Spell Champion Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 26, 2026

Who we are: Spell Champion is made by Carlos Rivera, doing business as Spell Champion, 116 South Grant Street, Ste 110-922, Roseville, CA 95678, support@spellchampion.com, (916) 447-2725. In this policy "we" and "us" mean Spell Champion.

The short version

• No ads. No ad trackers. The app has no advertising and no analytics or tracking tools.
• Your child's voice never leaves the phone. Speech is turned into text on the phone itself, and no recording of your child's voice is kept or sent anywhere.
• A parent says yes before any child starts. A parents-only check and a short notice come first.
• No accounts. No sign-up, email or password in the app. Each child is a nickname, an avatar and a starting level, with no last names or birthdays.
• Progress stays with your family: on your phone and in your family's own iCloud.
• We never sell or rent information about you or your children.

1. Who this policy covers

This policy covers the Spell Champion iPhone and iPad app (the "app") and our website, spellchampion.com (the "website"), including our "notify me" list.

The app is made for children, and a parent or guardian sets it up. Children don't create accounts and can't contact anyone through the app: there is no chat, no messages and no public profile.

2. Parents say yes first

The first time the app opens, a parent passes a parents-only check (a question a young child is unlikely to answer), then reads a short notice of what the app keeps and agrees. Children can start only after that. The app saves the date you agreed and the version of the notice on the phone. If the notice changes in a way that matters, the app asks you again before your children can keep playing.

3. What the app keeps, and where

Your family's iCloud is Apple's service, covered by Apple's own privacy policy. Spell Champion stores this information in your family's private iCloud space, which we can't open.

4. Your child's voice and speech

• The microphone is on only while it's your child's turn to speak. iPhone shows its orange dot then.
• Speech is turned into text on the phone using Apple's built-in speech recognition. The app is set to never send audio to Apple's servers for this. If a phone can't recognize speech on the phone itself, the app doesn't listen at all.
• No recording of your child's voice is kept or sent anywhere: not to us, not to Apple, not to anyone.
• The text the phone hears (for example "cat, C A T, cat") is used right away to check the spelling, and only the result is kept in progress (right or wrong, and the letters spelled). Plain code checks the spelling, never an AI model.
• iPhone's own permission message says speech data may be sent to Apple. Apple shows that same wording for every app that uses speech recognition, and we can't change it; Spell Champion is set to recognize speech on the phone only.

5. Your own word lists (custom words)

You can type your child's own spelling words in the parent area, for example this week's list from school. So that every word is spoken in the app's voice:

• Words the app already knows work right away and aren't sent anywhere.
• New words are sent to our word service with your family code, but not your name, email or your children's nicknames. A person on our team checks each new word, and we record it in the app's voice. The recorded word then comes back to your family's phones.
• Because a real person reads them, please type only spelling words, never names or anything personal. Our service blocks words that aren't letters or that are on our list of unsuitable words.
• We keep the words you sent, linked to your family code, until you ask us to delete them, or until 24 months pass with no new word from your family. Your lists themselves stay in your family's iCloud, so they keep working on all your phones even if you cancel and come back. A word we recorded may be added to our shared word list for every family, without your family code.
• You can ask us to delete the words linked to your family code at any time (section 10).

Our word service runs on Google's Firebase (section 7).

6. Downloading new words

The app checks now and then for new words and voice recordings and downloads them like any other file. Nothing about your family or children is sent with that request. The service that stores the files (Google's Firebase Hosting) sees the phone's internet address (IP address) in order to deliver them, as with any download. We turned off download logs, so we don't keep a record of who downloaded what. Google says it keeps some request information, including IP addresses, for a limited time (a few months) to run and protect its service.

7. Purchases

Subscriptions, free trials and word packs are bought through Apple's App Store, behind the parents-only check. Apple handles payment; we never see your card or Apple ID details. Apple tells the app which purchases are active. For a word pack, the app sends Apple's signed purchase record (no name or contact details) to our Firebase service, which checks it with Apple before the pack downloads. Refunds and cancellations go through Apple.

8. What we don't do

• No ads, no ad networks, no analytics or tracking tools, and no "Allow tracking?" request.
• We don't follow your children around the app or across other apps and websites.
• We don't sell, rent or trade information about you or your children.
• No chat, no social features, no public profiles, and no links out of the app without the parents-only check.
• We don't ask for a child's full name, birthday, school, photo or location.

9. Who else is involved (service providers)

We may share information if the law requires it, to protect someone's safety, or if Spell Champion is sold or merged (then this policy keeps applying to what we already have, and we'd tell you first).

10. Your choices and rights as a parent

• See or change your children's nicknames, avatars, levels and progress in the parent area.
• Delete a child's profile and progress in the parent area. Deleting the app removes everything it kept on that phone; to remove it from iCloud too, use iPhone Settings → your name → iCloud → Manage Storage → Spell Champion → Delete.
• Custom words: ask us to delete the words linked to your family code by emailing support@spellchampion.com with the family code shown in the parent area. We'll confirm within 30 days.
• Say no to future collection: you can stop using custom lists, and the app keeps working with our own words.
• Notify list: every email has an unsubscribe link; or email us and we'll delete your sign-up.

Parents of children under 13 have these rights under the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). California residents and residents of other states with privacy laws may have similar rights to know, delete and correct, and to not be discriminated against for using them. We don't sell or "share" personal information as those laws define it. Email support@spellchampion.com to use any of these rights.

11. Our website and "notify me" list (for adults)

The website is for parents and is not directed to children.

• The notify form asks for a parent's email and ZIP code, plus optional answers: grade range (K–2, 3–5, 6–8) and whether you'd like to try the app early. It asks you to confirm you're a parent or guardian, 18 or older. It never asks for a child's name. We save which ad or page you came from (a campaign label in the link), without cookies.
• We use the list to tell you about the app's launch, offers for founding families and, if you asked, an early test version. We send emails only after you confirm your address (double opt-in), and we turn off open tracking in our email tool (it still counts clicks on the links in our emails, which can't be turned off).
• Our ads on Facebook and Instagram link to the sign-up form on our website. We don't use Meta's sign-up forms, a Meta pixel or any tracking code on our website, and we don't upload our list to Meta. Meta knows who saw or tapped an ad, under Meta's own policy; it doesn't learn who signed up.
• No cookies for tracking, no analytics, no ad code on the website. Fonts are hosted by us.
• Do Not Track: because the website doesn't track visitors, it works the same whether or not your browser sends a Do Not Track signal.

12. Test versions (TestFlight)

Test versions given to families before launch keep a text list of each turn on the phone (what the app heard, the word, right or wrong, and timings) to help us find mistakes. No audio, ever. The list may contain whatever a child says while the microphone is on, including names. It stays on the phone, isn't included in iCloud backups and never leaves the phone unless the parent taps Share test log and sends it. A parent can erase it anytime. The App Store version has no test log.

13. How we protect information

We keep as little as possible. Most of what the app keeps never reaches us. Our word service accepts requests only from the real app and limits how many words a family can send. Access to the word review page is limited to our team. No method is perfect, but we review these protections before each release.

14. How long we keep things

15. Children outside the U.S.

At launch, Spell Champion is offered in the United States only. If other countries are added later, this policy gets the sections their laws need first.

16. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll post the new version here with a new effective date. If a change affects what the app keeps about children, the app asks a parent to agree again before children can keep playing, and we'll tell notify-list members by email.

17. Contact

Questions or requests: support@spellchampion.com · (916) 447-2725 · 116 South Grant Street, Ste 110-922, Roseville, CA 95678 · Carlos Rivera, Spell Champion.