1. Introduction
Mandarin Temple ("we," "our," or "us") operates the website and progressive web application at mandarintemple.com. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal data when you use our services.
We are committed to compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), China's Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), Japan's Act on Protection of Personal Information (APPI), and South Korea's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).
2. Data Controller
Mandarin Temple
Contact: contact@mandarintemple.com
3. Data We Collect
3.1 Account Data
When you register, we collect your name, email address, and an encrypted password hash. If you subscribe to a paid plan, we collect billing information processed through Stripe.
3.2 Learning Data
We collect your study progress, quiz results, vocabulary reviews, lesson completions, XP earned, and learning preferences. This data powers your personalized learning path. With your consent to the analytics category, we also record how much active time you spend on each learning checkpoint (the timer pauses when the tab is hidden or you are idle) to measure engagement and improve content pacing. This per-checkpoint timing is not collected if you decline analytics consent.
3.3 Usage Data
We automatically collect device type, browser, pages visited, and session duration to improve our service. This data is anonymized where possible.
3.4 Audio Data
If you use the pronunciation trainer, audio recordings are sent to OpenAI's Whisper API for transcription and immediately discarded after processing. We do not store your voice recordings.
3.5 Cookies
We use cookies as described in our Cookie Policy. You can manage your preferences at any time via the cookie settings in the footer.
3.6 Leaderboards & Community Activity
If you join a study circle or appear on a leaderboard, your display name, XP, level, and activity milestones (such as completing a lesson) are visible to other members of that circle and on leaderboards. Your email is never shown to fellow learners. This visibility is on by default; you can hide yourself from all leaderboards and activity feeds at any time from your My Account privacy settings, without affecting your own private progress tracking.
4. How We Use Your Data
- Provide and personalize your learning experience
- Track your progress and generate study recommendations
- Measure per-checkpoint active study time (with your analytics consent) to improve content pacing and recommendations
- Display your name, XP and activity milestones on circle and global leaderboards and feeds (on by default; you can opt out)
- Process subscription payments
- Send essential account notifications
- Improve our platform and develop new features
- Respond to support requests
We never sell your personal data to third parties.
5. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)
- Contract: Processing necessary to provide services you signed up for
- Consent: Analytics and marketing cookies (opt-in)
- Legitimate Interest: Service improvement, security, fraud prevention
7. Data Retention
Account and learning data is retained while your account is active. Upon account deletion, all personal data is permanently removed within 30 days. Per-checkpoint timing analytics are retained for up to 24 months for engagement analysis, after which they are aggregated or deleted. Anonymized analytics data may be retained for service improvement.
8. Your Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you have the right to:
- Access — request a copy of your personal data
- Correction — update inaccurate information
- Deletion — request permanent deletion of your data
- Portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format
- Withdraw Consent — revoke consent for optional processing
- Object — object to processing based on legitimate interest
Exercise these rights from your My Account page or by contacting contact@mandarintemple.com.
9. Cross-Border Data Transfers
Your data may be processed in locations outside your country of residence, including the United States. We ensure appropriate safeguards (Standard Contractual Clauses, adequacy decisions) are in place for all international transfers. Where your jurisdiction requires it — for example under China's PIPL, South Korea's PIPA, or Singapore's PDPA — we obtain your explicit consent to cross-border transfer via the "Cross-Border Data Transfer" option in your cookie preferences before transferring your personal data abroad.
10. Children's Privacy
Users under 16 require parental or guardian consent. If enrolled through a school, the institution is responsible for obtaining appropriate consent.
11. Security
We use industry-standard encryption (TLS 1.3), hashed passwords, and secure session management to protect your data. We conduct regular security reviews.
12. Changes to This Policy
We will notify you of material changes via email or in-app notification. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.
13. Contact
For privacy inquiries, contact us at contact@mandarintemple.com.