Last updated: September 10, 2026
In one sentence: AI Card to Contacts has no accounts and no cloud database. Your card data lives on your own phone and in your own address book. We never receive it, and we have nowhere to store it.
What we do not collect
- The names, phone numbers, email addresses and postal addresses printed on cards
- The card photos
- Your address book
- Your AI provider API key
All of the above stays on your device only. This app has no server capable of receiving that data.
But please read the next section: when you use AI recognition, the app sends the card image to an AI service that you choose and for which you supply your own API key. That data does leave your phone — the destination just isn't us.
Where the card image is sent
When you use AI recognition, the photo of that card is sent directly from your phone to the AI provider you selected, using the API key you obtained yourself. The transfer does not pass through us.
What is sent: only the image of the single card you are recognising right now, plus a fixed instruction text telling the AI which fields to read. Nothing else is attached — not your address book, not the other cards in your in-app library, not any device identifier, and no account information.
Who it is sent to: only the one provider you selected in Settings, out of the three below, and only at the moment you tap to recognise:
- Google Gemini — API terms
- OpenAI ChatGPT — API data usage policies, Privacy Policy
- Anthropic Claude — Commercial Terms, Privacy Policy
How we vet these providers: we integrate only the three providers above because each of them publicly commits that content submitted through their paid API is not used to train their models by default, and each publishes its retention and deletion practices. On that basis their protection of the transmitted content is comparable to the practices described in this policy. Their actual commitments are governed by the terms linked above.
Important difference on free tiers: some providers' free tiers are governed by different terms than their paid API and may use submitted content to improve their products. Google Gemini's free tier is one of these. If you do not want your card content used for that purpose, use a paid-tier key or choose a different provider. We cannot choose a plan on your behalf, so we state this plainly rather than leave it implied.
Before the first recognition the app explicitly asks for your consent, and repeats on screen what will be sent and to whom. You can decline and type the fields in yourself — capturing, cropping, editing and saving to Contacts all work fully without using AI at all.
What we do receive
Full disclosure: in the case below the app connects to our server cardking.autoit.studio, so our web server records an ordinary access log entry (IP address, device type, app version).
- Version check: at launch the app reads a small configuration file so we can warn you about a critical update. This request contains no card content.
Access logs are used for operations and abuse prevention. IP addresses are stored as a daily-rotating hash, are not used to analyse your behaviour, and are not shared with third parties.
Ads
The app is free and supported by Google AdMob banner ads. The ad SDK collects the advertising identifier and device information — this is done by Google; see Google's partner policy.
We serve non-personalised ads only. In the EU, the UK and Switzerland the app first asks for your consent through Google's consent management platform, as required.
Permissions
- Camera: to photograph a card.
- Photo library: to let you pick an existing photo, and (if you enable that option) to save the card photo to your library.
- Contacts: not required by default. By default the app opens the system "New Contact" sheet and you press save yourself. Only if you switch to "write directly" in Settings does the app request Contacts permission.
The in-app card library (stored locally)
The app keeps the cards you scan in the app's own storage area on your phone, including the original front and back images and the recognised fields. This is so you can find a card again later, edit it, or save it to Contacts a second time without re-shooting it.
This content is never sent to us — we have no server that could receive it. It simply changes from "used once and discarded" to "kept on your own phone".
- Backup: the card library is included in system backups (Android cloud backup and device transfer, iOS iCloud backup), so it can be restored on a new phone. Your AI API key is excluded from backups and must be entered again on a new device.
- Deletion: every card in the library can be deleted individually, which also deletes its front and back images; the whole library can also be cleared. Uninstalling the app removes it as well.
That deletes the copy inside the app. Contacts already saved to your address book are not affected; those must be deleted separately in your Contacts app.
Retention and deletion
Card data lives on your phone (the in-app library) and in your own Contacts account. Delete the app, delete the card in the library, or delete the contact to remove it. We do not hold your data, so there is no "request deletion from us" process.
Children
This app is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect personal data from children.
You are scanning someone else's personal data
A reminder: the names and phone numbers printed on a business card are another person's personal data. How you collect, keep and use that data is your own responsibility under the laws that apply to you.
Changes
If this policy changes, the last-updated date on this page will be updated. Material changes will be announced in the app.