Privacy Policy

1. Who is responsible for your data

The data controller for the personal data described in this policy is:

• Name: Oleksandr Zlydennyi
• Tax ID (NIF): ---
• Address: 08001, Spain
• Email: admin@balaka.app

2. What data we collect

• Account data: your email address and password. Your password is handled by our authentication provider and is never visible to us in plain text.
• Language preferences: the language you are learning and your native language.
• Content you upload: texts you upload (.txt, .epub, .pdf) so we can process and show them back to you. You are responsible for having the right to use that content — see our Terms of Service.
• Learning data: words and phrases you save as flashcards, your reading progress, and how many characters you have processed this month (to apply the Pro plan limit).
• Payment data: if you subscribe to Pro, payments are handled by Stripe. We never see or store your full card details; we only receive confirmation of payment and a reference to manage your subscription.
• Technical data: standard information such as IP address and browser type, handled by our hosting providers for normal operation and security.

We do not use cookies for advertising or tracking and we do not run analytics tools. If that changes, we will update this policy first and, where required, ask for your consent.

3. Why we use your data

• To create and manage your account, translate and process the texts you read or upload, and process your Pro subscription payment. Legal basis: performance of a contract.
• To enforce usage limits, answer support requests, and keep basic security and technical logs. Legal basis: legitimate interests.

4. Who receives your data

We use a small number of service providers, each receiving only what it needs:

• Database, authentication, file storage and website hosting providers (our database is hosted in the EU).
• Stripe — payment processing.
• Anthropic (Claude AI) — the text you translate, or the text you upload for retelling or formatting, is sent to Anthropic to generate the result.

We do not sell your personal data and we do not share it for advertising. If we add new providers, we will update this section before the related feature goes live.

5. International transfers

Anthropic and Stripe are based in the United States, so some of your data is transferred outside the EU/EEA when you use features that rely on them. We rely on their data processing terms and Standard Contractual Clauses to protect your data.

6. How long we keep your data

We keep your account data and content while your account is active. If you ask us to delete your account, we delete your personal data and content, except where we must keep certain records by law (for example, payment records for tax purposes) or where data remains briefly in routine backups.

7. Your rights

If you are in the EU/EEA (or covered by similar law elsewhere), you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to the processing of your data, and to receive your data in a portable format.

Account deletion is currently handled manually: email us at admin@balaka.app and we will process your request promptly. For any other request, use the same address. You also have the right to complain to the Spanish data protection authority (Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, AEPD) or your local equivalent.

8. Children

Balaka is not directed at children under 14. You must be at least 14 years old to create an account. If you believe a child under 14 has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.

9. Balaka browser extension

If you use the Balaka Chrome extension:

• What is sent. Only when you click Translate or Explain, the text you selected and the sentence or paragraph around it are sent to our server and then to our AI provider (Anthropic) to produce the translation or explanation. The extension does not read or send any other page content and does not track your browsing history.
• What is stored on your device. Your saved words (with the address of the page you saved them from), your language settings (which Chrome may sync across your devices through your Google account), and a random device identifier used to count free monthly usage.
• What we keep. We do not store the selected text or its translation on our servers. We keep a request count linked to the random device identifier for as long as needed to apply monthly free-usage limits.
• No selling, no ads. We use this data only to provide translation and explanation features. We do not sell it or use it for advertising.
• Removal. Uninstalling the extension deletes everything stored on your device.

10. Changes and contact

We may update this policy as we add features or providers. If we make a material change, we will give notice, for example by email or a notice on the service, before it takes effect. Questions about this policy? Write to admin@balaka.app.