LingSwap

Privacy Policy

Last updated: March 19, 2026

Introduction

LingSwap ("we", "our", or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our language learning platform, including our website, mobile applications, and related services (collectively, the "Service").

By using our Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect:

  • Email address - For account authentication and communication
  • Password - Stored securely using bcrypt hashing
  • Date of birth - Required to verify you are 18 years or older (collected and stored as personal data under GDPR)
  • Username - Your public display name
  • Profile information - Gender (optional), language preferences, proficiency levels
  • Google ID / Apple ID - Stored when using OAuth sign-in via Google or Apple
  • Gender matching preference - Optional preference for call partner gender
  • Additional teaching language - Optional extra language you can teach
  • Locale preference - Your preferred UI language
  • Username change history - Tracked with timestamps

Language Learning Data

  • Native language and accent - To match you with appropriate partners
  • Learning language and accent - Your target language preferences
  • Proficiency level - Your current and target proficiency (A1-C2)
  • Conversation question history - Which topics were served during calls and your interaction with them

Audio Recordings

When you use our recording features, we store:

  • Audio files - Your voice recordings for practice and feedback
  • Transcripts - Text of what you read or described
  • Exercise type - The type of practice activity
  • Recording type - The exercise category (text reading, image description, pronunciation, free speaking, shadowing, conversation)
  • Public sharing status - Whether you've made recordings public

Communication Data

  • Messages - Private messages between users
  • Feedback - Text and audio feedback you give or receive
  • Call sessions - Metadata about 1-on-1 language exchange calls (duration, participants)
  • Call ratings - 5-star rating and optional feedback submitted after calls
  • Call behavior data - Connection events, disconnects, early leaves, and any resulting penalties
  • Block/report data - Block actions with optional reason; reports with content reference and description

Session Link / Guest Data

  • Guest display name - Name provided by guests joining via session link
  • Age verification status - Confirmation that the guest is 18 or older
  • Session metadata - Call duration, participants, and session link used

Device Information

  • Device tokens - For sending push notifications
  • Platform - iOS, Android, or Web
  • Device name - To help you identify your devices

Account Lifecycle Data

  • Account deletion reason - Optional reason provided when closing your account
  • Deletion timestamp - When your account was closed
  • Reactivation events - Records of account reactivation

Payment Information

We use third-party payment processors to handle payments. Paddle is our primary processor for both web and mobile. RevenueCat remains active for some existing mobile subscribers during the transition period. We do not store your full payment card details. We receive:

  • Subscription status and dates
  • Customer IDs from payment providers
  • Transaction history for support purposes

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Verify age requirements - Calculate your age from your date of birth to ensure you meet the minimum age requirement of 18 years
  • Provide our Service - Match you with language partners, facilitate calls, and deliver feedback
  • Improve matching - Use your language preferences and proficiency to find suitable partners
  • Send notifications - Alert you about new feedback, messages, and call opportunities
  • Process payments - Manage VIP subscriptions and verify membership status
  • Provide conversation prompts - Suggest discussion topics based on your language pair and conversation history
  • Enforce call behavior standards - Monitor call conduct and apply penalties for repeated selfish behavior (e.g., early disconnects)
  • Display advertisements - Show Google AdSense ads to non-VIP users
  • Ensure safety - Moderate content and respond to reports of inappropriate behavior
  • Provide support - Respond to your questions and troubleshoot issues
  • Improve our Service - Analyze usage patterns to enhance features
  • Optimize call quality - Use IP-based geolocation (MaxMind) to select optimal TURN servers for audio calls
  • Track errors - Use error tracking services (Sentry/GlitchTip) for service reliability and crash reporting

Note on Date of Birth: Your date of birth is considered personal data under GDPR and other privacy regulations. We use it solely for age verification purposes. Your exact date of birth is not displayed to other users; only your calculated age may be visible in certain contexts (e.g., to administrators for account verification). You can view your age in your profile settings, but you cannot self-edit your date of birth after registration. If you need to update this information, please contact our support team.

Data Sharing

We share your information only in the following circumstances:

With Other Users

  • Your username and profile information are visible to other users
  • Your recordings marked as public are accessible to other users
  • Feedback you provide is visible to the recording owner

With Service Providers

  • Cloudflare R2 - Cloud storage for audio files
  • Paddle / RevenueCat - Payment processing
  • Firebase Cloud Messaging - Push notifications
  • Pexels - Stock images for practice exercises
  • Google AdSense - Advertising; may use cookies for ad personalization
  • Sentry / GlitchTip - Error tracking and crash reporting
  • MaxMind (GeoLite2) - IP geolocation for TURN server selection (IP data is not stored long-term)
  • SMTP email service - Transactional emails (verification, password reset, notifications)

Legal Requirements

We may disclose information if required by law or in response to valid legal requests.

Data Retention

We retain your data according to the following policies:

  • Account data (including date of birth): Upon account closure, your account is soft-deleted and data is retained for a limited reactivation window, after which it is permanently purged
  • Audio recordings: Deleted 7 days after you archive them
  • Feedback: Deleted 7 days after archival
  • Messages: Automatically deleted after 30 days
  • Call session metadata: Retained for service improvement
  • Call behavior/penalty data: Retained on a 30-day rolling window
  • Block/report data: Retained for moderation purposes, even after account closure
  • Account deletion reason: Retained for analytics

Advertising and Cookies

Non-VIP users may see advertisements served by Google AdSense. Google may use cookies to personalize ads based on your browsing activity. You can manage your ad personalization preferences through Google Ad Settings.

VIP members are not shown advertisements.

For more details on how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Policy.

Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your data:

  • Access - Request a copy of your personal data, including your date of birth
  • Correction - Update incorrect or incomplete information (note: date of birth requires contacting support)
  • Deletion - Request deletion of your account and all associated data, including date of birth
  • Export - Request a portable copy of your data in a structured format
  • Restriction - Limit how we process your data
  • Objection - Object to certain processing activities

To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@lingswap.com.

Special Note: While you can view your date of birth and calculated age in your account settings, you cannot self-edit your date of birth after registration to maintain the integrity of age verification. If you believe your date of birth was entered incorrectly, please contact our support team with appropriate verification.

Data Security

We implement appropriate security measures to protect your information:

  • Encryption - All data transmitted is encrypted using TLS/SSL
  • Password security - Passwords are hashed using bcrypt
  • Access controls - Fine-grained permission system for data access
  • Secure authentication - JWT-based authentication with secure token handling

International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your own. We use Cloudflare R2 cloud infrastructure and third-party services that may store data in various locations. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for such transfers.

Age Requirement and Children's Privacy

Our Service is restricted to users who are 18 years of age or older. During registration, we require and verify your date of birth to ensure compliance with this age requirement. We do not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under 18 years of age.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 18 has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at privacy@lingswap.com, and we will take steps to delete such information from our systems.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. For significant changes, we may also send you an email notification.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Email: privacy@lingswap.com

Your Privacy Matters

At LingSwap, we believe privacy is a fundamental right. We collect only the data necessary to provide you with a great language learning experience, and we're committed to being transparent about how we use it.