Privacy Policy
Nkyea is designed to help people learn and speak African languages. We aim to collect only the information needed to provide the service. Much of your learning state is kept on your device. When you choose an online feature such as AI-assisted speaking practice, the information needed for that feature is sent to the relevant service provider.
Scope
This Privacy Policy explains how Nkyea handles information when you use the Nkyea website, Nkyea Twi and related Nkyea services, contact us, participate in an organization program, or otherwise interact with us. It should be read together with our Terms of Use.
Information we handle
The information involved depends on the feature you choose to use. It may include:
- Information you provide: information submitted through contact, support, pilot or organization inquiry forms and messages you send to Nkyea.
- Speaking-practice data: short microphone recordings you intentionally make when using a speaking feature, together with the phrase being practised and information needed to evaluate the attempt.
- Learning state: items such as Favorites, phrase or category mastery, mission progress, practice goals, speaking-usage counts and certain app preferences.
- Subscription information: subscription product, entitlement status and expiration information made available to the app through Apple's StoreKit services.
- Technical information: information necessarily exchanged when your device communicates with an online service, which may include network information such as an IP address and standard request metadata handled by the service provider.
The Nkyea app does not need every category of information above for every user. For example, microphone audio is involved only when you choose to use a speaking feature.
Speaking practice and audio
What happens when you tap the microphone
Nkyea records a short audio sample on your device. For AI-assisted speaking checks, the recording is transmitted to OpenAI's API for speech transcription. Nkyea then compares the returned transcription with the Twi phrase you were asked to say and uses the result to provide learning feedback.
The current app implementation creates the recording as a temporary local file. After the speaking operation is complete or the speaking state is cleared, the app is designed to remove that temporary recording from the device. Nkyea does not use these speaking recordings to create a public voice profile or to advertise to you.
Audio sent to OpenAI is processed under OpenAI's terms and privacy/data practices applicable to its API services. OpenAI may process request and security metadata in addition to the content required to provide the service. Nkyea does not control a provider's independent legal retention obligations or security logs.
Your choice: You can use Nkyea's listening, phrase, flashcard and other non-speaking features without submitting a speaking recording. iOS also lets you control Nkyea's microphone permission in device Settings.
Learning data stored on your device
Nkyea uses local device storage for a range of learning and app state. This includes, depending on the features you use, Favorites, Memory Strength/mastery, mission progress, completion state, practice goals, speaking allowances, onboarding state and preferences.
Local app data is used to remember your progress and personalize the learning experience. Some categories of progress can be reset from within the app. Removing the app may also remove locally stored app data, subject to Apple's device and backup behavior.
Subscriptions and Apple
Consumer subscriptions are purchased and managed through Apple. Nkyea uses StoreKit to obtain the information necessary to determine whether a qualifying subscription is active, such as the subscription product identifier, entitlement status and expiration date.
Apple processes App Store purchases and payment information under Apple's own terms and privacy practices. Nkyea does not receive your full payment-card number from Apple through the StoreKit subscription flow shown in the app.
Website inquiries and communications
If you contact Nkyea through the website, email, a pilot request or an organization inquiry, we use the information you provide to answer the request, provide support, prepare or discuss a proposal, and manage the resulting relationship.
Please do not send sensitive personal information that is not necessary for your request.
Organization Access and reporting
Nkyea may provide access to learners through a school, university, church, cultural organization, employer, nonprofit or other participating organization. Information necessary to issue or administer access may be processed for that program.
Where Nkyea provides organization-level engagement reporting, our intended model is to emphasize aggregate or program-level measures—such as activations, learning activity, speaking-practice completions, flashcard activity and mission progress—rather than unnecessary disclosure of an individual learner's detailed activity.
If a particular organization program requires identifiable learner reporting beyond this model, the relevant organization and learners should be informed before that reporting is enabled.
Service providers
Nkyea relies on third parties where necessary to operate particular features. Based on the current app functionality reviewed for this policy, these include:
Other infrastructure providers may necessarily process information used to host or secure the Nkyea website or receive website inquiries. We expect service providers that process personal information for Nkyea to handle it consistently with their contractual and legal obligations.
How we use information
We use information as reasonably necessary to:
- provide and maintain Nkyea's language-learning features;
- process a speaking attempt and return learning feedback;
- remember progress, preferences and entitlement state;
- provide customer support and respond to inquiries;
- administer subscriptions and organization programs;
- protect the service, diagnose problems and prevent misuse; and
- comply with applicable legal obligations.
Retention and deletion
We aim to keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, to provide the service, resolve disputes, maintain security, or meet legal and accounting obligations.
- Temporary speaking files on the device: designed to be removed after use or when the speaking state is cleared.
- Local learning state: generally remains on the device until it is reset, the relevant app data is removed, or the app/device lifecycle otherwise removes it.
- Subscription records: Apple maintains transaction records under its own policies; Nkyea may locally cache entitlement information needed to keep subscription access working.
- Inquiries and business records: retained as reasonably necessary to respond, maintain the relationship and meet legitimate legal or business-record requirements.
Data sent to a third-party provider may also be subject to that provider's retention rules. You may contact Nkyea to request deletion of personal information that Nkyea controls, subject to legal exceptions and information that cannot reasonably be associated with you.
Security
Nkyea uses reasonable technical and organizational measures appropriate to the nature of the service. No internet transmission, software system or storage method can be guaranteed to be completely secure, so we cannot promise absolute security.
International processing
Nkyea serves learners in more than one country and uses technology providers that may process information outside your country of residence. As a result, information used by an online feature may be transferred to or processed in other jurisdictions, subject to applicable law and the safeguards of the relevant provider.
Children
Nkyea's services should be used by children only in a manner appropriate to their age and the applicable App Store age rating, local law, and—where required—the involvement of a parent, guardian, school or other responsible organization. We do not knowingly seek unnecessary personal information from children through the website.
If you believe a child has provided personal information to Nkyea in circumstances that require parental consent and that consent was not obtained, please contact us so we can review the matter.
Your privacy rights and choices
Depending on where you live, applicable law may give you rights concerning personal information, which can include rights to request access, correction or deletion, object to or restrict certain processing, withdraw consent where processing relies on consent, or make a complaint to an appropriate data-protection authority.
You can also exercise practical controls directly:
- control microphone permission through iOS Settings;
- choose not to use AI-assisted speaking practice;
- reset supported Favorites, mastery or mission progress from within the app; and
- manage your App Store subscription through Apple.
To make a privacy request about information controlled by Nkyea, use our contact page and clearly state that your message is a privacy request. We may need enough information to verify and locate the relevant records before acting on a request.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Nkyea may update this Privacy Policy as our products, service providers or legal obligations change. The current version will be posted on this page with an updated effective or revision date. If a change materially affects how we handle personal information, we will provide additional notice where appropriate or required.
Contact Nkyea
Questions, requests or concerns about this Privacy Policy can be submitted through the Nkyea contact page.
Tell us what you need help with and include enough information for us to identify the relevant interaction or record.
This policy is intended to describe Nkyea's current practices in clear language. It is not a promise that every feature uses every category of information described above.