Privacy Policy

1. Introduction and Scope

Welcome to IELTS AI Prep, featuring TrueScore® and ClearScore® GenAI assessor tools. ieltsaiprep.com ("the Company," "we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your Personal Data in an open and transparent manner.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your Personal Data when you use our IELTS preparation services through our website (collectively, the "Service").

By accessing or using our Service, you confirm your acceptance of the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use our Service.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process the following categories of Personal Data from users of our Service:

Data Category	Specific Data Points	Purpose
Account Data	Email Address Password	Required for account creation and login authentication. Stored only as an encrypted hash for security (we never store your actual password).
Assessment Data	Scores, AI-generated feedback, text transcripts of responses, and improvement suggestions.	Stored to provide you with service functionality and progress history.
Technical Data	Session tokens and expiration times.	Required to securely maintain your login session.

Crucial Clarification on Speaking Test Data:

During speaking assessments, your audio is processed in real-time by our AI service. We do NOT permanently store the original audio recording. Only the text transcripts derived from the audio are temporarily retained for display in your assessment history.

What We DO NOT Collect:

We do not collect or store sensitive financial information, including your credit card details, billing address, or name. This information is processed exclusively by our Merchant of Record, DoDo Payments (Section 4).

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your Personal Data solely for the following purposes:

Service Provision: To authenticate your login, maintain access control, and provide the core functionality of our Service.
Progress Tracking: To store and display your assessment results, scores, and progress history.
Feedback Generation: To analyze your responses and generate AI-powered feedback and suggestions for improvement.
Entitlement Management: To manage your purchased assessment packages and track your entitlements.
Communication: To communicate with you regarding your account, security alerts, and essential Service updates via email.
Security and Integrity: To maintain the security, integrity, and performance of our Service infrastructure.

4. Payment Processing

All payment processing for the Service is handled by DoDo Payments, our Merchant of Record. DoDo Payments is an independent third party responsible for processing payments and ensuring financial compliance.

DoDo Payments independently collects and processes:

Payment information (credit card details, etc.).
Billing address, tax calculation, and compliance.
Transaction records and receipts.

Customer Service and Refunds: All customer service inquiries and refund requests are handled directly by IELTS AI Prep. Please contact us at info@ieltsaiprep.com for any support needs.

We receive only secure, basic transaction confirmations from DoDo Payments via webhooks. We do NOT receive or store your payment card details, billing address, or financial information. Please refer to DoDo Payments' Privacy Policy for their specific data practices.

5. Data Retention

We retain your Personal Data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy and to satisfy any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

Account Information (Email & Password Hash): Retained while your account is active. Accounts that have been continuously inactive for twelve (12) months may be subject to automatic deletion.
Assessment Results & Transcripts: Stored until you request account deletion, providing you with continuous access to your history.
Session Data: Automatically expires after 24 hours of inactivity.
Purchase Entitlements: Retained indefinitely to validate your access to paid content.

6. Data Sharing and Third Parties

We share your Personal Data only with the following essential third-party service providers who assist us in operating the Service:

DoDo Payments: (Merchant of Record and Payment Processor) – Processes payments independently (see Section 4).
AWS (Amazon Web Services): (Cloud Infrastructure) – Provides secure data storage and application hosting for the core Service.
Google Cloud: (AI Service Provider) – Utilized exclusively for the real-time processing of speaking assessment audio and conversational AI interaction. Your audio is processed temporarily across Google's secure global network (21+ regions), and no permanent audio recording is stored by us or Google.

We do not sell or rent your Personal Data to any third parties for marketing or advertising purposes.

We may disclose Personal Data if required by law, subpoena, or if necessary to protect our legal rights, our users, or the public safety.

7. International Data Transfers

Your Personal Data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside of your primary residence, including through the global data centers and CDN networks of our cloud infrastructure providers (AWS and Google Cloud).

When transferring Personal Data outside the European Economic Area (EEA), we ensure appropriate safeguards are implemented, which typically include:

Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs): As approved by the European Commission.
Data Processing Agreements (DPAs): With our service providers, ensuring they maintain robust data protection standards.
Compliance with internationally recognized data protection principles.

8. Children's Privacy

Our Service is strictly intended for individuals who are 16 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect Personal Data from children under the age of 16. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected Personal Data from a child under 16, we will take immediate steps to delete the information.

9. Data Security

We employ comprehensive technical and organizational security measures to protect your Personal Data from unauthorized access, loss, or disclosure. These measures include:

Encryption at Rest and in Transit: All data is encrypted when stored in our database and transmitted over the network (HTTPS/TLS).
Robust Password Security: Passwords are hashed using industry-standard, one-way encryption (bcrypt).
Strict Access Controls: Limiting employee access to only necessary data.
Enterprise-Grade Infrastructure: Leveraging AWS security features, including DDoS protection via CloudFront CDN.
Session Management: Secure session tokens with automatic timeout after 24 hours of inactivity.

While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your data, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure.

10. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on your geographic location (e.g., EU, UK, California), you may be entitled to the following rights regarding your Personal Data:

Right of Access: Request a copy of the Personal Data we hold about you.
Right to Rectification: Request correction of any inaccurate or incomplete data we hold.
Right to Erasure (Deletion): Request the permanent deletion of your account and associated data.
Right to Data Portability: Request that your assessment data be exported to you in a machine-readable format.
Right to Object/Restrict Processing: Object to or request restriction of our processing of your Personal Data.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us promptly using the details provided in Section 12.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of the document. Your continued use of the Service after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Email: info@ieltsaiprep.com
(Estimated response time: 5-7 business days)

IELTS AI Prep