Privacy Policy

How Clearance AI handles your data

Effective Date: September 2, 2026

This Privacy Policy describes how Clearance AI ("the App"), operated by AIVIATION LLC ("we," "us," or "our"), handles information when you use our iOS application (bundle ID app.clearanceai) and this website. Clearance AI is a non-certified, advisory in-flight copilot that listens to Air Traffic Control (ATC), transcribes it, and displays the clearances it extracts. Clearance AI is offered in the United States.

Notice at collection and state privacy rights. Section 8 sets out the categories of personal information we collect, why we collect them, how long we keep them, and the rights you may have under California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Nevada privacy law.

Summary: The core of Clearance AI runs on your device. Transcription and clearance extraction happen on your iPhone or iPad, and your ATC audio is processed live as you fly. Clearance AI has no account -- we never collect your name, email, or Apple ID. We do use a device identifier to measure how the app is used and to operate subscriptions. Because that identifier stays the same across sessions, Apple treats the usage data we send with it as "Linked to You," even though it identifies a device and we never learn who you are. Three things send audio off your device: (1) a setting -- on by default, which you can turn off in Settings -- that contributes recordings captured while you use the live copilot, along with related flight data including your location, to improve accuracy; (2) an issue report you send us; and (3) on pre-release (TestFlight) builds only, an engineering recording of the whole listening session, uploaded with the aircraft call sign you set in the App. Separately, when you allow location access, the App sends your location -- without any name, account, or device identifier -- to a public U.S. government weather service to look up nearby altimeter settings, and uses your location on your device to suggest nearby radio frequencies and airport taxiway layouts. We do not sell your data, show ads, or track you across other companies' apps.

1. On-Device Processing (the core app)

When you use the live copilot, the App listens to ATC audio from your headset, transcribes it, and extracts clearances entirely on your device:

The live copilot works with no internet connection. Your ATC audio is processed live as you fly. Audio leaves your device only through the three paths described below: contribution to improve accuracy (Section 2.3, on by default and controlled from Settings), an issue report you choose to send us (Section 2.4), and -- on pre-release (TestFlight) builds only -- the engineering recording described in Section 2.6.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Device identifier and usage analytics (all users)

Clearance AI has no account system -- we collect no name, email, or Apple ID. The App uses a device identifier, stored on your device, and sends it with usage and lifecycle events (for example, app launches, onboarding progress, and paywall interactions). We use these events to understand how the app is used, to improve it, and to operate the subscription. This identifier is not your name, email, or Apple ID, and it is not an advertising identifier; it identifies a device, not a known person. The same identifier is shared by any other AIVIATION app installed on that device, so our usage data can show that one device uses more than one of our apps. Because it stays the same across sessions, App Store rules treat the data we send alongside it as "Linked to You" (see Section 5). If you also use other AIVIATION apps while signed in to iCloud, we use a separate identifier, stored in your private iCloud account, to recognize that the same person is using more than one device, for the same usage-measurement purpose. We do not use these identifiers to track you across other companies' apps or websites, and we do not collect advertising identifiers. The App does not present an App Tracking Transparency prompt because it does not track you.

2.2 Purchases

Clearance AI offers a Free tier and a paid Pro subscription. All purchases are processed by Apple through StoreKit. When you subscribe, we receive a record from Apple that your subscription is active -- including the product, plan, and billing period -- so we can unlock Pro features and measure conversions in aggregate. We do not receive your payment card or Apple ID credentials. Apple's privacy policy applies to the purchase itself.

2.3 Contribution to improve accuracy (on by default; you can opt out)

Clearance AI includes a setting, on by default, that contributes cockpit recordings so we can measure and improve the accuracy of our on-device speech and clearance-extraction models. This setting is on unless you turn it off, and you can turn it off at any time in Settings. Contribution is part of the live copilot: when you start a listening session as a Pro subscriber, the App records and contributes qualifying segments from that session unless you have turned the setting off. It records only while you are listening -- when you stop listening, recording stops with it. The App's on-screen listening indicator is visible for the entire time it is listening and recording. This section, together with the notice shown when you first set up the App, is our notice at collection for this data.

What the recordings contain. The App captures audio from your headset through your audio splitter. That audio is mixed cockpit/headset audio. It is primarily the ATC radio you hear -- which is a public radio broadcast -- but it may also contain your own transmissions, other pilots' transmissions on the same frequency, and intercom or passenger speech in your cockpit. We do not represent these recordings as containing only ATC audio. If you leave this setting on, please do not use it if your cockpit conversations are private.

Which segments we upload. The App uploads the segments it identifies on your device as controller (ATC) transmissions. This includes transmissions the controller addressed to your aircraft and transmissions the controller addressed to other aircraft on the same frequency; we record with each segment whether your own call sign was detected in it. Transmissions the App identifies as pilot speech, including your own, are not uploaded. This on-device identification is best-effort and not guaranteed, so a contributed segment may still contain your own transmissions, another pilot's transmission, intercom or passenger speech, or a transmission that overlapped yours or ran immediately before it. To avoid clipping the start of a transmission, a segment can include a brief moment of the audio just before it began.

Call signs are in the recordings. Because the App selects controller transmissions, a contributed recording will normally contain an aircraft call sign as spoken by the controller, and that call sign will appear in the transcript we store with it. When the transmission was addressed to your aircraft, that call sign is yours; when it was addressed to another aircraft on your frequency, it is that aircraft's. A call sign identifies an aircraft, not a person -- rented, club-owned, school, and employer aircraft are each flown by many different pilots. We do not attach your name, email, Apple ID, or the device identifier we use for analytics to a contribution, and we do not attempt to work out who was flying, in your aircraft or in any other.

What we upload, and when. Unless you have turned the setting off, the App uploads each captured audio segment together with the on-device transcript, the extracted-clearance data, flight data for that segment, and basic technical details about the App and your device -- such as the App and operating-system version, your device model, and whether clearance extraction succeeded -- which we use to diagnose errors. These technical details are coarse and shared by many devices; they are not an identifier for you or your device. The flight data includes your device's location -- latitude and longitude, altitude, ground speed, track, accuracy, and the time -- which we use to improve extraction accuracy, and which is included only if you have granted the App location access (see Section 2.5). Uploads are deferred and happen in the background when your device is connected to Wi-Fi; contributions are not uploaded over cellular. Each contribution is tagged with a random contribution identifier, and contributions captured in the same listening session are stored together, so the segments from one flight are grouped. The contribution identifier is not tied to the device identifier we use for analytics, and it does not carry your name, email, or Apple ID. A call sign is not attached to a contribution as a separate piece of information; an aircraft call sign -- sometimes yours, sometimes that of another aircraft on your frequency -- is normally spoken in the recording itself, as described above.

Flight context. Each contributed segment also carries a short description of the flight situation it was recorded in, which we use to interpret the transmission and improve extraction accuracy: the airport identifier, the radio frequency, the phase of flight, and how confident the App was in its extraction. If you have entered or imported a flight plan, we also include four items from it -- your filed altitude, your departure and destination airport identifiers, and the list of waypoints on your route. Taken together, these describe the route you intend to fly. We do not upload your full flight plan, your filed times, or your aircraft type or registration, and our systems accept only those four items and discard anything else.

Corrections you make. If the App extracts a clearance value and you change it -- an altitude, heading, frequency, squawk, runway, taxi route, or departure or arrival procedure -- we upload that correction: the value the App produced, the value you entered, and the transcript the extraction came from. We use this to measure and improve extraction accuracy. Some of these fields let you type freely, and whatever you type is uploaded as you entered it, so please do not enter personal information into them. You never correct a transcript in the App; the transcript we store is always the App's own on-device output.

How we use them. We (and our cloud provider acting on our behalf) use contributed recordings to produce reference transcriptions, to review and label accuracy, and to retrain our own on-device model. We do not send contributed recordings to any third-party artificial-intelligence provider. We do not sell contributed recordings, and we do not use them for advertising.

Stopping this collection, and what we can and cannot connect to you. You can stop contributing at any time by turning the setting off in Settings; once it is off, the App uploads no further contributions, including any that were waiting to upload. A contribution carries a random per-contribution identifier and no name, email, Apple ID, or analytics device identifier, and our training corpus has no account or user field to search on. We do not claim that contributions are anonymous, and we do not claim that we could never connect one to you. Two things could support a connection. First, contributing requires an active Pro subscription, so each upload is checked against Apple; our operational logs record the identifier Apple assigns to that subscription and the time of the check, and we keep those logs for 24 months (Section 6) -- so a log entry and an upload could be lined up by time. Second, your device keeps its own private list of the recordings it has uploaded; that list stays on your device and we never receive it. We do not currently offer a way to ask us to delete individual past contributions, and the App has no screen for browsing or deleting them. We use contributions only to measure and improve our own models, and we do not attempt to work out who was flying. Contributed recordings are not kept indefinitely -- they age out of our training corpus on the retention schedule in Section 6. Removing a contribution from the corpus takes it out of future model training; it does not reverse training already performed in a model version that used it. To ask about a contribution or make a privacy request, contact privacy@aiviation.dev; Section 8 describes how we handle requests, including when we have to deny one and how you can appeal.

2.4 Reporting an issue (only when you choose to)

If you use the in-app "report an issue" action, the App sends us a diagnostic report to help us fix a problem. That report includes up to the last 60 seconds of cockpit audio, the clearance shown on your scoreboard, your recent on-device transcript, the phase of flight, and basic device information -- your device type, your operating-system version, and the App version and build. That audio is mixed cockpit audio and is not filtered to controller transmissions, so it may contain your own transmissions, other pilots' transmissions, and intercom or passenger speech. The report does not include your aircraft call sign, your location, or the device identifier we use for analytics. We use issue reports only to diagnose and fix problems. This is sent only when you choose to submit a report, and reports are deleted 90 days after we receive them (Section 6).

2.5 Location

With your permission, the App uses your device's location to show your position and flight phase, to identify the nearest airport, and to power context suggestions -- such as nearby radio frequencies, altimeter settings, and airport taxiway layouts. The App asks for location access when you first reach the main scoreboard after completing setup (not only when you record), and you can allow or deny it then and change it later in iOS Settings. Location access is optional; if you deny it, these suggestions and the location features below are simply omitted, and no location leaves your device.

Most of these features run entirely on your device: the frequency, taxiway, and nearest-airport suggestions are computed on your device from data bundled in the App, and that location is not transmitted. Two things send location off your device, and only if you have granted location access:

We do not otherwise collect, store, or transmit your location, and we do not use it to track you.

2.6 Pre-release (TestFlight) engineering recording

Clearance AI is currently distributed to testers through Apple's TestFlight. TestFlight builds, and builds we run in development, include an engineering recording that App Store builds do not. If you install Clearance AI from the App Store, nothing in this section happens.

On those pre-release builds, when the contribution setting (Section 2.3) is on, the App records the entire listening session -- not only the segments it identifies as controller transmissions. Because it is the whole session, that recording includes your own transmissions and any intercom or passenger speech in your cockpit. It is uploaded together with a technical event log of what the App heard and how it processed it, which includes the App's on-device transcript of the session, and a summary of the session -- when it started and ended, the App version and build, the audio settings and audio input in use, and whether contribution was on.

This recording is uploaded with your aircraft call sign. Unlike the other two paths, the engineering recording carries the aircraft call sign you set in the App. We use it to diagnose whether the App correctly identified which transmissions the controller addressed to your aircraft: without the call sign the App was matching against, we cannot tell a missed match from a transcription error. An aircraft call sign is normally a tail number, and a tail number can be looked up in the public FAA aircraft registry, which lists the aircraft's registered owner. That owner is often not the pilot -- rented, club-owned, school, and employer aircraft are each flown by many different pilots -- but here the call sign travels with a recording of your entire listening session, which is the most complete cockpit audio the App collects. If you would rather not send it, turn the contribution setting off in Settings before you start listening.

This recording does not include your name, email, Apple ID, location, or the device identifier we use for analytics. Uploads are deferred and happen in the background over Wi-Fi. We use these recordings only to diagnose the App's own audio and clearance-extraction pipeline; they are held separately and are not added to our training corpus. They are deleted 60 days after upload (Section 6). Turning the contribution setting off in Settings stops any further engineering recording. A recording already captured and waiting to upload may still be sent, because this pre-release path does not re-check the setting before it uploads.

2.7 This website

This website uses a first-party analytics script that we operate. It records the page you viewed, the hostname of the site that referred you, any campaign parameters in the link you followed, and taps on App Store links. It sets no cookie, stores nothing in your browser, and creates no identifier for you or your browser. If your browser sends a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal, the script sends nothing at all. We use no third-party analytics, advertising pixels, or cross-site trackers on this website. There are no other tracking technologies on this site, so we do not publish a separate cookie notice.

2.8 Server logs

When the App or this website makes a request to our servers, an access log records the Internet (IP) address the request came from, what was requested, the response, and the time. We use these logs for security, abuse prevention, and troubleshooting, and we keep them for 30 days. Our servers also keep operational logs of how requests were processed; for a contribution upload, that includes the identifier Apple assigns to your subscription transaction and the time we checked it with Apple. We keep operational logs for 24 months.

3. How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with data brokers or advertisers. We share it in the following circumstances:

To provide nearby altimeter (weather) suggestions, the App also queries a public U.S. government aviation-weather service -- aviationweather.gov, operated by NOAA -- directly from your device (Section 2.5). This sends your location, with no name, account, or device identifier, to that service (though, like any internet request, it reveals your device's IP address to NOAA). NOAA is not our service provider and is not acting on our behalf; we do not receive or store the location sent in these requests.

4. How We Use Information

5. App Store Privacy Label

Clearance AI's privacy manifest declares the data types below, and we keep the App's App Store privacy label consistent with them:

"Linked to You," in Apple's framework, means associated with an identifier -- here, a device or cross-device identifier -- not that we know your name, email, or Apple ID. Clearance AI has no account, so we never learn who you are. We do not use any of this data to track you across other companies' apps or websites.

6. Data Retention

How we decide how long to keep something. Where a period is stated above, our systems enforce it. Where we have to exercise judgement, we weigh the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the information, the risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure, the purpose we collected it for and whether we can achieve that purpose another way, and any legal, accounting, or reporting obligation, including the need to establish or defend a legal claim. When we no longer need information, we delete it or keep it only in a form that no longer identifies anyone.

7. Your Choices and Rights

8. U.S. State Privacy Rights

This section applies to residents of U.S. states whose privacy laws apply to us, including California (the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act), Virginia (the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act), Colorado (the Colorado Privacy Act), Connecticut (the Connecticut Data Privacy Act), Utah (the Utah Consumer Privacy Act), and Nevada (Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 603A). Residents of other states may have similar rights, and we will honor them where the law requires. Not every right below is granted by every state's law, and some rights are qualified, so we may decline a request where the law permits.

What we collect and why. We collect the information described in Section 2: a device identifier and related usage events; purchase records from Apple; contributed recordings, together with the transcripts, flight context, location, clearance-field corrections, and coarse diagnostic details attached to them; issue reports you send us; on pre-release builds, the engineering recordings described in Section 2.6, which carry the aircraft call sign you set in the App; website analytics events; and server access and operational logs. Section 4 states why we use each of them, Section 3 states who receives them, and Section 6 states how long we keep them. Our practices in this section describe the 12 months preceding the effective date above.

Sensitive personal information. We treat cockpit audio and precise geolocation as sensitive personal information. Contributed recordings are controller transmissions from the frequency you are monitoring, and include transmissions the controller addressed to other aircraft as well as to yours, so they may contain other aircraft's call signs as spoken by the controller. We use this information only to provide the App and to measure and improve the accuracy of our own on-device models. We do not use it to infer characteristics about you, we do not sell or share it, and we do not use or disclose it for any purpose that would trigger California's right to limit the use of sensitive personal information. You can stop this collection at any time: turn the contribution setting off in Settings, and deny or turn off the App's location permission.

No sale, no sharing, no targeted advertising, no profiling. We do not sell personal information and have not done so. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, we do not process it for targeted advertising, and we do not use it for profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects. Because we do not do these things, there is nothing for you to opt out of; we still honor Global Privacy Control signals on this website (Section 2.7).

Your rights. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to know what personal information we collect and the sources, purposes, and recipients involved; to access a copy of it; to correct inaccurate information; to delete it; to obtain it in a portable form; to opt out of sale, targeted advertising, and certain profiling; to limit the use of sensitive personal information; and to appeal a decision we make on your request. You are entitled to exercise these rights free from discrimination, and we will not deny you service, charge you a different price, or give you a lesser experience for doing so.

How to make a request, and what verification means here. Send your request to privacy@aiviation.dev. Clearance AI has no account, so we hold no name, email, or Apple ID to match a request against, and in most cases we cannot verify that particular data relates to you. Where the law allows, we may ask you for information that would let us locate the data you are asking about; we will not ask you for more information than we need, and we will not collect additional personal information solely to be able to identify you. Where we are unable to verify a request, or where the law does not require us to re-identify or link information that we do not hold in an identified form, we may decline it. For contributed recordings specifically, Section 2.3 explains what we hold and what we do not currently offer.

Appeals. If we decline your request, we will tell you why. You may appeal by writing to privacy@aiviation.dev with "Appeal" in the subject line. We will review the appeal and respond in writing within the period your state's law allows, and if we deny the appeal we will tell you how to contact your state's attorney general.

Authorized agents. You may use an authorized agent to submit a request where your state's law allows. We may ask the agent for proof of authority -- such as a power of attorney or your written, signed permission -- and may ask you to confirm the request directly.

California Shine the Light. Under California Civil Code Section 1798.83, California residents may ask us for the categories of personal information we disclosed to third parties for those third parties' own direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year. We do not disclose personal information for that purpose. To make a request, email privacy@aiviation.dev with "Shine the Light Request" in the subject line.

Nevada. Nevada residents may direct us not to sell certain personal information. We do not sell personal information. Our designated address for these requests is privacy@aiviation.dev.

9. Security

We use technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect the information we hold. Information sent between the App or this website and our servers travels over encrypted connections, and our storage refuses any connection that is not encrypted. Contributed recordings, issue reports, and pre-release engineering recordings are encrypted where they are stored, the storage that holds them blocks all public access, and access to it is restricted to the credentials our systems need. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the security of your information.

10. Other Sites and Services

This website and the App may link to, or send requests to, websites and services operated by others -- including Apple's App Store and the public U.S. government weather service described in Section 2.5. We do not control those services and are not responsible for their practices. A link is not an endorsement or a statement that we are affiliated with the operator. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of the other services you use.

11. International Data Transfer

We are based in the United States, and the information described in this policy is stored and processed in the United States. Clearance AI is offered in the United States. If you access the App or this website from outside the United States, you understand that your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those where you live.

12. Children's Privacy

Clearance AI is intended for pilots and is not directed to anyone under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 16, we will delete it. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we have done so, contact us at privacy@aiviation.dev.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. Continued use of the App after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

14. Contact Us

For privacy questions or requests:

AIVIATION LLC
AIVIATION LLC, c/o Northwest Registered Agent, 7901 4th Street North, Suite 300, St. Petersburg, FL 33702
Privacy: privacy@aiviation.dev
Support: support@aiviation.dev