Effective date: August 2, 2026
Linvo is a reading companion for people who read physical books in foreign languages. You point your phone's camera at a word, Linvo recognizes it and shows a translation. This policy explains exactly what data Linvo processes, what leaves your device, and what never does.
Linvo has no user accounts, no sign-in, no cloud synchronization, no advertising, no analytics, and no subscriptions. Linvo offers one optional one-time in-app purchase (Linvo Plus), handled entirely by Google Play — see Purchases.
Camera frames. The camera preview is analyzed in real time, directly on your device, to recognize printed text (using Google ML Kit's on-device text recognition). Camera frames and images are never stored and never leave your device. Linvo takes no photos and records no video.
Recognized text. When you hold the camera steadily over a word, the recognized text inside the focus frame — typically a word or short phrase — is sent over an encrypted connection (HTTPS) to the Linvo Translation API to be translated. Along with the text, only your selected source and target languages are transmitted. Nothing else is sent: no images, no identifiers, no account information.
Saved words. Words you choose to save are stored in a local database on your device only. They are never uploaded anywhere.
Translation history. Words you look up are kept in a local history on your device (the most recent entries only), so you can revisit them. Like saved words, history entries are never uploaded, and you can clear the history in the app at any time.
Preferences. Your selected languages, theme, and whether Linvo Plus is unlocked are stored locally on your device.
Backups you create. The optional Backup feature writes your saved words, history, and preferences into a single file and hands it to Android's share sheet. Where that file goes — your Google Drive, your email, another device — is entirely your choice; Linvo never uploads it anywhere itself.
Translation cache. Recent translations are kept in memory while the app is running so repeated words translate instantly. This cache is discarded when the app closes.
| Data | Leaves the device? |
|---|---|
| Camera frames / images | Never |
| Recognized text being translated | Yes — to the translation service, over HTTPS |
| Selected language pair | Yes — with each translation request |
| Saved vocabulary | Never — stored locally only |
| Preferences (languages, theme) | Never — stored locally only |
| Payment details | Never seen by Linvo — purchases are processed by Google Play |
| Accounts, identifiers, location, contacts | Not collected at all |
Translations are provided by the Linvo Translation API, a service operated for Linvo on Cloudflare Workers. It forwards the text to DeepL SE (Cologne, Germany) for translation and returns the result. The Linvo Translation API is a stateless relay: it does not build user profiles and does not retain your texts. As with any internet service, standard network metadata (such as your IP address) is technically visible to the infrastructure providers (Cloudflare, DeepL) while a request is processed. DeepL processes the submitted text to produce the translation in accordance with its own API terms.
Linvo Plus is a single, optional, one-time in-app purchase processed entirely by Google Play. Linvo never sees or stores your payment details — the transaction happens inside Google's billing system under Google's privacy policy. The app itself stores only whether Plus is unlocked on your device and asks Google Play to confirm ownership when it starts. There are no subscriptions and no recurring charges.
Camera — required for Linvo's core function: recognizing printed text you point the phone at. Recognition happens on the device; camera frames stay on the device. Only the recognized text is transmitted, and only for translation. Linvo requests no other sensitive permissions (no microphone, no location, no storage access). Internet access is used solely for translation requests.
No advertising networks, analytics providers, or crash-reporting services are integrated.
Linvo's servers retain nothing: translation requests are processed transiently and are not stored by the Linvo Translation API. Everything else — saved words and preferences — lives only on your device, for as long as you keep it.
If you use Android's system backup, your saved words and preferences may be included in your device backup like any other app data. That backup is managed by Android and stored in your own Google account; Linvo itself never uploads your data anywhere.
Linvo is not directed at children under 13 and collects no personal information from any user, including children. If you believe a child has provided personal information through the app, contact us and we will address it.
If Linvo's data practices change, this policy will be updated and the effective date revised. Material changes will be noted in the app's release notes.
Questions about this policy or your data: linvo.support@gmail.com