arabically helps you learn Arabic from short clips of real videos. This policy explains which personal data we collect, why, who helps us process it, how long we keep it and what your rights are. We only collect what the app needs to work. There are no ads in the app and no analytics. Only if you allow it, we measure which of our ads brought you to arabically.
Who we are
arabically ("we", "us") is based in the Netherlands and is the controller of your personal data under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
For any question or request about your data, email support@arabically.app.
What we collect
Account. Your email address and a password (stored only as a secure hash by our authentication provider), or, if you use them, your Sign in with Apple or Google identifier. If you use Sign in with Apple and choose to hide your email, we only receive Apple's private relay address. Also the display name and username you choose.
Learning profile. The answers you give during onboarding (why you learn, your level, what you find hard, how you heard about us, your daily goal, reminder time and streak goal) and your settings.
Learning activity. Your streak, how many minutes, reviews and clips you did each day, which clips you watched (to count views), and your monthly usage (videos imported, shorts created) for the fair-use limits.
Your content. The shorts you create (YouTube video ID, the part you chose, title, level, topics, visibility), their subtitles and translations, the words you save with the sentence you saved them from, your word lists and your review history.
Social. Friend requests, friendships, blocks, the clips you like and the clips you share with friends.
Reports. When you report a clip or a person, we store your report, the reason you chose and what it is about.
Subscription. Whether you have an active subscription or free trial, which plan, and its start, renewal and end dates. Payments themselves are handled by Apple or Google; we never see your card or bank details.
Support. If you email us, your email address and what you write to us.
Ad measurement, only with your permission. We advertise arabically on Facebook and Instagram. If you allow it, the Meta SDK in the app sends Meta:
- your device's advertising ID (the IDFA on iPhone, the Advertising ID on Android);
- basic device information, such as model, operating system, language and time zone;
- a few app events: that the app was installed or opened, and that you finished signing up, started a free trial or subscribed (with the plan and price).
It never sends your name, email, arabically account or what you learn. Without your permission the Meta SDK isn't started at all.
Technical data. Like any online service, our servers briefly log technical data such as your IP address and the time of a request, to keep the service secure and to fix errors.
Only on your phone. A cache of clips and translations to make the app faster, your reminder schedule (reminders are scheduled on your phone; we don't use push tokens), and the camera image while you scan a friend's code. Camera images are never stored or sent to us.
What we don't collect
We don't show ads in the app and don't use analytics tools. We don't build profiles for marketing and never sell your data. Apart from the ad measurement you can allow (see above), we don't share your data for advertising. We don't access your contacts, photos, microphone or location.
Why we use it
To provide the app (performance of our contract with you): your account, your clips, words and reviews, reminders, friends and the subscription you chose.
To keep the service safe and fair (our legitimate interest): fair-use limits, preventing abuse, handling reports, security logs and fixing errors.
Ad measurement (your consent): to learn which of our ads bring people to arabically, so we spend less on ads that don't work. You can withdraw your permission at any time in the app (Settings › Ad measurement) and, on iPhone, in iOS Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking.
Reminders (your consent): daily reminders and the reminder before your free trial ends are only shown if you allow notifications. You can switch them off at any time in the app or in your phone's settings.
We don't make decisions about you based solely on automated processing. AI is only used to translate and explain the videos you import.
Who can see your data
There is no public feed of users' clips. Clips you mark as "Friends" are visible to the friends you approved; private clips are only visible to you. Clips published by arabically itself are visible to everyone.
Your friends can see your username, display name, streak and weekly activity (minutes, reviews and clips) on the friends leaderboard. They never see your saved words, lists or review history.
People can find you by typing your exact username, and people who share a friend with you may see your username and display name as a friend suggestion. Anyone you have blocked can't find you.
A small number of arabically staff can view account details to handle support requests, reports and abuse. Every action they take is logged.
Who processes it for us
We use these service providers. Each of them processes data only on our instructions and under a data processing agreement.
Supabase hosts our database, authentication and servers, in the EU.
OpenAI receives the subtitle text of the videos you import, never your name or email, to translate it, add vowel marks and explain words. Under OpenAI's API terms this data is not used to train models. It may be kept for up to 30 days to detect abuse.
Supadata fetches the title, channel and captions of the YouTube videos you import, or makes a transcript of what is said in them. Only the video link is sent.
YouTube (Google) plays clips inside the app with its official embedded player. When a clip plays, Google may process data as described in the Google Privacy Policy (policies.google.com/privacy), and the YouTube Terms of Service apply.
RevenueCat keeps track of your subscription. It receives your arabically account ID (not your name or email) and the purchase details that Apple or Google report.
Meta Platforms Ireland receives the ad measurement data described above, only with your permission. Meta and arabically are jointly responsible for collecting and sending this data; what Meta then does with it falls under Meta's own privacy policy (facebook.com/privacy/policy). We only see combined results, never data about you personally.
Apple and Google handle Sign in with Apple and Sign in with Google if you use them, and all payments through the App Store and Google Play.
Some of these providers are based in the United States. Transfers are covered by the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.
How long we keep it
We keep your data for as long as you have an account.
When you delete your account (Settings › Delete account), we immediately delete your profile, clips, saved words, lists, review history, activity, friendships, likes and the reports you made or that were about you. Database backups roll over and are gone within 30 days.
What we keep after that:
- Translations of public YouTube captions are kept without any link to you, to serve other learners.
- A record of moderation actions taken on your account may be kept for up to two years to protect the service.
- Server logs are deleted automatically within 90 days.
- Ad measurement data is kept by Meta under its own policy; you can ask Meta to delete it through your Facebook settings or Meta's privacy centre.
- Support emails are kept for up to two years.
How we protect it
All data is encrypted in transit. Access to the database is restricted per account, so each account can only read its own data and what friends have shared with it. Passwords are stored only as a secure hash. Staff access is limited to what is needed and is logged.
Your rights
You have the right to access your data, correct it, delete it, receive a copy of it (data portability), object to or restrict its use, and withdraw your consent at any time.
You can do most of this yourself in the app. For anything else, email support@arabically.app from the address of your account. We answer within one month.
You can also file a complaint with a data protection authority. In the Netherlands that is the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl).
Children
arabically is not meant for children under 13. You must be at least 16 years old to use it, or at least 13 with permission from a parent or guardian. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, email us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will tell you in the app before the change takes effect. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.