Privacy Notice

1. Who we are

BOBADE LTD, trading as OwnVoice Academic, is the data controller for the personal data described in this notice. That means we decide why and how your personal data is processed. You can contact us about privacy at support@ownvoiceacademic.com.

2. Personal data we collect

• Account data — name, email address, login credentials, and the programme, module and English variant you choose during onboarding.
• Coursework content — coursework briefs, questions, marking criteria, your own notes, critical analysis, personal experience and reflection entries (including Gibbs’ and Kolb’s stage responses), drafts, version history, stage completion records and final review output. This content is yours; we process it only to run the workspace for you.
• Course Library data — modules, term and tutor details, credits, weekly reading lists, assignment titles, due dates, weightings and word limits, plus the links you create between modules, references, coursework projects and Experience Bank entries.
• References and sources — bibliographic details, source notes and quotations you record.
• Email data — the email address we send service messages to (purchase confirmations, payment failure notices, password and email-change confirmations, delivery alerts), delivery and bounce status for those messages, and the content of any support email you send to or receive from support@ownvoiceacademic.com. Support mail is held in our Google Workspace/Gmail mailbox and may be read and replied to by our administrators through the in-app support inbox.
• Support data — messages you send us and their attachments.
• Usage and technical data — feature usage, telemetry, device identifiers, browser type, log data and IP address.
• Order data — the fact and status of a purchase, plan, billing period and buyer email. On the web this comes from Paddle; in the iOS and Android apps it comes from RevenueCat together with Apple’s App Store or Google Play (an anonymous app user id, product id, purchase and renewal status). Card details are collected and processed by those payment providers, never by us.

2a. AI processing of your content

When you ask for tutor feedback, structured stage writing, humanising suggestions or a British English review, the specific text you submit is sent to our AI provider to generate that response. It is processed only to return your result, is not used to train third-party models, and is not retained by the provider beyond the short period needed to serve the request. We never generate work for you to submit as your own: the Service is designed to support your own writing and academic integrity.

3. Why we use it, and our legal basis

• Creating and administering your account — performance of our contract with you.
• Providing the writing workspace and storing your content — performance of our contract.
• Managing subscriptions, invoicing and order records — contract and legal obligation.
• Security, fraud prevention and abuse detection — legitimate interests in protecting the Service.
• Product improvement and aggregated analytics — legitimate interests in improving the Service.
• Customer support — contract and legitimate interests.
• Marketing emails, where applicable — consent, which you may withdraw at any time.

4. Who we share data with

• Supabase — hosting, database, authentication and file storage for your account, coursework content and Course Library.
• Google (Gmail / Google Workspace) — sending and receiving service and support email for support@ownvoiceacademic.com.
• Our AI provider — processing the text you submit for tutor feedback, drafting support and language review, as described in section 2a.
• Paddle.com, our Merchant of Record for web purchases, for subscription management, payments, tax compliance and invoicing.
• RevenueCat, Apple and Google — for in-app subscriptions bought through the App Store or Google Play, so we can confirm your entitlement and renewals.
• Professional advisers — legal and accounting advisers where necessary.
• Authorities — where required by law or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We do not sell your personal data, and we never share your coursework, reflections or Course Library with your university, tutors or other users unless you export and send it yourself.

5. International transfers

Some providers process data outside the UK and EEA. Where that happens, we rely on UK/EU adequacy decisions or on Standard Contractual Clauses (with the UK Addendum where relevant), together with appropriate technical safeguards.

6. Retention

We keep account data, coursework content (including drafts and version history) and your Course Library for as long as your account is active, and for up to 12 months after closure so you can recover it, unless you ask us to delete it sooner. Deleting an item in the app removes it from your workspace immediately and from our backups within 30 days. Support email is kept for up to 24 months; email delivery and bounce records for up to 12 months. Order and tax records are kept for as long as legally required (normally six years). Log and telemetry data is kept for up to 12 months. After these periods data is deleted or anonymised. You can delete your account and all associated content at any time from Settings.

7. Your rights

Under the UK GDPR and EU GDPR you have the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection to processing based on legitimate interests, and withdrawal of consent. To exercise a right, email support@ownvoiceacademic.com; we will respond within one month. You may also complain to a supervisory authority — in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).

8. Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures, including encryption in transit, access controls, least-privilege administration and regular review of our providers, to protect personal data.

9. Cookies

We use essential cookies and local storage to keep you signed in and to store your workspace preferences and content. Where we use analytics or marketing cookies we ask for your consent first, and you can change your choice at any time in your browser settings or through any cookie banner shown to you.

10. Changes

We may update this notice and will post the revised version here with a new “last updated” date. See also our Terms & Conditions and Refund Policy.