Privacy Policy

We keep data collection to the minimum needed to run the app:

• Account information. In the mobile app you can start without signing up. We then make an account with no name and no email address attached, and your device keeps a private key so the same account comes back if you are signed out or reinstall the app. To stop abuse, we record a random identifier for the install and a scrambled (hashed) form of your IP address when that account is made. If you sign up or later create a profile, we collect your email address (and, if you choose to sign in with a provider like Apple or Google, the basic profile information that provider shares). Authentication is handled by our identity provider, Clerk. We use this to create and secure your account.
• Profile, if you choose. A display name, a username that other learners see on leaderboards, and a profile photo. All three are optional.
• Voice recordings. When you practice a phrase, talk to Bolo, or take a video call with your elder, the app records your voice (using your device microphone) and sends the audio to our backend so we can score your pronunciation, give you feedback, and reply to you. Recording only happens while you are practicing, talking to Bolo, or on a call.
• Conversations with Bolo. What you type or say in Bolo Chat and on calls, Bolo's replies, and short notes Bolo keeps about what you told it, so later conversations can remember you.
• Learning progress. We store your lesson progress, pronunciation scores, streaks, badges, and similar activity data so we can track your progress and personalize your practice.
• Purchases. If you subscribe or buy coins, Apple, Google, or Stripe (on the website) takes the payment. We receive a record of what you bought and whether it is active. We never see your card details.
• Usage and crash data. Which features you use (for example, finishing a lesson), and reports when the app crashes or hits an error, with your device type, operating system and app version. Both are tied to your account ID, never to your name or email.

• To create your account and sign you in securely.
• To transcribe and score your pronunciation and return coaching feedback in real time.
• To run Bolo Chat and calls, and to give Bolo a voice.
• To process your purchases and restore them on your other devices.
• To understand which features are used and to fix crashes and errors.
• To save your progress, streaks, and achievements across your devices.
• To operate, maintain, and improve the app's core learning features.
• Only if you choose to, to email you Bolo news, new languages and offers. This is off unless you tick the box when you sign up or turn it on in Account, and you can turn it off at any time.

Your audio recordings are used only to score your pronunciation and to let Bolo understand and answer you in chat and on calls. A recording is sent to our backend and on to OpenAI, which turns it into a transcription, a pronunciation score or a reply, and is not retained by us beyond that request. We never send your name, email or account with it. To give Bolo a voice, the text of Bolo's replies goes to ElevenLabs or OpenAI to be read aloud, never your recording. The app and the website ask your permission before any of this, name these services, and let you change your answer in Settings at any time. If you say no, speaking practice, chat and calls stay off. We do not use your voice recordings to build voice profiles, and we do not sell or share your recordings with third parties for advertising or any other purpose.

Voice notes you bring in. If you import a voice note (for example one a grandparent sent you), we send its audio to our speech provider to turn it into text, then delete the audio in the same request; it is never stored. We keep the text, its translation and the suggested replies until you forget the note or delete your account. The same is true of a note recorded in the app, and of a note a family member records on a voice-note link you send them: that page needs no account, asks for no name or contact details, tells them before they record that their voice is turned into text and the audio deleted, and files the text only in your account.

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only with the service providers that make the app work, and only to the extent needed to provide the service:

• Clerk: authentication and account management (stores your email, login credentials and profile photo).
• OpenAI: your recordings, what you type or say to Bolo, and the text of some of Bolo's replies, to score your pronunciation, reply to you and read replies aloud. Audio is not retained by us beyond the request. Recordings made through our invited voice contribution mode are retained as described in Data retention below.
• ElevenLabs: the text of Bolo's replies, so they can be spoken aloud. Never your recording.
• PostHog: product analytics, tied to your account ID only.
• Sentry: crash and error reports, tied to your account ID only.
• RevenueCat, Apple, Google and Stripe: purchases. Apple and Google bill purchases made in the app, Stripe bills purchases made on the website, and RevenueCat keeps track of what you bought so it works on all your devices.
• Resend: sends the emails we send, such as invitations and replies to messages you send us.
• Replit, Neon and Cloudflare: host our servers, database and files.

We may also disclose information if required by law, or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our users and the service.

We keep your account information and learning progress for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account, we delete your associated personal data and learning progress.

Voice recordings. In normal use, your voice recordings are processed to score your pronunciation or to answer you, and are not retained after the request completes.

Conversations. The text of your conversations with Bolo, and the notes Bolo keeps, stay until you delete your account.

Usage and crash data. PostHog and Sentry keep analytics events and crash reports for their own retention periods. They carry your account ID, never your name or email.

Separately, we run an optional voice contribution mode used to improve BOLO's pronunciation scoring. This mode is clearly indicated on screen and is only available to invited contributors. Recordings made in contribution mode are retained, along with the phrase and language they belong to, and are used solely to evaluate and improve our scoring system. If a contributor re-records a phrase, the discarded take is deleted. Contributed recordings are not attached to an account: most contributors are family members who never sign in, so a recording carries only the name the contributor typed and the sitting it came from. That means deleting an account does not reach them. Contributors can ask us to remove their recordings at any time by contacting us and telling us the name they used.

Bolo! is friendly enough for younger learners, but it is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without appropriate consent. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, please contact us and we will remove it.

• Microphone control. The app only records when you tap the microphone to practice. You can revoke microphone access at any time in your device settings (recording features will stop working, but the rest of the app still functions).
• Access and deletion. You can delete your account yourself, from inside the app, at any time. See Deleting your account below for exactly where the button is and what it removes. For a copy of your data, use the contact form linked below.
• Marketing emails. Optional and off by default. If you opted in, you can stop them at any time with the switch in Account or the unsubscribe link in any of those emails. Account and security emails are not marketing and are not affected.

You can delete your Bolo! account yourself, from inside the app. You do not need to email us and you do not need to ask.

On the website: open Account & settings from the navigation, scroll to Delete account, choose Delete my account, then confirm with Delete forever.

In the mobile app: tap the settings icon on the Home screen to open Account settings, scroll to Delete account, tap it, then confirm with Delete.

Deleting your account does not cancel your subscription. Subscriptions bought in the app are billed by Apple or Google, not by us, so cancel yours in the App Store or in Google Play first. If you delete your account without cancelling, the store keeps billing you and we have no way to stop it.

What we delete. Your sign-in identity goes first, so nobody can sign back in while the rest is being removed. Then:

• Everything you learned with: your practice attempts, XP, badges, streak and ability records, the phrases Bolo was tracking for you, your script tracing progress, zone and lesson test-outs, daily quizzes and game sessions.
• Your conversations with Bolo, including the notes Bolo kept about you between sessions.
• Your social records: friendships, invitations you sent, anyone you blocked, and any report you filed about a username.
• Your family plan. If you were a member, your seat is freed. If you owned the plan, the plan is dissolved and every seat on it is released.
• Your voice notes and the voice-note links you sent, your My Sentence entries, and the occasions you were getting ready for.
• Your Chai wallet and everything it recorded.
• Messages you sent us through the contact form.
• Your push notification tokens, so the app can no longer reach your device.

What we do not delete, and why.

• Store receipts. Apple, Google and Stripe hold your purchase records, and RevenueCat keeps a copy so purchases can be restored. Deleting your account does not remove them.
• Recordings you contributed as a speaker. These are not attached to an account, so account deletion cannot reach them. Ask us and we will remove them.
• Anonymous totals. Counts that no longer name anybody, such as how many people practised a phrase, stay in our aggregates.

It happens immediately and cannot be undone. There is no restore window. Encrypted backups may retain a copy for a short period before they expire, and we cannot retrieve your account from them.

If you cannot sign in and therefore cannot reach the button, use our contact form from the email address on the account and we will delete it for you. An account you started without signing up has no email address, so delete it from inside the app.

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Significant changes will be communicated through the app or by email where appropriate.

If you have questions about this policy, or want to access or delete your data, reach us through our contact form or email Hello@LarkEnterprisesLLC.com. Bolo! is run by LARK Enterprises LLC.