Privacy Policy

Data Controller

The data controller for this Service is Y&N Studio Ltd (a company registered in England and Wales, company number 17167100), operating the LingoMeow brand (trademark registered with the UK Intellectual Property Office).

483 Prime Apartments, Green Lanes

London, N13 4FG

United Kingdom

📧 customerservice@lingomeow.com

1. Information We Collect

We may collect:

• Account information (e.g. email, username)
• User input submitted for processing (text, images)
• Usage data (basic analytics)

We do not store uploaded images used for OCR processing. Only processed text may be temporarily stored for user access. If you choose to save an image to your Journal, it will be stored as your user content within your account.

What you put in your journal (text, photos and how they are arranged on the page) is synced to our servers so you can pick up where you left off on another device. When LingoMeow opens a chat with a question from the "LingoMeow wants to know" table, your first reply is automatically written into that table on today's journal page — you'll see a notice when this happens, and you can undo it straight away.

We also collect usage statistics (number of TTS plays, translations, and word lookups per day) to enforce plan quotas and manage your subscription. This data is transmitted to our server.

If a page breaks, any message you choose to write to us on the error screen is saved together with the error details, the address of the page you were on, your browser type and your interface language, so we can fix the problem. When you register, if you arrived through a link carrying a source tag (for example, a link in a post), we record that tag to understand where people hear about LingoMeow; it is kept with your account information and deleted with your account.

When using the LingoMeow browser extension, we additionally access:

• Text you select or highlight on any webpage, for TTS playback or word lookup — this text is transmitted to our servers and relevant third-party providers listed in Section 8
• The surrounding sentence or text around a word you look up, sent together with that word to provide translation context (we do not transmit the page URL or your browsing history)
• Locally cached TTS audio files and translation results (stored on your device via chrome.storage.local only, never transmitted)
• Health reminder preferences (stored locally on your device only)
• Your authentication token, which may sync across your Chrome browser instances via chrome.storage.sync if you are signed in to Chrome

2. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data on the following legal bases:

• Contract performance: Processing necessary to provide the Service (such as account management and content generation)
• Legitimate interests: Improving service quality and maintaining system security
• Consent: Content you actively submit (such as conversations and study materials)

3. AI Conversation Data

Your conversations with the AI companion (along with the nickname you set, so LingoMeow can address you by it) are processed by third-party AI providers to generate responses. We use a multi-provider routing system that may include Microsoft Azure, Google, and OpenRouter. The specific provider used for any given request is selected automatically based on availability and performance.

We do not use your conversation content to train AI models, and we do not sell it. Conversation history is retained until you delete it or start a new conversation (both remove the previous chat from our servers), or within 30 days of account closure.

Text you write in your journal is translated automatically so each entry appears in two languages: once you finish writing, that text is sent to a translation service (Microsoft Azure Translator, or one of the AI providers named above) without you needing to press a button.

Photos you hand to LingoMeow for an image roast are sent to an AI provider that can read images (Google Gemini, or Microsoft Azure OpenAI if Gemini is unavailable) to generate a reply. These providers apply their own content safety rules and may decline to process some images. Images you upload for image-to-text are also processed by third parties (see Section 8). Apart from these, the photos in your journal are not sent to any AI.

4. How We Use Information

We use data only to provide and improve the Service, enable user access to saved learning materials, and maintain system security. We also use daily feature usage counts to enforce plan quotas. We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use it for any purpose unrelated to the features described in this policy.

Apart from the automated processing needed to run the features you use (such as translation or generating replies), no one at LingoMeow looks at your journal, photos or conversations, and we do not analyse their content.

The only exception: if we receive a valid legal request, or a report that a specific item of content is illegal or infringes someone's rights, we may look at that specific item only, to verify and deal with the report. We will not use it as a reason to browse the rest of your content.

Emails we send you: service notices about your account (such as welcome, password reset and policy changes) are sent directly. Promotional emails (new features, events, offers) are only sent if you switch on "News from Meow" in Settings — they are off by default. Every promotional email ends with an unsubscribe link that works in one click, and you can switch them off in Settings at any time. We record when you switched this on or off as proof of your consent; the record is deleted with your account.

5. Data Retention

We retain your data only for as long as necessary:

• Account data: retained while your account is active, deleted within 30 days of account closure
• OCR images: deleted immediately after processing and not stored. If you choose to save the image to your journal, it is kept as your own content until you delete it, or within 30 days of account closure
• Conversation history: retained until you delete it or start a new conversation, or within 30 days of account closure
• Journal pages and photos: retained until you delete them or close your account. When you delete a journal page, the photos on it are deleted from storage at the same time; a photo you remove from a page on its own is deleted in a later storage clean-up. Deleted items cannot be recovered. Everything is deleted when you close your account (database backups keep it for at most 30 more days)
• Usage logs: retained for a maximum of 12 months
• Payment, subscription and account-closure records: the history of changes to your subscription, the order notices our payment provider sends us, and the record that an account was closed at its owner's request are kept for the period required by UK tax and company law (normally 6 years). These records contain only your email, username, and order and plan details — never your journal, photos or conversations
• TTS audio cache (extension): stored locally on your device only; automatically limited to the 100 most recently used items
• Translation cache (extension): stored locally on your device only; automatically limited to the 500 most recently used items

6. Cookies and Local Storage

We use a small number of cookies, and your browser's local storage, that are necessary or functional for the Service to operate correctly:

• Local storage (login and your own content): your login state, interface preferences, and local copies of your journal, vocabulary book and recent conversations are kept in your browser's local storage (localStorage / IndexedDB), so you stay signed in and pages open quickly. They stay on your device and are not used for tracking
• Preference cookies: to remember your interface settings (e.g. sidebar state) across visits
• Security cookies: Google reCAPTCHA (v3, with a v2 checkbox shown when needed) sets a cookie (_GRECAPTCHA) on our login and registration pages to distinguish human users from bots. This is a third-party cookie operated by Google, used for security purposes only and not for advertising or tracking.

Apart from the one below, we do not use advertising, analytics, or tracking cookies, and we do not use Google Analytics. We count visits with Vercel Web Analytics, which uses no cookies and does not identify you: it records only the page visited, the website you came from, and your country, browser and device type.

Referral attribution cookie: If you arrive through a partner's referral link (a URL containing ?aff=), the page first asks whether you allow us to note the referral. Only if you choose "Allow" does our payment provider Lemon Squeezy record that visit and store an anonymous referral identifier cookie in your browser (ls_aff_ref, valid for the period set by our affiliate programme, 30 days by default). Along with that record, an anonymous identifier derived from your browser's characteristics is sent to Lemon Squeezy to prevent fraud. It is used only to credit the referring partner if you subscribe, never for advertising. If you don't choose "Allow", or did not arrive through such a link, nothing is recorded and no such cookie is set; saying no makes no difference to how you can use the Service.

7. Data Storage and Security

We take the following measures to protect your data:

• All data transmissions are encrypted via HTTPS
• User passwords are hashed using the bcrypt algorithm before storage — we cannot see your original password
• Calls to third-party AI services transmit only the content needed to provide the feature (if you have set a nickname, it is sent along so LingoMeow can address you by it); your email address is never sent

No system can guarantee 100% security, but we work continuously to protect your information. In the event of a data breach involving your personal data, we will notify the relevant supervisory authority (ICO) within 72 hours as required by UK GDPR, and will notify you promptly where the breach is likely to result in a high risk to your rights and freedoms.

8. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate LingoMeow. Each provider receives only the data necessary to deliver their specific function:

These providers act as data processors and are contractually bound to process your data only as instructed. Your personal data and private journal entries are never used to train AI models.

Files your browser downloads directly: some files do not pass through our servers — your browser fetches them itself. The music, sounds and sticker artwork on the site are stored on Cloudflare R2. The first time you use the automatic photo cutout, your browser downloads the cutout code and model from esm.sh, Hugging Face and IMG.LY (about 115MB, kept on your device after the first download). The cutout runs entirely on your device and your photos are never sent to these sites; but, as with opening any web page, they will see your IP address. They may be located in the United States.

9. International Data Transfers

To provide the Service, some of your data (e.g., AI prompts, payment processing, photo storage, database backups and error reports) may be transferred to and processed in countries outside the UK or the EEA, such as the United States. We implement the highest security safeguards compliant with the UK GDPR, including relying on the UK-US Data Bridge or International Data Transfer Agreements (IDTA/SCCs), ensuring your personal data receives a level of protection equivalent to that within the UK.

10. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

If you are located in the UK or the EEA, you have the following rights under UK GDPR:

• Right of access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification: Request correction of inaccurate personal data
• Right to erasure (right to be forgotten): Request deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances
• Right to restrict processing: Request that we restrict processing of your data in certain circumstances
• Right to data portability: Receive your data in a structured, commonly used format
• Right to object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Right to lodge a complaint with the ICO at ico.org.uk

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at: 📧 customerservice@lingomeow.com. We will respond within 30 days of receiving your request.

11. Children and Age Requirement

The Service is intended for users aged 18 and above. By registering, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. For significant changes, we will notify you in advance. Continuing to use the Service means you accept the updated policy.

13. Contact

Y&N Studio Ltd

483 Prime Apartments, Green Lanes

London, N13 4FG

United Kingdom

📧 customerservice@lingomeow.com