Datenschutzrichtlinie

1. Introduction

LottaLingo, a Washington nonprofit corporation ("we," "our," or "us"), is a non-profit information platform that helps people research and plan a move abroad. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, and how we protect it.

2. Age Restriction

LottaLingo is intended for users 13 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you are under 13, please do not register or send us any personal information. If we learn we have collected information from a child under 13, we will delete it promptly.

3. Information We Collect

We collect the following types of information:

• Account information: your name, email address, and profile picture, typically provided through Google Sign-In.
• Planning information you provide: your destination goals, origin country, quiz and assessment responses, and preferences you enter to personalize your research and plan.
• Documents you choose to upload: files you add to your personal document vault. These are stored for your own use and are not shared by us with any third party.
• Subscription payment information: if you subscribe to the paid plan, our payment processor (Stripe) handles your payment. We receive limited billing details (such as status and the last four digits of a card) but do not store your full card number.
• Email preferences: the categories of updates you have chosen to receive.
• Usage and device information: features accessed, time spent, and standard device and browser information.

4. How We Use Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve our research tools, guides, and planning features
• Personalize your research results and move-abroad plan
• Create and secure your account
• Process the optional paid subscription
• Send account, service, and (where you have opted in) update emails
• Maintain platform security and prevent abuse
• Respond to your inquiries and provide support
• Comply with legal obligations

5. Data Protection

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including:

• Encryption of personal data in transit and at rest
• Regular security assessments
• Restricted internal access to personal information
• Secure handling of documents you store in your vault

6. Google User Data

We use Google Sign-In for authentication. When you sign in with Google, we access basic profile information (your name, email address, and profile picture) and an authentication token to verify your identity. Your use of Google Sign-In is also subject to Google's own privacy policy.

How we use Google user data:

• To create and maintain your LottaLingo account
• To authenticate you when you sign in
• To communicate with you about your account and the Service

Storage: Google user data is stored securely with appropriate encryption and access controls. We do not store your Google password. We do not share your Google user data with third parties except as necessary to provide the Service or as required by law.

7. Google API Services User Data Policy

LottaLingo's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

• We only use access to Google user data for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy
• We do not use this data for serving advertisements
• We do not allow humans to read this data unless we have your affirmative agreement, it is necessary for security or to comply with applicable law, or the data has been aggregated and anonymized for internal operations

8. Third-Party Services

We rely on a small number of third-party services to operate the platform. These providers process data only to perform services for us:

• Stripe — payment processing for the optional subscription
• Google Analytics — understanding aggregate usage
• reCAPTCHA — spam and abuse prevention
• Vercel — website hosting and infrastructure
• Email delivery providers (Resend and our transactional email service) — sending sign-in codes, subscription confirmations, and the newsletter
• Axiom — operational request logging (may include IP addresses and user agents) for reliability and security monitoring
• AI inference providers (Groq and Cerebras) — processing the free-text descriptions you type into our research intake so we can extract your planning preferences; the text you submit is sent to these providers for that purpose only
• Google Calendar — when you RSVP to a community call, your email address is added to the event invitation so you receive the calendar invite

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing.

9. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access your personal data
• Request correction or deletion of your data
• Withdraw consent
• Request data portability
• Opt out of marketing communications

10. Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate and improve the Service:

• Essential cookies for authentication and security
• Attribution cookies to understand where visitors come from
• Google Analytics for aggregate usage
• reCAPTCHA for spam prevention

You can manage cookie preferences through your browser settings. Blocking some cookies may affect how the Service works.

11. Data Storage and International Transfers

Your data is stored on secure servers provided by our hosting and infrastructure providers and may be processed in countries outside your own. By using the Service you consent to such transfers, which are subject to appropriate safeguards.

12. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as needed to provide the Service and comply with legal obligations. You can request deletion of your account and associated data at any time, and documents in your vault are deleted when you delete them or close your account.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify users of material changes by email or through the platform. Continued use of LottaLingo after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

14. Contact

For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, contact us through our Kontaktformular.