Privacy Policy
Effective 9 November 2026.
The short version
- You don't create an account with an email or password. The app uses an anonymous ID.
- Your conversations and session reports stay on your phone. We don't keep the text of your messages on our servers.
- Voice recordings are turned into text and then deleted. We don't store them.
- To write replies, the app sends your messages and recordings to OpenAI. OpenAI does not use them to train its models.
- No ads, no tracking across apps, no analytics tools, and we never sell your data.
- You can delete everything at any time in Settings → Delete all my data.
1. Who we are
PolyLing: AI Language Partner ("PolyLing", "we", "us") is an iPhone app for practising languages with AI conversation partners. It is operated by Shahla Babayeva, an independent developer, who is the controller of your personal data. Contact: its.sheilalala@gmail.com.
2. Your partners are AI
Every partner in PolyLing is an AI. They have names, personalities and memories, but they are not real people, and no human reads your conversations as part of the service.
3. What we collect and why
| Data | Why | Where it is kept |
|---|---|---|
| Anonymous ID (a random number created when you first open the app) | To recognise your phone so your partners, plan and progress belong to you | Our server |
| Your settings: native language, language and accent you practise, learning goal, weekly goal, and the first name you give (optional) | To set up partners and explanations in your language | Our server |
| Partner memory: short notes each partner keeps about you (topics you talked about, things you shared, recurring mistakes, an estimate of your level) | So partners remember you between conversations. They are told never to keep sensitive details such as health, religion, politics, sexual orientation, addresses, contact details or money | Our server |
| Practice numbers: when a conversation started and ended, and for each message only numbers (word count, number of mistakes, whether it was spoken, seconds spoken). Never the text | Your streak, weekly goal and progress page, and fair-use limits | Our server |
| Saved words (Pro) | Your word list and flashcards, and so partners can reuse your words | Our server |
| Subscription status (plan, renewal period, voice minutes used) | To give you what you paid for | Our server. Payments are handled by Apple; we never see your card or Apple ID |
| Usage and cost records (type of AI request, its size and cost) | To keep the service affordable, prevent abuse and enforce limits | Our server |
| Your messages and voice recordings | To write your partner's reply, check your mistakes, look up words and prepare your report | Sent to OpenAI for processing. Not stored on our server. Recordings are deleted right after they become text |
| Conversation history, session reports, reminder time, appearance | So you can scroll back and review | Only on your phone |
We do not collect your email, phone number, contacts, location, photos, advertising ID or device fingerprints. We do not use analytics or advertising SDKs.
Word look-ups
When you tap a word, we store the result (the word, its sentence and the translation) in a shared cache so the next person who taps the same word gets it instantly. The cache is not linked to you.
Microphone
The app uses the microphone only while you hold the microphone button. The recording goes to our server, is turned into text by OpenAI, and is then deleted.
Notifications
If you allow it, the app schedules practice reminders on your phone. They are created on the device; we don't send push notifications from a server.
4. Who processes your data for us
- Supabase (database and server functions, hosted in the United States, North Virginia).
- OpenAI (conversation replies, corrections, word look-ups, reports, speech-to-text, partner voices and safety checks). We send requests with storage turned off, and OpenAI does not use API data to train its models. OpenAI may keep request data for up to 30 days to detect abuse, then deletes it.
- Apple (App Store purchases and subscriptions, under Apple's own privacy policy).
- Adapty (checks with Apple whether you have PolyLing Pro). Adapty receives a random identifier for your installation, basic device and app information (such as iPhone model, iOS version, app version, country and language) and your purchase information (plan, start, renewal or end), not your name or email.
These companies may only use your data to provide their service to us. We don't share your data with anyone else, except where the law requires it.
5. Legal bases (EU, UK and similar laws)
- To provide the service you asked for (contract): settings, partner memory, conversations, voice, saved words, progress, subscription.
- Legitimate interests: cost records, fair-use limits, safety checks and preventing abuse.
- Your consent: microphone and notifications (you can turn them off in iPhone Settings at any time).
6. International transfers
Our servers and our processors are in the United States. If you live in the EU, UK or Switzerland, your data is transferred there under the EU–U.S. Data Privacy Framework where the processor participates, or under the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
7. How long we keep it
- Your account data stays until you delete it in the app.
- Anonymous IDs that never finished setup are deleted automatically after 30 days.
- Voice recordings are deleted right after transcription.
- When you delete your data, cost records are kept without any link to you, only for accounting.
Because there is no login, deleting the app does not delete your data on our server, and we can't find it for you afterwards. Use Settings → Delete all my data before you remove the app.
8. Your rights
You can access, correct, export or delete your data, object to processing, and withdraw consent. Most of this works directly in the app: change your settings in Settings, and delete everything with Settings → Delete all my data (this does not cancel an Apple subscription; cancel it in your Apple ID settings). For anything else, email us. Because there is no login, we can only act on data we can match to you, so the in-app options are the most reliable. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.
California residents: we don't sell or share personal information for cross-context advertising, and we don't use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you.
9. Children
PolyLing is for people aged 13 and over. We don't knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe a child has used the app, contact us and we will delete the data.
10. Security
Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and at rest. Each user can only read their own data, enforced in the database. Our AI service keys live only on the server, never in the app.
11. Changes
If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top. For significant changes we will tell you in the app.
12. Contact
its.sheilalala@gmail.com