
12. Children's Privacy
Arqenne Studio is not intended for use by children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at legal@arqenne.com and we will delete such information.
13. Cookies
Arqenne Studio is a desktop application and does not use cookies for tracking or advertising. We use browser local storage solely for UI preferences (dark mode, sidebar layout). No third-party cookies are set. Our website (https://arqenne.com) may use essential cookies for session management; see our website cookie notice for details.
14. International Data Transfers
If you are located outside the United States, data transmitted to our cloud services may be transferred to and processed in the United States or other jurisdictions where our service providers operate. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for such transfers in compliance with applicable data protection laws.
15. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy and, where appropriate, through in-app notification. Material changes to how we handle User Content or introduce new categories of data collection will be communicated at least 30 days before taking effect.
16. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, contact us at:
Email: legal@arqenne.com Website: https://arqenne.com
17. Jurisdiction-Specific Rights
For European Economic Area (EEA) Residents
Under the GDPR, you have additional rights including the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing, data portability, and to object to processing. Our legal basis for processing your data is contract performance (providing the service) and legitimate interest (service operation and security). To exercise these rights, contact us at legal@arqenne.com.
For California Residents
Under the CCPA/CPRA, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, request deletion, and opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell or share your personal information. To exercise these rights, contact us at legal@arqenne.com.