一歩Privacy Policy
Ippo is built to need as little of your data as possible. You can use the whole app without an account; your progress then stays on your iPhone. There are no ads and no tracking, and nothing is sold. Anonymous usage stats are sent only if you say yes.
Who is responsible
The controller of your personal data is Paweł Sapronczyk, the developer of Ippo, based in Poland, reachable at tokyonightowl@proton.me. Write to this address for any question or request about your data.
What we process, and why
| Data | When | Why, and the legal basis (GDPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Your learning progress: cards and their schedule, finished lessons and homework, test results, your answers' ratings, notes and settings for cards | Always, on your iPhone. In the cloud only if you sign in. | To run the course and your reviews, and to keep them on all your devices. Performance of our contract with you (Art. 6(1)(b)). |
| Account: your email address and a user ID from Google or Apple | Only if you choose to sign in | To know which progress is yours and sync it. Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)). |
| Subscription: a random app user ID (or your account's user ID once signed in), what you bought and when, and the App Store receipt | When the app starts, and when you buy or restore Ippo Pro | To give you Ippo Pro and keep it on all your devices. Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)); keeping purchase records also follows legal obligations (Art. 6(1)(c)). |
| Sentences you write in homework, when you ask AI Sensei to check them | With Ippo Pro (or one of three free checks to try it), only after you allow it, and only when you tap “Check with AI Sensei” | To check your Japanese and explain mistakes. Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)). Before the first check the app asks whether it may send your sentences to Google; you can turn this off again in the app's settings. Only the sentences you wrote are sent, to Google's Gemini model in the EU, and the feedback comes back; we don't store them. Don't write personal details you'd rather not share. |
| A report about an exercise: which exercise, what kind of problem, and the answer you gave (also when you say “My answer should count” or “I disagree” with AI Sensei) | Only when you send one | So our editors can fix the course. Our legitimate interest in correct lessons (Art. 6(1)(f)). Sent without your account or any ID, stored in Firebase in the EU, kept until the exercise is fixed. |
| Your voice in the Speak exercise | Only when you tap Record | So you can hear yourself next to the model. Stays on your iPhone and is deleted when you leave the exercise; it is never uploaded. |
| A daily reminder | Only if you turn it on | Scheduled on your iPhone itself; nothing leaves the device. |
| Technical details sent with each request to Firebase: device model, iOS version and app version | When the app talks to Firebase (signed in, AI Sensei, or a report) | So Google's servers can answer the request and keep the service working. Our legitimate interest in a working app (Art. 6(1)(f)). |
| A crash report: where in the app it crashed, the app version, your iPhone model and iOS version, and a random installation ID | Only if the app crashes, unless you turn off Send crash reports (You → Your data) | So we can find and fix what made the app crash. Our legitimate interest in a working app (Art. 6(1)(f)); you can object at any time with that switch. It isn't linked to your account or your progress. |
| Anonymous usage stats: which lessons, homework, tests and reviews you start, finish or leave (and at which step), which exercises you got wrong, which main screens you open, when you add a card of your own (not its words), how far you read the tour of Today, where you're starting, why you're learning and the time you chose in onboarding and whether the reminder is on, when the Ippo Pro offer is shown and whether a purchase went through, with a random app instance ID, your iPhone model, iOS version, app version and rough country | Only if you choose Share anonymous usage stats when you start, or turn it on later (You → Your data). Off until you choose. | To see where learners get stuck and improve the course. Your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)); turn the switch off at any time and nothing more is sent. Never your name, email, account or what you type; no advertising identifiers, no ads, and not linked to your account or progress. |
We don't collect your name, precise location, contacts, photos or advertising identifiers, and we don't make automated decisions about you.
Who processes it for us
- Google Firebase (Google Ireland Ltd / Google LLC): sign-in and the cloud copy of your progress. Progress is stored in Google's European region (eur3). Sign-in data may be processed in the USA, under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and Google's data processing terms. Crash reports go to Firebase Crashlytics, and usage stats (if you agreed) to Google Analytics for Firebase; both may be processed in the USA under the same terms. Google Signals and data sharing with Google are off, so usage stats aren't used for ads or combined with your Google account.
- Google Cloud (Gemini, via Firebase AI Logic): AI Sensei. Requests are processed in Google's EU region (europe-west1) under the Google Cloud data processing terms; Google doesn't use them to train its models.
- RevenueCat, Inc. (USA): manages subscriptions on top of the App Store, under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and RevenueCat's data processing addendum. It never receives your email. RevenueCat gives us aggregated subscription numbers (how many people subscribe and renew); nothing is used for ads.
- Apple handles payments in the App Store as an independent controller, under Apple's own privacy policy. We never see your payment details.
The waitlist on our website
If you join the waitlist on our website, we keep your email address, the time you signed up and confirmed, and the IP address you did it from (kept as proof that you agreed). We use it only to email you when Ippo is in the App Store, and perhaps once to invite you to try the beta first. The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)): you confirm it with the link in our first email, and you can withdraw it at any time with the unsubscribe link in every email, or by writing to us. The list is kept by Brevo (Sendinblue SAS, France) under its data processing agreement, and we keep your address until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it. It isn't linked to the app, your account or your progress.
How long we keep it
Your cloud copy and account are kept until you delete them. Delete account in the app (You → Your data) erases your account and everything in the cloud immediately. Subscription records are kept by RevenueCat and Apple for as long as required for accounting and tax law; we can ask RevenueCat to delete the rest on your request. Crash reports are deleted after 90 days, usage stats after 2 months. Progress on your iPhone is deleted when you delete the app.
Your rights
You have the right to access your data, to get a copy of it (Download my data in the app gives you everything as a file), to correct it, to delete it, to restrict or object to its processing, and to take it to another service. Write to us for anything the app doesn't do by itself. You also have the right to complain to a data protection authority: in Poland the President of the Personal Data Protection Office (UODO, uodo.gov.pl), or the authority where you live.
If you live in the United States
We don't sell or share your personal information, use it for targeted advertising, or profile you, as those terms are used in the California Consumer Privacy Act and similar state laws. You can access and delete your data in the app, or by writing to us; we won't treat you differently for using these rights. Ippo is not directed at children under 13 (COPPA), and is meant for people 16 and older.
Children
Ippo is not meant for children under 16. If you're a parent and think your child has given us data, write to us and we'll delete it.
Security
Data travels encrypted. In the cloud, each learner's folder can be read and written only by that learner, signed in. Your progress on the iPhone is protected by the iPhone's own data protection.
Changes
If this policy changes in a way that matters, we'll say so in the app before it applies.