Privacy Policy

1. Who This Policy Applies To

This policy applies to two groups of people:

• Restaurant partners — businesses that subscribe to Sout and use our platform to handle phone orders.
• End customers — individuals who call a restaurant that uses Sout to place a phone order.

2. Information We Collect

From restaurant partners

• Business name, contact name, email address, and phone number provided during signup.
• Billing and payment information processed securely through our payment provider.
• Menu data including item names, prices, modifiers, and availability settings.
• Operating hours and restaurant settings configured through the dashboard.
• Point-of-sale (POS) integration credentials, stored in encrypted form using AES-256-GCM encryption.
• Usage data including order volumes, call statistics, and dashboard activity.

From end customers (callers)

• Phone number — collected automatically via Twilio when a call is placed to a Sout-powered restaurant line.
• Voice audio — captured during the call to enable real-time speech-to-text transcription via Deepgram.
• Order details — items ordered, modifications, pickup or delivery preference, and estimated times.
• Call metadata — call duration, timestamp, and outcome (e.g., order placed, call abandoned, transferred to staff).
• Customer profile data — if you have called the same restaurant before, we may associate your phone number with your past order history to improve future interactions (e.g., recognizing returning callers).
• SMS consent status — if you verbally opt in to receive SMS order confirmations during a call, we store your consent along with the timestamp it was given.

3. SMS Messaging

Sout may send SMS order confirmations and order status updates to customers who have explicitly opted in during a phone call. The following terms apply to our SMS program:

• Program name: Sout Order Notifications
• Message types: Order confirmations, order updates (e.g., being prepared), and order cancellations.
• Message frequency: Message frequency varies. You will typically receive one to three messages per order.
• Message and data rates may apply, depending on your mobile carrier plan.
• To opt out at any time, reply STOP to any message we send. You will receive a single confirmation and no further messages will be sent.
• To request help, reply HELP or contact us at support@soutco.com.
• Carriers are not liable for any delayed or undelivered messages.

All SMS opt-in data and consent information — including the fact that you have consented, your phone number, and the timestamp of your consent — will not be shared with, sold to, or transferred to any third party or affiliate for marketing or promotional purposes. All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

4. How We Use Information

To provide the service

• Answer incoming calls and process orders on behalf of our restaurant partners.
• Transcribe spoken audio in real time using Deepgram's speech recognition.
• Pass order details to the restaurant's POS system (e.g., Toast, Clover, Square) or kitchen display.
• Send SMS order confirmations to customers who have explicitly opted in.
• Detect and reject spam calls using third-party spam scoring (Nomorobo).

To improve the service

• Analyze call outcomes to identify patterns such as abandoned calls, menu item confusion, or common customer preferences.
• Generate aggregated, anonymized analytics reports for restaurant partners (e.g., weekly digests, menu friction reports).
• Monitor system performance and diagnose errors through Sentry error tracking.

For account and billing management

• Process subscription payments and communicate billing information to restaurant partners.
• Send service-related communications such as onboarding guides, product updates, and support responses.

5. How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information. We do not sell, share, or use SMS opt-in or consent data for any marketing or promotional purpose. We share data only in the following circumstances:

With restaurant partners

End customer data (phone numbers, order history, call outcomes) is shared with the specific restaurant that received the call. Restaurant partners are responsible for their own data handling practices with respect to their customers. SMS opt-in consent data is not shared with restaurant partners for marketing use.

With service providers

• Twilio — for call routing, audio streaming, and SMS delivery.
• Deepgram — for real-time speech-to-text transcription and text-to-speech synthesis.
• Anthropic (Claude) — the AI model that powers our conversational ordering agent. Audio is transcribed before being sent; raw audio is not shared with Anthropic.
• Neon — our cloud PostgreSQL database provider where order and customer data is stored.
• Sentry — for error monitoring. Caller phone numbers and API keys are automatically scrubbed before any data is sent to Sentry.
• POS providers — order data is transmitted to the restaurant's connected POS system (Toast, Clover, Square) to fulfill the order.

None of these service providers receive SMS opt-in consent data for marketing or promotional purposes.

For legal reasons

We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, safety, and property of Sout, our partners, or others.

6. Data Retention

• Call recordings and transcripts are retained for up to 90 days by default, after which they are deleted.
• Order records are retained for the duration of the restaurant's active subscription plus 12 months.
• Customer profiles (phone number, order history, and SMS consent records) are retained while the associated restaurant remains a Sout subscriber.
• Restaurant account data is deleted within 60 days of subscription cancellation upon request.
• SMS opt-out records (STOP replies) are retained indefinitely to ensure opted-out numbers are never contacted again.

7. Data Security

We take data security seriously. Measures we employ include:

• AES-256-GCM encryption for all stored POS credentials.
• TLS encryption for all data in transit between our services and third-party providers.
• API key authentication protecting all internal service-to-service communication.
• Automatic scrubbing of sensitive fields (phone numbers, API keys) before error reports are sent to monitoring tools.
• Access controls limiting database access to authenticated internal services only.

8. Caller Awareness

When a customer calls a restaurant powered by Sout, the call may be answered by an AI agent. Restaurants using our platform are responsible for notifying their customers that calls may be handled by an automated system, in compliance with applicable laws in their jurisdiction.

9. Your Rights

Depending on where you are located, you may have the right to:

• Request access to personal information we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate data.
• Request deletion of your personal data.
• Opt out of SMS messages at any time by replying STOP.
• Opt out of certain other data uses.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@soutco.com. We will respond within 30 days.

10. Children's Privacy

Our service is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify restaurant partners by email. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please reach out:

• Email: support@soutco.com
• Website: soutco.com