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Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 2026

1. Data We Collect

When you use BandCheck, we collect:

Telegram identifiers: your Telegram user ID, username (if set), first name
Web account (Google sign-in): your email address and name, received from Google when you create a personal web account; or, for school accounts, the username your school administrator assigns
Preferences: interface language (English, Russian, or Uzbek)
Essay & speaking content: the text of essays you submit, the topic you choose, and audio recordings for Speaking practice
Free Speaking practice may be published. The free casual Speaking session — the one that costs no credit — may be published anonymously in our public library as a learning example: the transcript, the band and the feedback. Never your name, email or audio, and spoken names are removed automatically before publication. Paid Speaking (exam and prep modes, and recorded answers) and Writing are never published unless you choose to publish them yourself. Anything published can be removed at any time from the result page or on request.
Writing checks are published by default. An essay you submit may appear anonymously in our public library as a learning example: the text, the band and the feedback — never your name or email. On a paid plan you can switch this off for any essay from its result page. On the free tier, write to us and we will remove it. This applies to free and paid checks alike.
Evaluation results: band scores, criteria scores, and AI-generated feedback
Payment records: package or subscription purchased, amount, and a payment reference ID. Card details are handled by our payment processor — we never receive or store them
Acquisition source: UTM-style deep-link parameter when you first start the bot (e.g. ?start=src_X), used for marketing attribution
Behavioural metadata: total checks, last activity timestamp, streak counters

2. How We Use It

To provide the Service: evaluate essays, save history, process payments, deliver feedback
To improve quality: aggregated, anonymised statistics on accuracy and user flow
To prevent abuse: rate limiting, fraud detection, support ticket triage
To process payments and subscriptions (Telegram Stars in the bot; card via Dodo Payments on the web)
To email you at the address linked to your account. Two kinds: service messages you cannot opt out of while you hold an account (payment receipts, security or account notices, important changes to the Service), and practice messages you can turn off at any time (your result summaries, study tips, and occasional offers). Every practice email carries a one-click unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing never affects your access to the Service.

We do not use your essays to train AI models. We do not sell your data to third parties.

3. Third Parties

AI providers. Essay text/topic and Speaking audio are sent to external AI providers (for writing evaluation and speech-to-text) for evaluation. The providers' data-use terms apply. We choose providers whose terms do not use API-submitted data for model training.
Google (Sign-In). If you create a personal web account, Google authenticates you and shares your email and name. Google's Privacy Policy applies. We use this to create and secure your account, and to send you the emails described in section 2.
Resend. Our email provider. To deliver the messages in section 2 we pass them your email address, your name, and the contents of the message. Their privacy policy applies.
Dodo Payments. Web card payments and subscriptions are processed by Dodo Payments, our reseller and Merchant of Record. They handle your card data and billing under their own privacy policy; we receive only a payment reference and status.
Telegram. In the bot, Telegram processes your messages, payments (via Telegram Stars), and identity. Telegram's Privacy Policy applies.
Cloudflare. Our sites are served via Cloudflare with privacy-friendly analytics (no individual tracking cookies by default).
Microsoft Clarity. We use Microsoft Clarity to see how pages are actually used: anonymised session recordings and heatmaps that show where the interface gets in the way. Text is masked on Clarity's side before a recording is stored. Microsoft's privacy statement applies.

4. Retention

Data is retained while you are an active user. Specifically:

Essays and feedback: retained indefinitely so you can access your history
Payment records: retained for bookkeeping per applicable laws (typically 5-7 years)
Inactive accounts: may be purged after extended inactivity (12+ months)

5. Your Rights

Delete your data anytime. Send /delete_my_data inside the bot. We will:

Permanently delete your profile, essays, and check history
Anonymise payment records (detached from your ID, retained only as financial totals)

You also have the right to:

Request a copy of your data (write via /support)
Correct any inaccuracies in your profile
Unsubscribe from practice emails — use the link at the bottom of any of them, or ask via /support. Service messages about your account and payments continue while you hold an account.

EU users have additional rights under GDPR (right to portability, restriction, objection). Russian users have rights under FZ-152. Uzbek users have rights under Law №547. Submit requests via /support.

6. Security

Data is stored on a secured server with encrypted at-rest backups. We do not store card numbers or other payment credentials — card payments are processed by Dodo Payments and Telegram. School-account passwords are stored only as salted Argon2 hashes, never in plain text. Access to user data is limited to the operator account.

7. Children

The Service is intended for users aged 16 and older. If we learn that we have collected data from a child under 16 without parental consent, we will delete that data. Parents/guardians should contact /support if they believe their child has provided us data.

8. International Transfers

Your data may be processed in countries other than your country of residence — for example, in the regions where our infrastructure and AI providers operate (typically the United States and the European Union). By using the Service, you consent to such transfers.

9. Changes

We may update this Policy from time to time. Material changes will be announced inside the bot and reflected in the "Last updated" date at the top.

10. Contact

Questions or requests? Send /support inside the bot.