Geveze Baykuş is an educational app (website and iOS/Android app) that helps learners of all ages learn English; its content follows the Turkish MEB English curriculum for grades 2–12, and many of its users are children. We process personal data in line with the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 (KVKK) and related legislation, only as far as needed to provide the educational service. We show no ads, we don't sell data and we don't use it for advertising or profiling.
1. Data controller
Data controller: (to be entered in the admin panel) (individual). Postal address: (to be entered in the admin panel). Email for data protection requests and questions: (to be entered in the admin panel).
2. What data do we process?
- Account details: username, an irreversible hash of the password (the password itself is never stored), date of birth, account type (student, parent, teacher), optional email address, avatar, interface and learning language preferences, notification hours.
- Teacher and parent accounts: full name (required for teachers, optional for parents). For teacher verification: school, city, an optional note and the results of the English proficiency test.
- When a teacher adds a student by parent invitation: the student's first and last name and the parent's email address. The student's full name is shown only to their teacher and parent; other users only see the username.
- Learning data: answers, points, level and level history, badges, tasks, word notebook, topic notes, homework and exam results, study schedule.
- Time spent in the app: the daily total while the app is on screen and in use (not counted in the background). Visible to the user, their parent and their teacher.
- Social data: friendships (students in the same class automatically become friends), race and game results, gifts, quick messages (there is no free chat), block and report records.
- When a child under 13 signs up on their own: the parent's email address and the record of parental consent.
- Technical data: session cookie or, in the mobile app, a session token; if you allow notifications, the notification subscription / device notification token; app version; short-lived IP address records for security and abuse prevention; app error reports (page address, error text, browser/device type).
We don't collect addresses, phone numbers, national ID numbers, photos or location. In speaking practice, speech recognition is performed by your device's or browser's speech recognition service (e.g. Apple, Google); audio is not sent to or stored on our server.
3. Purposes and legal grounds
- Creating the account and providing the educational service (KVKK art. 5/2-c: performance of a contract).
- Level-appropriate content, progress reports, spaced repetition and showing time spent in the app (KVKK art. 5/2-c and 5/2-f: legitimate interest).
- Letting parents and teachers see a child's progress; class and homework features (parental consent or performance of a contract).
- Verifying teacher accounts and keeping children safe (KVKK art. 5/2-f: legitimate interest).
- Security, abuse prevention and legal obligations (KVKK art. 5/2-ç and 5/2-f).
- Notifications and weekly report emails are only sent with permission and can be turned off at any time.
4. Children's data
When a child under 13 signs up on their own, a consent email is sent to the parent; until the parent approves, social features such as friends, live races and chat are off. If the parent declines, the account and all its data are deleted. For accounts created by a teacher or parent, that adult gives consent; a student added by a teacher's parent invitation only gets an account after the parent approves. There is no free messaging between users; only predefined, friendly quick messages can be sent.
5. Who do we share data with?
- A child's linked parent and class teacher can only see the child's learning data, time spent in the app and (if added by parent invitation) the child's full name.
- Friends only see game details such as username, avatar, level, points and badges; date of birth, email and full name are never shown.
- Hosting: data is stored on our servers in Türkiye.
- Email delivery: consent, password reset and report emails are delivered through an email delivery service provider.
- Notifications: in the mobile app notifications are delivered via Apple Push Notification Service (iOS) and Google Firebase Cloud Messaging (Android), and on the web via your browser's push service; only the device token and the notification text are sent to these services.
- Voice: lesson texts in the app are voiced by an AI voice service; only the lesson text is sent, no personal data.
Transfers to providers abroad, such as Apple and Google, are made only as far as necessary to provide the service and in accordance with KVKK art. 9.
6. How long do we keep data?
Data is kept while the account is open. When an account is deleted, all personal data is permanently deleted; copies in backups disappear within 14 days as backups are replaced. Security IP records are kept briefly (minutes to hours) and error reports for at most one year. Records subject to a legal retention obligation are kept for the period required by law.
7. Your rights (KVKK art. 11)
You have the right to learn whether your data is processed, to request information, to learn the purpose of processing and to whom it is transferred, to request correction of incomplete or inaccurate data or its deletion, to object and to claim compensation. You can use these rights right away with the "Download my data" and "Delete my account" buttons in the app; a parent deletes the account of a linked child. For other requests write to (to be entered in the admin panel); requests are answered free of charge within 30 days. You may also complain to the Turkish Personal Data Protection Board.
8. Security
Connections are encrypted (HTTPS), passwords are stored with a strong hashing method, in the mobile app the session token is kept in the device's secure storage (Keychain / Keystore), access rights are limited and data is backed up regularly.
9. Changes
If this text changes it is announced in the app; parents are informed by email about significant changes.