How we handle your data

Last updated: May 12, 2026

Who we are

Authority Engine is operated by The Coaching Dept ("we"). We provide a voice-first content tool that turns operator interviews into marketing posts. Contact:[email protected].

What we collect

Account info: your name, email, business name, and the GoHighLevel location ID linked to your workspace.
Interview audio + transcripts: the recordings you make in the app, the text we transcribe from them, and the AI-generated questions and content drafts built from them.
Photos you upload or sync: images you upload directly or that we pull from a folder you connect (Dropbox today, Google Drive later). For each image we also generate a caption + tags using Claude Vision to make it searchable.
Billing info: subscription tier and add-on counts. We do not store card numbers; payments are handled by Fluid Pay.
Usage events: server logs (page requests, errors, AI model calls) for debugging and capacity planning. We do not run third-party analytics or ad trackers on the app.

How we use it

We use this data to operate Authority Engine for you: transcribe your interviews, generate content drafts in your voice, suggest photos for posts, and bill your subscription. We do not sell or rent your data, and we do not use your content, interviews, or photos to train any model on behalf of any third party.

Who we share it with

Anthropic (Claude API): we send transcripts and photo bytes for AI transcription, content generation, and image captioning. Anthropic processes the data to return a response and does not retain it for training under our API agreement.
OpenAI (Whisper, Embeddings, TTS): audio for transcription, text for embedding vectors, and prompts for text-to-speech. Same no-training-on-API guarantee.
Dropbox / Google Drive: when you connect a folder, we request only read access scoped to the folder you pick. We never write to your storage.
DigitalOcean: hosts our app servers, database, and object storage for audio + photo files.
GoHighLevel: reads your contact records (with your token) and sends SMS / email on your behalf, only when you trigger it.
Fluid Pay: processes subscriptions and add-on payments. They receive only the data the checkout page collects (email, card).

Where it lives

Your data is stored in DigitalOcean's NYC3 region. Database backups run daily and are retained for 7 days. Audio files and photos live in DO Spaces (S3-compatible object storage) and are served via short-lived signed URLs.

How long we keep it

We keep your account, interviews, voice profiles, content drafts, and photos as long as your workspace is active. If you cancel and request deletion, we permanently delete your workspace data within 30 days. Email us to delete it sooner.

Your choices

You can delete any individual photo, voice, interview, or piece of content from inside the app. You can disconnect a Dropbox or Drive folder at any time on the Photos page. You can request a full export or full deletion of your workspace by emailing the address above.

Changes

We update this policy as the product evolves. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent change. Material changes will be announced via email to your workspace owner before they take effect.