Privacy Policy
Welcome to K-Talkie: Speak Korean (“we”, “our”, or “the App”). We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting any personal data collected while you use our application and services. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how it is used, and your rights regarding that information.
1. Information We Collect
If you sign in with a Google account, Section 7 also applies and prevails over any statement here that data stays only on your device or that we hold no account data.
We believe in minimal data collection. We collect only what is essential to provide speech practice, track learning progress, and process optional in-app subscriptions.
- Speech and Microphone Data: When you practice speaking, the App requests permission to access your device’s Microphone. Audio is converted into text in real time using the device’s native speech recognition engine. We do NOT record, save, store, or transmit your raw voice recordings to our servers. Voice data is processed transiently and discarded immediately after pronunciation scoring.
- Learning Progress & App Preferences: Your streak counts, completed phrases, and bookmarks are stored locally on your device using browser/native local storage. We do not store your learning logs on a remote server.
- Anonymous Usage Telemetry (PostHog): We use PostHog to collect privacy-friendly, anonymized analytics (such as screen visits, button taps, and aggregated practice counts) to understand app stability and user engagement. No personally identifiable information (PII) is transmitted.
- Purchase & Subscription Information (RevenueCat): If you purchase a Pro plan, payments are processed directly by Google Play or Apple App Store. We utilize RevenueCat to manage entitlement statuses using an anonymous application user ID. We never see or store your payment card details.
2. How We Use Information
- To provide real-time pronunciation scoring and interactive practice sessions.
- To maintain your streak, bookmarks, and learning history locally.
- To verify in-app purchases and unlock Pro learning content.
- To diagnose crashes, improve app performance, and enhance content quality.
3. Third-Party Service Providers
We work with trusted third-party providers who adhere to strict data security standards:
- Google Play Billing / Apple In-App Purchase: Handles secure transaction processing.
- RevenueCat: Validates and maintains receipt entitlements anonymously.
- PostHog: Provides aggregate product usage telemetry without tracking personal identifiers across services.
- Affiliate Partners (e.g., Klook): When you click optional travel offer links (such as transport cards or tour passes), you are redirected to the partner’s storefront under their independent privacy terms.
4. Data Retention
If you sign in with a Google account, Section 7 also applies and prevails over any statement here that data stays only on your device or that we hold no account data.
Because we do not maintain central user accounts or cloud databases of personal profiles, we do not retain your personal records. Aggregated, non-identifiable telemetry collected via PostHog is retained in accordance with our standard analytics retention schedule (typically up to 12 months) before automatic deletion. You can erase all local learning data at any time by clearing the App’s cache or uninstalling the App from your device.
5. Your Rights and Choices
If you sign in with a Google account, Section 7 also applies and prevails over any statement here that data stays only on your device or that we hold no account data.
Depending on your jurisdiction (such as GDPR, CCPA, or applicable global privacy laws), you have rights regarding your data:
- Microphone Permission: You can grant or revoke Microphone access at any time through your device’s system settings. Revoking access will disable live speech scoring while allowing audio listening and phrasebook reading.
- Data Deletion: You can reset all local practice data instantly by clearing your browser/app storage or reinstalling the application.
- Inquiries: If you have any questions or wish to exercise any privacy rights, you can contact us at our designated support email below.
6. Children’s Privacy
Our App is designed for general audiences, specifically adult and youth travelers learning Korean. We do not knowingly collect personal identifiable information from children under the age of 13.
7. Optional Google Account (Sign-in)
Signing in with a Google account is optional. The app works fully without it, and if you do not sign in, everything described in the other sections of this Policy applies unchanged.
If you choose to sign in, we additionally handle the following:
- Google account information (Firebase Authentication): your email address, display name, profile photo URL and an account ID (UID) assigned by Firebase. Google handles the sign-in itself: we never receive or store your Google password, and we request only basic profile access (openid, email, profile) — not your contacts, files or other Google data.
- Sign-up consent record: the version of these documents you agreed to, your confirmation that you are 18 or older, and the time you agreed. It is stored in Cloud Firestore and linked to your account ID.
- Learning progress (when sync is available): your streaks, completed phrases and bookmarks may be saved to your account so that you can restore them on another device. Without signing in, this data stays only on your device.
- Purchase status (RevenueCat): while you are signed in, RevenueCat links your Pro purchases to your account ID instead of an anonymous ID, so your Pro access follows your account in this app. Payment itself is handled only by Google Play; we never see your card details.
Your account is specific to this app. It is not shared with other K-Talkie apps, which keep their own separate accounts and purchases.
We use this data only to sign you in, keep your account and progress, and unlock the Pro access you purchased. The legal basis is your consent, given when you create the account. You must be 18 or older to create an account.
Data is sent over encrypted connections, and database access rules allow each account to read and write only its own records.
Where data is processed: account data is stored on Google Cloud servers in Seoul, South Korea (Firebase Authentication and Cloud Firestore, operated by Google LLC, USA), and RevenueCat, Inc. (USA) processes purchase status. This transfer is necessary to provide the account feature, and by signing in you consent to it.
Retention and deleting your account: we keep account data until you delete your account. You can delete it at any time in the app (Pro tab → My account → Delete account), on the account deletion page, or by emailing ktalkie2026@gmail.com from the email address of your Google account. Deletion is immediate and permanent, with no grace period: your sign-in account, consent record, synced progress and purchase-status link are erased. It does not affect purchase records kept by Google Play, data stored only on your device (removed by uninstalling the app), or an active Google Play subscription (cancel it in Google Play; unused paid time is not refunded).
Regional Privacy Disclosures (UK, EU/EEA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia)
Depending on your country of residence, your personal data is protected under applicable local laws, including the EU GDPR (Ireland), the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 (United Kingdom), the CCPA/CPRA (United States), PIPEDA (Canada), the Privacy Act 1988 and Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) (Australia), the Privacy Act 2020 (New Zealand), the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (Singapore), and the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (as amended in 2024) (Malaysia).
Cross-Border Data Transfers: By using the App, you acknowledge that your account data (if you choose to sign in) is stored in South Korea (which holds an adequacy decision from the EU and the UK) and anonymous analytics/subscription data is processed in the United States under standard contractual and technical safeguards.
8. Contact Us
If you have any questions, feedback, or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact:
Email: ktalkie2026@gmail.com
Developer: Suho Choi (최충호)
Location: Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea