Pabulong Privacy Notice

1Who We Are

Pabulong is made by Next Matter Pro ("we," "us," or "our"). For any personal data we receive in connection with Pabulong, we are the personal information controller under the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173).

Next Matter Pro
181 Padre Burgos Street
Brgy. Sipi, Daraga, Albay 4501, Philippines
Email: clientcare@nextmatterpro.com

Data Protection Officer. Questions, requests, and complaints go to our Data Protection Officer at clientcare@nextmatterpro.com. Please use the subject line "Data Privacy Request."

2What This Notice Covers

This notice covers the Pabulong desktop app, including its Pabulong Mic audio driver. Pabulong removes background noise, speaker echo, and nearby voices from your microphone during calls, and can record calls if you choose.

Downloading Pabulong from one of our websites is covered by that website's privacy policy: the Next Matter Pro Academy Privacy Policy or the VA Starter Hub Privacy Policy.

3The Short Version

Pabulong works entirely on your computer. It does not send your audio, recordings, or call details to us or to anyone else. It has no account, no analytics, and no advertising.

The only time Pabulong connects to the internet is to check for updates. It checks when you choose "Check for Updates", or once a day if you turn on automatic checks, which are off until you agree. A check sends your IP address, the Pabulong version, and your language setting (Section 5).

If you record a call, the recording stays on your computer. You are responsible for getting the consent of everyone on the call first (see Section 7).

4What the App Processes on Your Computer

5What We Receive

• From the app: update checks only. When you choose "Check for Updates", or once a day if you have turned on automatic checks, the app downloads a small list of versions from vastarterhub.com. If you choose to install an update, it also downloads the installer from the same place. Each of these requests sends:
  • your IP address, which every internet connection reveals;
  • the Pabulong version and the version of the update component it uses (for example "Pabulong/0.1.3 Sparkle/2.10.0");
  • the languages your computer is set to prefer, which your computer adds to web requests; and
  • the time of the request.
  The app does not send your audio, recordings, call details, settings, device names, or a profile of your computer, and it sets no cookies. Our web host, Hostinger, records these requests in its server logs, as it does for every page of the website. We use them only to deliver updates and to keep the server secure, and we keep them only as long as reasonably needed for that, as the VA Starter Hub Privacy Policy describes.
• Your choice. Automatic checks are off until you agree. The app asks the second time you open it, and you can turn them on or off at any time in Settings › About › Automatically Check for Updates. With them off, the app connects only when you choose "Check for Updates". We rely on your choice (consent) for automatic checks, and on our legitimate interest in providing secure updates when you ask for one.
• Crash reports from Apple. If you have chosen in your Mac's settings to share analytics with app developers, Apple may give us crash and performance reports about Pabulong. These contain technical information about the app and your computer, not your audio or recordings. Apple's own privacy policy applies to how Apple collects them.
• Support requests. If you email us, we receive your message, your email address, and anything you attach, such as a diagnostics file. We use them only to help you. Please do not send us call recordings; if you do, we delete them once your request is handled.

6Permissions the App Asks For

• Microphone, to clean your voice for calls.
• System audio recording, to hear what your speakers play so it can cancel echo, and to record the other participants if you record a call. You can switch echo cancellation and system-audio capture off in Settings.
• An administrator password when installing Pabulong or an update, because both install the Pabulong Mic driver, which adds a virtual microphone to your computer.
• Launch at login, only if you turn it on.

You can change these at any time in your computer's privacy settings. The app keeps your real microphone off unless a call app is using Pabulong Mic.

7Recordings and Other People's Data

When you record a call, the recording contains other people's voices and anything said on the call. That can include names, health details, legal matters, and other sensitive personal information. You decide whether to record, and you are responsible for those recordings. We never receive them.

• Know and follow the recording laws. When you record, you are bound by the laws that apply where you are and where everyone else on the call is. In the Philippines and in many other places, including several U.S. states such as California and Florida, recording a private call without the consent of everyone on it is against the law. Tell everyone on the call that you are recording and get their agreement before you start. The app asks you to confirm this before your first recording. We do not control or review your recordings and are not responsible for them; see the Pabulong Terms of Use.
• Follow your client's or employer's rules. If you work for a law firm or other client, their confidentiality obligations, policies, and agreements with you may limit or forbid recording calls, and may require you to protect privileged or confidential information.
• Handle recordings carefully. Keep them only as long as you need them, delete them when you no longer do, and do not share them without the right to do so.

8Where Your Data Is Kept and for How Long

Everything the app saves stays on your computer until you delete it:

• Recordings and call details are kept until you delete them in the app. Deleting a call removes its audio files and details.
• On a Mac, the app's data is in ~/Library/Application Support/Pabulong and its settings are stored with your user account.
• To remove everything, quit Pabulong, delete the app and that folder, and remove the Pabulong Mic driver (/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/PabulongHALPlugin.driver, which needs an administrator password).

9Security

Because your recordings stay on your computer, their security depends on your computer. Use a strong account password, keep your system updated, and turn on full-disk encryption (FileVault on a Mac), especially if you record calls that contain confidential information. We do not have copies of your recordings, so we cannot recover them if they are lost or deleted.

10Your Rights

Apart from the server log entries created by update checks (Section 5), the app sends us no personal data, so we generally hold none about you from using Pabulong. For any personal data we do hold, such as those log entries, a support email, or a crash report Apple shared with us, you have the rights described in the Next Matter Pro Academy Privacy Policy, including the rights to be informed, to access, correct, and erase your data, and to complain to the National Privacy Commission. If you live outside the Philippines, you may have similar rights under your local law, and we will honor them where they apply.

The people you record may have rights over their recordings too. Because you hold those recordings, requests from them are for you to handle.

11Age Requirement

Pabulong is intended for people aged 18 and older.

12Changes to This Notice

If we change how Pabulong handles data, for example by changing what an update check sends, we will update this notice and its "Last updated" date before releasing that version, and tell you in the release notes.

13Contact Us

For questions, requests, or complaints about this notice or your personal data, contact our Data Protection Officer:

Next Matter Pro
181 Padre Burgos Street
Brgy. Sipi, Daraga, Albay 4501, Philippines
Email: clientcare@nextmatterpro.com (subject: "Data Privacy Request")