Privacy Policy
Effective date: May 20, 2026
App name: Hanasou
Contact: hanasouteam@gmail.com
1. Introduction
Hanasou ("we", "our", or "us") is a language-exchange app that connects people for conversation practice. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding that information. By using Hanasou, you agree to this policy.
2. Information We Collect
Information you provide directly
Account information — your name, profile photo, school, graduation year, and gender preference, as entered during onboarding.
Languages and interests — the languages you speak or are learning, your proficiency levels, and your selected interests.
Chat messages — the content of messages you send to other users.
Word lists — words and meanings you save from conversations.
Information collected automatically
Firebase Authentication data — your email address or sign-in provider identifier (e.g. Apple, Google) and a unique user ID.
Usage data — conversation streak activity (days on which both you and a conversation partner sent messages), used solely to calculate and display streaks within the app.
3. How We Use Your Information
Purpose
Data used
Display your profile to other users
Name, photo, school, languages, interests, gender
Connect you with language partners
Profile data, visibility settings
Deliver and store messages
Message content, timestamps
Calculate conversation streaks
Message timestamps
Power the "Recommended for you" feature
Your interests (compared locally — no data is sent to a recommendation server)
Allow you to save and study vocabulary
Word list content
We do not use your data for advertising, sell it to third parties, or use it to train AI or machine-learning models.
4. How Your Information Is Stored
All data is stored in Google Firebase (Firestore and Firebase Authentication), operated by Google LLC. Data is stored in Google's cloud infrastructure and is subject to Google's security practices. Access to your data in Firestore is controlled by security rules that ensure only you and your conversation partners can read the appropriate data.
5. Who Can See Your Information
Other Hanasou users can see your name, profile photo, school, languages, interests, and graduation year on your public profile.
Conversation partners can see messages you send them.
Word lists are private and visible only to you.
Your email address is never shown to other users.
You can block other users at any time. Blocked users cannot see your profile in the explore feed.
6. Data Retention
Your data is retained for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, your profile, messages, and word lists will be permanently deleted from our systems. Some data may remain in Firebase backups for a short period before being purged.
7. Children's Privacy
Hanasou is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided personal information, we will delete it promptly.
8. Your Rights
Depending on your location, you may have the right to:
Access the personal data we hold about you.
Correct inaccurate data (you can update your profile at any time in the app).
Delete your account and all associated data.
Object to or restrict certain processing of your data.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at the email address at the top of this policy.
9. Third-Party Services
Hanasou uses the following third-party services, each governed by their own privacy policies:
Firebase / Google — authentication, database, and storage: firebase.google.com/support/privacy
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the effective date above. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
11. Contact Us
If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at: hanasouteam@gmail.com