Privacy Policy

1. Scope

This policy applies to the TV Remote Android application. TV Remote is designed to discover, pair with and control compatible Android TV and Google TV devices over your local network and, where supported, Bluetooth.

The app does not require a user account. TV Remote uses third-party analytics, crash-reporting and advertising services, including Google Analytics for Firebase, Firebase Crashlytics, Google AdMob and Yandex Mobile Ads. These services may process information as described below. TV Remote does not sell personal data for money.

2. Information the app accesses or processes

Local network and television information

To find and connect to compatible televisions, the app may process information available on your local network or through Bluetooth, such as TV names, model information, local IP addresses, service ports, service metadata, Bluetooth device names and Bluetooth addresses.

This information is used to discover and connect to your TV. The app does not intentionally send your TV's local IP address or Bluetooth address to Firebase Analytics.

Pairing credentials

When you pair with a TV over the local network, the app generates cryptographic pairing credentials, including a private key and certificate. These credentials are stored on your Android device using secure platform storage so the app can reconnect without asking for a pairing code every time. The private key is intended to remain on your device; the certificate and pairing protocol data are exchanged with the TV as required to establish the connection.

Remote commands and text input

Button presses, navigation commands, media controls and text that you choose to type or paste are transmitted to the connected TV to perform the requested action. The app does not intentionally log remote keystrokes, typed text or custom application package IDs to Firebase Analytics.

Microphone and voice input

If you use the voice-control feature, TV Remote asks for microphone permission. Audio is captured only while a voice session is active and is streamed to the connected TV so the TV can handle the voice request. TV Remote does not intentionally store microphone recordings or send microphone audio to Firebase Analytics or Crashlytics.

App settings and Quick Launch data

Preferences such as haptic feedback, keeping the screen awake, the selected remote-control page, Quick Launch order, and custom app definitions may be stored locally on your device. Custom app definitions can include a display name, Android package ID, icon choice and background color.

3. Analytics and crash reporting

TV Remote uses Google Analytics for Firebase and Firebase Crashlytics, services provided by Google. These services send certain telemetry from the app to Google infrastructure.

Google may process information on infrastructure in multiple countries. For details about how Google and Firebase handle data, see Firebase Privacy and Security and the Google Privacy Policy.

4. Advertising

TV Remote displays advertisements using third-party advertising services, including Google AdMob and Yandex Mobile Ads. Advertising SDKs may automatically collect, receive, use and share certain information from your device in order to request, select, deliver, measure and secure advertisements, prevent fraud and abuse, and perform advertising analytics.

Personalized and non-personalized advertising

Depending on your location, age-related settings, consent choices, device settings and the configuration of the advertising services, ads may be personalized or non-personalized. Personalized advertising may use advertising identifiers, device information, general location or inferred interests and interactions to select ads that are more relevant to you. Non-personalized or limited ads may still use contextual information and certain device, network, security or measurement data as permitted by the applicable advertising provider and law.

Consent and privacy choices

Where required by applicable law, TV Remote will request or respect the required privacy choices before using personal data for advertising purposes. For users in regions where consent or opt-out requirements apply, the app may show a consent or privacy message provided through Google, Yandex or another compliant consent-management solution. Your available choices may include accepting or rejecting certain advertising purposes, choosing vendors, or changing your privacy preferences later.

For more information about advertising data practices, see the Google Privacy Policy, Google Mobile Ads SDK data disclosure, the Yandex Ads Privacy Policy, and Yandex Mobile Ads SDK documentation.

5. Android permissions and why they are used

6. Sharing of information

Information is shared only as needed for the functions described in this policy:

• Your connected TV: remote commands, text input, pairing information and, when you activate voice control, microphone audio are transmitted to the TV you are controlling.
• Google / Firebase: analytics and crash/diagnostic telemetry is processed through Google Analytics for Firebase and Firebase Crashlytics.
• Google AdMob: advertising, device, interaction and diagnostic data may be collected and shared with Google and its advertising technology partners to serve and measure ads, perform analytics, and prevent fraud and abuse.
• Yandex Ads: advertising identifiers, device and network information, ad interactions and related data may be processed by Yandex Ads and its partners for ad delivery, personalization where permitted, measurement, service improvement, security and fraud prevention.
• Advertising technology partners: depending on the ad configuration, consent choices and ad inventory, Google AdMob or Yandex Ads may work with additional advertising, measurement or demand partners. Those partners may process data under their own privacy policies and applicable consent signals.
• Legal or security reasons: information may be disclosed if required by applicable law or a valid legal process, or when reasonably necessary to protect rights, safety and security.

TV Remote does not directly sell personal data to third parties for monetary payment. Advertising providers may collect, use or share data with their advertising and measurement partners as described in this policy and in their own privacy notices. Depending on applicable law, some forms of advertising data sharing may be treated as a “sale” or “sharing” for targeted advertising, in which case applicable consent or opt-out rights will be respected.

7. Security

TV Remote uses Android secure storage for locally saved pairing credentials and settings. Local-network pairing and the Wi-Fi remote connection use TLS-based communication with the paired TV. Bluetooth communication uses Android's Bluetooth connection APIs. Firebase and advertising providers apply their own technical and organizational security measures; Google states that data collected by the Google Mobile Ads SDK is encrypted in transit using TLS.

No method of storage or transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we aim to limit data handling to what is reasonably needed for the app's functions, analytics, reliability, advertising, measurement, security and fraud prevention.

8. Data retention and deletion

Locally stored settings, Quick Launch data and pairing credentials remain on your device until they are overwritten, removed by app functionality where available, or you clear the app's storage or uninstall the app.

Analytics and Crashlytics information is retained and deleted according to the applicable Google/Firebase service settings and retention policies. Firebase states that Crashlytics retains crash stack traces and associated identifiers for a limited retention period before deletion begins.

Advertising data is retained by Google AdMob, Yandex Ads and any applicable advertising partners according to their own retention rules, legal obligations and privacy policies. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data, advertising purpose, consent status and applicable law.

Because TV Remote does not currently provide user accounts, there is no app account to delete. Clearing the app's storage or uninstalling the app removes the app's locally stored data from that device, subject to Android platform behavior and device backups. Data already processed by third-party analytics or advertising providers is governed by those providers' deletion and retention mechanisms.

9. Your choices and privacy controls

• You can deny microphone permission and continue using non-voice remote-control features.
• You can deny Bluetooth/Nearby Devices permissions, although Bluetooth discovery and Bluetooth connections will not work.
• You can clear the app's storage or uninstall the app to remove locally stored application data from your device.
• You can review or change Android permissions at any time in your device's system settings.
• Where a consent or privacy message is available, you can use it to make or update choices about personalized advertising and participating advertising vendors.
• You can reset or delete your Android advertising ID through supported Android privacy settings. This may affect ad personalization but does not necessarily stop all advertising or all data processing needed for contextual ads, measurement, security or fraud prevention.

10. Children's privacy

TV Remote is a general-purpose utility for controlling compatible televisions and is not specifically directed to children. Advertising and analytics services may process data as described in this policy. Where applicable, we configure advertising and consent behavior in accordance with the audience settings selected for the app and applicable platform requirements. If you believe information relating to a child has been processed in a way that should not have occurred, please contact the developer using the privacy contact method below.

11. Changes to this policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated when the app's features, data practices, third-party services or legal requirements change. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page will be revised when material changes are made.

12. Contact