Privacy Policy

Effective Date: June 6, 2026 · Last updated: June 6, 2026

1. Information in the App

ImportHelm is built around data you choose to enter:

• Import-management data - products, HTS codes, suppliers, shipments, broker records, costs, refund claims, and notes. This is stored on your device.
• Photos for classification - if you use the photo classifier or the container planner, the image you capture is sent to our backend and AI processor to suggest HTS codes or estimate dimensions. Photos are not retained to train AI models.
• Helm Bot (AI chat) - your typed question is sent to our AI processor to generate an answer. To make answers relevant, the app may also send your profile (a first name if you entered one, plus role, company, industry, and sourcing) and a short summary of your own shipments (counts, top origin countries, top vendors, and dollar totals). Your full chat history and your raw shipment records stay on your device.
• Tariff Engineer - the product details you submit (HTS code, description, duty rate, volume, value, sourcing country, and an optional photo) are sent to our AI processor to suggest duty-reduction options with citations.
• Email (optional) - if you sign up for The Helm newsletter or an email digest, your email address is stored so we can send it. You can unsubscribe at any time.

2. Anonymous Device ID

The app creates a random, anonymous ID and stores it on your device. It is sent with AI and usage requests so we can count your monthly usage against your plan limits and keep the service reliable. It is not your name, not your Apple ID, and not the advertising identifier (IDFA). It is never used for advertising or for tracking you across other apps. It is removed when you delete the app.

3. What We Do Not Collect

4. Where Data Is Stored

• On your device - products, shipments, refund work, chat history, calculator inputs, favorites, and settings are stored on your device. If you delete the app, this data is deleted with it.
• Our backend (Supabase) - photos, AI questions, and the details listed in Section 1 pass through our backend functions to our AI processor, and the result returns to you. We keep anonymous usage records (the device ID, your monthly feature counts, and processing cost) to enforce plan limits and watch reliability. Email signups are stored. Photos and prompts are not kept long-term and are not used to train AI models.
• Runs on your device, not our servers - the document scanner and the Refund Finder analysis run entirely on your device. Your scanned documents and the entry data you load into Refund Finder are not sent to our servers.

5. Service Providers

We use a small set of providers to deliver the app. Each is listed with the role it plays:

• Anthropic - the AI processor behind the photo classifier, Helm Bot, and Tariff Engineer. The photos, questions, and product details you submit to those features are sent to Anthropic to produce a result. Anthropic does not retain submissions to train its models. (anthropic.com/legal/privacy)
• Supabase - our backend, which runs the functions that route AI requests and store the anonymous usage records and email signups. (supabase.com/privacy)
• Sentry - crash monitoring and limited product analytics. Sentry receives crash stack traces with app, OS, and device-model details. It also records a sampled session replay (roughly one in ten app sessions, plus sessions where an error happens) that captures in-app screens and interactions so we can find and fix bugs, and it receives counts of which features are used. We configure Sentry not to send default personal identifiers (no IP address, cookies, or account IDs), and none of this is used for advertising or cross-app tracking. (sentry.io/privacy)
• Resend - delivers the newsletter and email digests you opt into. It receives your email address only for that delivery. (resend.com/legal/privacy-policy)
• Expo - delivers over-the-air app updates. The app checks Expo's update service on launch. (expo.dev/privacy)
• Apple - the App Store and In-App Purchases. If you subscribe, Apple handles the payment and we receive only that an active subscription exists, never your card or billing details. (apple.com/legal/privacy)

All providers process only what is needed to run their part of the app and are bound by their own data-processing terms. We do not embed advertising SDKs.

6. Subscriptions and Payments

ImportHelm offers one optional paid plan, ImportHelm Pro, at $29.99 per month with a 7-day free trial, processed entirely through Apple's In-App Purchase system. We receive only your subscription status (active or not) confirmed through Apple's receipt check. We never receive your credit card, billing address, or banking information. You can manage or cancel a subscription in your device under Settings, then Apple ID, then Subscriptions. Refund requests are handled by Apple under Apple's policy.

7. Camera, Photos, and Microphone

ImportHelm asks for device permissions only when a feature needs them:

• Camera - to photograph products for HTS classification or items for the container planner. Used only when you open one of those features.
• Photo library - to pick an existing photo for the same features. We only read the files you actively choose.
• Microphone and speech recognition - only if you use Helm Bot voice input.

You can revoke any of these in your device's Settings at any time. The app keeps working without them. Only the features that need them pause.

8. Public Data Sources

To keep tariff, currency, and screening information current, the app reads from public sources such as currency exchange rates, the Federal Register, and a denied-party and sanctions list, and it runs a basic network reachability check. These are standard lookups. No personal data of yours is sent in those requests.

9. Your Choices and Rights

Because the app is built around local storage, you control most of your data directly:

• Erase all on-device data from the in-app Settings.
• Delete the app to remove all on-device data permanently.
• Revoke camera, photo, or microphone permissions in your device's Settings.
• Unsubscribe from the newsletter or digests in the app or from the link in any email.
• Cancel a subscription from your Apple ID's Subscriptions page.
• Email us to ask what data we hold for your device, or to have it deleted. The data we hold off-device is limited to anonymous usage records keyed to your device ID and any email you signed up with.

We honor access and deletion requests regardless of where you live, including for users in the EU, the UK, and California. We do not sell personal information.

10. Children's Privacy

ImportHelm is a professional import-management tool and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has used the app, contact us and we will remove any related data.

11. International Users

SVLTMK LLC is based in the United States. If you use ImportHelm from outside the US, the limited data described above is processed in the United States, where data-protection laws may differ from those in your home country.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy as the app changes. Updates are posted here with a new date, and we will surface material changes inside the app before they take effect.

13. Contact

For questions or requests about this policy or your data: