Deleting your account and data

Who this page is for

This page covers the 4word app (package name io.fourword.app) and the service behind it, and describes deletion of a personal user account. Business customers using the phone receptionist are welcome to contact us through the site's contact form, and we handle the request the same way.

Deleting your account inside the app

This is the fastest and recommended route. Open the app, go to the “Account” tab, scroll to the “Delete and remove” area and choose “Delete account”. The screen that opens lists exactly what will be erased, asks you to confirm that you cancelled call forwarding, and ends with “Permanently delete account”. There is no form to wait on and no need to contact us: the data is removed from the server at that moment and you are signed out of the app.

An account cannot be deleted while a call is live, so that a call in progress is never cut off. If you see that message, wait for the call to end and try again.

Before deleting: cancel call forwarding

The dedicated number assigned to you is released on deletion and returns to the pool. If call forwarding is still active on your phone, calls will keep being forwarded to a number that is no longer connected to you. The deletion screen therefore offers to cancel forwarding first, either with one tap or by dialling the cancellation code manually, and lets you verify that forwarding is off before you continue.

If you cannot access the app

If the device was lost, the app was removed, or you cannot sign in, you can request deletion through the contact form on this site. Say that this is an account-deletion request and include the phone number you registered with, so we can locate the account. We will carry out the deletion and confirm it to you in writing.

What is deleted

Deletion removes the product data linked to the account: profile details, call history, transcripts and summaries, in-call decisions and questions, blocked numbers, feedback, notification and diagnostic data, and the personal greeting. At the same time, the dedicated number is released.

What is kept, and for how long

Cost records of service use are kept, with the user identifier detached at deletion. Monthly service totals that are not linked to your identity are also kept - how many calls and minutes were delivered and what they cost, with no name, number, identifier or content - along with a deletion record noting that the account was erased and when, with no phone number and no user identifier, as evidence the erasure happened. A limited Terms acceptance record may also remain, with the phone number and identifiers removed, holding the document versions, acceptance time and basic device data, only where needed to prove the relationship, handle a dispute, or comply with law. If your number was added to the pilot allow-list, you may ask us to remove it too.

Telephone calls, standalone transcription and voice notes you dictate in the app are not stored as audio files. What is kept is the transcript, the extracted details and the summary.

Deleting call history only

If you want to clear your call history without giving up the account, the same “Delete and remove” area also offers “Delete call history”: permanent removal of every call, transcript and summary, leaving the account itself untouched. Separately, call transcripts and diagnostic logs are deleted automatically after thirty days even if you do nothing.

When it takes effect

Deletion happens immediately and is not placed in a queue. Encrypted backups may still hold the data for a short period until they are replaced in the normal backup rotation, and are used for no other purpose. After deletion you can sign up again with the same phone number, but it will be a new account and the previous data cannot be restored.