Privacy Policy

Amharic Academy LTD (“Amharic Academy”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) is the data controller responsible for your personal data. We are a language learning company incorporated in the United Kingdom, on a mission to make Amharic accessible to the world.

Registered Office:
Amharic Academy LTD
128 City Road, London, United Kingdom, EC1V 2NX
Contact: support@amharicacademy.com
Website: www.amharicacademy.com

We collect different types of personal data depending on how you interact with our platform:

We collect your personal data through the following means:

• Directly from you — when you register, set up your profile, make a purchase, or contact support;
• Automatically — through your use of the app, including progress tracking, session activity, and device information;
• From third parties — such as Google (when you use Google Sign-In) or Stripe (payment confirmation data);
• From Firebase — for authentication, push notifications, and crash reporting.

We use your personal data for the following purposes, each supported by a lawful basis under UK GDPR:

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We only share your data with trusted partners where necessary to operate our service:

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected:

• Account data — retained for the duration of your account and up to 2 years after deletion, for legal and audit purposes;
• Learning progress data — retained for the duration of your account;
• Payment records — retained for 7 years in accordance with UK financial regulations;
• Support communications — retained for up to 2 years;
• Technical and device logs — retained for up to 12 months.

When you delete your account, we will delete or anonymise your personal data within 30 days, except where we are required to retain it for legal or regulatory reasons.

We take the security of your personal data seriously and implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it, including:

• Encrypted data transmission (HTTPS/TLS) across all platform connections;
• Secure, encrypted password storage — we never store plain-text passwords;
• Payment data handled entirely by Stripe under PCI DSS compliance — we do not store card details;
• Role-based access controls — only authorised team members can access personal data;
• Regular security monitoring and infrastructure maintenance via our Hetzner servers.

While we take every reasonable precaution, no method of transmission or storage over the internet is 100% secure. If you suspect your account has been compromised, please contact us immediately at support@amharicacademy.com.

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• Right of Access — you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
• Right to Rectification — you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
• Right to Erasure — you can request that we delete your personal data (“right to be forgotten”), subject to legal retention requirements;
• Right to Restriction — you can ask us to restrict how we process your data in certain circumstances;
• Right to Data Portability — you can request your data in a structured, machine-readable format;
• Right to Object — you can object to us processing your data for marketing or legitimate interest purposes;
• Right to Withdraw Consent — where processing is based on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at support@amharicacademy.com. We will respond within 30 days. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk if you believe your data is being processed unlawfully.

Our mobile application does not use browser cookies. However, we may use similar technologies such as device identifiers and local storage to:

• Keep you logged in between sessions;
• Remember your preferences and settings;
• Analyse app usage and performance.

If we introduce a web version of our platform, a separate Cookie Policy will be provided at that time.

Amharic Academy is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal data without your consent, please contact us at support@amharicacademy.com and we will delete the information promptly.

Users aged 13–17 may use Amharic Academy with the consent of a parent or guardian, who accepts these Terms and this Privacy Policy on the minor's behalf.

Amharic Academy is incorporated in the United Kingdom and our primary operations are based in Ethiopia. Your data may be processed and stored in the UK, Ethiopia, or in countries where our third-party providers operate (including the United States, where Google and Stripe are based).

Where data is transferred outside the UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual clauses or reliance on adequacy decisions, in accordance with UK GDPR requirements.

Our platform may contain links to third-party websites or integrate with third-party services (such as YouTube). This Privacy Policy applies only to Amharic Academy. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party services and encourage you to review their privacy policies before interacting with them.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will notify you via email or in-app notification at least 14 days before the changes take effect.

Your continued use of Amharic Academy after the effective date of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us:

Amharic Academy LTD
128 City Road, London, United Kingdom, EC1V 2NX
Email: support@amharicacademy.com
Website: www.amharicacademy.com

For data protection matters, you may also contact the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): Website: www.ico.org.uk | Helpline: 0303 123 1113