Privacy
Last updated 14 September 2026
The short version
You can use Ionnsaich without an account, and without giving us anything. If you never sign in, your practice progress never leaves your browser.
Two things do leave your device even when signed out, because they have to: text you ask to translate, and Gaelic text you ask to hear. Both go to the services that do that work. Details below.
What we store, and when
| Practice progress — flashcards, streak, saved phrases and your own words, the phrases you have read, when you last reset any of them, the conversations you have built, your best game scores, this week’s review and the badges you have earned | Your browser only, unless you sign in — then also your account |
|---|---|
| Which drills and stories you have finished, and which phrases you have recorded yourself saying — the phrase, never the recording — so badges can count them | Your browser only |
| Email address | Only if you sign in. Used to identify your account, nothing else |
| Text you translate | Sent to our AI provider. Kept only when the phrasebook had no answer, so we can add the phrases people actually ask for — see below |
| Gaelic you play aloud | Not stored by us. Sent to our speech provider to be spoken |
| Microphone audio | Never sent to us. Handled entirely by your browser |
| Offline copies of the app and its Gaelic audio | Your browser only, so the app works without a connection. Nothing personal is included — sign-in and your account data are never saved this way. Clearing your browser's site data removes them |
| Daily reminder settings | Only if you turn reminders on: your device's push address, the hour you chose and your time zone. Deleted when you turn reminders off or delete your account |
There are no advertising trackers, no profile building, and nothing is sold or shared for marketing.
Phrases we keep
When you ask for something our hand-checked phrasebook does not cover, we save that request so we can see which phrases are worth adding. It is stored with a count of how often it has been asked for, and nothing that identifies who asked — no account, no address, no session.
We only keep short, ordinary-looking phrases. Anything longer than about eighty characters is discarded, as is anything containing an email address, a web address, a phone or card number, or a street address. Translations answered from the phrasebook are never stored at all.
These saved phrases are visible only to us, are used only to decide what to add to the phrasebook, and are never published as written. If you would rather not have a phrase kept, email us and we will remove it.
Who else sees your data
Ionnsaich is small, so it relies on other services. Each one only receives what it needs to do its job.
- Vercel hosts the site and provides its analytics, which are aggregated and cookie-free — page views and countries, not individuals — and anonymous counts of which features are used, such as a game being finished. Those counts never include anything you typed, said or practiced, a score, or who you are.
- Supabase stores accounts and synced progress, and only if you sign in.
- xAI (Grok) receives the text you ask to translate, and your side of conversation practice, so it can answer. Do not type anything confidential into it.
- CereProc receives Gaelic text so it can synthesise the audio you hear.
- Google only if you choose to sign in with Google, in which case it tells us your email address.
Daily reminders
If you are signed in and turn on a daily reminder, your browser gives us a push address for this device, which we store with the hour you chose and your time zone. Once an hour we check whether it is that time for you and whether your synced progress shows practice today; if not, we send one reminder through your browser's push service (Google, Apple or Mozilla, depending on the browser). The reminder says only that practice is waiting, and your streak if you have one.
Turning reminders off deletes that device's address, and deleting your account deletes all of them. Nothing is asked for until you press Remind me.
The microphone
Speech recognition runs in your browser, using the Web Speech API. Depending on your browser, that may involve your browser's own vendor. Ionnsaich never receives your audio — only the text your browser produces from it, and only once you press the microphone button.
Say it yourself records you saying a phrase so you can compare it with the Gaelic voice. That recording stays in your browser's memory: it is never uploaded, never stored, and is gone when you record again or leave the page. The microphone is only used once you press Record, and is released as soon as you stop.
Deleting your account
Sign in, then use Delete account in the account bar at the top of the page. It removes your account and your synced progress immediately and permanently. There is no recovery, and we keep no copy.
Progress saved in your browser is separate. Signing out leaves it in place; clearing your browser's site data removes it.
Your rights
If you are in the UK or EU, you have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, to correct it, to have it deleted, and to complain to a regulator. In the UK that is the Information Commissioner's Office.
For an account, the only personal data we hold is your email address and your practice progress, and the delete button removes both. For anything else, email us.
Children
Ionnsaich is suitable for all ages, but accounts are not intended for children under 13. Everything except syncing works without an account.
Changes
If what we collect changes, this page changes with it, and the date at the top moves.
Contact
Ionnsaich is made by CD Media, Inc. For anything about your data, email privacy@ionnsaich.app.