Shoconvo is run by Grho Global (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2024/649613/07, of Bryanston, Johannesburg, South Africa ("Shoconvo", "we"). Under POPIA we are the "responsible party" and under Kenya's Data Protection Act the "data controller" for your information.
Our Information Officer (POPIA) and Data Protection Officer (Kenya) can be reached at privacy@shoconvo.com.
| What | Examples | Why we need it |
|---|---|---|
| Account details | First name, email, password (stored scrambled, never readable) | To create your account and keep it secure |
| Learning choices | Language, why you're learning, your level and placement result | To set your starting point and shape your conversations |
| Progress | Units and lessons done, review words and their scores, streaks, minutes spoken, reply speed, certificates | To show your progress and decide what you practise next |
| What you type and say | Your replies in conversations, words you translate, and your voice when you tap the microphone | To understand you, reply and give feedback. Voice is turned into text and, unless you opt in, not kept |
| Parent and learner details (Shoconvo Schools) | Parent's name and email, learner's first name and grade, the parent's consent and its date | To run a learner's account with their parent's permission and send weekly progress reports |
| Payments | Plan bought, amount, date, and a payment reference | To give you access and keep tax records. Card details go straight to our payment provider; we never see or store them |
| Technical details | Device and browser type, rough location from your network (country), error logs | To keep the service working, secure and fast |
| Language requests | A language you ask us to add | To decide which languages to build next |
| Feedback and usage | What you flag to the team (the line or lesson, your comment, your name and email), and anonymous events such as finishing a unit | To fix mistakes and see where the app needs work |
We don't ask for your ID number, and we don't knowingly collect special personal information such as health, religion or race. You don't need to share any of these in conversations. If you choose "for church or faith" as your reason for learning, we use it only to suggest conversation topics.
Good speech and language technology for African languages needs real examples. If you choose, you can let us use what you share to make it better. This is off by default, and you control it in Profile > Help improve African-language AI, with two separate switches:
When it's on, we remove your name and email before the data is used, keep it separate from your account, and use it only to develop and test Shoconvo's speech and language models. We don't sell it. We won't share it outside Shoconvo without asking you first. Saying no never changes your lessons or price.
You can turn it off at any time. From then on, nothing new is used. To have what you shared earlier removed, email us or delete your account; anything already built into a trained model can't be pulled out of it, but we stop using the original recordings. Shoconvo Schools learners can't opt in.
Anyone under 18 is a child under both POPIA and Kenyan law. Children can use Shoconvo only through a Shoconvo Schools account that a parent or legal guardian sets up and consents to. We collect only what we need for the learner's practice: a first name, grade, progress and what they say or type while practising.
We use a small number of trusted service providers ("operators" under POPIA, "data processors" under Kenyan law). They may use your information only to provide their service to us, under written agreements that require them to keep it secure and confidential.
| Provider | What they do for us | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic (Claude) | The AI that plays your conversation partner, writes feedback and translates | The conversation or word you're working on, your first name (so your partner can use it), your level and learning reason. Not your email |
| Microsoft Azure Speech | Turns lines into speech and your voice into text | The text to read aloud and your voice recording, for that moment only |
| Vercel | Hosts the app and website | Technical details needed to serve the app |
| Our database provider | Stores your account and progress | Your account details and progress |
| Paystack | Takes payments (card, Capitec Pay, Ozow, M-Pesa) | Your email, the amount and your payment details, which they handle directly |
| Our own speech models (coming soon) | Speech and listening, run by Shoconvo instead of Microsoft | The same as Microsoft above |
We'll also share information if the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety. If Shoconvo is ever sold or merged, your information would move with it under this same policy, and we'd tell you first.
Some providers above store or process information in other countries, including the United States and the European Union. POPIA (section 72) and Kenya's Data Protection Act (Part VI) allow this where the recipient is bound by protections similar to ours, or with your consent. We choose providers with strong security and data protection terms, and where we can choose a region close to you (for example Microsoft's South Africa region) we do. By using Shoconvo you agree to this transfer. For Shoconvo Schools learners, we transfer only what's needed for the practice itself, and we'll get any authorisation the Information Regulator requires.
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Account and progress | While your account is open. Deleted within 30 days of you deleting your account |
| Voice recordings (not opted in) | Not kept. Used to get the text, then discarded |
| Conversation text (not opted in) | Kept with your account for your feedback and review words, then deleted with your account |
| Opted-in recordings and conversations | Up to 3 years, or until you ask us to remove them |
| Payment records | 5 years, as tax law requires |
| Technical logs | Up to 30 days |
We encrypt information in transit and at rest, scramble passwords, limit who on our team can see personal information, and use providers with strong security. If a breach puts your information at risk, we'll tell the Information Regulator (South Africa) and the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (Kenya), within 72 hours in Kenya, and tell you as soon as we reasonably can, with what happened and what you can do.
Under POPIA and Kenyan law you can:
Email privacy@shoconvo.com. We'll reply within 7 days for access requests from Kenya, and within 30 days otherwise. It's free.
Please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to:
We don't use advertising or tracking cookies. The app saves your settings and progress on your device so it works quickly and offline, and uses only what's needed to keep you signed in.
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect. We'll never start using your data for AI improvement without you turning it on.