Privacy Policy

Introduction

Welcome to Pronounce, a comprehensive pronunciation learning platform designed to help you master English pronunciation through audio content, video demonstrations, IPA phonetic transcriptions, and interactive learning features. We are committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about how we collect, use, and safeguard your personal information.

This Privacy Policy explains our data practices and your rights regarding your personal information. By using Pronounce, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

Information We Collect

Account Information

• Authentication Data: When you sign up via Google OAuth, we collect your name and email address from your Google account. We use Better Auth for secure authentication management.
• Profile Information: Any additional profile details you choose to provide to personalize your learning experience.
• Subscription Data: If you subscribe to premium features, we collect payment information through Polar.sh (our payment processor). We do not store your credit card details directly.

Learning Progress Data

• Words Practiced: Records of which words you've studied, searched for, and accessed pronunciation guides for.
• Pronunciation Attempts: Your interaction with audio and video pronunciation content.
• Favorites: Words you've bookmarked for later review.
• Learning History: Timestamps and frequency of your study sessions to track your progress.

Gamification Data

• Experience Points (XP): Points earned through learning activities and challenges.
• Achievements: Badges and milestones you've unlocked during your learning journey.
• Streaks: Consecutive days of learning activity to encourage consistent practice.
• Challenge Progress: Your participation and performance in pronunciation challenges.
• Leaderboard Data: Your ranking and scores if you participate in competitive features.

User Contributions

• Content Submissions: Any pronunciation content, corrections, or suggestions you submit to our platform.
• Community Q&A: Questions you ask and answers you provide in our pronunciation FAQ system.
• Uploaded Media: Images or other files you upload (stored securely via Cloudflare R2).
• Content Reports: Reports of inappropriate or incorrect content you submit for moderation.

Visitor Analytics

• Anonymized Location Data: We collect anonymized, hashed IP addresses to display aggregate visitor statistics on our world map. This data is processed using a cryptographic salt to protect your privacy and cannot be used to identify individual users.
• Geographic Region: Country and approximate region (city/state level) for displaying visitor distribution globally.
• Analytics Data: We use PostHog and Vercel Analytics to track page views, session duration, and user flows to improve our service.

Device and Browser Information

• Technical Data: Browser type, version, operating system, device type (mobile, tablet, desktop).
• Connection Information: IP address (hashed for privacy), internet service provider, referring/exit pages.
• Performance Data: Page load times, errors encountered, and other performance metrics to optimize our service.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Provide Pronunciation Learning Services: Deliver audio pronunciations, video content, IPA phonetics, and interactive learning tools to help you master English pronunciation.
• Track Learning Progress and Gamification: Monitor your word practice, calculate XP points, maintain achievement badges, track streaks, and update leaderboards to enhance your learning experience.
• Display Visitor Analytics: Show anonymized, aggregated visitor data on our world map to demonstrate our global community without compromising individual privacy.
• Personalize Your Experience: Provide customized learning recommendations, save your favorites, and remember your preferences across sessions.
• Improve Our Services: Analyze usage patterns, identify popular content, and optimize platform performance to better serve our users.
• Facilitate Community Features: Enable user-submitted content, FAQ participation, and collaborative learning features.
• Customer Support: Respond to your inquiries, resolve technical issues, and provide assistance with your account.
• Security and Fraud Prevention: Protect against unauthorized access, abuse, spam, and other harmful activities.
• Legal Compliance: Meet our legal obligations, enforce our terms of service, and protect our rights and those of our users.
• AI and Machine Learning: Improve pronunciation recommendations and content quality using OpenAI integration for enhanced learning outcomes.

Marketing Communications

We respect your inbox and only send communications that add value to your learning experience.

Types of Communications

• Product Updates: Important announcements about new features, pronunciation content, and platform improvements.
• Educational Content: Tips for improving pronunciation, new learning resources, and blog post notifications.
• Marketing Emails: Promotional offers, subscription benefits, and special events (only if you've opted in).
• Transactional Emails: Account notifications, password resets, and subscription confirmations (these cannot be opted out of as they're essential for service operation).

Email Preferences and Opt-In/Opt-Out

Opt-In Policy: We will only send you marketing emails if you have explicitly opted in during account creation or through your account settings. You have full control over the types of emails you receive.

Easy Unsubscribe: Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link at the bottom. You can also manage your email preferences in your account settings at any time. Your unsubscribe request will be processed within 48 hours.

Newsletter Subscriptions: If you subscribe to our pronunciation learning newsletter, you'll receive weekly tips, new word additions, and community highlights. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email.

We Never Spam: We commit to sending only relevant, valuable content. We will never sell your email address to third parties or send unsolicited communications.

Data Sharing and Third-Party Services

We Do NOT Sell Your Personal Data. Your information is never sold, rented, or traded to third parties for marketing purposes. We only share your data in the following limited circumstances:

Third-Party Service Providers

We work with trusted third-party services that help us operate Pronounce. These providers have access to your information only to perform specific tasks on our behalf and are obligated to protect your data:

• Google OAuth: Authentication service for secure sign-in (shares only name and email).
• Polar.sh: Payment processing for subscriptions. They handle all payment card information according to PCI-DSS standards. We never see or store your full credit card details.
• Cloudflare R2: Secure file storage for user-uploaded images and media content.
• PostHog Analytics: Privacy-focused analytics to understand how users interact with our platform. Data is anonymized and aggregated.
• Vercel: Hosting infrastructure and performance analytics.
• Neon Database: Serverless PostgreSQL database hosting with enterprise-grade security.
• OpenAI: AI-powered features for pronunciation recommendations. No personal identifying information is shared.

Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law, legal process, or government request, including to:

• Comply with legal obligations, court orders, or subpoenas
• Enforce our Terms of Service and protect our legal rights
• Protect the safety and security of our users and the public
• Prevent fraud, abuse, or other illegal activities

Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, user information may be transferred as part of the business assets. We will notify you via email and/or prominent notice on our platform before your information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

Data Security

We implement appropriate security measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

• Encryption of data in transit and at rest
• Regular security audits and updates
• Access controls and authentication measures
• Secure hosting infrastructure

GDPR Compliance for EU Users

If you are located in the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA), you have specific rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We are committed to ensuring you can exercise these rights easily.

Your GDPR Rights

• Right to Access: You can request a copy of all personal data we hold about you, including your account information, learning progress, gamification data, and any content you've submitted. We will provide this in a clear, structured format within 30 days.
• Right to Deletion (Right to be Forgotten): You can request that we permanently delete your account and all associated personal data. This includes your profile, learning history, achievements, favorites, and any user-generated content. Note that we may retain certain data if required by law or for legitimate business purposes (such as fraud prevention).
• Right to Data Portability: You can request a copy of your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format (JSON or CSV). This allows you to transfer your learning progress and data to another service.
• Right to Restrict Processing: You can request that we limit how we process your data in certain circumstances, such as while we verify the accuracy of your information or assess your objection to processing.
• Right to Rectification: You can request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information we hold about you.
• Right to Object: You can object to our processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes or where we process your data based on legitimate interests.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Where we process your data based on consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time. This won't affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
• Right to Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe we've mishandled your personal data.

How to Exercise Your GDPR Rights

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using one of the following methods:

• Email us at privacy@pronounce.tv with "GDPR Request" in the subject line
• Use the data export/deletion tools in your account settings (available for logged-in users)
• Contact our support team at support@pronounce.tv

Response Time: We will respond to all GDPR requests within 30 days. For complex requests, we may extend this by an additional 60 days and will inform you of the extension and reasons for the delay.

Verification: To protect your privacy, we will verify your identity before processing any GDPR requests. This may involve confirming your email address or asking for additional authentication.

Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to provide our services and fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy:

• Active Accounts: Your account data, learning progress, and gamification data are retained for as long as your account remains active.
• Inactive Accounts: If you don't log in for 3 years, we may delete your account and associated data after providing notice via email.
• Deleted Accounts: When you request account deletion, we permanently delete your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.
• Analytics Data: Anonymized analytics and aggregated usage statistics are retained for up to 2 years to improve our services.
• Support Communications: Customer support emails and tickets are retained for 2 years for quality assurance and legal compliance.
• Legal Requirements: We may retain certain data longer if required by law, for fraud prevention, or to resolve disputes.

Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies to improve your experience on our platform. These help us remember your preferences, analyze site usage, and provide personalized features.

You can control cookie settings through your browser preferences. However, disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our service.

Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)

Pronounce is committed to protecting the privacy of children and complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Age Requirement: Our service is intended for users aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect, use, or disclose personal information from children under 13 years of age without verified parental consent.

Parental Rights: If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at privacy@pronounce.tv. We will promptly delete such information from our systems.

Educational Use: If schools or educational institutions wish to use Pronounce for students under 13, special arrangements must be made to ensure COPPA compliance. Please contact us at team@pronounce.tv to discuss institutional access options.

Updates to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or service improvements. When we make changes, we will take the following steps:

• Update Date: The "Last updated" date at the top of this policy will always reflect the most recent revision.
• Prominent Notice: For significant changes, we will display a prominent notice on our platform homepage and/or in your account dashboard.
• Email Notification: If changes materially affect how we use your personal information, we will send you an email notification at least 30 days before the changes take effect (for registered users).
• Consent for Material Changes: For substantial changes that require new consent, we will ask you to review and accept the updated policy before continuing to use certain features.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information. Your continued use of Pronounce after policy updates constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.