Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 18, 2026

What changed: this update explains Polyglobe game progress, shared accounts, and optional leaderboards below. Our October 16 update added Section 7 about the Bubblegum plugin for ChatGPT: what it receives, what we keep and for how long. Our October 13 update also changed signup emails: new learners can choose optional emails during signup. In the United States, we show a notice and an easy way to turn them off. In the United Kingdom, signup during a trial or purchase enquiry offers an opt-out for emails about our own similar app services after a trial or purchase starts. Ordinary UK free-account signup and all other or unknown countries require separate permission. Existing learners keep their existing email choices; that update does not automatically enroll them.

Bubblegum Languages, LLC (“Bubblegum,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) builds AI‑powered language learning tools and the Bubblegum and Polyglobe mobile and web apps (collectively, the “Services”). This privacy policy explains the data we collect, how we use and store it, the third parties involved, and the choices available to you.

Polyglobe

Polyglobe is our language guessing game. You can play without an account. The game stores your settings, recent Daily results, best scores, and Explorer progress on your device or browser. When you sign in, Polyglobe uses your existing Bubblegum account and syncs your game progress. A device identifier helps prevent the same saved game totals from being counted twice.

For ranked play, our servers record the game mode and settings, round identifiers, your guesses, scores, and timing information to verify results. The public leaderboard uses your shared Bubblegum social profile and its visibility choice. You must opt in before your profile is shown publicly. Public entries may show your chosen name, profile image and name style, game score, and rank. Polyglobe does not give you a separate name style.

Arena rooms are available for 24 hours, and shared game links for seven days. New room and link records are queued for automatic deletion after those periods. Older records use the same access deadlines but may remain stored until removed. Older Arena records can include a nickname entered before this update. These room records are separate from your account; contact us with a room or game link if you want a retained record removed.

A pin you place on the map is a game guess, not your device location. Playing a lesson clip does not record your microphone. Google and Apple process sign-in and app-integrity checks, and Cloudflare delivers game assets and existing public lesson audio. Our servers run on Google Cloud in the United States. Account and game records are covered by the retention and deletion rules below; operational logs follow the stated log retention.

You can request deletion from Polyglobe's Account screen or through our data deletion page. Deleting the shared account removes account access and associated account data from both Polyglobe and Bubblegum.

1. Information We Collect

• Account & Profile Data. Name, email, display name, selected learning language(s), goals, app preferences, and optional profile photo. When you sign in with Apple or Google we receive identifiers and the email address they expose.
• Learning Activity. Lessons you generate or view, vocabulary interactions (saved words, lookups, reviews), session metrics, and in‑app actions that help us personalize content and power spaced‑repetition features.
• Content & Media You Provide. Prompts, lesson topics, chat transcripts, audio you upload, and screenshots or drawings you attach when submitting feedback.
• Device & Diagnostic Logs. Device model, operating system, app version, connection quality, and crash or error traces collected to troubleshoot problems.
• Website Interactions.On bubblegum.la we use Google Tag Manager to load Google Analytics and Google Ads measurement in cookieless mode. Analytics storage, advertising storage, advertising user data, and advertising personalization remain denied for every visit. Google may receive cookieless page and event pings with the page URL, referral source, campaign parameters, and basic device metadata, but we do not create analytics or advertising cookies or keep a persistent website analytics identifier. Temporary page-journey IDs stay in memory and reset when the page reloads. App buttons use a Bubblegum page that first tries to open the app if you already have it; the temporary journey values travel only in that one-time app link. If the app isn’t installed and your device is outside Europe, the App Store or Google Play opens through a tracking link from our measurement partner Airbridge. That link carries the page, button, and learning language you came from (not journey or session IDs), and Airbridge sets its own cookie so the install can be credited to that page. If your device is set to a European time zone, you skip Airbridge and go straight to the store, which receives campaign labels only.
• Payments & Subscriptions. When you subscribe in the app, Apple or Google share anonymized receipt metadata. When you buy on the web we process payments through Stripe; we do not see full card numbers.
• Advertising & Attribution.To understand which marketing brings learners to Bubblegum, our mobile apps use Airbridge (a mobile measurement partner) and share install and in-app event signals (such as completing your first lesson or starting a subscription) with advertising platforms including Meta and Google, so we can measure which campaigns work and improve our ads. On Apple devices, attribution also uses Apple’s privacy-preserving SKAdNetwork framework, which reports results in aggregate. We ask for your permission before accessing your device’s advertising identifier (IDFA), and we only use it if you allow it — you can change your mind at any time in your device settings. On Android, attribution uses your device’s advertising identifier (Google Advertising ID), which you can reset in your device settings. We do not upload your name, email, or other contact details to advertising platforms. You can limit ad measurement as described in Your Rights below.
• Support & Moderation. Messages sent to support@bubblegum.la, BetterFeedback reports (including screenshots and device metadata), and moderation reports about user‑generated content.
• Email Choices & Communications. Your email preferences; when, where, and in which language you opted in or withdrew; the wording you agreed to; and delivery, unsubscribe, complaint, and response records. Our delivery provider may also report email opens or link interactions when that measurement is enabled. We keep feedback you choose to send, including answers about your subscription or learning experience.

2. How We Use Information

• Provide, personalize, and improve lessons, review queues, and in‑app experiences.
• Generate AI content (lessons, audio narration, explanations) using the prompts you author.
• Maintain safety: flag or hold content for moderation, investigate policy violations, and prevent abuse.
• Operate customer support, respond to requests, and debug crashes or performance issues.
• Process purchases, confirm subscription status, and manage receipts.
• Send necessary account, subscription, payment, and support messages.
• Send optional learning tips, product news, feedback invitations, and subscription offers by email to new learners who sign up under this policy on or after October 18, 2026. In the United States, we show a signup notice and an easy way to turn these emails off. In the United Kingdom, we offer an opt-out when collecting your email during a trial or purchase enquiry. After your trial or purchase starts, we may email you about our own similar app services if you kept that choice on. We still ask for separate permission at ordinary UK free-account signup. In all other countries, or if we cannot establish the applicable country rule, we ask for separate permission first. We use your app store country to choose the signup control; it does not override a stricter rule that we know applies to you. Earlier learners keep their existing choices and are not automatically added because this policy changed. Every optional email includes an unsubscribe link.
• Measure marketing performance and attribute installs and subscriptions to the campaigns that drove them.
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.

We personalize relevant messages using your display language, selected learning language, most recently used app platform, subscription tier and events, and limited activity such as lesson completion. We do not use the text of your private lessons or chats to choose subscription offers. You can use the app and buy a subscription without agreeing to optional emails. We aim to keep optional emails few and useful, rather than send repeated reminders you do not need. A trial or subscription cancellation does not by itself change your email choice.

3. Legal Bases (EEA/UK/Switzerland)

Where GDPR or UK data protection law applies we rely on the following bases: (i) performance of a contract to deliver the Services you request; (ii) legitimate interests for analytics, safety, product improvement, and our own similar-service marketing to UK customers who were offered an opt-out at collection and have not opted out; (iii) consentfor optional cookies or marketing; and (iv) legal obligationto meet regulatory or accounting requirements.

4. Where Your Data Lives & How Long We Keep It

We run on Google Cloud in the United States and use a mix of managed storage systems. The table below summarizes what goes where and the default retention period:

We capture infrastructure logs in Google Cloud Logging for security and troubleshooting; those logs typically roll off within 30–90 days unless we are investigating abuse. Google’s generative AI services may retain prompts and outputs for up to 30 days to monitor abuse per the Vertex AI data governance policy.

5. Third‑Party Processors

We partner with vendors that process data under contracts and confidentiality obligations:

• Google Cloud Platform. Hosts Firestore, Bigtable, Memorystore (Valkey), Cloud Functions, Google Cloud Storage, and Google Gemini / Text‑to‑Speech models that generate or analyze lesson content. Prompt logs used for abuse monitoring are subject to a 30‑day retention window.
• Cloudflare R2. Stores generated audio assets so lessons stream quickly worldwide.
• OpenAI. Provides alternative AI chat and lesson generation models when selected by the learner.
• ElevenLabs. Narrates lessons in some languages (such as Cantonese and Moroccan Arabic) and performs forced alignment when we synchronize audio narration with text.
• Alibaba Cloud Model Studio (Qwen).Narrates lessons in regional Chinese dialects (such as Northeastern and Chongqing Chinese). The text being read aloud is sent to Alibaba Cloud in Singapore, which runs its Qwen text‑to‑speech model.
• Sentry. Receives crash reports and user submitted feedback, including screenshots.
• Stripe. Processes web payments. Apple App Store and Google Play handle purchases made in their ecosystems.
• Airbridge (AB180).Mobile measurement partner that attributes installs and subscriptions to the marketing campaign or channel that drove them, and forwards conversion signals to advertising platforms. Bubblegum.la does not load the Airbridge SDK. When the app isn’t installed, app buttons for visitors outside Europe pass through an Airbridge tracking link carrying the page and button you tapped, and Airbridge sets its own cookie (on bub.la and airbridge.io) to connect that tap to the install. Visitors in a European time zone skip Airbridge and go directly to the store. Installed-app links carry the current campaign into the app without Airbridge.
• Meta Platforms (Facebook and Instagram). We run ads on Meta and share campaign conversion signals (such as installs and subscriptions) so we can measure and improve ad performance. Meta acts as our advertising partner for these activities.
• Email & analytics providers. We use OneSignal and its delivery providers for necessary service messages and optional emails permitted by your signup notice or separate choice. They process contact identifiers, message content, relevant personalization fields, delivery and interaction records, and subscription or suppression status. We use Google Tag Manager / Google Analytics / Google Ads to measure our marketing funnel with analytics and advertising storage denied.

When our AI pipelines call an external model (e.g., Google Gemini, OpenAI, Google TTS, ElevenLabs, Qwen) the prompt, audio, and relevant metadata are sent to that provider solely to fulfill your request. Providers may temporarily retain data to monitor abuse or debug service issues as described above. We require that each third‑party AI provider offers the same or equivalent level of data protection as described in this policy.

6. YouTube API Services

Bubblegum uses YouTube API Services and Google OAuth to publish Bubblegum-produced language lesson videos to channels owned and operated by Bubblegum. This is an internal publishing workflow. Learners do not connect their Google or YouTube accounts, and we do not use YouTube API Services to read learner data, track viewers, or build advertising profiles.

• Access requested. Our production integration requests only the youtube.upload scope. We use it solely to upload videos and their titles, descriptions, tags, and privacy settings to Bubblegum-owned channels.
• Data stored. We keep company-channel OAuth refresh tokens and channel identifiers in Google Secret Manager. Our internal publishing records may retain the resulting YouTube video ID, channel ID, upload status, and error details. Operational logs normally roll off within 30–90 days.
• Sharing and use. We send rendered lesson video files and their publishing metadata only to Google for the purpose of publishing them on YouTube. We do not sell YouTube API data or share it with advertising partners.
• Retention and deletion. We retain a channel token only while that Bubblegum-owned channel participates in automated publishing. If access is revoked or a channel is disconnected, we disable publishing and delete the stored token. Published videos and their metadata remain on YouTube until Bubblegum removes them. Requests can be sent to support@bubblegum.la.
• Control and revocation. The owner of a connected Bubblegum channel can revoke access at any time from the Google Account third-party connections page. We also revoke and delete credentials when the integration is retired.

Bubblegum's use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements. Google processes data under the Google Privacy Policy.

7. Bubblegum in ChatGPT

Bubblegum offers a plugin for ChatGPT that shows short lessons, dictionary entries and grammar explanations. You don't need a Bubblegum account to use it.

• What we receive.When ChatGPT uses a Bubblegum tool, it sends us the request for that tool: the language you're learning, a level, a topic, a word or grammar question, and your answers to the level questions. ChatGPT also sends an anonymized user identifier, an anonymized conversation identifier, your locale, a coarse location (country and region) and a device hint. We don't receive the rest of your conversation, your name, your email address or your ChatGPT account details.
• How we use it. To answer the request (for example, to pick a lesson at your level and show translations in your language), to limit abuse with per-user rate limits, and to count how the plugin is used.
• What we keep.For each tool call we log the tool, language, level, outcome, response time, locale, country and device type, with the anonymized identifiers replaced by a one-way hash. These logs roll off within 30–90 days. Request traces used for debugging (which include the language, level, word or question of a request) follow the same retention. We don't keep the words or questions you send anywhere else, and we don't link plugin use to a Bubblegum account.
• Who else is involved. OpenAI operates ChatGPT, and its handling of your conversation is covered by OpenAI's privacy policy. Our servers run on Google Cloud. Lesson audio is served from our content delivery network on Cloudflare.
• Links back to Bubblegum.Cards can open a lesson's page on bubblegum.la. Those links carry campaign labels (channel=chatgpt_plugin) so we can count visits and installs that started in ChatGPT; they contain no identifier for you.

8. Moderation & Safety

Lessons created by AI start as private drafts withis_public = false. Automated safety checks flag high‑risk content, and human moderators review reports submitted by the community. Reported items disappear from the reporter’s feed immediately and remain hidden until the issue is resolved. We keep moderation case files in Firestore (“moderation_reports” and “moderation_failures”) for the duration of the investigation and no longer than 18 months after closure unless a legal obligation or active dispute requires extended retention.

“Private” lessons are not discoverable by other learners and do not appear in shared feeds or search results. Authorized Bubblegum staff may access private lessons when necessary for analytics, product improvement, trust & safety, or to resolve a support request.

9. Deletion & Data Management

You can manage your data inside the app:

• Delete Data. In Settings → Account → Delete data you can trigger a backend job that removes your profile, saved progress, analytics events, Bigtable review stats, and Valkey caches. Audio hosted in Cloudflare R2 may remain so published lessons keep working; we scrub personal identifiers from lesson metadata and will delete or replace specific audio on request via support@bubblegum.la.
• Delete Account. The same flow optionally deletes your Firebase Auth user. If you signed in with Apple, we revoke the associated tokens.
• Access & Portability. Email us to request a structured export of your data or to correct inaccurate information.

After deletion we may retain limited records needed for legal, accounting, or security purposes (for example, tax receipts or logs of abuse investigations).

10. Your Rights

• Email Preferences. Change your choices at Email Preferences, use the unsubscribe link in an optional email, or contact support@bubblegum.la. You can also turn optional emails off in the app’s Settings. We apply opt-outs right away, without affecting your account, purchases, or learning access. We may still send necessary account, billing, security, and support messages. We do not add subscription offers to those messages unless optional marketing is permitted for your account. If we say a message is our last subscription invitation, we honor that across later subscription campaigns unless you explicitly choose to receive them again.
• Cookies & tracking.Bubblegum.la sets no tracking cookies of its own, and Google measurement remains in cookieless, storage-denied mode that cannot be upgraded to tracking storage. The one tracking cookie a visit can receive is Airbridge’s, set only when a visitor outside Europe taps an app button without the app installed. In Europe that step is skipped, which is why the site has no consent banner. You can still block measurement requests or delete functionality cookies in your browser; some functionality cookies are required for choices such as language and sign-in state.
• Advertising choices.On Android you can reset your advertising identifier (Google Advertising ID) in your device settings; on Apple devices we use aggregate SKAdNetwork measurement with no device advertising identifier. Using Delete Data (above) stops all further sharing of your activity with advertising and analytics partners. Residents of California and similar jurisdictions may also opt out of the “sharing” of personal information for cross-context advertising by emailing support@bubblegum.la.
• Access, deletion, correction, and portability.Residents of California, the EEA, UK, Switzerland, and similar jurisdictions can exercise statutory rights by emailingsupport@bubblegum.la. We respond within 30 days (or the timeframe required by law) and may request additional information to verify your identity before fulfilling the request.
• Complaints. You may lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. We welcome the chance to resolve issues directly—contact us anytime.

11. Children

The Services are not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age required in your jurisdiction). If you believe a child provided us data, contact us so we can delete it.

12. Security

We use industry‑standard safeguards such as encryption in transit, role‑based access controls, and audit logging. No system is perfectly secure; please use strong, unique passwords and keep your devices up to date.

13. International Transfers

We operate mainly in the United States. When personal data is transferred internationally we rely on approved safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses where required by law.

14. Changes to This Policy

We will update this policy when practices change. If we make material updates we will notify you in the app, by email, or on our website. A policy update or your continued use of the Services does not provide consent for optional marketing. When new consent is required, we ask for it separately. The October 13, 2026 signup email change applies only to new learners who sign up under that policy; it does not automatically enroll earlier accounts.

15. Contact Us

Controller: Bubblegum Languages, LLC
Email: support@bubblegum.la
Mailing address:
68 Harrison Ave Ste 605 PMB 309915
Boston, Massachusetts 02111-1929 US (Attn: Privacy)

See also our Terms of Service.