Privacy Policy

When you create an account, we collect:

• Email address — used for login, account recovery, and essential service communications
• Display name — shown in your profile and community posts
• Profile photo / avatar URL — provided by your sign-in provider (Google) or uploaded by you
• Authentication identifiers — a unique ID from your sign-in provider to link your account
• Role — whether you are a student, teacher, or administrator
• Preferred language — your chosen interface and study language
• Target test date — optionally set by you to help personalise your study plan

You can update your display name, preferred language, and target test date at any time through your account settings.

When you use our exam preparation features, we collect:

• Practice session records — when you started, what exam type you practised, your session scores, and completion status
• Audio recordings of your speech — when you complete speaking exercises, we record your spoken responses. These recordings are voice data and are stored securely in Google Cloud Storage.
• AI-generated transcriptions — your spoken responses are transcribed by our AI scoring system. We store the transcription text, identified errors, error categories, and personalised feedback.
• Vocabulary test results — your scores and per-question performance on vocabulary exercises
• Actual exam scores — if you choose to input your official exam results (e.g., scores received from a certification body), we store them to help track your progress and provide personalised study recommendations. Sharing this information is entirely voluntary.
• Progress analytics — we derive score trends, weakness maps, and study progress summaries from your practice data

When you subscribe to a paid plan, we collect:

• Subscription details — your chosen plan tier, billing period, subscription status, and usage counts
• Stripe customer mapping — we store a reference linking your BuMate account to your Stripe customer ID

When you participate in the BuMate community, we collect:

• Posts and comments — content you publish in community discussion areas
• Reactions — likes, helpful, or insightful reactions you give to other users' posts
• Bookmarks — posts you save for later reference
• Reports — if you flag content for moderation, we record your report and the reason
• Reviews — if you leave a review of the platform or its features, we store the review content, your rating, and your display name. Reviews may be displayed publicly on our website. You can edit or delete your reviews at any time.
• Anonymous posting — if you post anonymously, your identity is hidden from other users in the interface, but your account ID is retained in our database for moderation and abuse prevention purposes

When you contact support, we collect:

• Support tickets — your question, bug report, or feature request, along with any follow-up replies
• Ticket metadata — category, status, and timestamps

We automatically collect limited technical information when you use our service:

• Authentication tokens — JSON Web Tokens (JWT) issued during login to authenticate your API requests. These are not stored server-side as persistent sessions.
• Request metadata — standard server logs may include IP addresses, request timestamps, and user agent strings as part of normal infrastructure operations

All your data is stored within Google Cloud Platform (GCP) infrastructure located in the australia-southeast1 region (Sydney, Australia).

• Structured data (account information, practice records, scores, community content, billing records) is stored in a PostgreSQL database hosted in GCP australia-southeast1.
• Audio recordings are stored in Google Cloud Storage (GCS) in the same australia-southeast1 region.

• In transit: All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted using TLS 1.2 or higher (HTTPS).
• At rest: Data stored in GCP is encrypted at rest using Google-managed encryption keys (AES-256).

We use separate database schemas to isolate different categories of data. Core data (accounts, billing) is stored separately from exam-specific content and community content. This limits the scope of any data access and supports the principle of least privilege.

• Soft deletes: When you delete content, we mark it as deleted rather than permanently removing it. See Section 10 for our full deletion and retention policy.
• Append-only learning state: Your learning progress is recorded as an append-only log. Each change creates a new timestamped record, giving you a complete history of your progress over time.

BuMate does not set any cookies. We do not use cookie-based session management, analytics cookies, or advertising cookies.

We use your browser's local storage for a small number of functional purposes only:

These are strictly functional — they are required for the login process to work. We do not store any tracking, analytics, or advertising data in local storage.

1. Recording: Your voice is captured by your device's microphone through the browser.
2. Upload: The recording is uploaded to Google Cloud Storage in the australia-southeast1 region.
3. Processing: The uploaded audio is processed and converted to MP3 format.
4. Storage: The processed file is stored in GCS with metadata recorded in our database.

1. Retrieval: The scoring service downloads your audio files from GCS.
2. AI Request: Each recording is sent to the Google Gemini API along with the original dialogue text and scoring criteria.
3. AI Response: Gemini returns a transcription, identified errors, qualitative feedback, and a score.
4. Storage: The AI outputs are stored in our database linked to your session.

• Automated processing by default. Your audio recordings are scored exclusively by our AI system. No human listens to your recordings without your consent.
• Teacher access within classrooms. If you are enrolled in a teacher-managed cohort, your assigned teacher may listen to your practice recordings to provide personalised feedback. By joining a cohort, you consent to this access.
• Review requests. If you request a manual review of your scoring results, our staff may listen to the relevant recordings to assess the issue. We will only access your audio when you explicitly request a review.
• We do not sell your audio. Recordings are never sold or shared for marketing or advertising.
• We do not use your audio for AI training. Your voice recordings are not used to train or fine-tune AI models.

• Delete a single segment recording via the application
• Delete all recordings for a dialogue via the application
• Delete all your recordings by contacting support@bumate.ai

We obtain your explicit consent for:

• Audio recording — when you first tap “Record” in a practice session
• AI scoring of audio — bundled with audio recording consent
• Teacher access to recordings — by joining a teacher-managed cohort, you consent to your teacher listening to your practice recordings

We process data as necessary to deliver the service you signed up for: account management, practice sessions, scoring delivery, subscription management, and quota enforcement.

We process data based on our legitimate interests for service improvement (anonymized aggregate patterns), security (monitoring for unauthorized access), and community moderation (reviewing reported content).

We retain certain data to comply with legal requirements, including tax records and content moderation obligations.

You have the right to request a copy of all personal data we hold about you, including your profile, practice history, scores, audio recordings, community content, and billing history.

How to exercise: Submit a data access request to support@bumate.ai. We will provide your data in a structured, machine-readable format (JSON) within 30 days.

You can update your display name, preferred language, and target test date at any time through the app's Settings page. For corrections to other data, contact us at support@bumate.ai.

You have the right to request deletion of your personal data. When you request account deletion:

1. Your account is marked as deleted and you can no longer log in.
2. Your profile information is anonymized.
3. Your data becomes inaccessible through the application.
4. Your audio recordings are scheduled for permanent deletion from Cloud Storage.
5. Your community posts are anonymized. You may request complete removal in your deletion request.
6. Your Stripe subscription is cancelled.

Soft-deleted data is permanently purged within 90 days, except where legally required.

How to exercise: Submit a deletion request to support@bumate.ai. We will confirm deletion within 30 days.

You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.

How to exercise: Submit a portability request to support@bumate.ai. We will provide a downloadable archive within 30 days.

Where we process your data based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

You have the right to object to processing where we rely on legitimate interests. Contact support@bumate.ai.

You have the right to request that we restrict (pause) processing of your personal data in certain circumstances. When processing is restricted, we will store your data but not actively process it.

• Australia: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) — oaic.gov.au
• EU/EEA: Your local data protection authority
• California, USA: California Attorney General's office

We encourage you to contact us first at support@bumate.ai so we can attempt to resolve your concern.

When you delete content, the item is soft-deleted — marked as deleted and hidden from all users. After the retention window (90 days), data is permanently purged.

If you want soft-deleted data permanently removed before the 90-day window, contact support@bumate.ai. Permanent deletion requests will be honoured except where we are legally required to retain certain records.

• In transit: TLS 1.2 or higher for all connections
• At rest: AES-256 encryption via Google Cloud Platform managed keys

• All API endpoints require Firebase Auth
• Role-Based Access Control: Student, Teacher, Admin
• Three-scope data model (global, classroom, personal) with query-level scope filtering
• Database connections use service accounts with minimum necessary permissions

In the event of a data breach, we will notify affected users within 72 hours of becoming aware, in accordance with the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Notifiable Data Breaches scheme) and applicable international regulations.

Security concerns: support@bumate.ai

Teachers who use BuMate to manage student learning have access to student data within their assigned classrooms/cohorts. Teachers can view student practice session history, scores, and progress analytics.

Teachers cannot access student data outside their assigned scope, student payment information, or students' private practice data.

When an educational institution purchases managed seats for students, the institution is a data controller alongside BuMate for student data created under managed accounts. A Data Processing Agreement (DPA) between BuMate and the institution governs the handling of student data.

Student rights (access, deletion, portability) still apply. If an arrangement ends, student accounts are converted to standard accounts and students retain access to their own data.

We are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). You may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

• Legal bases for processing: See Section 8
• Data subject rights: See Section 9
• International transfers: Safeguarded by Standard Contractual Clauses
• Automated decision-making: AI scoring constitutes automated processing. You have the right to request human review of AI-generated scores by contacting support@bumate.ai

• Sale of data: We do not sell your personal information or share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.
• Right to know: You may request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected.
• Right to delete: See Section 9.3
• Non-discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights.

Voice recordings may be considered biometric data in certain jurisdictions. We collect voice recordings solely for AI-powered exam scoring and do not use them for biometric identification. We do not create voiceprints or use voice data to identify individuals. See Section 7 for full details.