Student privacy, in plain English
This page is written for teachers, principals, and district Ed Tech reviewers deciding whether Literate Chinese is appropriate for students. It says what the app collects, what it never collects, and how to reach a human — the developer — with questions. The formal privacy policy is the binding document; nothing here contradicts it.
The short version
- No advertising. There are no ads in the app, no ad networks, and no ad-tracking SDKs.
- We do not sell personal data. Not student data, not anyone’s. There is no data-sharing business of any kind.
- Class-code students never touch a payment screen. A class code unlocks full access with no credit card, no trial, and no subscription — so no payment information exists for those students at all.
- No social feed, no messaging. Students cannot contact each other or anyone else through the app.
- Minimal account data. An account is an email address (or a school-managed Google / Apple sign-in) plus learning progress. That’s the substance of it.
- Deletable. Accounts and their data can be deleted from inside the app’s settings, or by emailing us.
What we collect, and why
Account information
An email address, via email sign-up or Google / Apple sign-in — including school-managed Google Workspace accounts. Used to sign the student in and attach their class code and progress to them, so access follows them across devices. We don’t ask for real names, birthdays, addresses, or phone numbers.
Learning progress
Words studied, stories read, quiz results, streaks — the record of learning itself, synced to our servers (Google Firebase) so a student who switches devices keeps their progress. This is the pedagogical core of the app, not a byproduct.
Usage analytics
Which features get used and where the app crashes, so a one-person team can fix the right things. Analytics are used for product improvement only — never for advertising or profiling, and never sold or shared for others’ use.
What we never collect
- Location
- Contacts, photos library, or anything else on the device beyond what a feature is actively using
- Payment information from class-code students (there is no payment flow for them to enter)
- Advertising identifiers — there are no ads to target
- Browsing activity outside the app
Features worth knowing about
Arcade leaderboards are opt-in and pseudonymous
The mini-game leaderboards are off until a user chooses to join, and participation uses a chosen nickname — never an email or account identity. Students who never opt in never appear anywhere.
AI-assisted features run on our servers
Features like translation of pasted text are processed server-side and shown only to the student who requested them. Nothing a student does is visible to other users.
Progress sharing is student-initiated
There is no teacher dashboard and no automatic reporting. If a teacher wants to see progress, the student shows their own stats screen — the student stays in control of their own data.
For district app reviews
We’re glad to work through your district’s app-review or student-data-privacy process — questionnaires, vetting forms, or a direct conversation with your Ed Tech team. Because Literate Chinese is built by one developer, the person answering your review is the person who wrote the code. For students under 13, we recommend sign-in through school-managed accounts as part of your district’s consent process.
Email literatelanguages@gmail.com and you’ll hear back from the developer, usually the same day.