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Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 10, 2026

Dialectic Method ("we", "us") provides an AI-guided oral proficiency platform. We take privacy seriously and design the service to collect the minimum data required to deliver and improve advanced English instruction. This policy explains what we collect, how we use it, and the rights you hold over your data — under the EU/UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA), Brazil's LGPD, Canada's PIPEDA, and other international privacy frameworks.

1. Data we collect

Account information

  • Name and email address (required for sign-in and security notifications)
  • Email/login credentials — passwords are hashed by our authentication provider; we never store passwords in plaintext
  • Account preferences (voice, language, interface settings)

Speech input and transcripts

  • Audio captured from your device microphone during practice sessions
  • Text transcripts produced from that audio (on-device speech recognition where available; otherwise via our processors)
  • You control microphone access through your device settings at any time

AI conversation content

  • The full back-and-forth between you and the AI interlocutor across the six dialectical stages
  • Stage progression, duration, automated rubric scores, and proficiency estimates (CEFR / ACTFL)
  • Vocabulary surfaced and feedback generated for each session

Analytics and diagnostics

  • Aggregate product metrics (feature usage, session counts) to understand how learners progress
  • Crash reports and diagnostic logs to detect and fix bugs
  • No advertising identifiers, no cross-app tracking, no third-party advertising SDKs

Subscription and payment data

  • On iPhone and iPad, subscription purchases are processed exclusively by Apple via the App Store and StoreKit. We never see or store your credit card number, billing address, or full Apple ID. Apple shares with us only the anonymized transaction receipt required to grant entitlement.
  • On the web, payments are handled by our PCI-compliant payment processor; we receive billing email, country, and the transaction reference — never full card numbers.
  • Subscription management, renewal, and cancellation on iOS happen entirely through your Apple ID account settings.

Optional research demographics

  • Age band, gender (optional), education level, native language, country
  • Current and target proficiency

Technical data

  • Device, browser, and IP address (used transiently for security and abuse prevention)
  • Strictly necessary cookies for authentication (see our Cookie Disclosure)

2. How we use your data

  • To provide the service — generate AI replies, score sessions, and track your progression.
  • To secure your account — detect fraud, enforce rate limits, and respond to abuse.
  • To improve pedagogy — only with your consent, we retain anonymized non-identifiable analytics for educational efficacy research (see §6).
  • To communicate with you — transactional messages (verification, billing, security). We do not send marketing without explicit opt-in.

3. Legal bases (GDPR Art. 6)

  • Contract — to deliver the service you signed up for.
  • Legitimate interests — to secure the service and prevent abuse.
  • Consent — for optional research participation and any non-essential communications. You may withdraw consent at any time without affecting access to the service.
  • Legal obligation — to comply with tax, accounting, and lawful requests.

4. AI processing

Your spoken transcripts are sent to large language models (provided through enterprise AI gateways) to generate interlocutor replies, scaffolds, and rubric scores. Providers process this data as data processors under contract and are not permitted to train their general-purpose models on your content. See our AI Disclosure for details.

5. Third-party services and sub-processors

We do not sell personal data. We share data only with the sub-processors that operate the service:

  • Cloud hosting and database — managed PostgreSQL with row-level security and encrypted backups (Supabase / Cloudflare infrastructure).
  • Authentication — managed identity provider that handles credential hashing and session tokens.
  • AI model providers — Google (Gemini) and OpenAI (GPT) accessed through enterprise gateways under contracts that prohibit training on user content.
  • Speech processing — on-device speech recognition where available; otherwise routed through the same enterprise AI gateway as a data processor.
  • Payment processing — Apple App Store / StoreKit for in-app subscriptions on iOS; a PCI-compliant processor for web purchases. Neither shares card numbers with us.
  • Analytics and diagnostics — privacy-preserving aggregate product analytics and crash reporting; no advertising SDKs.

6. Research data model

With your explicit consent, we retain a strictly limited, non-identifiable research dataset to study the efficacy of the dialectical oral proficiency method. The dataset includes only: age band, gender (optional), education level, native language, country, current and target proficiency, session duration, rubric scores, and progression metrics. It contains no name, no email, no transcript text, and no IP address. You may withdraw at any time from Settings → Privacy.

7. Retention

  • Account, learning, and conversation data — retained while your account is active and for up to 30 days after deletion to satisfy backups and legal holds, then permanently erased.
  • Speech audio — discarded immediately after a transcript is produced; we do not retain raw audio recordings.
  • Session transcripts and AI replies — retained for the life of the account and erased on deletion.
  • Diagnostic / crash logs — retained up to 90 days, then purged.
  • Anonymized research dataset — retained indefinitely for longitudinal study; cannot be linked back to you.
  • Apple subscription receipts and billing records — retained for the period required by tax law (typically 7 years).

7a. Account deletion

You may permanently delete your account and all associated personal data at any time:

  • In the app — open Settings → Danger zone → Delete account. Deletion is immediate and irreversible; backups are purged within 30 days.
  • By email — write to privacy@dialecticmethod.com from your account email and we will action the request within 30 days.
  • Apple subscriptions — cancel any active subscription separately through Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions on your iPhone or iPad before requesting deletion.

8. Your rights

Wherever you live, you may exercise the following rights:

  • Access and portability — download your data as JSON from Settings → Privacy.
  • Rectification — correct your profile from Settings.
  • Erasure ("right to be forgotten") — delete your account from Settings → Privacy.
  • Withdraw consent — toggle research participation at any time.
  • Object / restrict processing — write to privacy@dialecticmethod.com.
  • Lodge a complaint — with your local supervisory authority (e.g. ICO in the UK, CNIL in France) or, for California residents, the California Privacy Protection Agency.

9. International transfers

Data may be processed outside your country of residence. Where required, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent safeguards.

10. Children

The service is not directed to children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children.

11. Security

We use row-level access controls, encryption in transit, encrypted backups, and least-privilege service roles. No system is perfectly secure; please report suspected vulnerabilities to security@dialecticmethod.com.

12. Changes

We will notify you of material changes by email and post the updated date at the top of this page.

13. Contact and support