Privacy Notice

Last updated: 4 March 2026

Who is responsible for your data?

Chinese Characters (chinese.gerlinghoff.net) is operated by an individual developer acting as the data controller. If you have any questions or concerns about how your personal data is handled, please get in touch:

privacy@chinese.gerlinghoff.net

What data do we collect?

We collect only what is needed to run the service:

  • Email address — entered when you register. Used to identify your account and send account-recovery links. Stored in our database.
  • Passkey credentials — when you register a passkey, we store the WebAuthn public-key data (credential ID, public key bytes, sign counter, and the device label you choose). We never store passwords.
  • Vocabulary and review history — the Chinese words you add to the app and the spaced-repetition scheduling data (due dates, FSRS state) generated as you study.
  • Session cookie — a signed cookie that holds only your internal user ID, so the server knows you are logged in. It contains no tracking information and is deleted when you sign out or your session expires.

We do not collect passwords, payment information, location data, device fingerprints, or any analytics about how you use the app.

Why do we use your data, and on what legal basis?

Under UK GDPR / GDPR (Article 6), we process your data on the following grounds:

  • Contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b)) — your email address and passkey credentials are necessary to create and authenticate your account and provide the vocabulary-training service you signed up for.
  • Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — we keep basic security logs (such as failed authentication attempts) to protect the integrity of the service. We have balanced this against your privacy interests and consider this processing proportionate.
How long do we keep your data?
  • Account data (email, passkeys, vocabulary, reviews) is kept for as long as your account exists. You can delete your account at any time from the Settings panel, which permanently removes all data associated with your account.
  • Security logs are retained for a short operational period and then deleted automatically.
  • Session cookies expire when you sign out or your browser session ends.

We do not share any data with third-party backup or analytics services.

Do we share your data with anyone?

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with advertisers, data brokers, or analytics providers.

The only external service involved in delivering the app is:

  • jsDelivr CDN — used to serve the SimpleWebAuthn browser library. When your browser loads this script, jsDelivr may log your IP address as part of normal CDN operation. This is governed by jsDelivr's own privacy policy. We do not receive or process any data from this interaction.
Your rights

Under UK GDPR and GDPR you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

  • Access — you can ask us for a copy of the data we hold about you.
  • Rectification — you can ask us to correct inaccurate data.
  • Erasure — you can delete your account (and all associated data) yourself via Settings, or ask us to do so by email.
  • Restriction — you can ask us to limit how we use your data while a complaint or correction request is being resolved.
  • Portability — you can ask for your vocabulary data in a structured, machine-readable format.
  • Objection — you can object to processing carried out under legitimate interests.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@chinese.gerlinghoff.net. We will respond within one month.

Right to lodge a complaint

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. In the United Kingdom this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

If you are based in the European Economic Area, you may also contact the supervisory authority in your country of residence.

Changes to this notice

If we make significant changes to this privacy notice, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of the page. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

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