Privacy policy
Your camera, only while Live is on.
The short version
- Watching needs nothing from you. Every 3D manual in the library plays without an account.
- The camera and microphone work only while Live is on. During a Live session, camera frames and microphone audio go to Google's Gemini Live API so Mog can see your build and talk back. They are not stored by default.
- Your scans make your manual. Pages you photograph or upload go to our servers and to Anthropic's API to build your custom manual, and a label photo goes there to read the model. Nobody trains AI models on them.
- Analytics never contain what you see, say or type. In Europe they stay off until you say yes.
- Leave any time. Delete your account on the account page and your record goes with it.
1. Who we are
BuildMog is made by Octag AI LLC ("we"), the makers of DubMog, MogDrive and AttorneyMog. This policy covers the website buildmog.com, the web app at buildmog.com/app/, and the BuildMog apps for iPhone and Android when they ship. BuildMog turns assembly and repair manuals into 3D step-by-step guides and offers a Live Co-Pilot that watches you build. It is a guide, not the manufacturer's instructions; the terms say more.
When you open a manual from a QR code a brand printed in its box, the brand receives at most counts, such as how many people opened it, and never who you are.
2. The Live Co-Pilot: camera and microphone
The Live Co-Pilot is the part of BuildMog that watches you build. It uses your camera and microphone, and only while a Live session is on.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What leaves your device | While Live is on: frames from your camera, audio from your microphone, and the manual and step you are on. They are streamed to Google's Gemini Live API, which lets Mog see your build and answer out loud. Mog's replies come back the same way. |
| When | Only from the moment you start Live until it stops: when you tap Stop or your minutes run out. The app shows that Live is on the whole time. When Live is off, no video or audio leaves your device. |
| What we keep | No video and no audio, by default. The words of your conversation show on your screen during the session and are not saved by us. We keep the length of each session, so your minutes can be counted, and the manual and step it was for. If we ever offer to save a clip, for example to send to support, we will ask you first, every time. |
| What Google does with it | Google processes the stream as our service provider under its paid API terms, which do not allow it to use the data to improve its products. Like most AI services, Google may keep request data for a limited time to detect abuse, as its terms describe. |
Other people. Point the camera at your build. If someone else is in the room, tell them Live is on, and do not use Live to film people.
Permissions. Your browser or phone asks before BuildMog can use the camera or the microphone. You can withdraw that permission in its settings at any time; the 3D manuals keep working without it.
3. Scans and custom manuals
When you make a custom manual, the photos of the manual pages or the PDF you upload go to our servers and to Anthropic's API (Claude), which reads them and writes the 3D manual. The product name or model number you type goes with them.
- Your manual stays private. A 3D manual made from pages you photographed or uploaded is saved to your account, so you can open it on any device, and nobody else can see it unless you choose to share it.
- Sharing is your choice. A manual you made joins the shared library only if you share it ("Share it with everyone") and we approve it after a review. A shared manual carries no name, no account and none of your photos, and it stays shared after you delete your account. Ask us at privacy@buildmog.com to take one down.
- Label photos. A photo of a product's label or sticker, taken to find the exact model, goes to our servers and to Anthropic's API, which read the brand and the model number. We do not keep the photo, and it never becomes part of a manual. Photograph the model sticker, not a shipping label with your name and address.
- The pages do not stay. We delete the uploaded photos and PDFs within 30 days after the manual is made.
- Not used for training. We do not train AI models on your scans. Anthropic, PBC processes them as our service provider under its commercial terms, which do not allow it to train its models on them.
- Only the manual, please. If a page shows something personal, such as a receipt or an address label, leave it out of the photo.
The shared library. Library manuals are the same for everyone and contain nothing about you. When you request a manual for free, or BuildMog finds the manufacturer's own PDF for a product you asked about, the 3D manual it builds joins the shared library. We note which account asked for it first, and erase that note when you delete your account. When you search the library, the words you type are used to find the product and are not kept with your account.
4. Account data
You do not need an account to watch 3D manuals. When you sign in, we store:
- your email address, and your name if Apple or Google shares it;
- which sign-in you used (Apple, Google or email);
- your plan (Free or Pro, the renewal date and where you subscribed), your Live minute balance and your custom manual credits;
- your custom manuals and My Garage;
- counters that enforce plan limits and fair use, and a short-lived rate-limit counter;
- a Stripe customer reference if you bought something on the web.
Sign-in runs on Firebase Authentication (Google LLC). We never see your password: Firebase stores a salted hash of it. With Sign in with Apple you can hide your email; the relay address Apple gives us is then the email we hold.
5. My Garage and reminders
My Garage keeps the products you choose to save, their manuals, and the reminder dates you set, such as a filter to change or bolts to re-tighten. We use them only to show your garage and to send the reminders you asked for, by email or notification. Delete an item or turn reminders off at any time. On the free plan the garage lives on your device; with an account it follows you.
What Mog remembers. So the co-pilot can pick up where you left off, BuildMog keeps a small memory of you: your skill level, the tools you said you own, your last ten builds with how long they took and how you rated the manual, the steps that needed a second look, and notes you asked Mog to keep. You can read all of it, and clear it in one tap, under Settings. It is stored with your account, sent to the AI only as a six-line summary when Live or Ask Mog starts, never sold, never used to train models, and deleted with your account.
6. Payments
Purchases on the web are handled by Stripe. Stripe receives your payment details directly; we never see card numbers. We receive a confirmation, the product, the amount, a customer reference and, for Pro, the subscription status and renewal date. Purchases inside the iPhone or Android app go through Apple's App Store or Google Play under their terms; we receive a receipt that confirms what you bought. Passes, Top-ups and Pro are recorded on your account so they work on every device.
7. Ads
Free 3D manuals will carry ads. No ad network is connected yet. Before one is, this section will name it and say what it receives, and in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland we will ask for your consent before any ad cookie is set. Ads never use your camera, your microphone, your scans or My Garage. Pro has no ads.
8. Analytics, cookies and storage
The website uses Google Analytics 4 to count visits and see which pages and features are used. We use Google's Consent Mode. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland (we tell by your device's time zone), Google Analytics does not load until you allow it. Elsewhere it is on by default, and you can turn it off with the button below. We use no advertising features, Google signals are off, and Google Analytics 4 does not store IP addresses.
Our analytics events are content-free. They carry numbers, yes-or-no values and short labels such as Build or Fix, or the plan you picked. They never contain camera frames, audio, scans, what you search for or what you say to Mog.
What we store in your browser:
- your sign-in session (Firebase Authentication, in IndexedDB);
- which sign-in you used last (bm.provider) and your cookie choice (bm.consent followed by the site name);
- for a few seconds during checkout, the plan you picked (bm.pendingPlan, session storage);
- in the app, your settings and progress, under keys that start with bm.;
- Google Analytics cookies (_ga and _ga_ followed by an id), only when analytics is allowed.
When the Live Co-Pilot and custom manuals are on, Firebase App Check may use reCAPTCHA Enterprise to tell people from bots before our servers answer. Google's privacy policy applies to it.
9. Service providers
| Provider | What it does for BuildMog | What it receives |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic, PBC | The Claude API compiles custom 3D manuals from your scans and PDFs. | The manual pages you upload and the product name or model. |
| Google LLC: Gemini Live API | The Live Co-Pilot: Mog's eyes, ears and voice. | Camera frames, microphone audio and the current step, only while Live is on. |
| Google LLC: Firebase | Sign-in, database, file storage, hosting, server functions and App Check. | Your account record, custom manuals, My Garage, and uploads while they are processed. |
| Google LLC: Google Analytics | Counts visits and feature use. | Content-free events, and in Europe only with your consent. |
| Stripe, Inc. | Web payments and the billing portal. | Your payment details, directly. We never see card numbers. |
| Apple Inc. | Sign in with Apple and App Store purchases. | What you share through Apple's sign-in, and purchase receipts. |
| Google LLC: Sign in with Google, Google Play, Google Fonts | Sign-in, Android purchases, and the fonts on these pages. | What you share through Google's sign-in, purchase receipts, and your IP address when fonts load. |
| jsDelivr | Serves three.js, the open-source 3D library the player runs on. | Your IP address, like any server your browser fetches files from. |
We do not sell personal data and we do not share it for advertising.
10. Your rights and choices
- Copy. Email privacy@buildmog.com and we send what we hold about you, custom manuals included, in a common format.
- Delete. Delete the account on the account page. We delete your profile, custom manuals, My Garage and minute balance within 30 days; backups expire within a further 30 days.
- Correct. Email us and we correct what is wrong.
- Where you live matters. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland you have the rights in the GDPR, including to object and to complain to your supervisory authority. Our legal bases are our contract with you (accounts, purchases, Live sessions, custom manuals), our legitimate interest in a secure and fair service (abuse prevention, security logs), and your consent (analytics in those regions, and the camera and microphone through your device's permission). In California you have the rights in the CCPA; we do not sell or share personal information as that law defines those words.
11. Retention and security
- Account records: while the account exists.
- Live sessions: no video or audio by default; session lengths stay with your billing records.
- Uploaded manual pages: deleted within 30 days after the manual is made. Custom manuals stay until you delete them or the account.
- Server logs that contain IP addresses: 30 days.
- Billing records: as long as tax law requires.
Data is stored in the United States. All connections use TLS. API keys live only on our servers. Every AI request needs a signed-in session and passes a per-account rate limit. Access to production systems is limited to the people who run them and is logged.
12. Age
BuildMog is for people 13 and older, or 16 where that is the age of digital consent. It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you think a child has an account, email privacy@buildmog.com and we will delete it. Children should build and repair with an adult.
13. Changes
When this policy changes we update the date at the top. If a change affects what we collect or share, we tell signed-in users by email or in the app before it takes effect. Earlier versions are available on request.
14. Contact
Octag AI LLC · privacy@buildmog.com · everything else: hello@buildmog.com