What's Happening and Why It Matters
During the coming week, Kukarella will discontinue our integration with ElevenLabs voice cloning technology. This wasn't an easy decision, but it's one we believe is necessary to protect our users' rights and privacy.
On February 28, 2025, ElevenLabs updated their Terms of Service and Privacy Policy with significant changes that raise serious concerns about data ownership, privacy, and usage rights. After a thorough review by our legal and privacy teams, we've determined these new terms create unacceptable risks for our users and don't align with our commitment to protecting your digital identity.
The Timeline
- February 28, 2025: ElevenLabs updated their ToS and Privacy Policy
- Today: We're announcing our decision to transition away from ElevenLabs
- Next week: We'll officially terminate our contract with ElevenLabs and launch our new voice cloning technology
- Immediately after transition: Our new voice synthesis solution will be available
What This Means for Your Voice Clones
If you've created custom voice clones through Kukarella:
- All voice clone data created through ElevenLabs will be permanently deleted from our systems
- You'll be able to create new voice clones immediately with our replacement technology
- While this transition happens automatically, we recommend saving samples of your existing voice clones if you want to recreate them later
Pro Tip: To save your voice clone samples, simply generate a few audio clips with your custom voice and download them. You can use these as reference recordings when creating a new clone with our replacement technology.
Key Issues with ElevenLabs' New Terms
Here's a detailed breakdown of the concerning changes in ElevenLabs' February 2025 update that led to our decision:
1. Perpetual Control Over Your Voice Data (New)
- The Perpetual License: Users now grant ElevenLabs a "perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide license" to use voice recordings
- The Fine Print: While ElevenLabs states they'll delete raw recordings after 3 years of inactivity, they retain perpetual rights to use any models or derivatives created from those recordings
- What This Means: Even if you delete your account or request data removal, ElevenLabs can continue using technology derived from your voice indefinitely
2. Restrictive Commercial Usage Terms (New)
- Free Plan Limitations: Free plans are now explicitly restricted to non-commercial purposes only
- Downgrade Consequences: If you created voices on a paid plan and later downgrade, you now lose commercial usage rights for those previously created voices
- What This Means: Your ability to use voice clones for commercial projects could be unexpectedly limited
3. Extensive Data Sharing Practices (New)
- Broader Sharing Network: Personal data, including voice recordings, may now be shared with ElevenLabs' affiliates and vendors
- Global Data Transfer: Voice data is now transferred and processed across multiple jurisdictions (US, Netherlands, Singapore)
- What This Means: Your voice data could be subject to different privacy standards depending on where it's processed
4. Biometric Data Concerns (New)
- Voice as Biometric Data: Voice recordings may now be categorized as biometric information in some regions
- Extended Retention: ElevenLabs now states they will retain raw voice data for up to 3 years after last interaction
- Perpetual Model Rights: While the raw data may eventually be deleted, the license for using models trained on that data has no expiration
- What This Means: Your uniquely identifying voice characteristics could be retained in ElevenLabs' systems long after you've stopped using their service
5. Limited Legal Recourse (New)
- Binding Arbitration: The updated terms now include binding arbitration provisions
- Class Action Waiver: Users waive rights to participate in class action lawsuits
- What This Means: Your ability to seek legal remedies for potential misuse of your voice data is significantly restricted
Our Alternative Solution
We're excited to announce that we've partnered with a new voice synthesis provider that offers:
- Similar or improved voice cloning quality
- Stronger privacy protections
- Clearer data ownership terms
- More user-friendly licensing
- Enhanced control over your voice data
This new technology will be available immediately after we terminate our contract with ElevenLabs, ensuring a seamless transition for all our users.
Steps to Preserve Your Voice Clones (Optional)
If you regularly use custom voice clones and want to recreate them with our new technology:
- Log into your Kukarella account
- Generate several audio samples using your custom voice clone
- Download and save these samples to your device
- After our transition to the new technology, you can use these samples to recreate your voice clone
Remember, taking these steps is completely optional. Our new technology will be available to all users regardless.
Questions and Support
We understand this change may raise questions, and our support team is ready to help:
- For technical assistance with saving voice samples, contact: support@kukarella.com
- For more information about our new voice technology, watch for our upcoming announcement
- For urgent concerns, please use our live chat feature
We appreciate your understanding during this transition and remain committed to providing innovative voice technology that respects your privacy and digital rights.