Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 28, 2026 · Applies to the Lingua mobile app, version 1.0.0-beta.1 and later.

The short version

Lingua works offline and without an account. The dictionary, flashcards, and AI chat run on your device. By default, nothing you do in the app leaves your phone.
We do not use ads, analytics, or tracking. The app contains no advertising or analytics software.
You choose what to share. Your words and recordings stay on your device until you publish them to the community or sign in to sync.
You can delete your data. Delete the app to remove on-device data. Delete your account in the app to remove synced data.

1. Who we are

Lingua is a dictionary and learning app for the indigenous and regional languages of the Philippines. This policy explains what data the app handles, what stays on your device, and what we store when you choose to use online features.

2. Data that stays on your device

Most of what Lingua does happens only on your phone. The following data is stored locally and is never sent to us unless you take one of the actions described in section 3:

The dictionary. Languages, words, stories, and community entries are stored in a database on your device so the app works without internet.
Words and recordings you add. New words, translations, and pronunciation clips you record are saved on your device first. They are private by default.
Your learning activity. Favorites, flashcard progress, and settings are stored on your device.
AI chat. The optional AI model runs entirely on your phone. Your chat messages are processed on the device and are not sent to any server.
An install identifier. The app creates a random identifier on your device. It is not linked to your name, email, or any advertising system. It is only attached to contributions you choose to publish, so devices can sync without an account.

3. Data we receive when you use online features

The app has three optional online features. Each one sends data to our sync service only when you use it.

3.1 Publishing a contribution to the community

When you agree to publish a word or recording, the app shows a consent notice first. If you confirm, we receive and store:

The word, its translations, example text, and cultural notes you wrote
The pronunciation audio clip, if you attached one
The language the entry belongs to
Your install identifier or account identifier

Published entries become part of the shared community dictionary. Other users of the app can see them and, if signed in, listen to the audio. You choose how the app credits your name.

3.2 Signing in to an account

Sign-in is optional. Every feature of the app works without it. If you sign in, we receive and store:

With Sign in with Apple or Google: your account identifier from that provider, your email address, and your display name. With Apple, you may hide your email; we then receive Apple's private relay address instead.
With email and password: your email address, display name, and a salted hash of your password. We never store your password itself.
A session token kept on your device in secure storage, so you stay signed in. Sessions expire after 90 days.
A private sync snapshot: a backup of your favorites and contributions, so they follow you across devices. This snapshot is private to your account. No other user can see it.
Confirmations and flags: if you confirm or flag a community entry, we store that action with your account, along with the role you chose (for example, learner or native speaker). Other users see only the combined totals, never who acted.

3.3 Password reset

If you use an email-and-password account and request a reset, we send a one-time code to your email through Resend, an email delivery service. The code expires after 20 minutes.

We also process IP addresses briefly to limit repeated sign-in and registration attempts. This protects accounts from abuse. We do not use IP addresses to track you or build a profile.

4. What we do not collect

No advertising and no advertising identifiers
No analytics or usage tracking software
No location data
No contacts, photos, or files from your device
No AI chat messages — the AI runs on your device
No microphone audio, except pronunciation clips you record and then choose to publish

5. Permissions the app asks for

Microphone. Lingua asks for microphone access only to record pronunciation clips that you add to your dictionary. Recordings are saved on your device. The app uploads a recording only when you publish that entry to the community. If you deny microphone access, every other feature still works.

6. Services we rely on

We do not sell your data. We do not share it with anyone for advertising. We use a small number of services to run the app's online features:

Service	What it does	What it handles
Cloudflare	Hosts our sync service, database, and audio storage	Account data, published contributions, private sync snapshots
Apple	Sign in with Apple	Verifies your identity; shares your account identifier and email (or private relay email) with us
Google	Google Sign-In	Verifies your identity; shares your account identifier, email, and name with us
Resend	Sends password reset emails	Your email address and the one-time reset code
Hugging Face	Hosts the optional AI model file	Your device downloads the model file directly from their servers; standard connection data (such as your IP address) is visible to them during the download

The Learn tab also links to outside news sites and language resources. When you open a link, it opens outside the app, and that site's own privacy policy applies.

7. How long we keep data

Account data and private snapshots: kept until you delete your account.
Sessions: expire after 90 days, or immediately when you sign out or reset your password.
Password reset codes: expire after 20 minutes.
Published contributions: kept as part of the community dictionary. See section 8 for how to remove them.
Rate-limit records: kept only for short windows of minutes to hours.

8. Your choices and rights

Delete data on your device

Delete the app. This removes the dictionary, your local words and recordings, your learning activity, and the AI model from your device.

Delete your account

Go to Profile, then Settings, and request account deletion. This removes your account, your private sync snapshot, your sign-in identities, and your confirmations and flags from our servers. You can also email us and we will delete your synced data for you.

Remove a published contribution

Delete the entry in the app and it will be removed from the community dictionary on the next sync. If you no longer have the device you published from, email us with a description of the entry and we will remove it.

Access and correction

You can email us to ask what data we hold about your account, to correct it, or to receive a copy.

We answer requests at vinceaustria54@gmail.com within 2 to 3 working days. These rights are available to everyone, including rights under the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012 and, where it applies, the GDPR.

9. Security

All communication between the app and our servers uses encrypted connections (HTTPS). Passwords are stored only as salted hashes. Session tokens are stored in your device's secure storage. Access to audio recordings on our servers requires a signed-in session. Sign-in attempts are rate-limited to protect accounts.

10. Children

Lingua is suitable for all ages. The app does not require an account, does not show ads, and does not track users. If you believe a child has published personal information to the community dictionary, email us and we will remove it.

11. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update this page and the effective date at the top. If a change meaningfully affects how we handle your data, we will also say so in the app's release notes.