Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 2026

This policy explains what personal information PunjabiCharm (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, why we collect it, and what you can do about it. It covers both the Learn Punjabi by PunjabiCharm mobile app and the punjabicharm.com website.

The short version: we collect as little as we can. You can use the app without an account at all, your voice recordings never leave your phone, and we never see your card details.

Using the app without an account

An account is optional. Without one, your learning progress is stored on your device and we hold no name or email address for you. The app still needs a random, non-identifying ID so it can keep your settings and, if you subscribe, recognise your subscription.

You would create an account only so your progress and subscription can be restored if you change or reset your phone.

What we collect

If you create an account — your email address, your name and profile picture as supplied by Google or Apple, any nickname or avatar you pick in the app, and which of the two you signed in with. If you use Apple's “Hide My Email”, we only ever receive the relay address Apple gives us, never your real one.

Your learning activity — your streak, days active, lessons and sessions completed, and the dates of that activity. This is what makes progress restorable.

Your setup answers — what you told us when you first opened the app: why you are learning, your level, and how long you want to practise each day. We use these to pitch the content at the right level.

App and device information — which platform you are on, the app version, your country, language and time zone. We use this to keep the app working and to understand where our learners are. We do not collect your precise location.

Notifications — whether you allowed them, the identifiers needed to deliver them to your device, and whether you opened them. You can turn notifications off at any time in your device settings.

Subscription status — whether you have an active subscription, which plan, and when it renews or expires. Payments are taken by Google Play or the App Store, never by us. We never receive or store your card or bank details.

Consent records — whether you accepted these terms, whether you opted in to our emails, and the dates you did. We keep these so we can show that any email we send you was asked for.

Diagnostics — anonymous crash and performance reports when something goes wrong, so we can fix it.

Advertising (free users only) — if you use the free version, ads are shown by Google. Your device's advertising identifier and general app-usage signals may be used to select and measure them. See Advertising and your choices below. Subscribers see no ads.

On the website — limited technical information (browser type, pages viewed, referring page) to understand how the Site is used, and, if you request a free guide or join our email list, your email address, name if given, and the date and source of your signup.

What we do not collect

Your voice recordings. Speaking practice records audio so you can play it back and compare it with a native speaker. That audio stays on your device and is never uploaded to us or to anyone else.
Card, bank or payment details — these go to Google or Apple, not to us.
Your precise location, your contacts, your photos, or your files.

Why we use it

To run the app and website and keep your progress safe.
To restore your progress and subscription when you sign in on a new device.
To remind you to practise, if you asked for notifications.
To understand which lessons work, so we can improve them.
To show ads to free users, and no ads to subscribers.
To send you learning emails, only if you asked for them.
To keep records we are legally required to keep, and to prevent fraud and abuse.

If you are in the UK or the European Economic Area

Our legal bases are:

Contract — running your account, your subscription, and the learning features you asked for.
Consent — marketing emails, notifications, and personalised advertising. You can withdraw any of these at any time without affecting the rest of the app.
Legitimate interests — keeping the app secure and working, understanding which features are used, and preventing abuse. We only rely on this where your rights do not override it.
Legal obligation — tax and accounting records.

Advertising and your choices

Free users see ads supplied by Google. Subscribing removes them entirely.

On iOS, we ask before any tracking through Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt. Decline it and you still get ads, just non-personalised ones. You can change your answer later in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.
In the UK, EEA and Switzerland, we ask for your advertising consent through Google's consent prompt, and you can change or withdraw it at any time from the privacy options in the app.
On Android, you can reset or delete your advertising ID in Settings → Privacy → Ads.

Leaderboard

The leaderboard is optional. You are never added to it automatically — you have to sign in and choose to join, and you can leave at any time.

If you join, other people using the app can see:

the display name you choose
the avatar you pick
the country flag you select, if any
your practice score for the current week, and your current streak
an anonymous account identifier, used only so that other members can report a name that breaks the rules

We do not publish your email address, your real name, your location, or anything about your subscription.

The country shown beside your name is one you choose yourself from a list. It is used only to display a flag. It is not used to work out where you are, and it does not affect prices, features or advertising. For some countries we show your flag only to you, and other members see your entry without one.

Scores reset every week, on Monday at 00:00 UTC. We keep up to 35 days of daily practice counts so that the weekly total can be worked out.

If you leave the leaderboard, your entry is removed and you no longer appear to other members. If you delete your account, your leaderboard entry is deleted with it.

Members can report a name they believe breaks the rules. We record how many reports an entry has received so that names reported repeatedly can be hidden.

The leaderboard is not available in every country.

Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising in the sense used by US state privacy laws. We share it only with the service providers who make the app work, each bound to use it only on our instructions:

Google and Apple — sign-in, app distribution, and subscription billing.
Google — advertising to free users, as described above.
Google and Meta — measuring which of our ads and content bring people to the app.
Our cloud hosting and database providers — storing your account and progress securely.
Our analytics and crash-reporting providers — understanding usage and fixing faults.
Our email provider — sending the emails you asked for, and keeping the record of your consent.

We may also disclose information where the law requires it, to respond to lawful requests, or to protect our rights, our users, or the public.

Where your information is held

We operate internationally, and our service providers store and process information in countries including Canada, the United States and the European Union. Where information leaves your country, we rely on the safeguards those providers put in place — such as standard contractual clauses — so that it keeps an equivalent level of protection. If you are in Australia or New Zealand, this means your information may be handled overseas by the providers described above.

How long we keep it

Your account and progress — until you delete your account, or ask us to.
Email subscription details — until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them.
Leaderboard entry and daily practice counts — until you leave the leaderboard or delete your account; daily counts are kept for up to 35 days.
Consent records — for as long as we may need to show that consent was given.
Purchase and tax records — for as long as the law requires us to keep them.
Anonymous usage totals — indefinitely, because they can no longer identify you.

Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it. Email [email protected] from the address on your account and we will respond within 30 days. We do not charge for this and we will not treat you differently for asking.

UK and EEA (UK GDPR / GDPR) — you also have the right to object to processing, to restrict it, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time. You may complain to your data protection authority; in the UK that is the Information Commissioner's Office.
Canada (PIPEDA) — you may access and correct your information and complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
United States — depending on your state, you may have the right to know, delete, correct, and to opt out of sale or sharing. We do not sell or share personal information as those laws define it, so there is nothing to opt out of, and we do not discriminate against anyone who exercises a right.
Australia (Privacy Act 1988) — you may access and correct your information and complain to us first, then to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner if you are not satisfied.
New Zealand (Privacy Act 2020) — you may access and correct your information and complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account and its data yourself inside the app, or ask us to do it. Full instructions, and a list of exactly what is removed and what is kept, are on our Delete your account page.

Deleting your account does not cancel a paid subscription — subscriptions are managed by Google Play or the App Store and must be cancelled there.

Emails

We only send marketing email to people who asked for it. In the app and on the website, the request is a separate, unticked box that is never a condition of signing in or of using anything. Ticking it is not required, and leaving it unticked costs you nothing.

We record the date and place you gave that consent. Every marketing email carries a working unsubscribe link and identifies us as the sender. You can also unsubscribe by emailing us. Service messages about your account or subscription are not marketing and are sent regardless.

We are currently building this email programme. Your choice is being recorded now and will be honoured when it starts — if you did not opt in, you will not be emailed.

Children

PunjabiCharm is for adults. The app is rated for an audience of 18 and over, it is not directed at children, and accounts are for adults only. We do not knowingly collect personal information from a child.

Many of our learners are parents teaching their children Punjabi, and that is exactly who we built it for. A child learning alongside a parent does so on the parent's device and under the parent's account — the account, the subscription and the settings all belong to the adult, who remains in control of them. We do not create accounts for children and do not ask children for any information.

If you believe a child has given us personal information directly, email us and we will delete it.

Security

Your information is held on reputable cloud services, encrypted in transit, and reachable only by us and the providers listed above. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect it and will tell you and the relevant regulator if a breach occurs that is likely to cause you harm.

Changes

We may update this policy to reflect changes in the app or in the law. The date at the top shows the latest revision, and material changes will be brought to your attention in the app or by email.

Contact

Questions, requests or complaints: [email protected]. We read every message and aim to reply within a few days.