This policy explains how KoiSpeak collects, uses, and protects your data when you use our Chinese dictionary and learning platform.
KoiSpeak (koispeak.com) is operated by Nguyen Le, the data controller for your personal data. For privacy questions, contact [email protected].
Information We Collect
We collect account information (such as your email and a hashed password, or an identifier from Google/Facebook when you sign in with a social provider), profile information you provide, and content you create such as your lookup history and notebook.
How Advanced Features Use Your Input
When you use automated word explanation or comparison features, your input is sent to a third-party service provider to generate a response. Only the information needed for the request is sent.
Reading Mode, OCR, and Handwriting
Content you paste into reading mode is processed only to serve your request and is not logged or stored on our servers beyond that. The OCR feature uploads your image securely to KoiSpeak's storage and recognizes the text using Google Cloud Vision (Google LLC), our sub-processor for character recognition. Guest images are deleted immediately after recognition and are not used for long-term storage or model training. The handwriting input feature sends your drawn strokes (not an image, and no other content) to Google IME, Google LLC's inputtools service, to recognize the character; strokes are not logged or stored on our servers.
Browser Extension
The KoiSpeak browser extension lets you look up Chinese on any web page. It handles data narrowly and only in response to your actions:
- Only the text you act on is sent. When you click, Shift-hover, select, or search Chinese text, the extension sends just that short snippet (and, for a click, the few surrounding characters needed to identify the word) to KoiSpeak's servers to return the dictionary entry, translation, pinyin, stroke order, or audio. It does not read, collect, or transmit the pages you browse in the background, and it never sends anything on every keystroke, only when you interact.
- No browsing history or tracking. The extension does not track the sites you visit, build a browsing profile, or share data with advertising partners. It contacts only KoiSpeak's own servers.
- Local storage on your device. Your extension settings and a small, time-limited cache of recent lookups are kept in your browser profile so the extension stays fast and remembers your preferences. This data stays on your device, is not used to identify you, and is removed when you uninstall the extension or clear its storage.
- Looked-up content is not logged. The words and passages you look up through the extension are not written to our logs.
- Optional sign-in. If you choose to sign in to your KoiSpeak account from the extension, a session token is stored locally on your device so you can save words to your notebook; your account data is then handled exactly as described in this policy. You can use the extension's lookup features without signing in.
Text you look up through the extension is processed by the same services and under the same terms as the corresponding features on the website (see How Advanced Features Use Your Input, Data Sharing and Sub-processors, and the Translate note above).
Advertising
KoiSpeak displays advertising banners to Free-tier users. The Pro plan is ad-free. Our advertising partners may set cookies or device identifiers and may collect usage data to serve and measure ads. These partners operate under their own privacy policies.
Payments
Payments are processed by Polar Software, Inc. and its affiliates, acting as the Merchant of Record (authorized reseller) for KoiSpeak. Polar handles billing, payment, tax (VAT/GST), invoicing, and subscription management; subscriptions renew automatically until canceled. We never store full card numbers, only the card brand and last 4 digits provided by Polar. Cancellations and refunds are governed by our Refund Policy.
Analytics
We use privacy-friendly analytics to understand how the product is used and to measure traffic, for the purpose of improving the service, not for advertising and not for sale.
- Product analytics: configured without cookies and hosted in the European Union. When you are signed in, product-interaction events are associated with your account ID (not your name or email). This data is not sold and is not used to serve ads.
- Traffic measurement: uses no cookies, does not track users across websites, and collects only session-level aggregate data.
Cookies and Local Storage
We use cookies and browser local storage to keep you signed in and to remember your preferences (such as language and display settings).
Data Sharing and Sub-processors
We share data only as needed with the sub-processors that help us run the service, in the following functional categories:
- Cloud hosting and storage.
- Optical character recognition (OCR).
- Multi-language translation.
- Payment processing, tax, and subscription management (Merchant of Record).
- Product analytics and traffic measurement (cookieless).
- Advertising partners: ad delivery and measurement (Free-tier users only).
Each sub-processor receives only the data needed for its function. A current list of the specific sub-processors is available on request at [email protected]. We do not sell your personal data.
Distributors and partner language centres. If you created your account through, or your subscription is managed by, a distributor or partner language centre ("tenant operator"), that operator can see your account email, your display name, and your Pro subscription status, so they can provide support and manage your access. The tenant operator cannot see your notebook, lookup history, scans, translations, or payment details. KoiSpeak remains the operator and data controller for your personal data; the tenant operator is a recipient, not a co-controller.
When you use the Translate feature, the text you submit is sent to a third-party translation service to produce the translation. Submitted content is not used to train models and is not retained beyond serving that request.
Data Retention
We retain your account data and content for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the service. You can request deletion at any time.
If an email address is banned from the service for abuse, we retain only a salted one-way hash of that email, never the plaintext address, to prevent abuse and re-registration. This hash is kept on a legitimate-interest (abuse-prevention) basis even after the account is deleted.
Your Rights
You have the right to access, export, and delete your data. You can export all of your data or delete your account at /account/data, in the spirit of GDPR-style protections.
Security
We serve the service over HTTPS only and hash passwords with bcrypt. No system is perfectly secure, but we apply reasonable measures to protect your data.
Contact
If you have questions about this privacy policy, please contact [email protected].