tela.

Privacy Policy

Effective: 2026-05-21 App: Tela (iOS) Operator: Sebastián Torres Linke ([email protected]) Address: Am Pohlacker 9, 40885 Ratingen

This is the privacy policy for the Tela mobile app. It explains what we collect, why, where it goes, and the controls you have.

We've tried to write this in plain English. If anything is unclear, email us at [email protected].

TL;DR

Tela renders an AI try-on image of you wearing a clothing item you choose. To do that, your photo is sent to OpenAI for that one render. OpenAI does not train on it.
Your selfie stays on your device between try-ons. We don't keep the original.
We do save the generated image on our servers so it shows up in your in-app gallery. You can delete any one of them, or wipe everything, at any time.
We don't ask for your name, email, phone number, or address. There are no accounts. We identify you only by an internal random ID stored on your device.
As you swipe the feed, we record which items you like or pass and build a style profile on our servers to personalize recommendations.
We don't run third-party advertising or behavioral tracking. We don't sell data.

What we collect

From you, to make Tela work

Data	What it is	Where it's stored	Why we need it
Selfie photo	The picture(s) you upload of yourself	iOS Keychain / AsyncStorage on your device	Source for the try-on render. Sent to OpenAI at render time.
Product image (URL or screenshot)	The clothing item you want to try on	Not stored on our servers (only used at render time)	Source for the try-on render.
Generated try-on images	The AI-rendered result	Our servers (Germany, encrypted at rest), keyed to your anonymous profile_id	So the gallery in the app stays populated and can sync if you reinstall.
Anonymous profile_id	A random UUID generated on first launch	iOS Keychain (yours) + our database (server-side reference)	Lets us link your generations to "this device" without a real account.
Try-on metadata	Generation timestamp, model used, quality setting	Our servers, keyed to profile_id	For your in-app gallery and basic operational metrics.
Swipe & taste signals	Which catalog items you swipe on (like / pass), playlists you create, and a derived style-affinity profile	Our servers, keyed to profile_id	Powers the personalized recommendation feed.

Automatically, when you use the app

Data	What it is
Crash reports	Stack traces and device-OS context when the app crashes. Used to fix bugs. We use Apple's built-in crash reporting (no third-party crash SDK).
Try-on count	How many try-ons you've done — for basic operational metrics.

What we explicitly don't collect

Your name, email address, phone number, or postal address
Your contacts, calendar, or other apps' data
Your location
Browsing history outside the app
Demographic data (gender, age, ethnicity, etc.)
Behavioral data for advertising purposes
Microphone audio
Health, financial, or biometric data

Who we share it with

We use a small number of third-party processors. Each is named, and each has signed a Data Processing Agreement compliant with EU GDPR.

Processor	What they receive	Where	Why
OpenAI, L.L.C. (USA)	Your selfie + the product image you choose, at the moment of each try-on render	USA	Generates the try-on image. By API policy, OpenAI does not retain your image after the render and does not train models on API inputs. See OpenAI's API data usage policy.
Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany)	Generated images, anonymous profile_id, generation metadata, swipe & taste signals	Germany	Hosts our application servers. Your data stays in the EU.

We do not share your data with advertisers, analytics platforms, data brokers, or any other third parties.

How long we keep it

Selfies on your device: until you delete them in-app or wipe the app. We never receive copies of unrendered selfies for retention.
Generated try-on images: until you delete them, or until you use the in-app "Delete my data" function (see below).
Profile_id, metadata, and swipe/taste signals: tied to the lifetime of your generated images; cleared when you delete your data.

Your rights (and how to use them)

Under EU GDPR (and similar regimes elsewhere), you have the right to:

Access the data we hold about you
Correct anything that's wrong
Delete all of it
Object to processing
Receive a copy in a portable format (data portability)
Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (in Germany: the Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit)

The fastest paths to exercise these rights:

Delete everything: open Tela → Profile → "Delete my data". Wipes all your generated images, your swipe/taste signals, and your profile_id linkage on our servers, plus your selfies on the device.
Delete one image: open the gallery, tap the image, tap delete.
Email us: [email protected] for any of the above. We'll respond within 30 days.

Children

Tela is not directed at users under 12. We don't knowingly collect data from children under 12. If a parent believes their child has used Tela, please email [email protected] and we'll delete the relevant data.

Security

All network communication uses TLS 1.2+
Stored generated images are encrypted at rest (AES-256)
Selfies remain on your device, in the iOS Keychain (Apple's hardware-backed secure enclave on supported devices)
No third-party advertising or tracking SDKs are integrated

We're a small team. We rely on the security guarantees of our hosting provider (Hetzner) and platform (Apple iOS) for most of the heavy lifting.

International transfers

One of our processors (OpenAI) operates from the United States. Where required, transfers are governed by Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission. By using Tela, you consent to these transfers.

Changes to this policy

If we materially change how we handle your data, we'll update this page and (where required) prompt you in-app to acknowledge the new version before continuing to use the service.

Contact

Sebastián Torres Linke [email protected] Am Pohlacker 9, 40885 Ratingen

This policy is provided in English. A German translation is available on request.