Privacy
Section 1 — What WYS does
WhatYouSay (WYS) is a fully automated text analysis tool. It processes .txt files uploaded
by users and generates statistical and narrative summaries of communication patterns.
No human reviews, moderates, or reads uploaded content at any stage.
The web application is hosted on
Vercel.
The service is operated by Rayan B. Vasse, independent researcher, based in the United Kingdom.
This policy is written in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Section 2 — Your role as data controller
By uploading a file, you confirm that you are the data controller for the data it contains —
including messages sent by other participants in the conversation. You are responsible for
ensuring you have a lawful basis to process that data for personal, analytical, or research purposes.
WYS operates as an automated data processor acting solely on your instruction. The platform
operator does not determine the purposes or means of processing — you do. The operator does not
verify the content, origin, or consent status of uploaded files.
Third-party messages. Group chat exports contain messages written by people
other than yourself. Those individuals are data subjects under UK GDPR. By uploading a file
containing their messages, you take on responsibility for that processing. WYS's role is
limited to automated analysis and immediate deletion. The legal basis most applicable to
personal analytical use is legitimate interests: understanding your own communication patterns
in groups you participate in, using a tool that does not retain, share, or expose any
participant's data beyond the session.
If you are using WYS for organisational, research, or professional purposes involving
identifiable individuals, you should ensure you have a separate lawful basis and, where
required, appropriate consents or data sharing agreements in place.
Section 3 — What happens to your data
Uploaded files and generated outputs are stored temporarily in
Supabase
storage for processing purposes only. All data is automatically deleted within 24 hours.
You can trigger immediate deletion at any point using the Delete & Exit
function — this removes both the uploaded file and all generated outputs from storage
immediately.
No user accounts are created. No personal information is collected beyond what is contained
in the uploaded file. No cookies are set for tracking or analytics purposes.
Hosting infrastructure. As with any web service, Vercel's infrastructure
automatically logs standard request metadata (IP addresses, browser type, request timestamps)
for security and operational purposes. This logging is handled by Vercel under their own
privacy policy and is not controlled by WYS. Uploaded file content is not included in
infrastructure logs.
Section 4 — Third-party processing: language model API
The narrative interpretation stage of WYS analysis is generated via the
OpenAI API.
Excerpts of uploaded text are transmitted to OpenAI's servers for inference only.
Training: OpenAI does not use API inputs to train its models. This applies
to all standard API usage without a separate agreement.
Retention by OpenAI: OpenAI may retain API inputs and outputs for up to
30 days for safety monitoring and abuse prevention, after which they are deleted. This is
distinct from WYS's own 24-hour deletion policy. For full details, see
OpenAI's API data usage policy.
What this means in practice: Your uploaded text is not stored by WYS
beyond 24 hours and not used by OpenAI for model training. It may transit OpenAI's
infrastructure for up to 30 days under their safety retention policy. No data is shared
with any other third party.
Section 5 — Output and anonymisation
Speaker names in WYS outputs are replaced with anonymised labels (e.g., Speaker A,
Speaker B). The person who uploads the file is identified as the focal speaker for
the analysis; other participants are labelled anonymously.
Short text excerpts from the uploaded conversation may appear as illustrative examples
in the narrative output. These excerpts are drawn from the uploaded file and, in the
context of a group chat, may be recognisable to people who participated in the original
conversation. The outputs are generated for your own use and are not shared with or
accessible by any other party.
Section 6 — Sensitive and special category data
Chat exports may contain information that falls under UK GDPR's special category data —
including references to health, religion, political opinion, sexual orientation, or
ethnicity. WYS does not specifically extract or flag this type of information, but it
may appear within the text passed to the analysis pipeline.
If your chat export contains significant amounts of special category data belonging to
other participants, you should consider whether processing it through an automated tool
is appropriate for your purposes, and whether the processing is proportionate to the
insight you are seeking.
WYS is designed for personal reflection and communication pattern analysis. It is not
appropriate for use in contexts where the output could affect decisions about
identifiable individuals.
Section 7 — Limitation of use
WYS outputs are descriptive summaries based on statistical pattern analysis of language use.
They describe linguistic patterns and interaction structure — not personality, intention,
mental state, or character.
Outputs are not evidence, clinical assessments, psychological evaluations, or professional
opinions of any kind. They must not be used in legal proceedings, clinical or therapeutic
contexts, employment decisions, or interpersonal disputes involving identifiable individuals.
Section 8 — Your rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the right to access, rectify, or erase personal data held about
you. Because WYS does not create accounts or retain data beyond 24 hours, the most
effective way to exercise erasure rights is to use the Delete & Exit
function during your session. This removes all uploaded and generated data immediately.
For requests relating to data already automatically deleted, or for any other data rights
enquiry, contact: support@living-literature.org.
Requests will be responded to within 30 days in line with UK GDPR requirements.
If you have concerns about how your data has been handled, you have the right to lodge a
complaint with the
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Section 9 — Policy updates
This policy may be updated to reflect changes in the service or applicable law.
Material changes will be noted with a revised date below. Continued use of WYS after
a policy update constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.
Last updated: March 2026.