Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how the Essential Words AI mobile application ("Essential", "we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, and protects your information when you use the app. By using Essential, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

Information We Collect

We collect only the information needed to provide and improve the app:

• Account information. When you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive your name, email address, and (for Google) profile picture, along with a unique account identifier. Signing in is optional and only required for features such as saving favorites, quizzes, and learning progress.
• Learning data. Your study activity — daily streaks, completed units and books, saved (favorited) words, and comments you add — so your progress can be saved and synced.
• Device & notification data. A push notification token (Firebase Cloud Messaging), your device platform (iOS/Android), and time zone, used to deliver streak reminders.
• Advertising data. We show non-personalized ads through Google AdMob. To display ads and prevent abuse, AdMob may process your IP address and a limited device identifier — but we do not use it to build a personal profile or track you. See the “Advertising” section below.
• AI conversation data. If you use the optional AI Speaking Partner, the text of your messages — including speech you dictate that your device converts to text — is sent to our server and to Google's Gemini AI to generate the tutor's replies. We do not record, upload, or store your voice audio. See the “AI Speaking Partner & Voice” section below.

We do not collect your contacts, photos, precise location, or payment information.

How We Use Your Information

• Authenticate your account and keep you signed in.
• Save and sync your learning progress across sessions.
• Send optional reminder notifications to help you keep your streak.
• Operate, maintain, and improve the app.

We do not sell or rent your personal information. To keep the app free, we show ads through Google AdMob, which may process limited data as described in the “Advertising” section.

Third-Party Services

Essential relies on a few trusted providers that may process limited data on our behalf:

• Google Sign-In & Apple Sign in — for secure authentication.
• Firebase (Cloud Messaging & Analytics, Google) — for push notifications and anonymous usage analytics.
• Google AdMob — for showing advertisements.
• Google Gemini API (Google) — processes the text of your AI Speaking Partner conversations to generate responses.
• Application hosting — our backend server stores your account and learning data.

These services have their own privacy policies governing how they handle data.

Advertising

To keep Essential Words AI free, we display ads via Google AdMob. We use non-personalized ads only — ads are based on the app's general context, not on your personal interests or profile, and we do not track you across other apps or websites.

To show ads and prevent fraud, AdMob may still process limited data such as your IP address and a non-persistent device identifier (for example, to limit how often the same ad is shown). This data is not used to build a personal advertising profile of you.

Learn more in Google's advertising policy.

AI Speaking Partner & Voice

Essential includes an optional AI Speaking Partner that lets you practice English by chatting with an AI tutor using text or voice.

• Microphone & speech-to-text. When you tap the microphone, your device's built-in speech recognition (provided by Apple on iOS or Google on Android) converts your speech into text. The audio is handled by your device/operating system for this purpose only — we do not record, upload, or store your voice audio.
• Conversation text sent to Google Gemini. The resulting text of your messages, together with the vocabulary words for that session, is sent to our server and then to Google's Gemini API to generate the tutor's replies, corrections, and suggestions. Google processes this text to provide the response in accordance with its terms.
• Text-to-speech. The AI's text reply may be read aloud using your device's built-in text-to-speech. No additional data is collected for this.

Using the AI Speaking Partner is entirely optional — if you do not use it, no conversation or voice data is processed. Learn more in Google's Privacy Policy.

Data Retention & Account Deletion

We keep your data only while your account is active. You can permanently delete your account and all associated data at any time directly in the app:

• Open Profile / Settings → Delete account.

Once confirmed, your profile, streaks, completed units, favorites, and registered notification devices are permanently removed from our servers. This action cannot be undone.

Push Notifications

With your permission, we send reminder notifications. You can turn these off any time from your device settings or via the Reminders toggle in the app, and the notification token is removed when you sign out or delete your account.

Security

We use industry-standard measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS) and token-based authentication. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Children's Privacy

Essential is intended for general audiences and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will remove it.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date.