Privacy policy

Who we are

GupShup is an app for learning everyday Urdu. It’s run by Hashim Rafiq (“we”, “us”), a sole trader based in the United Kingdom, who is the controller of the personal data described here. You can reach us about anything in this policy at support@trygupshup.com.

This policy explains what we collect when you use the GupShup app and trygupshup.com, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it and the choices you have.

What we collect

• Account details. If you create an account with Apple or Google, we receive your name and email address from them. If you choose Hide My Email with Apple, we receive Apple’s relay address instead. You can try a first lesson without an account.
• Learning data. Your onboarding answers (such as your experience with Urdu, why you’re learning and your daily goal), your lesson and practice results, XP, streaks and progress.
• Content reports. If you report a problem with a lesson, question, phrase or article, we keep the issue type, anything you choose to write, the content you reported and when you sent it. Reports are linked to your account.
• Subscription status. Whether you have GupShup Premium and when it renews or ends. Apple takes the payment, and we never see your card details.
• Reminder settings. If you turn on reminders, we keep a push notification token for your device, your time zone and your reminder preferences.
• Usage and diagnostics. Which screens you open, when you start and finish lessons and practice, when the app opens and closes, crash and error reports, and basic device details such as model and iOS version. These never include your name, your email or anything you type.

We collect these directly from you, from the app as you use it, and from Apple or Google when you sign in. Some lesson progress is also saved on your device so the app works smoothly.

We don’t collect your location, contacts, photos or microphone recordings. We don’t show ads, we don’t sell your data and we don’t track you across other companies’ apps or websites. We don’t make automated decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects.

The website doesn’t use cookies or analytics. Like any website, our hosting provider handles basic technical information, such as your IP address, to deliver pages and keep the site secure.

Why we use it, and our lawful basis

• To provide GupShup: creating and securing your account, saving your progress and unlocking Premium if you subscribe. We do this because it’s needed to provide the service you asked for (contract).
• To send reminders: only if you turn them on and allow notifications. This is based on your consent, which you can withdraw at any time in the app or in your iPhone’s settings.
• To fix problems and improve the app: using usage and diagnostic data, and investigating content reports so we can correct our learning material. This is in our legitimate interest in running a reliable, accurate app, and we keep it limited to what we need.
• To meet legal obligations, such as keeping records the law requires or responding to lawful requests.

You need an account to save progress across devices and to subscribe. Without one, those features aren’t available.

Who we share it with

We share personal data only with service providers who help us run GupShup. They process it on our instructions, for the purposes above, under contracts that require them to protect it to the same standard as this policy. They include providers of:

• sign-in and account management
• database hosting for your learning data, settings and reports
• subscription management, which receives your purchase history from Apple
• product analytics and crash reporting, hosted in the EU
• push notification delivery
• website hosting

Apple and Google also process data when you sign in with them, and Apple processes your payments, under their own privacy policies. We may also share data if the law requires it, or with a buyer if GupShup is ever sold or merged, in which case this policy would continue to apply. If you’d like the names of the providers we use, email us.

International transfers

Some of our providers store or process data outside the UK, including in the United States. When that happens, we rely on protections recognised under UK law, such as the UK–US Data Bridge, or the International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum to the standard contractual clauses. You can ask us for more detail.

How long we keep it

• Account details, learning data, reminder settings and content reports are kept for as long as you have an account.
• Usage and diagnostic data is kept only as long as we need it to understand and improve the app, and is then deleted or anonymised.
• Purchase records may be kept longer where the law requires it, for example for tax or accounting.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account at any time in the app, from Account → Delete account. This removes your sign-in, learning data, settings and content reports. Copies held by our providers, such as backups and analytics, are then deleted on their normal schedules, unless the law requires us to keep them. Deleting your account doesn’t cancel a subscription, so cancel that in your Apple ID settings. You can also email us to ask for deletion.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you
• have inaccurate data corrected
• have your data deleted
• restrict how we use it
• object to our use of it based on legitimate interests
• receive a copy in a portable format
• withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on it

To use any of these rights, email support@trygupshup.com. We’ll reply within one month. If you’re unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113. We’d appreciate the chance to put things right first.

Security

Data is encrypted in transit and stored with providers that encrypt it at rest. Access is limited to what’s needed to run GupShup.

Children

GupShup isn’t intended for children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, email us and we’ll delete it.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we’ll update this page and the date at the top. If a change is significant, we’ll let you know.