Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 1, 2026

Koinei ("Koinei", "we", "us") runs koinei.com, a reader for learning languages through songs and Scripture. This policy explains what we collect when you use koinei.com, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it and the choices you have.

Who we are. Koinei, 3661 Waalkes St, Norton Shores, MI 49444, United States. For anything about your privacy, write to contactkoinei@gmail.com.

1. What we collect

When you visit, with or without an account.

A session identifier. The first time you open the site, it creates an anonymous session, a random identifier stored in your browser, so your place, preferences and progress can be kept without an account.
How you use the reader. What you open, play, like or save, where you stopped, how long you listen, and similar events, tied to that session (or to your account once you sign in). We use them to keep your progress and to choose what to suggest next.
Playlists, saved words and display settings. You can make playlists, save words (with the sentence they came from) and change how the reader shows a piece without an account. They are kept with your session and moved to your account if you sign up.
Starting context, once per visit. Your browser's language list, time zone and screen size, the page you arrived on, the site that sent you (the referrer), and the country your connection comes from, which our hosting provider estimates from your IP address. We use them to pick your interface language and your first suggestions.
Technical data in our server logs. Your IP address, browser user agent, the page or file requested, the referring page and the time, as on any web server. We use them to run, secure and debug the service.
What you send us. Ideas and requests you submit (for example in the Create tab), tied to your session or account. Only Koinei can see them; they are not shown to other visitors.

When you create an account.

Email address, display name and password. Your password is stored only as a salted hash, never in plain text.
If you sign in with Google, Google tells us your email address and name, and we keep both. We never receive your Google password.
What you add: your interface language, a profile link you add (for a YouTube channel we also fetch its public name, picture, description and list of recent videos from YouTube, and use them to fill the empty parts of your profile) and the comments you post.
Your public profile. Your display name, handle, picture, bio and links can be seen by anyone.
Comments are shown to everyone who opens that piece, with your display name and the date.

When you use the Create tab. The Create studio is currently open only to creators we invite; everyone else can send us ideas there (see "What you send us" above).

Files you upload (audio, video, text, images), the details you enter (such as title, artist and language), and the results of processing them.
YouTube links. If you start a project from a YouTube link, we fetch that video's audio, captions and public details (such as its title) from YouTube to process them.
Camera and microphone recordings. The lip-sync and lyric-video tools can record you with your camera and microphone, so a recording contains your face and your voice. Your browser asks for permission first; the recording screen then shows you a live preview on your device, and nothing is recorded until you press record. Nothing is uploaded while you record. If you choose Publish video, the recording is uploaded and published as a clip on koinei.com right away (see "What you publish is public" below). If you only download it, it stays on your device.
AI processing. To break lyrics into lines, analyze and translate them, clean up transcripts and suggest titles and posting text, we may send the text of your project and the details you entered to OpenAI (section 3). We do not send your audio, video, pictures or account details to OpenAI.
Song lookups. To find a song's official lyrics and its genre, we send the song title and artist you entered to public music databases (section 3).
What you publish is public. When you publish from Create (a lesson, or a recorded video as a clip), it is shown publicly on koinei.com, its address can include your handle (and, if you enter no artist, your account's random ID), and it can appear in the feed straight away, before we review it. You can ask us to remove it (section 5).

Creator earnings and payouts. If your published content earns money, we keep the records needed to pay you: the amounts, the months and watch-time shares they come from, and your payout requests and their status. Payouts are arranged by hand, and the app never asks for bank or card details: when you request a payout, we contact you at your account email address to arrange it, and we collect only the details needed to pay you.

Payments. Koinei does not take payments today, and nothing on koinei.com can be bought. We will update this policy before that changes.

2. Analytics and similar technologies

On koinei.com we use two analytics tools. They load for every visitor once the page has finished loading. Our own code tells both of them which page or reader view you are on, and tells Google Analytics about a few app events, such as installing the app to your home screen.

Google Analytics 4 (Google), measurement ID G-58GNX2XNFJ, to count visits and see which pages and features are used. It sets first-party cookies named _ga and _ga_58GNX2XNFJ; Google's documentation gives them a default lifetime of two years. Google's script also collects information about your visit and your device, as described in Google's own documentation.
Hotjar (Hotjar Ltd.), site ID 6393489, to understand how people use our pages, for example with heatmaps. Hotjar may record page interactions such as clicks, taps, mouse movements and scrolling. Hotjar's documentation says it suppresses text typed into form fields by default. It sets first-party cookies including _hjSessionUser_6393489 (365 days) and _hjSession_6393489 (30 minutes).

Our own site also stores a few items in your browser (local storage, session storage and an offline cache): your session (and, if you sign in, your sign-in tokens and your profile, including your email address), your interface language, display settings, the feed's language choice, the folders, views and in-app clipboard you last used in Create, unsaved drafts in our editors, whether this browser has visited before, whether you dismissed the prompt to install the app, and a copy of the app's files so it opens quickly. These are needed for the site to work and are not used for advertising.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not show advertising.

We share personal data only with service providers that process it for us, under their own terms:

Google Cloud (hosting, database and file storage: Cloud Run, Firestore and Cloud Storage in the United States, and Cloud Logging for our server logs). The data described in section 1, including your uploads and recordings, is stored there.
Google, only if you choose to sign in with Google.
YouTube (Google), only when you give us a YouTube link: we request that video or channel from YouTube.
OpenAI, which provides the AI models behind the AI features in Create: it receives the text and details of your project when you use them (section 1). We also use OpenAI to prepare the learning material in our catalogue (translations, word glosses, grammar notes), which does not involve your personal data.
Public music databases (MusicBrainz, Apple's iTunes Search and lyrics.ovh): when you use the AI transcript clean-up or publish a song from Create, they receive its title and artist so we can look up its official lyrics and genre.
Google Analytics and Hotjar (section 2).

We may also disclose data if the law requires it, to protect the rights and safety of Koinei or others, or as part of a sale or reorganisation of the business, in which case this policy continues to apply to it.

4. How long we keep it

Server logs: 30 days, then they are deleted automatically.
Files stored with your Create projects (uploads, recordings and the files made from them): deleted automatically once they are 180 days old. Videos our servers render for you to download are deleted after 30 days.
Published content and its files: kept while it is published, until we remove it, on our own initiative or at your request.
Your account and what you made with it (profile, playlists, saved words, comments, history, projects): kept while your account exists, until you ask us to delete it. There is no automatic deletion. You can delete your own comments and Create projects yourself (section 5).
Anonymous sessions and their usage events: there is no automatic deletion today. They are tied to a random identifier in your browser, not to your name or email; if you clear your browser's storage, the site starts a new session and the old one can no longer be linked to your browser.
Earnings and payout records: as long as the law requires.
Analytics: Google and Hotjar keep the data they collect under their own terms.
Backups: deleted data, including files deleted under the rules above, can remain in our backups for up to 14 days, after which it is gone.

5. Your choices and rights

You can use koinei.com without an account.
Camera and microphone. Koinei turns them on only on the recording screen in Create, after your browser asks you; nothing is recorded until you press record. You can refuse, or withdraw the permission at any time in your browser's site settings; the rest of the site works without it.
In the app you can like and save pieces and undo it, add pieces to playlists, delete your own comments, delete your Create projects (their stored files are then removed by the 180-day rule in section 4), delete images in your Create image library, add a profile link and change your interface language.
By email to contactkoinei@gmail.com, you can ask us for a copy of your data, to correct your profile, to delete your playlists, saved words, recordings or project uploads, to remove anything you published (a clip or a lesson), to sign you out on all your devices, or to delete your account and the data linked to it. The app does not offer these yet. We will reply within 30 days.
Cookies and analytics. You can block or delete cookies in your browser's settings. You can opt out of Google Analytics with Google's browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. Hotjar does not collect data from a browser that sends a Do Not Track signal; see Hotjar's article How to Stop Hotjar From Collecting your Data.
EU and UK residents have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection, and may complain to their data-protection authority. Our legal bases are: performing our contract with you (your account and what you create), our legitimate interests (keeping the service secure, understanding how it is used and improving it), and our legal obligations.
California residents may ask to know, and to delete, the personal information we hold about them, and will not be treated differently for doing so. We do not sell personal information.

6. Children

Koinei is not meant for children under 13. If you are under 13, do not create an account or send us personal information. We do not ask for or check anyone's age. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information, write to contactkoinei@gmail.com and we will delete it.

7. Security

Koinei is served only over HTTPS, and passwords are stored as salted hashes. Within Koinei, only the person who runs Koinei can access our Google Cloud project, where your data is stored. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your personal data, we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires.

8. Where your data is processed

Koinei is operated from the United States. Our servers, database and file storage are with Google Cloud in the United States; our server logs are kept by Google Cloud Logging, which may store them in other regions. Google, Hotjar, OpenAI and the music databases in section 3 may process the data they receive in the United States and in other countries, under their own terms. If you use Koinei from outside the United States, your data is transferred to the United States.

9. Changes

When we change this policy, we will post the new version on this page and update the date at the top. If a change is significant, we will tell signed-in users before it applies.

10. Contact

Koinei, 3661 Waalkes St, Norton Shores, MI 49444, United States. Email: contactkoinei@gmail.com.