Privacy Policy
Effective 3 November 2026
- We collect what Shinren needs to work: your account, your profile answers, and your learning data, so it can be backed up and synced between your devices.
- No ads, no tracking, no analytics tools, and we never sell your data.
- Files you import are read on your device. Only the words and sentences you choose to save leave it.
- Apple handles payments. We never see your card details.
- You can delete your account, and everything synced with it, from inside the app.
Who we are
Shinren is an app for learning Japanese, made by Jovan Dalhouse, an individual developer based in Japan ("we", "us"). For anything about this policy or your data, contact support@shinren.com.
What we collect
Your account
- Email address and password. Used to sign you in. Your password is stored only as a secure hash by our authentication provider. We can't see it.
- An account ID, created when you sign up, which ties your data together.
Your profile
- Your username and, if you give one, a display name.
- Your answers from setup: your Japanese level, why you're learning, your interests, how much time you have each day, your chosen coach and how often you want reminders.
- The icon and colour you pick for your profile.
Your learning data
- Your decks and the words in them, and the example sentences you save, including text from material you imported.
- Your study progress: review history, schedules, goals and credits.
Your subscription
Subscriptions are bought and paid for through Apple. We never receive your payment details. Apple tells us which plan you have, when it started and renews or ends, whether you're in a free trial, and about refunds, together with transaction numbers. We link this to your Shinren account so your subscription works with your account.
What we don't collect
We don't collect your location, contacts, photos library, advertising identifiers or browsing history. Shinren contains no advertising and no analytics or tracking tools, and we don't sell or share your data for advertising.
What stays on your device
- Imported files (PDFs, photos, subtitle files, archives) are read on your device. Text in images is recognised by Apple's on-device text recognition. The files themselves are not uploaded. Only the words and sentences you choose to save to a deck are synced.
- Web pages you share into Shinren are downloaded by the app directly from that website, on your device, to find the Japanese in them.
- Pronunciation uses Apple's built-in Japanese voice on your device.
- Reminders are scheduled on your device. Your wake and sleep times stay there.
Why we use it
- To provide your account and the app's features.
- To back up your learning data and keep it in sync across your devices.
- To know whether your subscription is active, and to move it between your accounts when you ask.
- To answer you when you contact us.
- To keep the service secure and working.
We don't use your data for anything else, and we don't use it to train AI models.
Who processes it for us
| Provider | What for | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Sign-in, the database that stores your account and learning data, and the server functions that record subscriptions | Servers in Tokyo, Japan (Amazon Web Services). Supabase, Inc. is based in the United States. |
| Resend | Sends the sign-up, sign-in and password-reset emails, so it receives your email address | Sent from Tokyo, Japan. Resend, Inc. is based in the United States. |
| Cloudflare | Forwards messages you send to support@shinren.com, and hosts this website | Cloudflare, Inc. is based in the United States. |
| Apple | App Store purchases, subscriptions and payments | Under Apple's own privacy policy |
Your account and learning data are stored in Japan. Some of these providers are companies based in the United States. They handle data only to provide their service to us, under contract, and protect it with access controls and encryption. The United States has no single national privacy law equivalent to Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information; Japan's Personal Information Protection Commission publishes information about the rules that apply there.
How long we keep it
- Your account and learning data are kept for as long as you have an account.
- Deleting your account (Account → Delete Account in the app) removes your account, profile and all your synced learning data from our servers straight away. Copies may remain in our hosting provider's backups for a short time, until they are overwritten.
- Subscription records (plan, dates, transaction numbers) are kept, no longer linked to you, as needed for accounting and for handling refunds. Deleting your account does not cancel your Apple subscription; cancel it in your iPhone's Settings → your name → Subscriptions.
Security
Data is encrypted in transit between the app and our servers. Our database only lets each account read and change its own data. Subscription records can only be written by our server, after Apple's signature on them has been checked.
Your rights
You can see and change most of your data in the app, and delete all of it by deleting your account. You can also ask us to tell you what we hold about you, correct it, delete it or stop using it, including under Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information. Email support@shinren.com from the address on your account, and we'll answer within 30 days.
Children
Shinren is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, contact us and we'll delete it.
Changes
If this policy changes, we'll update the date at the top. Significant changes will also be announced in the app before they take effect.
Business operator
Jovan Dalhouse, individual developer, Japan. Our address is available on request at support@shinren.com.