Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 12, 2026 · Effective: June 24, 2026

Ladoo is an app for learning Punjabi, including a conversational AI tutor ("Bhaji"). This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the choices and rights you have.

The short version. We collect the information needed to run your account, teach you Punjabi, power the AI tutor, and process subscriptions. To transcribe your speech and generate tutor replies, we send your voice and messages to Google's speech and AI services. We are also testing a second speech service, Sarvam AI, on recordings from Speak exercises. We do not sell your personal information, we do not show ads, and we do not track you across other apps or websites. You can delete your account and all associated data from within the app at any time.

1. Who we are

Ladoo (the "App") is operated by Ladoo LLC ("we," "us," or "our"). We are the controller responsible for your personal information as described in this policy.

If you have any questions, requests, or complaints about your privacy, contact us at [email protected].

This policy applies to the Ladoo mobile app and its supporting backend services. It does not apply to third-party services we link to or rely on, each of which has its own privacy policy (see Third-party services).

2. Information we collect

We collect the categories of information below. We only collect what we need to operate the App, and several features work without an account in a limited offline mode.

a. Account & identity information

When you create an account, we collect your email address and a unique account identifier. Depending on how you sign in:

Email & password (we store your email and a securely hashed password, handled by our authentication provider, Supabase; we never see your plaintext password).
Sign in with Google (we receive your email address, name, and basic profile information from Google).
Sign in with Apple (we receive your Apple account identifier and, on first sign-in, optionally your name and an email address, which may be Apple's private relay address if you choose to hide your email).

You may also set or edit a display name / username shown in the App.

b. Voice & audio

Voice features use your device microphone, and your recording is used in two ways. When you complete a Speak exercise in a lesson, the audio is sent securely through our backend to Google Cloud Speech-to-Text to transcribe what you said. When you speak to the AI tutor (Bhaji), the audio is sent through our backend to Google's AI service, which transcribes it and generates the tutor's reply. In both cases the audio is captured to a temporary file on your device, and the temporary file is discarded after the turn is processed. The resulting transcript (the text of what you said) is saved as part of your tutor chat history so you can review your conversations. Apart from the two cases described next, we do not store your raw audio recordings.

Speech service test. We are testing a second speech-recognition service, Sarvam AI, to find out whether it understands spoken Punjabi more accurately. During this test, after Google has checked a Speak exercise recording, a copy of the same recording is also sent to Sarvam AI. Sarvam's answer does not change your result. For each of these recordings we keep a record linked to your account of the word you were asked to say, what each service heard, and whether each one accepted your answer. When the two services disagree, we also keep the recording itself so that we can listen to it and judge which service was right. These recordings are stored privately and are not shared with anyone else.

Sound pairs. In versions of the App that include Sound pairs pronunciation practice, you say one word from a pair of words that differ by a single sound. Your recording is sent to Sarvam AI to transcribe it, and our servers measure the pitch of your voice to check tone. We keep your most recent recording of each word so you can play it back, together with a record of each attempt (the word, what Sarvam AI heard, the pitch measurements, and the result).

Live conversation mode (available on newer versions of the App) works differently. While a live session is open, audio from your microphone streams in real time directly from your device to Google's AI service (the Gemini Live API) over an encrypted connection, and the tutor's spoken replies stream back the same way. Our servers authorize each session and enforce time limits, but the audio itself does not pass through them, and we do not store the audio. Google returns text transcripts of both sides of the conversation; those transcripts are saved to your tutor chat history like any other conversation and are used at the end of a session to identify corrections for your practice. The App streams audio only while a live session is open, and you can end a session at any time.

c. AI tutor content

When you chat with the AI tutor, we collect and store the messages you send and receive (in Gurmukhi or Shahmukhi script, romanization, and English), any corrections the tutor provides, and contextual learning data used to personalize tutoring (such as your current lesson focus, target vocabulary, and recent mistakes). To generate replies, this content is sent to Google's AI service (see Section 4).

d. Learning & progress data

We store your learning activity so your progress syncs across sessions, including: lessons completed and scores, words learned, experience points (XP), daily streaks, "hearts," "gems," your saved "mistake bank" (questions you answered incorrectly, kept for targeted practice), and settings such as your daily goal, learning reason, sound, and romanization preferences.

e. Subscriptions & purchases

If you purchase a Ladoo Pro subscription, the transaction is processed by Apple's App Store. We never receive or store your full payment card details. To verify and activate your subscription, we store a purchase record including the product purchased, Apple's transaction identifier, your subscription/trial status and expiry date, and the verification response returned by Apple.

f. Usage & analytics events

We log a limited set of product events to understand how features are used and to improve the App, for example when a lesson is started or completed, a feature such as the AI tutor or flashcards is opened, a screen is viewed, a subscription screen is viewed, a call-to-action is tapped, a purchase is started or completed, a free trial begins, or a free-tier limit is reached. These events are keyed to your account identifier (not your name or email) and are stored in our own backend and with our product-analytics provider, PostHog, which we use to measure retention and feature usage. Alongside each event, PostHog automatically records basic technical context (such as device and operating-system type, app version, and a session identifier) and derives an approximate location (such as country, region, and city) from your IP address; we use this only for product analytics, never for advertising. We have not enabled session recording or screen replay, so PostHog does not capture video-style recordings of your screen or your taps; we only log the discrete events described above. We do not use third-party advertising or cross-app tracking analytics (such as ad networks), and we do not track you across other apps or websites.

Your choice. Whether these analytics are on by default depends on where you are. In the European Economic Area, Switzerland, Ontario, Quebec, and any country not listed below, analytics stay off until you agree to them in the App. In the United States, the United Kingdom, the rest of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Pakistan, analytics are on by default and are used only to understand how the App is used so we can improve it. Wherever you are, you can turn them off at any time in the App under Profile → Settings → "Share usage analytics", and nothing further is sent once you do. The App works out which rule applies on your device from its time-zone setting; that setting is not sent to us for this purpose.

g. Diagnostics & crash data

To keep the App stable, we may collect crash reports and error diagnostics through Sentry. These include technical details such as error messages, stack traces, and basic device/app context. We have configured Sentry not to send default personally identifying information (for example, your IP address is not sent), and we do not send your conversations or account email to Sentry.

h. Device & technical information

When the App communicates with our backend, we and our service providers may process technical information necessary to deliver the service, such as app version, device/OS type, and network information (including your IP address, which is processed transiently for security, rate-limiting, and abuse prevention).

i. Communications & feedback

If you use the in-app "Contact us" form, we collect the email address and message you provide so we can respond and improve the App. If you email us directly, we receive whatever information you include.

j. Information stored only on your device

Some information stays on your device and is not transmitted to us, including onboarding status, your daily-goal and learning-reason selections, your AI-consent choice, your romanization preference, and a local cache of completed lessons used for offline access.

3. How we use information

We use the information described above to:

Create and manage your account and authenticate you;
Provide core learning features and sync your progress across sessions and devices;
Transcribe your speech and generate AI tutor responses;
Personalize tutoring based on your lessons, vocabulary, and past mistakes;
Process, verify, and manage subscriptions and free trials;
Send you service and reminder communications (such as a trial-ending email);
Respond to feedback, support requests, and messages you send us;
Maintain reliability, debug crashes, and improve the App;
Protect the service through rate-limiting, fraud prevention, and abuse detection; and
Comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms.

4. AI tutor & speech processing

The AI tutor and voice features rely on Google's cloud AI and speech services, and on Sarvam AI's speech recognition:

Speech-to-text: audio you record in lesson Speak exercises is sent to Google Cloud Speech-to-Text to convert it into text.
Tutor responses: your messages, learning context, and the voice recordings you send to the tutor are sent to Google's Gemini API (Google AI / Google Cloud), which transcribes spoken turns and generates the tutor's replies. In live conversation mode, your microphone audio streams to the Gemini Live API directly from your device for the duration of the session.
Text-to-speech: Punjabi text is sent to Google Cloud Text-to-Speech to produce spoken audio.
Speech recognition test and Sound pairs: recordings from Speak exercises, and from Sound pairs practice where available, are sent to Sarvam AI to convert them into text (see Section 2b).

Please don't share sensitive personal information in the chat. Because tutor messages and voice are processed by a third-party AI service to generate responses, avoid sending sensitive details (such as financial information, government identifiers, or health information). Before you first use the AI tutor, we ask for your explicit consent to this processing, and we record the date you consented.

We use a paid tier of Google's AI service. Under Google's terms for that tier, the messages and audio you send to the AI tutor are not used to train Google's models.

Sarvam AI is operated by Axonwise Private Limited and processes data in India. Under Sarvam's terms it handles the recordings we send as our processor, and it does not use them to train its models unless we opt in. We have not opted in. Sarvam deletes the recordings according to the data-retention setting we choose for our account.

Your use of these features is also subject to Google's and Sarvam AI's privacy terms, linked in the next section.

5. Third-party services we use

We rely on the following service providers ("subprocessors") to operate the App. Each only receives the information needed for its function, and each is governed by its own privacy policy.

Provider	Purpose	Information involved	Privacy policy
Supabase	Authentication, database, backend functions, and hosting	Account, learning, chat, subscription, analytics, and feedback data	supabase.com/privacy
Google Cloud / Google AI	Speech-to-Text, Text-to-Speech, and the Gemini API (AI tutor)	Voice audio (from Speak exercises and tutor conversations), transcripts, tutor messages, and learning context	policies.google.com/privacy
Sarvam AI (Axonwise Private Limited, India)	Speech recognition for the speech service test and Sound pairs practice	Voice recordings from Speak exercises and Sound pairs practice, and the words being practiced	sarvam.ai/privacy-policy
Google Sign-In	Optional sign-in method	Email, name, basic profile	policies.google.com/privacy
Apple	Sign in with Apple, App Store purchases, and receipt verification	Apple account identifier, optional email/name, subscription transaction data	apple.com/legal/privacy
Resend	Sending transactional emails (e.g., trial-ending reminders)	Email address and message content, which may include your name and summary learning stats (for example, words learned and streak)	resend.com/legal/privacy-policy
Sentry	Crash and error reporting (when enabled)	Error/diagnostic data; configured to exclude default PII	sentry.io/privacy
PostHog	Product analytics: retention and feature-usage measurement (session recording / screen replay disabled)	Product-interaction events keyed to your account identifier, basic device/app context, and approximate location derived from IP; no advertising or cross-app tracking	posthog.com/privacy

We may add or change subprocessors as the App evolves; we will update this policy when we do.

We share personal information only in these limited circumstances:

With the service providers above, who process data on our behalf to deliver the App;
With Apple, as part of processing and verifying your subscription;
For legal reasons, if required to comply with applicable law, legal process, or a lawful government request, or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our users or the public; and
In a business transfer, if the App or its assets are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale, in which case we will notify you of any change in control of your information.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

7. International data transfers

We and our service providers operate primarily in the United States, and our providers may process data in the U.S. and other countries. If you access the App from outside these regions (for example, from the EEA or UK), your information may be transferred to and processed in countries whose data-protection laws differ from those in your country. Recordings sent to Sarvam AI are processed in India. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards (such as the providers' standard contractual clauses) for these transfers.

8. Data retention

We keep personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the App, then delete or anonymize it, except where a longer period is required for legal, security, or accounting reasons. Specifically:

Voice recordings: most are not retained (discarded immediately after transcription). Recordings kept from the speech service test are deleted when the test ends, and no later than January 31, 2027. Your most recent Sound pairs recording of each word is kept until you delete your account.
Speech test and Sound pairs records (the word, what each service heard, and the result): kept until you delete your account.
Tutor chat history and learning progress: kept until you delete the conversation or your account.
Mistake bank: automatically purged after about 30 days.
Subscription records: retained as long as needed for entitlement and record-keeping.
Analytics events: retained in aggregate/operational form to improve the App.
Crash diagnostics (Sentry): retained per Sentry's default retention (generally around 90 days).

When you delete your account, your associated records are removed from our active systems (see Your rights & choices).

9. Your rights & choices

You have control over your information:

Delete your account and data. You can permanently delete your account from within the App. This removes your profile, progress, tutor conversations, mistake bank, analytics, subscription records, feedback, and any voice recordings and speech test records we hold from our active systems.
Access & correction. You can view and edit much of your profile in the App, and you may contact us to request access to or correction of your personal information.
Microphone. Voice features only work if you grant microphone permission. You can revoke it anytime in your device settings; the rest of the App will still work.
Notifications. You can enable or disable reminder notifications in the App or your device settings.
Emails. Reminder emails include a one-click unsubscribe link, and you can opt out of email reminders in the App.
AI tutor. The AI tutor is optional and requires your consent before any data is sent for processing.

To make any privacy request, email [email protected]. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law and may need to verify your identity before acting on certain requests. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to our processing of your personal data, the right to data portability, and the right to withdraw consent at any time (without affecting prior processing). You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority.

Legal bases. We process your personal data on the following bases:

Performance of a contract (to provide the App, your account, and subscriptions you request);
Consent (for the AI tutor's processing of your messages and voice, for optional notifications, and for usage analytics in the places where we ask before turning them on; you may withdraw consent at any time);
Legitimate interests (to secure, debug, and improve the App and prevent abuse, including testing whether another speech service checks your pronunciation more accurately, and usage analytics in the places where they are on by default, balanced against your rights; you can object by turning analytics off in Settings); and
Legal obligation (where we must process data to comply with the law).

To exercise these rights, contact [email protected].

11. Additional information for California residents (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it, to request access to or deletion of your personal information, and to correct inaccurate information. You also have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment for exercising these rights.

In the past 12 months we have collected the categories of personal information described in Section 2 (identifiers, account and audio/communications content, commercial/subscription information, internet and device activity, and inferences used to personalize learning), for the purposes described in Section 3, and disclosed them to the service providers listed in Section 5.

We do not "sell" or "share" your personal information as those terms are defined under California law, and we have not done so in the preceding 12 months.

If you are a California resident under 18, you may delete the information you have submitted to Ladoo at any time by deleting individual conversations or your entire account from within the app. Deleting your account removes your data from our systems, though copies may persist in backups for a limited period or where retention is required by law.

To exercise your California rights, email [email protected]. You may use an authorized agent, and we may verify your request before responding.

12. Data security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS) for data in transit, row-level security so users can only access their own records, server-side verification of subscriptions and quotas, and configuring our error-reporting tool to minimize personal data. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we work to protect your information and to respond promptly to any issues.

13. Children's privacy

Ladoo is intended for users aged 13 and older and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us personal information, please contact [email protected] and we will delete it. In some regions a higher minimum age of digital consent may apply; where required, you must meet that age or have parental consent to use the App.

14. Device permissions

The App requests the following device permission:

Microphone ("Ladoo uses your microphone so you can speak Punjabi with the AI tutor."). Used only while you are recording a voice turn. The App does not request location, contacts, photos, or tracking permissions, and does not run in the background.

15. Notifications & emails

Notifications. With your permission, the App can send local reminders (such as streak and practice reminders) scheduled on your device. These are local notifications; we do not collect push notification tokens or send remote push notifications.

Emails. If you are on a free trial, we may send you a transactional reminder email (for example, before your trial converts) using our email provider, Resend. Every reminder email includes a one-click unsubscribe link, and you can opt out of email reminders at any time. Reminder emails may include a short summary of your learning progress, such as words learned and your streak.

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will revise the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice within the App. Your continued use of the App after an update means you accept the revised policy.

17. Contact us

If you have questions, requests, or concerns about this policy or your personal information, contact us at:

Ladoo
Ladoo LLC
Email: [email protected]

This policy is governed by the laws of the State of California, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles, except where overridden by mandatory data-protection laws applicable to you.