KANA Privacy Policy
How information is handled for on-device learning, non-personalized advertising, email support, and our web pages.
Contents
A short guide to read with children
KANA for Android is for ages six and up. The iPhone and iPad app is designed primarily for teenagers and adults beginning Japanese. Letters and sounds are in the app. Your learning progress stays on this device. You do not need an account, and we do not record your voice.
KANA includes ads. We do not ask your age, and every ad request uses child-directed protections. You can keep learning if an ad cannot load.
If you need help, ask a parent or guardian. Do not send names, school details, phone numbers, photos, or learning records. Opening your email app does not send a message; you would still need to send it yourself.
A parent or guardian can contact hello@hailmary-studio.com and ask us to delete information they sent. Learning records on your phone can be removed by deleting the app’s data on that device. If you open a web page or send an email, the relevant service providers may process information separately from Google. More details are below.
1. Scope
KANA helps you learn hiragana and katakana without an account or login. This policy covers the KANA Android and iOS apps, related web pages, and email support. The Android app serves children aged six and up, teenagers, and adult beginners. The iOS app is a general education app intended primarily for teenage and adult beginners.
Learning content is bundled with the app and learning records are stored on your device. Separate off-device processing may occur through advertising services, emails you send, operating-system backups, and visits to web pages.
Advertising is offered after the required notices, consent arrangements, and release checks are in place. Publishing this policy does not activate advertising or constitute consent. Service directed to the UK begins after any required representative appointment or applicable exemption assessment, and disclosure of required representative contact details.
2. Operator and contact
The operator is 헤일메리(HAIL MARY), a business registered in the Republic of Korea, and Taewon Seo handles support and privacy requests. The website is https://hailmary-studio.com and the contact address is hello@hailmary-studio.com. Taewon Seo personally reads these inquiries and responds through Apple iCloud Mail.
Business address: 1212, 386 Gwangnaru-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Telephone: +82-10-7114-0941 (within Korea: 010-7114-0941).
This email is also the contact for access, correction, deletion, and complaints about inquiry information collected and held by the operator. Basic learning remains available if you do not contact us or your privacy choices do not permit ads.
3. Learning information stored on your device
KANA stores the following information on your device so you can continue learning and see what to review. KANA's learning features do not send this learning store to the operator's server or a remote analytics service.
Pronunciation uses audio included with the app. The current app does not record your voice or send it to a speech-recognition service.
- Progress for each character, review schedules and learning history, the current study session, deck state, and previous state needed for undo
- Your Korean, English or Japanese selection and the device time zone used to calculate learning dates
- Limited on-device counts such as learning starts, completions and failures; active and return days; and banner ad requests, loads, failures and impressions
- A saved advertising OFF preference from an earlier version and the minimum state needed to reopen earlier privacy choices. Legacy age-range records are removed when migrating these settings.
4. Google AdMob advertising
KANA includes Google AdMob banners on the home and learning screens. The app does not display an age prompt, a separate advertising ON/OFF choice, or an automatic consent popup. Before requesting ads in a launch session, KANA refreshes Google's privacy state and requests ads only when consent and additional privacy choices are not required and Google permits requests. When advertising remains off, a privacy-state check may still occur to make previously authorized privacy choices available. Otherwise, including when the check fails, it does not request ads and basic learning remains available. A saved advertising OFF preference from an earlier version is preserved.
Every KANA ad request applies child-directed treatment, the G ad-content rating limit, and the non-personalized-ad request setting. Google states that child-directed treatment restricts interest-based advertising, remarketing, and transmission of the Android advertising identifier and iOS advertising identifier (IDFA) on that request. KANA does not infer that a user is an adult or remove these protections based on an assumed age.
The permitted scope for persistent identifiers is limited to supporting internal operations such as contextual ad delivery, frequency limiting, service security, and fraud prevention. They are not used to contact a specific person or build behavioral profiles or personalized advertising across services. Every eligible request carries Google’s child-directed signal, and Android advertising-ID and AdServices permissions are removed. Section 8 explains retention purposes, business need, and timeframes.
Google may process IP addresses and approximate location inferred from them, app and ad interactions, performance information, and device- or app-scoped identifiers to operate permitted advertising, frequency limiting, security, and fraud prevention. The Android app is configured not to request AD_ID, AdServices advertising-ID, attribution or Topics permissions, or device-location permissions. These restrictions do not mean that no external processing occurs. On iOS, KANA disables Google's publisher first-party ID feature and does not request cross-app tracking permission or permission to access IDFA. This does not mean that all device- or app-scoped identifier processing is eliminated.
On Android and iOS, Google UMP receives the under-age-of-consent protection signal, while ad requests separately receive child-directed treatment. Privacy choices that Google requires us to provide appear in app settings and open only when the user explicitly selects them. Opening those choices or having a previous consent record does not by itself enable ads. The refreshed state must satisfy all the conditions above. This treatment does not create personalized-ad or parental consent. If additional notices or choices are legally required, those ads are not activated before the requirements are met.
5. Optional email support
After you choose an inquiry topic in settings, KANA passes a fixed recipient, the selected topic, and a reminder not to include personal information to your email app. There is no free-text inquiry field inside KANA, and learning records, diagnostics, and age choices are not automatically attached. If you send an email from your mail app, its sender address, display name, subject, message, attachments you add, and transmission information are processed by the operator and relevant mail services.
If the mail app cannot be opened, only the fixed recipient, selected topic, and reminder are copied to the clipboard. Operating-system clipboard sync or history settings may share that content with other apps or devices. Children should contact us with a parent or guardian and should not send names, schools, telephone numbers, photos, learning records, or sensitive information.
Taewon Seo personally uses information received through Apple iCloud Mail to answer inquiries and handle privacy requests. Support is optional and is not required for basic learning. Email received at this support address is not automatically forwarded to another address or service.
KANA inquiries whose sender has not identified themselves as an adult or guardian default to the child-inquiry minimization and prompt-deletion rules. Self-identifying as an adult does not exempt this app from child-related legal obligations or authorize retaining another child’s information.
Contact information in a child’s one-time inquiry is used only to answer that request once and is permanently deleted promptly after the response from operator-controlled Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash, and downloaded copies. It is not used for repeated contact or marketing or retained as a customer history. The general one-year support limit does not apply to child inquiries. Unnecessary child personal information or attachments are deleted promptly without use or separate download. Follow-up processing requiring guardian verification or consent does not begin without the necessary process.
For ordinary adult inquiries and a guardian’s own inquiry or rights request, we process only the minimum information needed and delete operator-controlled incoming and sent emails, attachments, and downloaded copies as soon as practicable after resolution, no later than one year. This period is not a basis to retain a child’s personal information. We do not guarantee immediate deletion from provider-controlled backups.
6. Website and policy pages
The Hail Mary website and policy pages use Cloudflare static hosting. When a page is requested, Cloudflare may process IP addresses, request information, and related technical information for delivery, caching, security, and service operation.
The site source has no operator-added web analytics code or contact form. This does not mean that Cloudflare performs no infrastructure processing or holds no security or traffic information. Web-request information is separate from the app’s on-device learning store.
Cloudflare acts as a processor for content delivered on customers’ behalf and customer logs; its own service and network-security information is subject to separate processing purposes and policies. This does not mean that marketing cookies used on Cloudflare’s own website are used on KANA’s policy pages.
7. External services and international processing
Ad and privacy-choice requests are transmitted over networks to Google; email to the operator, your mail provider, and Apple iCloud Mail; and web-page requests to Cloudflare. Each transmission occurs when the relevant feature is used. Operating-system backups depend on your device, account, and backup-provider settings and are not an operator-run learning server.
Google AdMob generally processes advertising information as an independent controller; its role may differ under applicable US restricted-data-processing terms. The Google Ads data-protection terms name Google LLC as the end controller for the relevant UK-user information. This is not necessarily the publisher account’s contracting or payment entity. Google describes using servers in multiple countries; see section 8 and the official guidance below for retention criteria.
Apple iCloud Mail is used to send, receive, and store support email. Sender addresses, display names, subjects, messages, attachments, and transmission information are processed over communications networks when an email or reply is sent. Apple states that personal data is generally stored with Apple Inc. in the United States. Processing follows Apple’s privacy policy and any addendum applicable to the operator’s account region. Where the Korean addenda apply, they describe servers in the US, EU, UK, and countries participating in Global CBPR, and processing by Apple Inc. (US) and Apple Distribution International Limited (Ireland) when needed. This describes Apple’s service arrangements; it does not mean every support email is sent to every listed location. Operator-controlled inquiry copies follow the separate child and ordinary-inquiry deletion rules in section 5. Apple’s separate retention follows its service-purpose and legal-need criteria. Apple privacy contact: https://www.apple.com/kr/privacy/contact/.
Cloudflare, Inc. (United States) processes IP addresses and request or technical information over communications networks when you request a web page, to deliver, cache, and protect that page. Cloudflare describes storage in the US and European Economic Area, with processing in other countries to provide its services. Information processed on customers’ behalf is retained under the service purposes and contract, including deletion or return at termination and legal exceptions. Its official list below describes service-specific subprocessors and country coverage. Providers listed for AI or email-security services that we do not use are not thereby recipients of this page’s information. Privacy contact: privacyquestions@cloudflare.com.
Processing abroad may be subject to access under local law. In Korea, we use the published-notice route under PIPA Article 28-8(1)(3)(a) only for outsourced processing or storage necessary to provide the service you request, covering email handling and storage and web delivery. Processing outside that scope that requires separate consent begins only after the required notice and consent. You can avoid the relevant transfer by not sending a support email or by stopping access to the web page, and can ask the operator to stop processing or delete information already sent. This may limit email support or web access, but basic learning in the app remains available. Advertising privacy choices can be managed as described in section 10; deleting information previously transmitted requires a separate request.
Where UK data-protection law applies to the operator’s processing, the grounds are legitimate interests in providing and protecting the service for ordinary inquiry responses and web delivery and security, and legal obligations for statutory privacy requests. We use consent for advertising storage or access and personalization where required. This does not mean that the operator collects learning records stored only on your device. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests. Providers describe safeguards such as standard contractual clauses or UK-recognized transfer frameworks for relevant transfers; information and copies of applicable safeguards can be requested through the provider guidance below or from the operator.
8. Retention
Learning records, deck state, and preferences do not have one automatic expiry period. They remain on your device while the app data is retained so you can continue learning.
When a new on-device daily usage count is recorded, older daily rows are cleaned up using a 90-day window. Cleanup may not run when the app is unused or recording fails. This period does not apply to all learning records or preferences.
Advertising information is processed and retained to operate contextual delivery, frequency limiting, security, and fraud prevention described in section 4. These functions are the business need for retention. Hail Mary does not separately collect or retain Google’s raw advertising logs or persistent identifiers. The following criteria apply to the information Google actually receives.
For advertising data outside Google Accounts, Google removes part of logged IP addresses after nine months, and cookie or advertising-ID information from logs and ad-serving databases after eighteen months. Real-time ad-profile data is deleted or anonymized after eighteen months. These periods concern data actually collected; they do not mean KANA collects blocked advertising IDs or personalized-ad profiles.
The US display-advertising schedule also specifies up to three years from collection for abuse-prevention identifying information, eleven years for financial records, and sixty days for event-level data available to publishers. Authorized Buyers alone has an eight-day debugging-sample limit and earlier deletion of ad-serving cookie/resettable-identifier data after 180 days without requests for the identifier. These service-specific periods are not universal AdMob deadlines.
Outside the US, Google’s general advertising-retention criteria apply, with possible longer retention for fraud prevention and avoiding previously blocked ads. Removing part of an IP address is not deletion of the whole log. We do not promise an unpublished, shorter child-specific retention period.
Support information follows the separate rules in section 5. A child’s one-time inquiry is deleted promptly after the response, without applying the one-year limit for ordinary adult or guardian inquiries. Provider-controlled information retained for operation, security, legal obligations, or backups follows provider-specific criteria. Inquiries whose sender has not identified themselves as an adult or guardian also default to the child-inquiry rule.
This version does not collect new age-range, ad-switch, or optional-ad notice-acceptance records. On startup, it retains only the earlier advertising OFF preference and the minimum state needed to reopen earlier privacy choices, then deletes the legacy record containing the age range. Google SDK privacy choices are not reset or converted to permission by this migration.
9. Deletion, deck restart, and backups
Restarting a deck resets the learning order and state for that deck. It does not delete other decks, all past learning records, usage counts, or language preferences. The current app does not have a separate button that deletes all local data at once.
You can use your device's app-data deletion or app deletion features to remove local data. A feature that keeps data, such as Offload App on iOS, is different from deleting the app.
The current Android and iOS configurations do not exclude default operating-system backup. Learning records and settings may be included in backups or device transfers. Earlier backups may still contain legacy age-range and advertising-choice records. On startup, this version also migrates restored settings, preserving only an advertising OFF preference and the minimum state needed to reopen earlier privacy choices before deleting the legacy record containing the age range. Actual backup behavior depends on the operating system, device, and user settings.
Clearing app data, deleting the app, or restarting a deck does not immediately erase emails already sent, Google information, web-request information, or past provider or operating-system backups. Manage backup settings and deletion through the relevant device or backup provider.
10. Advertising and privacy choices
The privacy policy is available in app settings. There is no age-range prompt or ad-use switch. Every user receives the same child-directed and non-personalized ad treatment.
Google UMP separately manages its privacy choices and consent state. When Google requires a privacy-choice entrypoint, it appears as Ad privacy settings in the app and can be reopened by explicitly selecting it. The entrypoint is shown only when required. The app’s default advertising setting does not constitute Google privacy permission or consent.
Legacy age answers, product advertising choices, and notice-acceptance records are not converted into Google consent. Only the earlier advertising OFF preference and the minimum state needed to reopen earlier privacy choices are retained locally; the legacy record containing the age range is removed. In a launch session that requests ads, a fresh Google check must say consent and additional privacy choices are not required and permit ad requests. A previous consent record, denied or unknown state, or a failed check does not by itself permit ads. Every permitted request retains child-directed treatment and the G advertising-content rating limit. That ad-content limit is not an app-store age rating or a determination of the user’s actual age.
Additional privacy and advertising choices may be available through your device or provider. Changing a choice is different from deleting information already sent. Failure to load an ad does not prevent basic learning.
11. Requests about your information
Depending on applicable law and the processing involved, you may request access or a copy, correction, deletion, restriction or suspension, withdrawal of consent, objection, and data portability where applicable. These rights have legal conditions and exceptions. Changing an advertising choice does not automatically change the lawfulness of past processing or erase retained information.
Email hello@hailmary-studio.com with the fact that the request concerns KANA, the action requested, and only the minimum details needed to locate the relevant inquiry. Do not initially send an identity-document copy, password, or unnecessary sensitive information. Taewon Seo personally reviews requests; the handling route is to check identity or representative authority when needed and communicate the outcome or any limitation under applicable legal procedures and deadlines.
The operator cannot remotely access or delete learning records held only on your device, but can explain device deletion options. Information held by an independent party such as Google may also require that party’s request process. You can send questions or complaints about the operator’s handling to the same email address.
Where applicable, you can also contact or complain to a privacy regulator: South Korea’s PIPC, the UK ICO, Canada’s OPC or the relevant provincial authority, Australia’s OAIC, or New Zealand’s Privacy Commissioner. Additional US state-law rights and advertising opt-outs depend on applicability and actual advertising processing; this policy does not currently declare exemption from all state laws or that no sale or sharing ever occurs.
12. Intended age
KANA for Android is intended for children aged six and up, teenagers, and adult beginners learning Japanese who read Korean, English or Japanese. The iOS app is intended primarily for teenage and adult beginners; the same child protections in this policy apply to children who use it. Planned initial distribution countries for both platforms are South Korea, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Service begins after applicable regional privacy and advertising conditions are met. Actual availability and timing depend on each store’s release status.
The app does not ask for or verify a date of birth, age range, or identity. Store content ratings are not used to determine the actual age of a user.
Because age is unknown, every ad request receives child-directed protections. This does not assert that a user is actually a child or an adult, and does not constitute parental consent.
Children should contact us with a parent or guardian. We do not ask children to provide names, schools, telephone numbers, photos, learning records, or information for repeated contact. One-time child inquiries and guardian requests follow the procedures below.
A parent or guardian can email hello@hailmary-studio.com to request review or deletion of a child’s information, or to refuse further collection or use. Initially provide only that the request concerns KANA and the minimum information needed to locate the inquiry. Where needed, we verify guardian authority with minimal information before explaining the outcome. We do not disclose a child’s information to an unverified requester. The operator cannot remotely access learning records kept only on a device and can explain device deletion options.
13. Security
Learning information is stored in the app's on-device storage. We do not claim to provide separate app-level database encryption. Device locks, operating-system security, and backup-account settings also affect protection.
Google states that information collected by the Android Mobile Ads SDK is transmitted using TLS. This does not guarantee the security of every email, on-device record, backup, or web log.
Taewon Seo personally handles inquiries and applies the deletion rule above. Access protection for devices, email, and web services is also important. No storage or transmission method guarantees absolute security; please report security or privacy concerns to the contact above.
14. Effective date and changes
The effective date appears at the top of this document. For questions about earlier versions, contact hello@hailmary-studio.com.
If processing changes, the policy will be updated with the change and its effective date. Processing that requires new consent will not begin before the required consent is obtained.