TalkIn ( hereinafter referred to as "we") is a language learning platform developed and operated by us. We value your privacy and personal information and are always committed to protecting your privacy. In order to help you better use TalkIn services, we have specifically developed this Privacy Policy to explain what information we collect when you use TalkIn services and how we collect, use, and protect this information.
Before using TalkIn services, please carefully read our Privacy Policy. Unless you have read and accepted all the terms of this agreement, please immediately cease using TalkIn services. By checking or clicking the "Agree to the Privacy Policy" button, you are deemed to have fully understood and accepted this Privacy Policy.
Part One Definition
User: hereinafter referred to as "you" or "user", refers to an individual or organization that registers, logs in, uses, browses, or obtains services under this policy.
Personal information refers to various information recorded electronically or otherwise that can identify a specific natural person or reflect the activities of a specific natural person, either alone or in combination with other information .
Part Two: Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy section will help you understand the following:
I. Information We Collected
II. Information Storage
III. Information Security
IV. How We Use Information
V. Disclosure to third parties
VI. Our Children's Information Policy
七、 Contact Us
The information we collected
1. Register an account
When you register for TalkIn , we collect your unique device identifier to identify you as a TalkIn user. If you log in to TalkIn using QQ, WeChat, Apple ID, Facebook, Gmail, Line, or Kakao Talk, we collect your unique identifier, profile picture, and nickname for QQ, WeChat, Line, or Kakao Talk, or your unique identifier for Apple ID, Facebook, or Gmail, to save your login information and allow you to sync your data when logging in from different devices. After you register or log in using a third-party account, your third-party account will be linked to your TalkIn account, but you can unlink your account by going to Settings → Accounts → Linked Information .
When you create a TalkIn ID, we collect your personal information, including your email address, gender, age, nationality, native language, and the language you are learning, to help us provide you with better service and experience.
We will collect your mobile phone number to verify your user information. Mobile phone numbers are considered sensitive information , and we collect them to comply with relevant Chinese laws and regulations, as well as local laws in your country of residence regarding real-name registration requirements for the internet . If you refuse to provide your mobile phone number, it will affect your normal use of TalkIn .
2. Provide you with network security and operational security guarantees.
To protect your account, network, operations, and system security, and to prevent phishing website fraud and Trojan viruses, our servers automatically record information sent by your mobile phone (" log data ") when you register and begin using the various services of this product, or when it is switched to the background. This log data may include relevant information (such as carrier, application installation list, device model, operating system and version, client version, Android ID, device resolution, package name, device settings, processes and unique device identifiers, software and hardware characteristics), and device location information (such as IP address, GPS location, and WLAN access point, Bluetooth, and base station sensor information that can provide relevant information).
3. Camera/Camera-based functions
take photos or videos, upload, and share them after granting camera/camera permissions . Please note that even if you have agreed to grant camera/camera permissions, we will only access relevant information through the camera when you actively click on the above functions within the client . If you do not use the above functions, you can refuse this permission.
4. Functions of microphone-based voice technology
voice chat after enabling microphone permissions . Please note that even if you have agreed to enable microphone permissions, we will only obtain voice information through the microphone when you actively click the microphone icon in the client . If you do not use this function, you can refuse this permission.
5. Functions based on geographic location information
With your consent , we will record your location information to display more of your user attributes and to match you with language partners in your desired region. Location information is sensitive ; refusing to provide this information will not affect your normal use , and you can also disable your location information authorization at any time.
6. Functions based on storage permissions
When you upload/update your account avatar or post text/video content, we need to obtain your device's storage/photo album permissions to facilitate the posting of images and text information. If you refuse to grant these permissions, we will not be able to provide you with the corresponding functions, but it will not affect your use of other functions on the platform.
7. Calendar-based extended business functions
you use the TalkIn Live live course creation and live course booking features , we will request your permission to read/write your calendar so that we can record and notify you of the event start time. We will not access or change any content in your calendar that is not related to language exchange or live streaming.
8. Explanation of Auto-Start and Associated Startup
To ensure that this application can receive broadcast messages pushed by the client even when it is closed or running in the background, this application must use the (auto-start) capability. This involves sending broadcasts through the system at a certain frequency to wake up the application for auto-start or associated startup, which is necessary to achieve the functionality and service.
When you open a content-related push notification in the TalkIn app, you will be redirected to the TalkIn app to view the relevant content after obtaining your explicit consent . Without your consent, the app will not launch.
9. Other situations
In accordance with relevant Chinese laws and regulations and local laws of the country in which we operate , we may collect and use your personal information without obtaining your authorization or consent in the following circumstances:
Those directly related to national interests such as national security and defense security; those directly related to major public interests such as public safety, public health, and public awareness.
Directly related to criminal investigation, prosecution, trial, and execution of judgments;
In order to protect your or other individuals' vital legitimate rights and interests, such as life, property, and reputation, but when it is difficult to obtain their consent;
The personal information collected is information that you voluntarily disclosed to the public;
Collecting personal information from legally and publicly disclosed information, such as legitimate news reports and government information disclosure channels;
Necessary for signing and fulfilling the contract as required by you ;
Necessary for maintaining the safe and stable operation of the products or services provided, such as detecting and handling product or service malfunctions;
When conducting statistical or academic research for the public interest, and when providing the results of academic research or descriptions to the public, the personal information contained in the results shall be de-identified .
Other circumstances as provided by Chinese laws and regulations and local laws of the country where the country is located .
Information storage
1. Information storage methods and duration
We will store your information securely , including local storage (such as data caching via the app), databases, and server logs.
Generally, we will only store your personal information for the time necessary to achieve the purpose of the service or under the conditions stipulated by Chinese laws and regulations and local laws of the country where you are located . You can choose to delete historical data and other personal information you provide and generate while using TalkIn services. If you choose to delete the above information , we will also delete the corresponding personal information accordingly.
2. Manage and retain your data
Legal obligations and issues. For example, we may retain your information based on Chinese laws and regulations as well as local laws in the country where you are located, when we have legal obligations to retain data, enforce and prevent violations of our terms, or protect rights, property, and users when necessary.
For operational retention purposes, we generally retain your personal information only for the time necessary to achieve our objectives. For example, we do not retain your chat messages while providing our services (except in the limited circumstances mentioned above), and therefore they are deleted from our servers once they are delivered. However, as stated above, if a message cannot be sent immediately, we will retain it in encrypted form on our servers for up to 30 days while attempting to send it, after which it will be deleted. Your public information, including your profile and feed posts, will be retained until you delete your account and withdraw your consent . When you delete your account or feed posts, the data will be deleted or anonymized.
3. Data transmission from other countries
TalkIn is a global language exchange platform. Your personal information is stored in the following locations:
( 1 ) Personal information of users within China shall be stored first on compliant servers in mainland China;
( 2 ) The personal information of overseas users is stored on compliant servers in Singapore and Silicon Valley, USA.
Cross-border data transfers have been approved by Chinese laws and regulations as well as local laws and regulations of the host country, and data security is ensured through security measures such as encrypted transmission and data anonymization . Such data may be provided to you upon request. Data is transferred to other countries outside your home country. Data transmission has been approved by Chinese laws and regulations as well as local laws and regulations of the host country , and is appropriately and securely processed. Such data may be provided to you upon request.
Information security
1. Data Protection
We have taken extensive technical and organizational measures to protect your data from potential risks, such as unauthorized login or access, unauthorized close reading, modification or distribution, and to prevent loss, deletion or misuse.
To protect your personal data from unauthorized access by third parties, we use SSL and TLS encryption to secure data transmission where necessary. This is the standard encryption process used for online and mobile services, especially on the Internet.
In addition, we have passed the assessment and registration for China's Cybersecurity Classified Protection (Level 3).
2. Regarding video and audio chat
We will not monitor, record, or broadcast video and audio chat sessions at all times. However, we cannot prevent your chat partners from broadcasting recorded chat sessions via third-party websites or services without your or our permission . We advise you to exercise caution when disclosing any personal or other information during video or chat sessions .
3. Safety Incident Handling Measures
In the event of a security incident such as leakage, damage, or loss of personal information, we will activate our emergency response plan to prevent the incident from escalating. After a security incident occurs, we will promptly inform you of the basic details of the incident, the measures we are about to take or have already taken, and our suggestions for your response via push notifications, emails , etc. If it is difficult to notify each individual, we will issue a warning through announcements or other means.
4. How do you manage your information?
You can access and modify your mobile phone number information, account password, QQ account, WeChat account, and Apple ID through [Me → Settings → Account] .
You can access and unfollow users through 【My → Following】 ;
You can access and delete friends and related chat information through [Home → Messages] ;
If you find any errors in how we process your information, you have the right to request correction or supplementation. In providing our services, we may require you to grant certain device permissions, such as notifications, photo album access, camera access, and microphone access. You can choose to disable some or all permissions at any time in your device's Settings to refuse TalkIn's collection of your personal information.
You can submit an account cancellation request in the TalkIn APP yourself. The cancellation method is: [Me → Settings → Account → Account Deletion] . After you actively cancel your account, we will immediately delete your corresponding personal information. It is generally processed within 1 business day.
After you voluntarily cancel your account, we will delete your core personal information (including account information, identity information, chat data, etc.) within 1 business day; we will clean up server backup data and cached data within 3 business days , and notify the relevant third-party SDK service providers to delete your information synchronously (the deletion time limit of the third-party SDK shall be subject to the provisions of their privacy policy).
The following are exceptions:
1. Information that is explicitly required to be retained by laws and regulations (such as information required to cooperate with judicial investigations or fulfill compliance obligations);
2. Necessary information to be retained to ensure platform security and handle disputes;
3. Information that has been anonymized, de-identified, and cannot be linked to you.
How do we use information?
We strictly abide by Chinese laws and regulations, local laws in the countries where we operate , and agreements with our users. We use the information we collect in accordance with this Privacy Policy to provide you with better services.
We use your personal information to analyze user demographics.
We may use your personal information to send important notifications , such as information about purchases and changes to our terms, conditions and policies.
We do not treat log data as personal information, nor do we combine it with other personal information, although we may aggregate, analyze and evaluate such information for the purpose of understanding or improving our services.
Your publicly available information includes your name, age, profile picture, current city, and time zone. We will never display your exact location or email address. You can choose not to share any information with other members in your profile settings .
Device Information: Based on the specific permissions you grant during software installation and use, we will receive and record information related to the device you are using (such as IMSI identification code, device model, operating system and version, client version, Android ID, device resolution, package name, device settings, processes and unique device identifiers, software and hardware characteristics), and information related to the device's location (such as IP address, GPS location, and WLAN access point, Bluetooth, and base station sensor information that can provide relevant information).
Based on the information we collect (including log information, device information, and location information), we will perform feature analysis or user profiling on your preferences, habits, and location in order to provide you with more suitable customized services and show or recommend more relevant search results, information feeds, push notifications, or advertising promotional information.
Withdraw your consent to personalized recommendations: [My → Settings → Privacy → Turn off personalized ad recommendations] You can withdraw your consent to personalized content recommendations and personalized ad recommendations on this page.
Please note that standalone device information and log information cannot identify a specific natural person. If we combine this type of non-personal information with other information to identify a specific natural person, or combine it with personal information, then during the period of combined use, this type of non-personal information will be treated as personal information. Unless we obtain your authorization or Chinese laws and regulations and local laws of the country where you are located stipulate otherwise, we will anonymize and de-identify this type of personal information.
Disclosure to third parties
1. Principles
If you are approved for the service, your account will be governed by TalkIn's respective privacy policies. Personal information is used solely by TalkIn to provide or improve our products, services, and advertising; it will not be shared with third parties for marketing purposes.
Access to third-party services is operated by the relevant third party and is subject to the third party's own terms of service and privacy policy (not this TalkIn Privacy Policy).
We will only share your information for legitimate, necessary, and specific purposes . We will require our third-party service providers with whom we share information to fulfill their relevant confidentiality obligations and take appropriate security measures.
Furthermore, since we collect and use this analytical information in an aggregated form, it is impossible to reasonably manipulate it to identify any particular individual user.
2. Integrate third-party SDK directories:
The retention and use period for the following personal information shall remain until the user cancels the account or the term of the entrustment agreement expires .
SDK name | Purpose of use | Types of user personal information obtained | Privacy Policy Link |
Used for registration and identity verification, and to help users use WeChat Pay within the app. | Imei , IMSI, Mac , ConversationAccount , Device Model, Operating System, Unique Device Identifier (Android ID/OAID for Android, IDFA for iOS versions prior to 14.5 for iOS), Login IP Address, WeChat Software Version, WeChat Nickname, WeChat Profile Picture, Network Access Method, Type and Status, Network Quality Data, Device Accelerator (e.g., Gravity Sensor), Operation Logs, Service Log Information | https://weixin.qq.com/cgi-bin/readtemplate?lang=zh_CN&t=weixin_agreement&s=privacy | |
Used for registration and authentication | imei, imsi, mac, conversationAccount, device model, operating system, unique device identifier (Android ID/OAID for Android, IDFA for iOS versions prior to 14.5 for iOS), login IP address, WeChat software version number, QQ nickname, QQ avatar, network access method, type and status, network quality data, device accelerator (e.g., gravity sensor device), operation logs, service log information. | https://privacy.qq.com/policy/tencent-privacypolicy | |
Line |
Used for registration and authentication |
Mac, Android ID, Conversation Account, service log information | |
Kakao Talk |
Used for registration and authentication |
Mac, Android ID, Conversation Account, service log information | |
Used for registration and authentication | MAC address, Android ID, conversationAccount, service log information | ||
Google OAuth | Used for registration and authentication | MAC address, Android ID, conversationAccount, service log information | |
Xiaomi Push (Xiaomi Inc.) | Used for sending emails and push notifications | The system collects information such as IMEI, IMSI, MAC address, Android ID, and service logs. For Android users, it collects device-related information such as device manufacturer, device model, device memory, operating system version, Xiaomi Push SDK version, device location (country or region), SIM card carrier name, current network type (the current network type and SIM card carrier name are only read locally on the device and are not uploaded to Xiaomi's servers), and notification settings (including whether to block notifications and whether to enable lock screen pop-up messages). For iOS users, it collects device-related information such as device model, operating system version, and Xiaomi Push SDK version. | https://dev.mi.com/console/doc/detail?pId=1822 |
OPPO Push (OPPO) | Used for sending emails and push notifications | Device-related information (such as IMEI or OAID, Serial Number, IMSI, User ID, Android ID, MAC address, Google Advertising ID, phone Region settings, device model, phone battery level, phone operating system version and language), application information using push services (such as app package name and version number, running status), push SDK version number, network-related information (such as IP or domain name connection results, current network type), message sending results, notification bar status (such as notification bar permissions, user click behavior), lock screen status (such as whether the screen is locked, whether lock screen notifications are allowed), and service log information. | https://open.oppomobile.com/new/developmentDoc/info?id=10288 |
FCM Push (Google ) | Used for sending emails and push notifications | imei, imsi, mac, android ID, service log information | |
Huawei Push (Huawei) | Used for sending emails and push notifications | imei, imsi, mac, android ID, service log information | https://consumer.huawei.com/cn/privacy/privacy-policy/ |
Vivo push notification (Vivo) | Used for sending emails and push notifications | Device-related information (such as IMEI or OAID, Serial Number, IMSI, User ID, Android ID, MAC address, Google Advertising ID, phone Region settings, device model, phone battery level, phone operating system version and language), application information using push services (such as app package name and version number, running status), push SDK version number, network-related information (such as IP or domain name connection results, current network type), message sending results, notification bar status (such as notification bar permissions, user click behavior), lock screen status (such as whether the screen is locked, whether lock screen notifications are allowed), and service log information. | https://www.vivo.com.cn/about-vivo/privacy-policy |
Zhilian Branchcn ( Gamified Operations Growth Platform - Zhilian Engine ) | For data statistics | Shear board | https://dashboard.branchcn.com/ServiceAgreement |
Google Analytics | Used for data statistics and to improve application stability and reduce application crashes. | Mac, Android ID, device brand, model, software version, application installation list, device Wi-Fi and base station connection information, SDK host application package name, version number, and service log information. | |
Firebase Analytics | Used for data statistics and to improve application stability and reduce application crashes. | Mac, Android ID, device brand, model, software version, application installation list, device Wi-Fi and base station connection information, SDK host application package name, version number, and service log information. | |
Alipay payment | Helping users make payments using Alipay within the app | System unique identifier, external storage status, network type, device model, device manufacturer, SIM card serial number, IMEI, IMSI, MAC address, ANDROID_ID, IP address, WiFi information, application installation list, OpenUDID used for payment-related services, including order payment, transaction verification, revenue settlement, payment information summary statistics, software version, and service log information. | |
Android Pay (Google Inc.) | Helps users make payments using Android Pay within the app. | imei, imsi, service log information | |
Apple Pay (Apple Inc.) | Helps users make payments using Apple Pay within the app. | imei, imsi, service log information |
Both iOS and Android devices allow you to opt out of using the Mobile Advertising Identifier to show you targeted ads. For iOS, go to your iOS device settings and turn on the "Limit Ad Tracking" setting. For Android, enable "Oppose Ads Settings" in your Android device settings.
To control ad targeting, we record information about activity on our apps and websites (e.g., clicks on banner ads, screens viewed, and pages visited ). This information is recorded, and we can use it to serve ads tailored to our customers' interests.
Cookies may be stored on your device for this purpose . Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer's hard drive. They can identify your computer but do not allow you to be personally identified.
If you do not wish to have cookies installed, you can opt out using your browser settings. On mobile devices, you can opt out of sharing the Advertising Identifier.
If you do not wish to share personal information with ad networks, you can opt out in the "My Profile" section of the TalkIn app .
You can edit, hide, and delete personal data in the "My Profile" settings of the TalkIn app. Additionally, you can request account deletion or request changes to certain profile information through TalkIn customer support (talkindevelop@gmail.com).
Our children's information policy
prohibits children under the age of 12 from using TalkIn. If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you may only use TalkIn if you are past the age at which data processing permission is granted under Chinese laws and regulations and local laws in your country , or if you have obtained parental consent to use TalkIn from us . If you are a parent and know that your child is using TalkIn but do not wish them to, please contact ( talkindevelop@gmail.com ).
If the user is under the age of 14, the child's legal guardian has the right to view and update the child's personal information and withdraw their consent to the collection and use of the child's personal information.
We recommend that any minor participating in online activities should obtain the prior consent of their parents or other guardians (hereinafter referred to as "guardians"). We will protect the relevant information of minors in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations as well as local laws and regulations of the country where they reside .
Contact Us
We are firmly committed to protecting users' personal information in accordance with national data protection standards. If you have any questions or concerns about our privacy policy or data processing, please contact customer service for assistance or send your questions to talkinhelp@gmail.com
We reserve the right to modify this data privacy statement at any time and may revise this privacy policy as appropriate.
If you do not agree to the revised Privacy Policy, you have the right and should immediately stop using TalkIn's services. Your continued use of TalkIn's services will be considered as your acceptance of TalkIn's modifications to the terms of this policy.