Privacy policy

1. About this policy

Acedmi ("Acedmi", "we", "us") is a study app for Class 11 and 12 students preparing for JEE, NEET and MHT CET, and for students preparing for the IELTS test. You ask questions and practise out loud or by typing; Dodo, the AI tutor in Acedmi, explains, asks questions like an examiner, and marks your answers.

This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, who helps us process it, how long we keep it, and the choices you have. It applies to the Acedmi app, the Acedmi website (acedmi.com) and the services behind them.

2. Information you give us

Your mobile number, which you use to sign in. We send a one-time code to it by SMS.

Your name, your course and exam (JEE, NEET, MHT CET PCM or MHT CET PCB; or for IELTS, your test type, target band and test date if you add one), the language you want Dodo to use (English, Hindi or Hinglish in India; English elsewhere; IELTS is in English), and your country, which we work out from your mobile number to set your language, prices and currency.

A profile picture, only if you choose to upload one. Otherwise you get one of Dodo's built-in pictures.

The questions you ask Dodo, either typed or spoken, your answers to check questions and practice tests, and for IELTS your spoken answers in speaking practice and the essays you write.

3. Your voice

When you tap the microphone, Dodo records what you say (a question, or an answer in IELTS speaking practice) and sends the recording to a speech recognition service to turn it into text. We keep the text. We do not keep the recording.

Dodo's spoken explanations are produced as audio from the text of each answer. We store these audio clips so you can listen to an explanation again without it being produced a second time.

4. Information created as you use Acedmi

Your chats with Dodo: the questions you asked and the explanations Dodo gave, so you can reopen them later.

Your practice results: the topics you have learned, the tests you have taken, your answers and your scores.

For IELTS: your lesson progress, the words you have studied, your speaking answers (as text) with their marks, your essays with their marks, and your Reading, Listening and mock test results.

Your plans and usage: how many doubts, vivas and IELTS practices you have used, which plans and subscriptions you have, when they renew, and your invoices. An invoice shows your name and mobile number. Purchases are made through Google Play (or the App Store on iPhone) in the app, or through Dodo Payments on the Acedmi website; we receive a reference for each purchase so we can confirm it and keep a subscription up to date, but never your card, UPI or bank details.

For study reminders: a notification token for your phone and your phone's time zone, so reminders arrive at a sensible local time.

Basic technical information needed to run the service, such as when you were last active and error logs, and a record of each AI and voice service used for your requests (which feature, how much was used and what it cost us), so we can keep Acedmi running within its costs. This record does not include what you asked or wrote.

5. What we do not do

We do not sell your information, and we do not share it with advertisers.

We do not show ads, and we do not track you across other apps or websites.

We do not access your contacts, your location, or your photos, except a single photo you choose as your profile picture.

We do not use your questions or answers to train our own AI models.

6. How we use your information

To sign you in and keep your account secure.

To answer your questions in your chosen language and at the level of your exam, to show and speak the explanation, and to save it in your chats.

For IELTS: to ask speaking questions, mark your speaking and writing against the public IELTS band descriptors, and answer your English questions.

To build practice tests on the topics you have learned and to show your progress.

To count your doubts, vivas and IELTS practices, deliver the plans and top-ups you buy, keep subscriptions in step with Google Play or Dodo Payments (renewals, cancellations and refunds), and issue invoices.

To send study reminders, which you can switch off in Profile at any time.

To keep Acedmi working and safe: preventing misuse, limiting abuse, and finding and fixing problems.

To meet our legal obligations, such as keeping tax records of purchases.

7. Services that process information for us

We use trusted service providers to run Acedmi. They process information only to provide their service to us.

Google Firebase: phone number sign-in (including sending the SMS code) and delivering study reminders.

OpenAI: writing Dodo's explanations, drawings, practice questions and IELTS feedback, and turning your spoken words into text. It receives the text of your question or answer (for IELTS, your essay or the text of your spoken answers), the earlier questions in the same chat, your exam or IELTS details and your language, and the recording when it turns speech into text. It does not receive your name or mobile number.

Google Cloud: producing Dodo's spoken explanations and the IELTS examiner's and Listening voices from text. It receives only that text, not your name, mobile number or recording.

ElevenLabs: a backup for turning speech into text and for Dodo's voice when the main services are unavailable.

Cloudinary: storing profile pictures and the audio of Dodo's explanations.

MongoDB Atlas: our database, where your account, chats and results are kept.

Render: the servers that run Acedmi.

Google Play and the Apple App Store: taking payments made in the app for plans, subscriptions and top-ups. Their own privacy policies apply to the payment.

Dodo Payments: taking payments made on the Acedmi website (acedmi.com) for plans, subscriptions and top-ups, as the merchant of record. It receives your name, email, billing country and PIN code, and handles your card or UPI details itself; we never see them. Its own privacy policy applies to the payment.

Vercel: hosting the Acedmi website.

8. Where your information is stored

Our service providers run their systems in data centres that may be outside India, including in the United States and Europe. They protect information using security measures and contractual safeguards.

Information travels between the app and our servers over encrypted connections (HTTPS).

9. How long we keep it

We keep your account, chats and practice results while your account is active, so you can return to them.

You can delete any chat yourself from your chat history (the history button on Ask Dodo). When you delete your account, we delete your profile, chats, explanations, practice results, profile picture, stored voice clips, doubt history and sign-in account. The record of service usage is kept only as anonymous totals, no longer linked to you.

Invoices for plans you bought are kept as long as tax law requires, with your name and mobile number removed.

Copies may remain in our providers' backups for a limited period before they are overwritten. OpenAI may keep the requests it receives for up to 30 days to detect abuse, under its own policy.

10. Deleting your account

In the app: open Profile, scroll down and tap Delete account, then confirm. This happens immediately and cannot be undone.

Deleting your account turns off renewal of any IELTS subscription so you are not charged again. The month you already paid for is not refunded automatically; you can ask Google Play, or Dodo Payments for a plan bought on the website, for a refund under its policy.

If you can no longer use the app, you can ask us to delete your account by writing to us from the contact details below with your registered mobile number. We will confirm and complete the deletion within 30 days.

11. Students under 18

Acedmi is made for Class 11 and 12 students, and many of them are under 18. If you are under 18, please use Acedmi with the knowledge and consent of a parent or guardian.

A parent or guardian can contact us at any time to see, correct or delete the information of a student in their care.

Acedmi is not meant for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their information.

12. Your rights and choices

See and correct your information: your name, exam, language and picture can be changed in Profile.

Delete your information: delete chats from your chat history on Ask Dodo, or delete your whole account in Profile.

Switch off reminders: in Profile, or in your phone's notification settings.

Ask us anything about your information, or raise a complaint, using the contact details below. We will reply as soon as we can, and within 30 days.

13. Keeping your information safe

We use encrypted connections, signed sign-in tokens, access-controlled databases and limits on how often services can be used. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and will tell you if a breach affects you, as the law requires.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as Acedmi changes. When we do, we will change the date at the top, and for important changes we will tell you in the app before they take effect.