Echo is a reading-first language-learning app: you read real texts, listen, tap words for meaning, and practise reading aloud. This notice explains, in plain terms, what data Echo collects, who can see it, and the choices you have. This is not legal advice. We aim to handle data responsibly and honestly; Echo is currently intended for controlled school pilots and early users, and this notice will evolve.
Who uses Echo (user categories)
Different people use Echo differently, and the data that applies to you depends on which you are:
Independent readers — people using Echo on their own, not attached to any class.
Students — users who join a teacher's class or complete assigned reading.
Teachers — users who create and manage classes, assignments, and teacher-created texts.
Owners / admins — the people who operate, secure, and support Echo.
Data that applies to all users
Account data: your email, display name, and role (independent reader / student / teacher / owner).
Learning data: when you read, Echo saves your reading progress, quiz/review results, and any notebook entries you create.
Speaking data: when you read aloud, Echo may save the words recognised by your browser, the target sentence, a rough match score, and a timestamp. (Your voice recording itself is not uploaded — see “Voice and speaking data”.)
App preferences & session: stored in your browser's local storage to keep you signed in and remember settings (last book/language, reading preferences). No third-party advertising or tracking.
Support data: if you send a bug report or book request, we store its content (and any screenshot you attach).
Independent readers
If you use Echo by yourself and have not joined a class, no teacher sees your progress. Your learning and speaking data is private to you (and to Echo's owners/admins for support and security, as below). If you later join a class, the “Students” section begins to apply.
Students (classroom users)
If you join a teacher's class or complete an assignment, your teacher can see your classroom learning data — your reading progress, read-aloud (speaking) attempts, and quiz/review results for the relevant text — so they can support your reading. Your voice recording is still not uploaded; your teacher sees the recognised text and your score, not your voice. Classroom use may require school, parent, or guardian approval depending on the student's age and your local rules (see “Student / minor data notice”).
Teachers
Teachers create and manage classes, class memberships, assignments, and teacher-created texts. A teacher can see the classroom learning data (progress, speaking attempts, quiz results) of the students in the classes they own / the students they teach — and not other teachers' students. Teachers are responsible for using student data appropriately and within their school's rules.
Owners / admins
Echo's owners/admins (the people who run the service) may access data to operate, secure, debug, and support Echo — for example, to fix a bug, investigate abuse, or help with a support or deletion request. Access is for running the service, not for any unrelated purpose.
Voice and speaking data
Your voice recording stays on your device. When you read aloud, the audio is held only in your browser for immediate playback and feedback, and is then cleared. It is not uploaded to our servers.
What Echo does save (for your progress and, in a class, for your teacher) is the text the browser recognised, the target sentence, a rough match score, and a timestamp — not the audio. Pronunciation scoring is a rough browser dictation match, not a judgement of your speech.
Data export and deletion
Export: any signed-in user can export their own data as a JSON file from Account → Your data → Export my data.
Deletion: you can request deletion of your account and data from Account → Your data → Delete my account. For now, full deletion is completed manually by our team (self-serve, fully automated deletion is being built). We delete or anonymise your personal data; a teacher's classes are not destroyed when the teacher leaves (they may be transferred so students keep their work).
Student / minor data notice (plain language)
Your teacher may see your reading progress, quiz scores, and speaking-practice results when you use Echo as part of a class.
If you are an independent reader, no teacher sees your progress unless you join a class.
Your voice recording is not uploaded — it stays on your device.
Echo may save the words recognised by the browser and your speaking score.
You can export your data at any time.
You can request deletion of your account and data.
For younger students, Echo should be used with school, parent, or guardian approval where your local rules require it.
Third-party services (processors)
Echo uses a small number of providers to run the service:
Supabase — authentication, database, and file storage (your account, learning, and classroom data are stored here, protected by row-level security).
Vultr + Caddy — hosting and HTTPS for readwithecho.com.
Google Fonts / jsDelivr — to load fonts and, only when you import a file, document-reading libraries.
Browser-based pronunciation scoring may use your browser's built-in speech service (e.g. on Chrome this is provided by Google); recording works in any browser and your audio is not uploaded by Echo.
Contact / support
Use “Report a bug” inside Echo for questions, corrections, or data requests, or email privacy@readwithecho.com. We'll help you export or delete your data.