Privacy Policy
Hiragana Trial · Last updated: 【enter the publication date】 · Version: 1.0
1. This document, and who we are
Hiragana Trial ("the Service") helps children aged 3–5 learn to read hiragana. Because children use it, collecting no personal data is the default.
This policy explains what we collect and what we do not.
| Operator | Yuta Akakuma (赤熊 佑太), Japan |
| Contact, and requests about your data | support@hiraganatrial.com |
We will give you our postal address without delay if you ask for it at the address above.
2. You can use it without an account (the default)
Every feature works without an account. When you use it that way, nothing about your child's learning is sent to our servers, and no learning records are created at all.
2.1 What is stored on your device
Progress is stored only in your browser, on your own device. Three items are stored:
| Name | Contents |
|---|---|
| `hiragana_trial_profile` | Learning progress (practice count per character, coins, XP, purchased items, display name, age band, first-language choice) |
| `hiragana_trial_auth` | A login token — only if you create an account |
| `hiragana_trial_sfx_muted` | Sound effects on/off |
Clearing your browser data deletes all of it. We have no way to restore it.
Drawings your child makes in the app also stay on the device. We never receive them.
2.2 Why there is no consent banner
Everything stored above is strictly necessary to provide the service you are actually using. We store nothing for advertising or analytics, so no consent banner is shown.
2.3 What our web server records
Separately, because this is a website, our server's access log records the IP address, browser type, and requested page — the same as any website.
- Purpose: handling abuse and investigating faults
- Retention: about 14 days (§8)
- Never used for advertising or behavioural analytics
3. What we collect if you create an account
An account is optional and sits behind the parent zone. It is only needed to carry progress across devices.
3.1 About the parent
| Item | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Email address | Login, password reset, weekly email (§6) |
| Password | Authentication. Stored hashed; never stored in plain text |
| Display name | Shown on screen |
| Sign-up and last-active timestamps | Detecting misuse, deleting dormant accounts (§8) |
3.2 About the learner (your child)
| Item | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Username | Login. Chosen by the parent. No email address is registered |
| Password | Authentication. Stored hashed |
| Display name | Shown on screen. Does not have to be a real name |
| Learning state (including age band and first-language choice) | Syncing across devices, and tuning difficulty |
We never collect a child's email address, phone number, postal address, date of birth, photographs, voice recordings, or location.
3.3 Learning records
To tune difficulty and to produce the parent's weekly email (§6), we record:
- When a practice round ended, how many answers were correct, how many questions,
how long it took, and the XP and coins earned
- Coins spent and which cosmetic item was bought
- Which characters were answered incorrectly (the character and how many times)
This is recorded only for a signed-in learner. If you use the Service without an account, no learning records are created at all.
No free text, images, audio, or device identifiers are included.
3.4 What we use it for
We use the information above only for:
- Authenticating the account and syncing progress across devices
- Tuning the difficulty of questions for your child
- Producing the parent's weekly email (only if you have opted in)
- Handling misuse and investigating faults
We use it for nothing else. No advertising, no profiling, no sale to third parties.
4. Newsletter sign-up (on our website)
Our website has a form for hearing about new features. It is separate from an account and is for adults.
| What we collect | Your email address, the language, and the time you signed up — nothing else |
| What we do not collect | We do not record your IP address, browser type, or where you came from |
| Before you confirm | We send you nothing at all until you follow the link in the confirmation email |
| Stopping it | Every email has an unsubscribe link. You can leave at any time |
| Use | This newsletter only. Never used for anything else |
5. Cookies, advertising, and third-party analytics
- We serve no advertising.
- We embed no third-party analytics or advertising SDKs.
- We use no cookies.
- We do not track children anywhere outside this Service.
6. Weekly email (parents, optional)
Only if a parent explicitly opts in, we send a weekly summary: study time, coins earned, and characters missed, per child. A parent can withdraw at any time from the parent screen.
7. Passing data to others
7.1 Our sister service, Kanji Trial
A child who finishes the Service can move on to our sister service Kanji Trial (`app.kanjitrial.com`). When that happens we pass Kanji Trial a signed token containing only the fact of which stage was completed.
That token contains no email address, username, display name, or learning records.
However, when the browser follows the link, standard web mechanics mean the referring page, the IP address, and the browser type become visible to Kanji Trial. Their handling of that is governed by Kanji Trial's own privacy policy.
7.2 Anyone else
Apart from the above, we do not sell or disclose collected information to third parties, except where disclosure is required by law.
8. How long we keep things
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| Anything stored on your device (§2.1) | Until you clear it (we do not hold it) |
| Parent and learner accounts | Deleted 24 months after last use |
| Learning records (§3.3) | 12 months |
| Password-reset tokens | 30 days after they expire |
| Unconfirmed newsletter sign-ups | 30 days |
| Unsubscribed newsletter records | 30 days after unsubscribing |
| Web server access logs (§2.3) | About 14 days |
If you ask us to delete something, we delete it without waiting for these periods (§10).
9. About children's information
The Service is built on the assumption that children will use it.
- If you use it without an account, we receive nothing about your child at all.
That is the default, and every feature works that way
- If you do create an account, every step is an action for a parent or guardian, not
something a child can complete alone
- A learner account never registers an email address or any other contact detail
- We never use a child's information for advertising or pass it to third parties
For families in the United States: we honour the parental rights set out in the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) — reviewing your child's information, refusing any further collection, and having it deleted. Please write to the address in §10.
10. Your rights, and how to exercise them
10.1 Things you can already do yourself
| What you want | How |
|---|---|
| See your child's learning state and records | Sign in as a parent and open the parent screen in the parent zone |
| Stop the weekly email | The setting in the parent zone, at any time |
| Stop the newsletter | The unsubscribe link in any email |
| Delete what is on the device | Clear your browser data |
10.2 Things to ask us for
Write to support@hiraganatrial.com for:
- Access to the personal data we hold
- Correction, addition, or deletion of it
- Suspension of use, and erasure
- Export — we will provide it in a machine-readable format
We respond within 30 days. If something will take longer we will tell you, and why.
To confirm you are the parent, please write from the email address on the account. We may need to exchange a message or two to verify this.
10.3 Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first at the address above. You may also complain to:
- Japan: the Personal Information Protection Commission
- European Economic Area: the data protection supervisory authority in your country
11. Security
- Traffic is encrypted with HTTPS (TLS)
- Passwords are stored hashed, never in plain text
- Email confirmation tokens are stored hashed
- Server access is restricted to the administrator
12. Where your data is held
Our servers are in Japan. If you use the Service from outside Japan, your information is stored and processed in Japan.
13. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy we will update the "Last updated" date above.
For significant changes, we will post the change and the date it takes effect on this page at least 30 days beforehand, and email parents who have opted into the weekly email.
14. Contact
Requests about your data, and anything else, both go to support@hiraganatrial.com. Our name is in §1, and we will give you our postal address without delay if you ask for it at the same address.