Privacy
In short: the Tanuki app keeps your learning progress on your iPhone. There’s no account and no advertising. Only if you agree in the app does Tanuki record how you use it and send that data to my server with a random identifier. This website sets no cookies, uses no tracking, and loads nothing from third-party servers.
Controller
Jason Holweg
Address: see the legal notice (Impressum)
Email: hallo@jasonholweg.de
This website
Hosting and server log files
The website is hosted by Hetzner Online GmbH, Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany. When you visit it, the server processes technically necessary data: IP address, date and time, the page requested, the amount of data transferred, the page you came from (referrer), and your browser type and version (user agent). This is needed to deliver the website and keep it running securely, which is my legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). The log files are deleted after 15 days at the latest.
No cookies, no tracking
This website sets no cookies, uses no analytics or advertising services, and embeds no fonts, scripts, or images from third-party servers.
Light or dark mode
By default, the website follows your device’s appearance setting. If you tap the light/dark switch at the top, your browser remembers that choice in local storage (entry “tanuki-theme” with the value “light” or “dark”). The entry stays on your device, is never sent to the server, and only serves to show the website the way you chose (Section 25(2) no. 2 of the German Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act, TDDDG). You can delete it at any time in your browser’s website data.
Pronunciation in the quick taste
The “Listen” buttons use an Italian voice installed on your device. The website sends no data to me or to third parties for this. If no such voice is available, the buttons don’t appear.
Contact by email
If you write to me, I process your email address and your message in order to reply: under Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR if your message is about using the app, otherwise under Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, my legitimate interest in answering you. I delete messages once they’re dealt with and no legal retention obligation applies.
The Tanuki app
The Tanuki iOS app is an Italian course with explanations in English or German, without an account and without cloud sync. Your learning progress stays on your iPhone. The app only sends data to me in two cases: if you agree to usage analytics, and if you report a mistake in a lesson. Word duels run through Apple’s Game Center.
What the app stores on your device
| Area | Examples | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Personal introduction | First name, introduction step, chosen level | Addressing you personally, continuing the introduction |
| Learning progress | Word status, reviews (FSRS), XP and levels A/B/C, completed lessons | Running the course |
| Settings | Learning goal, learning sounds, haptics, animations, reminder time | Your preferences |
| Reminders (optional) | Daily learning reminder at the time you chose | Reminding you to study (only if you turn it on) |
| Duels (optional) | Questions, your answers, and points in ongoing duels | Continuing and submitting duels |
| Usage analytics | Your answer when the app asks about it; after you agree, the random identifier and usage data not yet sent | Respecting your choice, sending usage data |
Everything is stored locally in the app’s protected storage on your iPhone.
Usage analytics (tracking), only with your consent
Tanuki asks you once whether you’d like to help make the app better. Only if you agree does the app record how you use it and send that data to my server. I analyze it to find mistakes in lessons and grading that’s too strict, and to improve the app. Without your consent, the app records and sends none of this. You can change your choice anytime under Settings › Help out.
The data recorded and sent:
- a random identifier for this installation. It’s created only when you agree and links the data over time. It contains no name, no email address, and no advertising ID.
- device and app: app, build, and content version, iOS version, device type (iPhone or iPad), language and region setting, and time zone
- usage:
- when you open and leave the app and how long it stays open; while it’s open, it checks in about once a minute
- which parts of the app you open and which steps of the introduction you complete
- lessons and review rounds started, completed, and canceled; each answer with its result, the help used, and the time taken; answers in the widget (right or wrong)
- placement; changes to your level, learning goal, and daily goal; badges, chests, and answer streaks; and whether and through which app you share a badge
- reminder on or off and its time, mistakes you report (reason and task), and technical error messages from the app
- for answers that weren’t correct, also your input together with the task and the expected answer
- your learning progress in numbers: level and goal, daily goal, how many words you’ve learned and how many you know well, reviews, lessons completed per level, streak, answer streak, XP, number of badges, and whether reminders are on
Your first name is never sent. The data is pseudonymous: I can see how an installation is used, but not who it belongs to. The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR; for storing the identifier on your device, Section 25(1) TDDDG). You can withdraw it at any time in Settings. After that, the app stops sending, discards unsent data, and deletes the identifier. Data already sent can then no longer be linked to any device; it is deleted after 24 months at the latest.
Reporting a mistake in a lesson
With the flag in a lesson, you can report a content mistake. Only when you tap “Send” does the app transfer the reason you chose, your comment (if you write one), the task with the expected answer and the app’s feedback, your answer, and the app and content version. The report itself contains no identifier. If you agreed to usage analytics, it also records that you sent a report (reason and task, without your comment). The legal basis is my legitimate interest in error-free learning content (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
Server, transfer, and retention
I store usage data and error reports in a database on my server at Hetzner in Germany. The app sends them encrypted through the Cloudflare network (USA, certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework; transfer covered by the EU adequacy decision, Art. 45 GDPR). For technical reasons, Cloudflare and my server process your IP address. It is stored neither in the database nor in my server’s log files, which only contain a Cloudflare address. These log files (time, request, app and system version) are deleted after 15 days at the latest. I delete usage data and error reports after 24 months at the latest.
Word duels through Game Center
Duels run through Apple’s Game Center and only if you sign in there. Apple manages finding opponents, invitations, game states, and the notification when it’s your turn; your opponent sees your Game Center name. Apple’s privacy policy applies to this. In a duel, Tanuki transfers only the questions, the chosen answers, answer times, and points—no names and no learning progress. Tanuki stores nothing about duels on my server. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (providing the duel feature you use).
System features you trigger
- Notifications: the app only asks for permission when you turn the reminder on. Your iPhone schedules the reminders itself; Tanuki has no push server. In duels, Apple’s Game Center lets you know when it’s your turn.
- Speech output: optional pronunciation using iOS system voices.
- Microphone and speech recognition: only after you tap and give permission. Italian answers are recognized on your device with Apple’s speech models. If speech files are missing, iOS downloads them from Apple the first time. Recordings are not sent to Apple or any other server. Tanuki only keeps the recognized transcript in your learning progress, no audio files. You can type instead at any time.
- Apple Intelligence: an optional second opinion on your device, where available. It isn’t needed for any task.
- Photos: only when you save a badge as an image or video, and only with your permission. Tanuki can add photos but not read them.
What the app doesn’t do
- No Tanuki account and no friend lists of its own, no email or password requests (for duels, you use your Game Center account with Apple)
- No advertising and no advertising ID, no tracking across other companies’ apps or websites
- No third-party analytics tools, no selling or sharing of data
- No cloud or server sync of your learning progress
Legal basis, retention, and deletion
Data on your device is processed to provide the features you use (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR), and for reminders also based on your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). The data on your device stays until you delete the app or its data in iOS. There is no user account, and I keep no copy of your learning progress (beyond the numbers in usage analytics, if you agreed to it). For usage analytics and error reports, the details in the sections above apply.
Children
The app is meant for a general audience and doesn’t ask for your age.
Your rights
You have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, and objection (Arts. 15–21 GDPR). You can withdraw consent at any time; this doesn’t affect processing done before you withdraw (Art. 7(3) GDPR). You can also lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR). Usage analytics data is linked only to a random identifier that I can’t connect to any person. For questions, access or deletion, you can reach me at hallo@jasonholweg.de.
Changes
If the app or the website changes, I’ll update this policy. The date at the top shows the current version. This English version is a translation of the German privacy policy (Datenschutzerklärung); if the two differ, the German version prevails.