Hellochinese
- The documents do not say whether your data trains AI.
- The documents do not say whether your data is used for ads.
- They say they do not sell or share your data.
- The documents do not say who can read your content.
They collect account and usage data, say they never share it, auto-renew paid plans, and cap at $1000.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
Collected
Profile details you enter, lesson usage, and messages you send to staff.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“When you use our APP, you may provide us with three types of information:”
Training
They use it to personalize courses and to email news, updates, and offers.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We collect information to enable us to provide a more customized service (for example, your personal information allows us to provide you with personalized courses).”
Sharing
They say they will never share your information with a third party.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“HelloChinese will never share your information with a third party.”
Kept
The documents do not say how long they keep your data.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We also store information that you have exchanged with any of the HelloChinese staff (teachers, sales, and the support team).”
Controls
You can edit profile info and turn off some emails in Your Account.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“If you do not want us to keep you up to date with HelloChinese news, updates and the latest information on our product and services click Your Account and update your personal contact information and preferences.”
Fine print
Subscriptions auto-renew; they can close accounts for suspected breaches; is capped.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“If you choose a monthly plan, your Premium Account subscription will run from month to month, and will renew automatically at the end of each monthly period.”
Expand “Read the exact line” to see the source alongside the explanation.
What you can turn off
The controls and opt-outs their own documents describe, and where they say to find them.
Turn off product news emails
Your Account — update personal contact information and preferences (privacy policy); also unsubscribe links at the bottom of emails
Edit profile information
Your account profile (privacy policy says you can access and edit it whenever you like)
Cancel before renewal if you do not want another charge
Cancel your Premium Account before the monthly or twelve-month period ends (terms section 6)
Ask support about deletion or other privacy questions
Contact support@hellochinese.cc
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
They say they do not have to pay you if something goes wrong.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“You expressly agree, understand and warrant that HelloChinese, including its officers, friends, employees, affiliates, agents, partners and licensors, to you for any damages at all.”
For example, if the app loses your progress or a paid lesson fails, they claim you cannot recover money for that harm.
Monthly paid plans generally cannot be refunded, and they will not give back unused time.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“We do not prorate refunds or offer partial refunds, and we do not offer refunds for monthly subscriptions.”
For example, if you cancel a monthly plan after a week, they keep the full month’s payment.
App-store purchases are treated as final by HelloChinese.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“Please NOTE that if you purchase a subscription through the Apple iTunes Store or our android, iPhone or iPad applications, the sale is final, and we will not provide a refund.”
For example, if you subscribe in the iPhone app and change your mind the next day, they say they will not refund you.
They can shut your account if they think you broke the rules, without promising notice or a data export.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“We reserve the right to modify, temporarily suspend or permanently delete your Account and terminate your access to the Services if we have reason to believe that you have breached or acted inconsistently with the Terms.”
For example, if they suspect your registration info is incomplete, they may delete the account and you lose access to lessons.
Yearly plans keep charging unless you cancel first.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“your subscription will renew automatically at the end of that twelve month period, unless you choose to cancel your Premium Account.”
For example, if you forget to cancel, they charge another full year.
You still own what you post, but they can copy and change it to run the app.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“You own any intellectual property rights to Your Content, but you agree that we can use, reproduce, modify, adapt and publish Your Content for purposes of enabling us to offer HelloChinese or the features you have elected to use.”
For example, if you post a sentence in a community feature, they can reuse it to show that feature to others.
They promise not to give your personal information to other companies.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“HelloChinese will never share your information with a third party.”
For example, they say they would not sell your email list to another language app.
They log how often you open the app and which lessons you do.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“When you use HelloChinese, we collect usage data (how many times you login, which lessons you study, how long you spend on them, etc).”
For example, they can see you spent 20 minutes on lesson 4 yesterday.
You can stop some marketing emails by changing settings in Your Account.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“If you do not want us to keep you up to date with HelloChinese news, updates and the latest information on our product and services click Your Account and update your personal contact information and preferences.”
For example, you can turn off product-offer emails so you only get account messages.
They say they will warn you four weeks before a price hike or big feature cut on a paid plan.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“In the event of any increase in the price or material reduction in the features of any Premium Account to which you subscribe, we will communicate these change(s) to you at least four weeks in advance”
For example, if yearly Premium goes up, they claim they email you a month before the next renewal.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- personal data
- Any information that is about you or can be linked to you, from your name to your phone's ID. For example, your email, your IP address and the list of apps on your phone are all personal data.
- third parties
- Any company or person other than you and the app, such as advertisers, partners or analytics firms. For example, an analytics company that receives a record of every screen you tap is a third party.
- affiliates
- Other companies owned by or connected to the same parent company. For example, if you use one app, its sister apps under the same owner may also get your data.
- limitation of liability
- A cap on what the company will ever pay you if something goes wrong, often only what you paid in the last year. For example, if a leak of your data costs you thousands, the most you may get back is a month's subscription fee.
How we got here · grade D · score 35/100 · 14 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 7 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect profile details you enter plus usage such as logins, lessons studied, and time spent.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
Not stated in the documents.
Are your chats and uploads used to train AI models, and is that off by default?
Not stated in the documents.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
Not stated in the documents.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
Not stated in the documents.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They say they will never share your information with a third party.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
You own Your Content; they take a license to use it to offer the app and features you chose.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
Not stated in the documents.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
Not stated in the documents.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They say they use administrative, technical, and physical measures to protect personal information.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
Not stated in the documents.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
Neither document is dated, and they do not promise notice when the privacy policy changes.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
They may suspend or permanently delete an account if they believe you breached the terms, with no promised notice or export.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
The service is as-is, they disclaim damages, and liability is capped at what you paid, never more than $1000.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
Plans auto-renew. Yearly web buys have a 30-day refund; monthly and in-app purchases generally have no refund.
The privacy policy is 453 words at a college level (Flesch reading ease 43.4); the terms are 1,852 words at a college level.
