Privacy
Last updated 23 October 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 |
| Release alerts | Only if you turn them on: your device's push address, and your account if you're signed in. Deleted when you turn them 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. We keep the same counts ourselves too, in Supabase, as one total per feature per day, with no person, device or address attached.
- 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.
- Resend delivers the newsletter, and only if you sign up for it: it receives your email address and each email we send you.
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.
Release alerts are separate and need no account. If you turn them on, we store this device's push address — with your account, if you're signed in — and on a day a new episode or story comes out, we send one notification through your browser's push service saying what it is. Turning them off deletes that address.
Speaking partners
The speaking-partner directory is opt-in and needs an account. If you make a profile, we store what you put in it — a display name, your level, your time zone, what you want to practice, an optional line about you, and a contact line — and that you confirmed you are 18 or over. Everyone signed in to the directory can see your profile except the contact line, which is shown only to someone whose request you accepted, or who accepted yours.
We also store the requests you send and receive, with any message, the people you block, and reports you make or that are made about you. Reports are read by a person, who sees the profile reported, its contact line and the report, and may remove the profile from the directory. Leave the directory deletes your profile and every request both ways; deleting your account deletes all of it.
If you turn on partner alerts, we store this device's push address, as for reminders, and send a notification through your browser's push service when someone asks to practice with you or accepts your request. It names them and says nothing else — never their message. Turning alerts off deletes that address.
Events
If you suggest an event, we store what you entered and which account suggested it, so an admin can check it before it is listed. Approved events are public; your account is never shown with them. Deleting your account keeps an approved event listed but removes the link to you.
Classes
A teacher who makes a class gives it a name and the name students see them by, and gets a join code. If you join a class, we store which class, the name you chose for your teacher to see, and that you agreed to share your progress with them. Their assignments are stored with the class, and when you finish one we store your best score, your latest, how many tries and the grammar points you missed.
While you are in the class, its teacher sees your chosen name, the days you practised and your streak, how you are doing on the grammar points their assignments cover, and your scores on their assignments. That comes from your synced progress, so it covers only practice done signed in. They never see your email address, saved words, conversations or anything else, and other students never see you at all.
Leave this class removes you from it and deletes your results there; a teacher can also remove you. A teacher deleting a class deletes its assignments and every result, and deleting your account removes you from every class.
Friends
Friends is off unless you turn it on, and needs an account. Turning it on stores the name you chose for friends to see, an invite code, and that you agreed to share four numbers with them. Adding someone, by opening their invite link and accepting, stores that the two of you are friends.
Your friends see your chosen name, your streak, how many days you practised in the last week, how many phrases you have learned and how many units you have passed. That comes from your synced progress. They never see your email address, saved words, conversations, scores or anything else, and no one who isn't your friend sees you at all: there is no public leaderboard and no way to search for people.
Remove ends a friendship for both of you. Turn off friends deletes your profile and every friendship, and deleting your account does the same.
The newsletter
The newsletter needs no account. If you sign up, we store your email address, which emails you chose (daily, weekly or both), your time zone (so it arrives in your morning), when you confirmed and the date of the last email sent. Nothing but a confirmation email is sent until you press the button in it, and an address never confirmed is deleted after a week.
Every newsletter has a link to choose which emails or to unsubscribe, and most mail apps offer an unsubscribe button too. Unsubscribing deletes your address straight away. We use it for the newsletter and nothing else, and never share it beyond Resend, which delivers the emails.
Reporting an AI answer
Answers from the translator that aren't from the phrasebook, the conversation partner and What to say are written by AI, and each has a Report button. Nothing is sent until you choose a reason and press Send report. A report keeps which feature it was, what you asked (the text to translate, your last message, or the situation), the answer as you saw it, the reason you chose, your note if you wrote one, and when. If you were signed in, it also keeps which account sent it; otherwise there is no account, address or device attached.
Reports are read only by us, to fix wrong answers and stop harmful ones, and are never published or shared. Deleting your account keeps any report you made but removes the link to you. To have a report removed, email us.
Error reports
When something breaks — on a page in your browser, or on our server — we keep a short technical report so it can be fixed: the error message, the page's address without anything after a question mark, the lines of our code it happened in, and your browser's name and version. Numbers and ids are stripped from the message, and the report has no account, no IP address and nothing you typed attached. Reports of the same error are counted together, and deleted once they're no use.
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 personal data we hold is your email address, your practice progress and, if you joined the speaking-partner directory or a class or turned on friends, your profile, memberships and what goes with them. The delete button removes all of it. A newsletter subscription is separate from any account: its unsubscribe link deletes it. For anything else, email us.
Children
Ionnsaich is suitable for all ages, but accounts are not intended for children under 13. Everything for learning works without an account; syncing, reminders, classes, friends, speaking partners and suggesting events need one.
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.