Privacy policy

Effective October 29, 2026. YallaTongues is operated by Ethan Hartzell under North African Linguistics. For privacy questions, account deletion, or other requests, contact northafricanlinguistics@gmail.com.

Your private learning library

Sets, dictionaries, courses, answers, progress, and preferences are saved on your device: in browser storage on the web and a local database in the mobile app. Signing in alone does not upload your private library to our backend. You can export a backup. Clearing browser data, uninstalling the app, or device storage eviction can remove local data.

Google sign-in and optional Drive storage

If you sign in, Google and Supabase process your account identity, including your email, profile information, user identifier, and authentication/session records. These support sign-in, account separation, and public contributions. You can use local learning features without an account.

Connecting Google Drive is optional and separate from signing in. We request access to files created or opened through the app, not your entire Drive. When you manually save or load, library files are transferred directly between your device and your Google Drive. Earlier versions may remain there. Disconnecting does not delete those files; manage them in Drive. You can revoke access in your Google account permissions. Drive copies are not end-to-end encrypted by YallaTongues.

Public content and leaderboards

Publishing sends the selected learning content and attribution to our public service. Anyone may read, download, and copy it. A published edition cannot be switched back to private, but you can delete it. Deletion cannot recall copies made by others. Public quizzes store round questions, responses, timing, scores, and the public alias you choose. We do not display your sign-in email on leaderboards. Creator-curated learning resources may also be distributed as public files through our hosting provider.

Activity and service operation

While a signed-in app is active, it sends a last-active timestamp associated with your account so we can estimate active accounts. You can disable activity counting in Account; this removes your activity timestamp. This counter does not include private learning content or anonymous visitors. Cloudflare, Supabase, and other infrastructure providers may process IP addresses, request details, security logs, and device/browser information to deliver and protect the service.

Google advertising and cookies

Advertising is being prepared and is not activated by ownership verification. When enabled, limited Google AdSense web banners or Google AdMob mobile banners may appear on public discovery screens. We request non-personalized ads; these can still use cookies, local storage, or device information for delivery, measurement, fraud prevention, and frequency control. We do not deliberately send private terms, answers, email, or account IDs as ad targeting data.

Google and other advertising vendors may use cookies or similar identifiers. Depending on consent and provider settings, Google advertising cookies can enable Google and its partners to serve ads based on visits to this and other websites. You can manage available consent choices through Ad privacy choices where ads are offered, browser controls, and Google My Ad Center. Rejecting advertising consent does not block learning features. See how Google uses information from partner sites and apps and Google’s privacy policy.

Linked images, video, speech, and camera

Images linked in sets load directly from their original hosts. Those hosts may receive your IP address, browser/device information and ordinary web request information. Image links and labels are included when you export, save to Drive, or explicitly publish their set. YallaTongues does not upload or host a copy merely because you paste an image link.

Embedded YouTube and Internet Archive media connect to those providers, which may receive IP addresses, viewing requests, cookies, and device information under their own policies. Text-to-speech uses voices available through your device or browser; your platform may use an online speech service. The optional sign-practice camera is a live preview. YallaTongues does not record, save, or upload camera video.

Usernames and character avatars

If you create a profile, your chosen username and built-in character avatar are public when you share content or appear on a leaderboard. Usernames are unique without regard to capitalization and are checked for profanity and slurs. Your email is not shown on leaderboards. Creator permissions are tied to a verified account, not granted by choosing a particular name. Creator-written course introductions and lesson preambles are public; existing private copies remain independent.

Retention, deletion, and your choices

Local data remains until you remove it or device/browser storage is cleared. Drive versions remain until you delete them in Drive. Account and public service records remain while needed to operate the service, until deletion, or where security and applicable obligations require retention. Earlier private server backups from previous versions are available only for explicit recovery or deletion in Account; new private backup writes are disabled. Deleted data may persist temporarily in provider backups or security logs.

You can export your library, delete local items, remove public editions, revoke Google access, and contact us to request account deletion or access, correction, or deletion of personal data we hold. Deleting your account does not automatically remove copies on your devices or in Drive. We may need to verify a request. We use service providers to operate the app; we do not sell your private learning library. Providers may process data outside your country.

Children and policy changes

The service is not specifically directed to children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal data without appropriate permission, contact us. We will update this page when our practices change and revise the effective date.

Discover world map

When you choose Map view, map tiles load from OpenStreetMap. The tile provider receives normal network request information, such as your IP address and requested map tiles. We do not request your device location. Language reference coordinates are served from our site using attributed Glottolog data. Manual location matches are saved with your private library settings.