Kotoba ("the app") is a Japanese-language learning app for iOS. This policy explains what information the app collects, how it's used, and what choices you have. We wrote it to describe exactly what the app does — not a generic template — so it should stay accurate as long as the sections below still match the app's behavior.
We do not collect personal information such as your name, email address, phone number, or location.
Everything the app tracks — your JLPT level setting, which words you've marked as known or saved, your quiz history, your spaced-repetition review schedule, your study streak, and your app settings (like text-size, romaji, or voice preferences) — is stored locally on your device, in the app's own private storage area. It is never transmitted to us or to any third party. If you delete the app, this data is deleted with it. If you export a backup file from within the app, that file stays wherever you choose to save it — we never receive a copy.
Kotoba includes an optional feature that lets you request freshly generated conversation-practice content. If you choose to use this feature, the app sends only the following to our backend service: your selected JLPT level, how many conversations to generate, and the titles of conversations you already have (so it can avoid generating duplicates). This request contains no personal information, no device identifier, and no account of any kind — it works the same way for every user. If you never use this feature, the app makes no network request related to it at all, and everything works fully offline.
Kotoba is supported in part by advertising, served through Google's AdMob service. When ads are active:
If you buy the "Unlock Everything" upgrade, the transaction is handled entirely by Apple through StoreKit. We never see or receive your payment information — no card numbers, billing address, or Apple ID details reach us. We only learn that the purchase succeeded, so the app can turn ads off on your device.
Kotoba does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children. Since the app collects no personal information from any user regardless of age, and stores all progress locally on-device, there is nothing for a child's use of the app to expose beyond what's described above (and, if applicable, the advertising identifiers described in the Advertising section, which follow Apple's and Google's own child-directed-app rules).
Because your study data lives only on your device, you are always in control of it: use the in-app "Reset progress" option to clear it, or delete the app to remove everything at once. We hold no copy to delete on our end, because we never received one.
Because we do not collect or store personal information about you, there is generally nothing on file for us to show you, correct, or delete on request. If you have questions about this, or believe that's not the case, contact us using the details below.
If how the app handles data changes — for example, when advertising is turned on, or if a new feature adds a new kind of network request — we'll update this page and change the "Last updated" date at the top.
Questions about this policy or how Kotoba handles data? Contact HighNote at highnotecollections@gmail.com.