Privacy
Kin helps you learn a language by reading stories written for you. This page explains what we collect to do that, why, who helps us, and what you can ask of us. It applies to learnwithkin.com and the Kin app. Questions go to [email protected].
What we collect
- Your account. Your name, email address and a scrambled (hashed) version of your password. If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email and profile photo from Google instead of a password.
- What you tell us while getting started. The language you're learning, why, your goal, how much time you have, your level, and your interests.
- How you learn. The stories you read, the words you tap, your answers to the questions after a story, how you grade your review cards, and when you practise. This is what lets Kin pick your next words and stories.
- Membership. Your plan and its status (trial, active, cancelled). Payment details go straight to Stripe; we never see or store your card number.
- Usage and device information. Pages visited, buttons pressed, approximate location from your IP address, browser and device type, and your time zone, so the app works correctly and we can see which parts help people and which don't.
How we use it
- To run your account and sign you in.
- To write stories at your level about your interests, explain the words you tap, and schedule your reviews.
- To provide your membership and its trial, and to remind you before a trial ends.
- To understand and improve Kin, fix problems, and keep it secure.
- To meet legal obligations.
We don't sell your personal information, and we don't use it for advertising.
Who helps us
We share only what each service needs to do its job for Kin:
- Stripe handles checkout, billing and tax. For memberships Stripe acts as the seller of record, so its own privacy policy also applies to your payment.
- Google, if you choose to sign in with it.
- AI providers, reached through OpenRouter, write stories and explanations, read stories aloud, and work out which words are related. They receive what's needed for that (for example your level, interests, and the sentence around a word you tapped), not your name, email or payment details.
- PostHog provides product analytics: which pages and steps people use. Inside Kin we tell it your account's ID number, never your name or email.
- Cloudflare carries traffic to and from our servers.
To illustrate stories, Kin fetches photos and articles from news sites and Wikipedia on our own servers; your browser doesn't contact them, and they learn nothing about you. We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or as part of a sale or reorganisation of Kin, in which case this policy continues to protect it.
Cookies and similar storage
- Essential: a cookie that keeps you signed in, and one that remembers your time zone so your week is counted on your days.
- Analytics: PostHog stores an identifier in a cookie and your browser's local storage to recognise return visits.
You can clear or block these in your browser; Kin needs the sign-in cookie to work.
How long we keep it
We keep your account and learning history while your account is open, because your word memory is built from it. When you ask us to delete your account, we delete it and your learning history within 30 days, except records we must keep by law (such as billing records, which Stripe also keeps).
Your choices and rights
You can see and change your name in Settings, and manage or cancel your membership there. You can ask us for a copy of your data, to correct it, or to delete your account by writing to [email protected]. Depending on where you live (for example the EU, UK or California), you may have further rights, including to object to or restrict some uses and to complain to your local data protection authority. We'll answer within 30 days.
Security
Passwords are stored hashed, connections are encrypted, and access to our systems is limited. No system is perfectly secure, and we'll tell you without undue delay if a breach affects your information.
Where your data is processed
Kin and the services above may process information in the United States and other countries. Where the law requires it, we rely on appropriate safeguards for those transfers.
Children
Kin is not meant for children under 16, and we don't knowingly collect their information. If you believe a child has an account, write to [email protected] and we'll delete it.
Changes
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll update the date above and tell members by email or in the app before the change takes effect.