Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-09-12 · Effective date: 2026-09-12

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy describes how Screen Translate (the "App", "we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, shares, and protects your information. It applies to the Screen Translate Android application distributed on Google Play, package name com.screen.translate.google. By installing and using the App, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

Builds distributed through other app stores may include different components; if you installed the App from another store, refer to the policy linked inside that build.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information you provide

• Account information: if you sign in with Google, we receive your email address, display name, and profile picture. If you sign in with TikTok or Douyin, we receive an account identifier issued by that platform and, where you grant it, your nickname and avatar. We never receive your password for any of these providers.
• Purchase tokens: when you subscribe or buy a credit pack, Google Play issues a purchase token to the App. We send it to our server solely to verify the purchase with Google's API and to credit your account.
• Content you submit voluntarily: feedback messages, redemption codes, and invitation codes you enter in the App.

2.2 Information collected automatically

• Installation identifier: on first launch the App generates a random identifier and stores it on your device. It is sent with requests to our server (header X-Install-Id) so that features such as credits and quotas work before you sign in. It is not derived from any hardware identifier, and it is reset when you uninstall the App or clear its data.
• Device information: device model, Android version, system language, country, screen resolution, app version, and distribution channel.
• Android ID: read on your device to derive a local encryption key and to detect a tampered or repackaged copy of the App. It is not used for advertising or cross-app tracking, and is not shared with third parties.
• Usage data: which features you use, translation and credit counts, and error reports (error code, feature, app version).
• Server logs: when the App calls our backend (api.51mgly.com), the server records the request IP address, User-Agent, and timestamp for security and debugging.

2.3 Screen content, OCR, and translation

This is the most sensitive category of data the App handles, so we describe it in full.

• Screen capture: the App captures the screen only through Android's MediaProjection API, only while you have granted the capture permission, and only for the frame you explicitly trigger. Android shows its own indicator while capture is active. Captured frames are held in memory for processing and are never written to our servers.
• Text recognition (OCR) runs on your device by default, using Google ML Kit. In this mode your screenshot never leaves the device.
• Cloud OCR is optional and opt-in. If you actively select a cloud recognition engine, the captured image is sent to the provider you chose, for that request only. The available cloud engines are Google, OCR.space, Youdao, Alibaba Cloud Qwen, and Zhipu GLM.
• Text translation: only the recognized text — never the image — is sent to the Mango translation platform through its SDK, which selects and calls the translation engine. The text is used to return the translation and is not used to identify you.
• AI translation enhancement (optional): if you use this feature, the recognized text is sent to our server, which forwards it to the AI provider serving that request (DeepSeek, Alibaba Cloud Qwen, or Zhipu). We do not retain the text after the response is returned.
• Read aloud (text to speech): when you tap read-aloud, the text to be spoken is sent to Google's translate speech endpoint to produce the audio.
• Comic translation: speech-bubble detection and background repair run entirely on your device using bundled ONNX models. No image is uploaded for these steps.
• Camera translation: camera frames are processed the same way as screen captures and are not stored by us. The camera is active only while you are on the camera translation screen.
• Document translation: the document you select is parsed on your device; depending on the engine used for the document, the extracted content or the file itself is then sent to Baidu's document translation service to be translated.
• We do not store your screenshots, camera frames, documents, recognized text, or translations on our servers.

2.4 Accessibility service (optional, off by default)

The App includes an optional accessibility service that reads text directly from on-screen elements, as an alternative to capturing an image. It stays disabled until you enable it yourself in Android's accessibility settings, and you can disable it there at any time.

When enabled, it reads the text content of the window in the foreground for the sole purpose of translating it at your request. That text is processed on your device and passed to your selected translation engine exactly as described in section 2.3. We do not log it, do not send it to our own servers, and do not use it for advertising, profiling, or analytics. The service does not record keystrokes and does not read password fields.

2.5 What we do not collect

• Microphone audio. The App does not request the RECORD_AUDIO permission and has no speech-input feature.
• Location, contacts, SMS, call logs, your list of installed apps, or your photo library beyond a file you explicitly pick.

3. Permissions and Why We Need Them

4. How We Use Information

• Provide, maintain, and improve the App and its translation features
• Process subscriptions and credit purchases, and verify them with Google Play
• Authenticate accounts, apply your entitlements, and prevent fraud and piracy
• Diagnose crashes, errors, and performance problems
• Display advertisements in the free version
• Comply with legal obligations

We do not use your screen content, recognized text, or translations to train models, to build advertising profiles, or for any purpose other than returning the translation you asked for.

5. Third-Party Services and SDKs

The App integrates the following third-party services. Each has its own privacy policy.

Bundled libraries that process data only on your device, and send nothing to their authors, include ONNX Runtime (comic bubble detection and image repair), iText and Apache POI (document parsing), and Glide and SVGAPlayer (image and animation rendering).

6. Advertising and Your Choices

The free version shows ads served through Google AdMob. You can reset or delete your advertising identifier in Android Settings → Privacy → Ads, which limits ad personalisation. In regions where consent is legally required, the App shows Google's consent form on first launch, and you can reopen it from the App's settings to change your choice. Subscribing removes ads.

7. Credits and Subscription Data

Credit balances and entitlements are held on our server and tied to your account, or to your installation identifier if you are not signed in. We record credit spend events (feature used, amount, timestamp) so that balances can be audited and failed operations refunded. Credit records contain no screen content.

8. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising purposes beyond what section 5 describes. We share data only with:

• The third-party services listed in section 5, strictly for the stated purposes
• Google Play, to verify purchases and subscription status
• Law enforcement or regulators, where we are legally required to do so

9. International Data Transfers

Our servers are located outside mainland China. Some providers we rely on (Google, AppLovin, Vungle, DeepSeek) operate in the United States, Europe, or Singapore; others (Alibaba Cloud, Zhipu, Baidu, Pangle) operate in mainland China. Using a feature that involves one of these providers means the data described for it in section 5 is transferred to and processed in that provider's jurisdiction. Where the law requires a transfer mechanism, we rely on your consent for the specific feature you choose to use.

10. Data Retention

• On-device data (translation history, settings, cached models): kept on your device only, and removed when you clear the App's data or uninstall it.
• Account and purchase records: retained while your account exists, and deleted within 30 days after you delete your account, except where tax or accounting law requires us to keep transaction records longer.
• Error and usage records: retained up to 180 days.
• Server access logs: retained 90 days, then deleted automatically.
• Screen content, recognized text, translations, and documents: not retained by us at all.

11. Your Rights

Subject to your local law, you have the right to access, correct, export, or delete your personal data, to withdraw consent, and to object to processing. In practice:

• Delete your account and its server-side data: open the App → Profile → Account Settings → Delete Account.
• Export or clear your translation history: from the history screen in the App.
• Withdraw consent: revoke a permission in Android Settings, disable the accessibility service, reopen the ads consent form, cancel your subscription in Google Play, or uninstall the App.
• Access or correct other data: contact us using the details in section 15.

We respond to rights requests within 30 days. You may also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

12. Children's Privacy

The App is not directed to children under 13, or the equivalent minimum age in your jurisdiction. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we learn that we have, we will delete it; you can report such a case using the contact details below.

13. Security

All network traffic uses HTTPS. Sensitive values stored on the device, including purchase tokens and provider keys, are encrypted with AES-256-GCM. Access to our servers is restricted, and requests are attested with Firebase App Check. No system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we will notify affected users and the relevant authority of a breach where the law requires it.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy. The "Last updated" date above reflects the latest revision, and material changes are announced in the App before they take effect.

15. Contact

For privacy questions, or to exercise your rights, contact the developer at the email address shown on our Google Play store listing.