Privacy policy

Who we are

Vokku ("we", "us") is a service run by Ortwin Van der Stappen, a sole trader based in the United Kingdom. We publish the Vokku app and this website, and we decide what happens to the data described here — in legal terms, Ortwin Van der Stappen is the data controller.

Because we are based in the United Kingdom, the UK GDPR applies. If you live in the EEA, the EU GDPR gives you the same rights.

What we collect

Only what the app needs in order to work.

• Your account — your email address. If you sign in with Google, Google tells us your email address and basic profile details. We never see your Google password.
• Your name and avatar — the name or nickname you want Vokku to call you, and which of the app's built-in avatars you picked. It does not have to be your real name, other learners never see either, and you can change both in Settings.
• Your learning setup — the language you already speak, the language you are learning, the level you started at, and whether you finished onboarding.
• Your progress — the cards you save, your review history and the schedule worked out from it, story reading progress, streaks, and daily study counts. This is what brings your progress back when you sign in on another device.
• AI features — for AI chat, the messages you send and the replies you get back. For AI-assisted vocabulary cards, the word or phrase you ask us to fill in and the card generated from it. For both, a count of how much you used them each day.
• Your plan — which plan your account is on, and whether it was bought or given. If you buy one, Google Play tells us what you bought, when it renews or ends, and its order number, and we check each purchase with Google so that one payment cannot unlock two accounts. Google Play takes the payment: we never see your card or bank details.
• Your device — a random identifier created when the app is installed, and when we last saw it, so your devices can sync with each other. It is not an advertising identifier.
• If you sign up to test the app — the email address you give us on the test sign-up page, the language you signed up in, and how you heard about Vokku if you tell us. We use it only to invite you to the closed test and to run it.
• Server logs — short-lived technical records of requests to our servers, including your IP address, so we can fix faults and stop abuse.

What we do not do

• No advertising, and no advertising or analytics SDKs inside the app.
• No tracking of what you do in other apps or on other websites.
• We do not sell or rent your data, or share it for anyone else's marketing.
• We do not build a profile of you beyond what is listed above.

Why we are allowed to hold it

• To give you the app (contract) — your account, your plan and any purchase behind it, your name and avatar, your saved progress, syncing between devices, and the AI features.
• To keep it working and safe (legitimate interests) — server logs, abuse prevention, and the usage counts that stop one account draining a shared quota.
• Because you switched it on (consent) — optional things such as study reminders. You can switch them off in the app at any time.
• Because you signed up to test it (consent) — the address you gave us to join the closed test. You can withdraw at any time by emailing us, and we will delete it.

Who else handles it

We keep this list as short as we can. Today it is:

• Supabase — hosting, database and sign-in.
• OpenAI — generates AI chat replies from the messages you send, and fills in vocabulary cards from the word or phrase you give us. Under our agreement with them, what we send is not used to train their models.
• Vercel — serves this website.
• Resend — sends the invitation email if you sign up to test.
• Google — if you choose to sign in with Google, and Google Play, which takes payment for a plan and tells us what was bought, and where we add your address to the list of testers if you sign up to test.

Some of them process data outside the UK. Where that happens, the transfer relies on the safeguards in their data processing terms, such as the UK addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses.

The copy on your phone

Vokku works offline, so your cards and review history also live on the device. Signing out leaves that copy in place, so a day's work is not lost by signing out. Uninstalling the app, or clearing its data in Android settings, removes it.

How long we keep it

For as long as your account exists. Deleting it from inside the app removes everything between ten and fifteen days later; a request by email is removed from our live systems within 30 days. Either way, backups holding an older copy are deleted within 90 days, and AI chat history is kept until the account goes.

If you sign up to test, we keep your address while the closed test runs and delete it, from our systems and from the test's list in Google Play, within 30 days after the test ends, or sooner if you ask. As with everything else, backups holding an older copy are deleted within 90 days.

See how to delete your account.

Your rights

You can ask us for a copy of your data, ask us to correct or delete it, ask for it in a portable form, object to or restrict how we use it, or withdraw a consent you gave. Email us and we will answer within one month.

If our answer does not satisfy you, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk. In the EEA, you can complain to your national data protection authority.

Children

Vokku is not meant for children under 13, and you need to be 13 or older to have an account. If you think a child has one, email us and we will remove it.

Changes to this policy

We will update this page and the date at the top. When a change matters, we will say so in the app as well.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or a request about your own data: support@vokkuapp.com