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Privacy Policy

This privacy policy has been compiled to better serve those who are concerned with how their 'Personally Identifiable Information' (PII) is being used online. PII, as described in US privacy law and information security, is information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify an individual in context. Please read our privacy policy carefully to get a clear understanding of how we collect, use, protect or otherwise handle your Personally Identifiable Information in accordance with our website.

What PII do we collect from visitors?

When registering on our site, you will be asked to enter a username, email address, and birthday. Throughout the course of using the site, you will send instant messages to friends and family which could contain personal information.

What PII do we collect from students?

Students register and login using a class code provided by their teacher, username and password. These are anonymous by design.

When do we collect information?

We collect information from you when you register on our site. We collect and store your instant messages as you send them.

How do we use your information?

We use the information we collect from you when you register to allow you to sign in and use a personal account.

We algorithmically analyze conversation data to offer personalized practice activities and progress metrics. We will use non-identifiable and aggregated conversation data and activity scores to improve our practice activities and progress metrics.

We use user's feedback on translations (checks, flags, and edits) to improve future translations.

We may use your email address to send you product updates, feature announcements, educational content, and other service-related communications. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time using the unsubscribe link included in each email.

How do we protect your information?

We use TLS (Transport Layer Security) encryption to protect data in transit between your device and our servers.

Your personal information is contained behind secured networks and is only accessible by a limited number of persons who have special access rights to such systems, and are required to keep the information confidential. In addition, all sensitive/credit information you supply is encrypted via Transport Layer Security (TLS) technology.

Our databases and internal systems are not directly accessible from the internet. Access to production systems is restricted to authorized personnel only.

We regularly review and update the software components we use to address known security vulnerabilities.

AI-Powered Language Tools

Pangea Chat uses a blend of in-house and third-party AI services to provide language learning features. The table below describes what data is sent to each provider and why.

| Provider | Features | Data Sent | |----------|----------|-----------| | OpenAI | Grammar checking, translation, chat assistance, vocabulary analysis, speech-to-text (Whisper) | Message text you write, audio recordings when you use speaking features | | Anthropic | Grammar checking, translation, chat assistance (alternative to OpenAI) | Message text you write | | Deepgram | Speech-to-text transcription | Audio recordings when you use speaking features | | Google Cloud | Text-to-speech, speech-to-text, syntax analysis | Message text, audio recordings, text for speech synthesis |

When you use these features, only the content is sent: your account identity, username, and email are never shared with these providers. All AI providers operate under API terms that prohibit them from using your data to train their models.

We implement a variety of security measures when a user enters, submits, or accesses their information to maintain the safety of your personal information.

All transactions are processed through a gateway provider and are not stored or processed on our servers.

Do we use cookies?

Yes. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer's hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow) that enables the site's or service provider's systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information. We use cookies to maintain your login session and to understand your preferences based on previous or current site activity, which enables us to provide you with improved services. We also use cookies to help us compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future.

We use cookies to:

  • Understand and save user's preferences for future visits.
  • Compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interactions in order to offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may also use trusted third-party services that track this information on our behalf.

You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies. You do this through your browser settings. Since browsers are a little different, look at your browser's Help menu to learn the correct way to modify your cookies.

If users disable cookies in their browser

The app uses cookies for login so if you turn cookies off then it will disable our ability to log you in to the site.

Third-party disclosure

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your Personally Identifiable Information unless we provide users with advance notice. This does not include website hosting partners and other parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or serving our users, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release information when it's release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others' rights, property or safety.

We do not share, sell, or provide user data to third parties for marketing, advertising, or any purpose unrelated to the operation of our service.

Third-party links

Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third-party products or services on our website. These third-party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.

Google

We use Google Firebase for app analytics and push notifications. Firebase Analytics collects usage data such as screen views, feature engagement, and app events to help us improve the product. This data is processed by Google under their Firebase Privacy Policy. We do not use Google AdSense or any Google advertising products.

If you create an account using Google Single Sign On, your information will only be used for account authentication.

California Online Privacy Protection Act

CalOPPA is the first state law in the United States to require commercial websites and online services to post a privacy policy. The law's reach stretches well beyond California to require any person or company in the United States (and conceivably the world) that operates websites collecting Personally Identifiable Information from California consumers to post a conspicuous privacy policy on its website stating exactly the information being collected and those individuals or companies with whom it is being shared.

According to CalOPPA, we agree to the following:

Users can visit our site anonymously.

Once this privacy policy is created, we will add a link to it on our home page or as a minimum, on the first significant page after entering our website.

Our Privacy Policy link includes the word "Privacy" and can easily be found on the page specified above.

You will be notified of any Privacy Policy changes:

  • On our Privacy Policy page

You can change your personal information:

  • By logging in to your account

How does our site handle Do Not Track signals?

We honor Do Not Track signals. When a Do Not Track (DNT) browser mechanism is in place, we do not use non-essential analytics cookies.

Does our site allow third-party behavioral tracking?

It's also important to note that we do not allow third-party behavioral tracking

COPPA (Children Online Privacy Protection Act)

When it comes to the collection of personal information from children under the age of 13 years old, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) puts parents in control. The Federal Trade Commission, United States' consumer protection agency, enforces the COPPA Rule, which spells out what operators of websites and online services must do to protect children's privacy and safety online.

Our service requires users to be at least 16 years of age, or to have verifiable parental or guardian consent. Users self-certify their age during registration. We do not specifically market to children under the age of 13 years old, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without parental consent, we will delete that information promptly.

European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have the following rights under the GDPR with respect to your personal data:

  • Right of access — You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
  • Right to rectification — You may request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
  • Right to erasure — You may request that we delete your personal data, subject to certain legal exceptions.
  • Right to restriction of processing — You may request that we restrict the processing of your personal data under certain circumstances.
  • Right to data portability — You may request a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
  • Right to object — You may object to our processing of your personal data for direct marketing or where we rely on legitimate interests.
  • Right to withdraw consent — Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing performed before withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@pangea.chat. We will respond to your request within 30 days. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing your request.

If you believe we have not adequately addressed your data protection concerns, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.

Our legal basis for processing personal data is:

  • Performance of a contract — To provide you with the language learning services you registered for.
  • Legitimate interests — To improve our services through aggregated and non-identifiable usage analysis.
  • Legitimate interests — To send product updates and service-related communications that help you use the platform effectively. You may opt out at any time.
  • Consent — For optional analytics and marketing communications, which you may withdraw at any time.

Fair Information Practices

The Fair Information Practices Principles form the backbone of privacy law in the United States and the concepts they include have played a significant role in the development of data protection laws around the globe. Understanding the Fair Information Practice Principles and how they should be implemented is critical to comply with the various privacy laws that protect personal information.

In order to be in line with Fair Information Practices we will take the following responsive action, should a data breach occur:

We will notify you via email:

  • Within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach

We also agree to the Individual Redress Principle which requires that individuals have the right to legally pursue enforceable rights against data collectors and processors who fail to adhere to the law. This principle requires not only that individuals have enforceable rights against data users, but also that individuals have recourse to courts or government agencies to investigate and/or prosecute non-compliance by data processors.

CAN-SPAM Act

The CAN-SPAM Act is a law that sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have emails stopped from being sent to them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.

We collect your email address in order to:

  • Send information, respond to inquiries, and/or other requests or questions.
  • Send product updates, feature announcements, and educational content related to our service.
  • Send engagement communications to help you get the most out of the platform.

To be in accordance with CANSPAM, we agree to the following:

  • Not use false or misleading subjects or email addresses.
  • Identify the message as an advertisement in some reasonable way.
  • Include the physical address of our business or site headquarters.
  • Monitor third-party email marketing services for compliance, if one is used.
  • Honor opt-out/unsubscribe requests quickly.
  • Allow users to unsubscribe by using the link at the bottom of each email.

If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving future emails, you can use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email or contact us at support@pangea.chat and we will promptly remove you from ALL correspondence.

Contacting Us

If there are any questions regarding this privacy policy, you may contact us using the information below.

Pangea Chat, LLC 1717 East Cary Street Richmond, VA 23223 United States of America support@pangea.chat