01About this policy
Speaking Journey is a service operated by GBC Ventures Limited ("we", "us"), a company registered in New Zealand. This Privacy Policy describes how we handle personal information when you use the service at speakingjourney.com.
For the purposes of data protection law (including the EU/UK GDPR and the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020), GBC Ventures Limited is the data controller for the information described here. If you have any questions, please contact us at hello@speakingjourney.com.
02What we collect
We collect the following categories of personal information:
- Account information — your name, email address, and a hashed password.
- Sign-up responses — the answers you give in onboarding, which help us personalise the prompts you see.
- Recordings, transcripts and scores — the audio you record in each session, the text we generate from it, and the scoring data and coach notes we produce. These are saved to your library so you can listen back and track progress.
- Payment information — handled by our payment provider. We receive only subscription status and limited metadata (such as the last four digits of your card).
- Technical and usage information — browser type, device type, approximate location (city level), and information about how you use the service.
Voice recordings may be treated as special category personal data (sometimes referred to as biometric data) under some privacy laws, including the EU/UK GDPR. By creating a recording in the service, you provide your explicit consent for us and our service providers to process that recording for the purposes described in this policy. You can withdraw this consent at any time by deleting individual recordings, deleting your library, or closing your account.
03How we use it
We use the information we collect to:
- Provide and personalise the service — including generating your scores, coach notes, dashboards, and selecting prompts that suit your profile;
- Manage your subscription, payments, and account;
- Send service-related emails (such as welcome messages, subscription notices, payment receipts and password resets);
- Send marketing communications — only where you have chosen to receive them;
- Improve the service, using aggregated or de-identified data;
- Prevent fraud and abuse, secure the service, and resolve disputes;
- Comply with our legal obligations.
3.1 Legal bases for processing
Where the EU/UK GDPR applies to you, we rely on the following legal bases:
- Performance of a contract with you to provide the service and the features you have signed up for;
- Your consent for the processing of voice recordings and any optional marketing communications. You can withdraw consent at any time;
- Our legitimate interests in operating, securing, and improving the service, as well as preventing fraud, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights;
- Compliance with legal obligations, such as tax, accounting and lawful information requests.
05Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights in relation to your personal information, including the rights to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you;
- Correct information that is inaccurate;
- Delete your personal information;
- Receive a copy of your information in a portable format;
- Object to or restrict certain uses of your information;
- Withdraw consent where we rely on it.
You can manage many of these directly in the product — for example, deleting individual recordings, clearing your library, or closing your account from your settings.
For other requests, email hello@speakingjourney.com. We will respond within the timeframes required by applicable law (typically within one month under the GDPR). We may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.
If you are in the EU or UK and believe we have not handled your information properly, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. We'd appreciate the chance to address your concerns first.
06Automated processing
Speaking Journey uses automated systems and AI services to generate transcripts, calculate scores, and produce coach notes from your recordings. These outputs are automated and are intended to give you feedback on your speaking practice; they are not used to make legal or similarly significant decisions about you.
If you would like a human review of any score or coach note produced for you, or if you have concerns about how the automated outputs apply to you, email hello@speakingjourney.com.
08Security & retention
We use industry-standard administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information, including encrypted connections, access controls, and routine review of our security practices. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
We retain personal information for as long as your account is active, and for as long as we have an ongoing legitimate need to keep it — for example, to provide the service, comply with our legal and tax obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce our agreements. The specific period depends on the type of information, the purpose for which we hold it, and applicable legal requirements.
Recordings and library content are retained while your account is open. You can delete individual recordings or your whole library at any time from settings, and we will remove the associated information from our active systems as soon as reasonably practicable. Some information may persist in routine back-ups for a limited period before being overwritten.
09International users
Speaking Journey operates internationally, and the information we collect may be processed in countries other than the one in which you live. The laws of those countries may not provide the same level of data protection as your home country.
Where we transfer personal data from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland to a country that does not have an equivalent level of data protection, we rely on appropriate safeguards — for example, the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement — to protect your information.
10California residents
If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA") gives you additional rights. The categories of personal information we collect, the purposes for which we use them, and the categories of service providers we share with are all described in sections 2–4 of this policy.
Specifically, you have the right to know what personal information we collect; to request access to it; to request that we correct or delete it; and to opt out of any "sale" or "sharing" of your personal information as those terms are defined under the CCPA.
We do not sell or share personal information in that sense, and we do not knowingly handle the personal information of California residents under 16 without the required consent.
To exercise your CCPA rights, email hello@speakingjourney.com. You may also designate an authorised agent to make requests on your behalf, in line with CCPA requirements.
11Children & changes
Children. Speaking Journey is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please email hello@speakingjourney.com and we will take steps to remove it.
Changes to this policy. We may update this policy from time to time. When we make material changes we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you in the product or by email. Your continued use of the service after a change takes effect means you accept the updated policy.
12Contact
For any questions about this policy or how your information is handled:
- Privacy questions and requests: hello@speakingjourney.com
- General inquiries: hello@speakingjourney.com
- Legal entity: GBC Ventures Limited (NZBN 9429053204813), Auckland, New Zealand. Our full registered-office address is publicly available via the New Zealand Business Number register.