Privacy Policy — Zen Reader

Effective date: 16 July 2026 · Datgel Asia Pte. Ltd. (UEN 201132358H)

We build apps that families — including children — use every day, so protecting personal data is at the heart of how we work.

This Privacy Policy explains how Datgel Asia Pte. Ltd. (“Datgel”, “we”, “us” or “our”) collects, uses, discloses and protects personal data when you use the Datgel consumer application through which you reached this Policy, together with its related website and online services (each an “App” and, together, the “Service”). We handle personal data in accordance with Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA), and we apply comparable protections wherever your data is processed.

By creating an account or using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Policy. If you do not agree with it, please do not use the Service.

Who we are

The Service is operated by:

Datgel Asia Pte. Ltd. (UEN 201132358H)
Registered office: 1 North Bridge Road, #08-08, High Street Centre, Singapore 179094
Data protection contact / Data Protection Officer: hello@zenreader.co

For personal data collected through the Service, Datgel is the organisation responsible for that data (the data controller).

A note for families (the short version)

Only an adult can create an account. Where an App supports families, adults add members — which may include children (“readers”).
Some of our apps use the device microphone. For example, an App that helps a child practise reading aloud records the reader’s voice so it can check the reading and so authorised family members can play it back.
We use the data we collect only to provide the Service — never to sell your data, never for advertising, and never to build advertising profiles of you or your children.
You are in control: you can review, correct or delete your content and accounts at any time — see Your rights and choices and our delete-your-account page.

Personal data we collect

Depending on the App and the features you use, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

Account & family data — the email address used to sign in, display name, and (where the App supports families) family name, roles, and invitations you send or accept, together with authentication data (secure session tokens; any PIN/biometric settings are stored only on your device).
Member (including child) profile data — a display name and role for each member you add, and the activity generated by their use of the App. A member’s email is only used where you choose to give them their own sign-in.
Content you provide — the files, documents, text and images you import, scan or create in the App (for example PDFs or photos), and any titles, notes or metadata you add.
Voice recordings — where an App records audio (for example, of a reader reading aloud), the recording captured through the device microphone, together with any resulting transcript, scoring and session results.
Usage, device & diagnostic data — app version, operating system, device type, feature-usage events (such as opening an item or starting a session), app-usage sessions and how long they last, and crash reports and error logs. We keep these to a minimum. By default they are not linked to you; if the family manager turns on Help improve Zen Reader, we associate them with an identifier for your family (and the signed-in member) so we can understand how the App is used and whether readers improve — see Product analytics and improving the Service.
Device identifiers — when you sign in, we record an identifier for each device you use the App on, together with the device’s make and model, so that you can see your signed-in devices, remove one you no longer use, and so we can apply the limit on how many devices your plan covers. Where you turn on push notifications, our notification provider also creates an identifier for that device so it can deliver them. These are not advertising identifiers: we do not collect the Advertising ID, and we never use any identifier to advertise to you, to target ads, or to track you across other apps or websites.
Payment data — for paid plans, our payment provider processes your card or payment details. We receive only limited billing information such as your subscription status and a masked reference; we do not store full card numbers.
Communications — the content of support requests, feedback and other correspondence you send us.

We collect this data directly from you when you set up an account, add content, use the App’s features, subscribe, or contact us.

Children’s data

Where an App is intended for or used by children, it is designed to be set up and managed by a parent, guardian or other responsible adult. We do not knowingly allow a child to create an account on their own.

Consent. A child’s profile and activity are created by the adult who manages the family. By adding a child and using features that collect their data (such as recording their reading), you confirm that you are the child’s parent or guardian (or are otherwise authorised) and that you consent, on the child’s behalf, to the collection and use of their data as described in this Policy.
What we collect about a child. A display name, any recordings and transcripts, scores, progress history and achievements, and the content assigned to them.
How it is used. Only to run the App’s features and to let authorised members of the same family view progress. Children’s data is never sold, never used for advertising or ad-targeting, and never disclosed to third parties except the service providers listed below that help us operate the Service.
Analytics about a child. If the family manager turns on Help improve Zen Reader, limited usage and diagnostic events are linked to your family and its members so we can measure how the App is used and whether readers improve. This is off by default, is covered by the parental consent above, is never used for advertising or ad-targeting, and never shares a child’s recordings, the content they read, their profile details or their school marks with our analytics provider — only usage events and, at most, coarse anonymised segments (such as an age band). See Product analytics and improving the Service.
Access is limited to the family. A family’s data is private to that family. Family managers can review members’ activity; other roles see only what their role permits.
Deletion. You can remove an individual recording, an item, a member profile or the whole family at any time (see Your rights and choices).

If you believe a child’s data has been provided to us without the consent of a parent or guardian, please contact hello@zenreader.co and we will delete it promptly.

How and why we use personal data

We use personal data to provide and improve the Service, on the following bases:

To provide the App’s features — for example, where an App assesses reading aloud: recording a reading, converting speech to text, comparing it against the source text, scoring it, and saving the results so your family can review them.
To operate your account and family — signing you in, keeping you signed in across launches, managing invitations, roles and devices, and syncing your content across your devices.
To process payments — managing subscriptions, renewals and receipts for paid plans.
To support you — responding to requests, sending service notices (such as invitations, security or account messages) and, where enabled, reminders and other in-app notifications.
To keep the Service safe and reliable — diagnosing problems, preventing abuse and securing accounts.
To improve the Service and measure learning effectiveness — understanding which features are used and whether readers actually improve over time, so we can make our apps better and focus on what genuinely helps children read. In aggregate this uses de-identified usage data; where the family manager consents, it also uses usage data linked to your family and its members — never your recordings or the content of what you read. See Product analytics and improving the Service.

Where the PDPA requires consent, we rely on the consent you give when you set up and use the Service (and the parental consent described above for children’s data). You may withdraw consent as described below, though doing so may mean we can no longer provide parts of the Service.

Recordings, content and AI processing

Because some of our apps listen to a microphone or process the content you provide, we want to be clear about what happens to it:

Transcription. On devices that support it, speech-to-text runs on your device and the audio does not leave it for that purpose. On other devices, a recording is sent securely to our speech-to-text provider solely to produce the transcript, and is not used by that provider to train its models.
Storage & playback. Recordings and content are stored in your family’s private cloud storage so that authorised family members can access them and review progress. You can delete them at any time.
AI helpers. When you use optional AI helpers (for example text polishing, translation, metadata enrichment or optical character recognition), the relevant text or image is sent to our AI or processing provider only to return the requested result, and is not used to train third-party models.
No advertising or model-training on your content. We do not use your or your child’s content to serve ads, and we do not permit our providers to use it to train their AI models.

Product analytics and improving the Service

To make our apps better and to understand whether Zen Reader actually helps children read, we collect product-analytics data about how the App is used. We want to be clear about what this is, and about your control over it.

What we collect. Feature-usage events (for example opening a book, starting an assessment or moving to the next page), app-usage sessions and how long they last, and error and crash diagnostics. We do not collect the words a reader reads, their recordings, or the content of your books for this purpose.
Linking to your family. With the family manager’s consent (see below), we associate these events with an identifier for your family and for the signed-in member, so we can measure how a family uses the App and whether its readers improve over time. Without that consent, this data is collected only in a de-identified, aggregate form.
Reader profile and school marks. Where you choose to provide them, details such as a reader’s age, their exposure to the language, and self-reported school assessment marks help us understand which reading habits help most. This detailed information is kept in your family’s private, access-controlled cloud store and is not sent to our analytics provider; at most, coarse anonymised segments (for example an age band) may be used in analytics.
Why we do this. Only to improve the App and to measure learning effectiveness — what works and what doesn’t — so we can help children read with more confidence.
What we never do. We do not sell this data, we do not use it for advertising or third-party ad-targeting, and we do not use it to train AI models.
Where it is held. This analytics is processed using Microsoft Azure Application Insights (a Microsoft Azure service). It may be transferred and stored outside Singapore (see International transfers) and is kept only for as long as described under Retention before it is deleted or anonymised.
Your choice and consent. Linking analytics to your family is off by default. It is turned on only when the family manager — the responsible adult for the family — gives consent, which also covers the children in that family. Because Zen Reader is available worldwide, we apply this parental-consent approach consistently with Singapore’s PDPA guidance on children’s personal data and with comparable children’s-privacy rules elsewhere (such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the UK Age Appropriate Design Code, and the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act).
How to opt out or delete. The family manager can turn this off at any time in the App’s Settings, which stops any further linking of analytics to your family. To ask us to delete analytics we have already collected, email hello@zenreader.co (see Your rights and choices).

Service providers and disclosure

We do not sell personal data and we do not disclose it except as set out here. To run the Service, we share personal data with trusted service providers, only to the extent needed and under contracts that require them to protect it. Depending on the App, these may include:

Cloud database, authentication and file storage providers (such as Supabase) — for your account data, content and recordings and backend functions.
Speech-to-text providers (such as OpenAI) — for transcription where on-device transcription is not available.
AI and OCR providers (such as Anthropic, Google or Microsoft) — for optional text- and image-processing helpers.
Analytics and diagnostics providers (such as Microsoft Azure Application Insights) — for diagnostics, crash reporting and feature-usage analytics; aggregate and de-identified by default, or linked to your family where the family manager consents (see Product analytics and improving the Service).
Notification providers (such as OneSignal, Apple and Google) — for push notifications where you enable them.
Email providers (such as Twilio SendGrid) — for account and service emails (such as sign-in codes and invitations).
Payment providers (such as Airwallex, or the applicable app store) — for processing paid plans.
App distribution and hosting providers (such as the Apple App Store, Google Play, Microsoft Azure and Cloudflare) — for distributing the App and hosting our website.

We may also disclose personal data where required to comply with a law, regulation, court order or lawful request from an authority; to enforce our terms; to protect the rights, safety or property of Datgel, our users or others; or in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, in which case we will require the recipient to honour this Policy.

International transfers

Datgel is based in Singapore, and some of our service providers store or process data in other countries (including the United States and the European Union). Where we transfer personal data outside Singapore, we take steps required by the PDPA to ensure the recipient is bound to provide a standard of protection comparable to the PDPA — for example, through contractual commitments with our providers.

Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as needed to provide the Service to you and for the purposes described in this Policy, and then we delete or anonymise it. If you delete content or an account, we remove it from active systems; residual copies in encrypted backups are purged on our normal backup-rotation cycle. We may retain limited records where we are legally required to do so (for example, billing records), after which they are deleted.

Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, including encryption in transit, encrypted storage of sensitive credentials on your device, access controls that keep each family’s data private to that family, and secure, reputable cloud infrastructure. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we work to protect your information and to respond quickly if a problem arises.

Data breach notification

If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in significant harm to affected individuals or is of a significant scale, we will notify the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) and affected individuals as required by the PDPA.

Your rights and choices

Under the PDPA, you may:

Access the personal data we hold about you and ask how it has been used;
Correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data;
Withdraw consent to our collection, use or disclosure of personal data; and
Delete your data or account.

You can do much of this yourself inside the App — edit your profile and family, remove content and recordings, or manage devices and notifications. To make a formal access, correction, withdrawal or deletion request, email hello@zenreader.co from the address you use to sign in, or follow the steps on our delete-your-account page. We will respond within the timeframes required by the PDPA. If you are unhappy with how we handle your request, you may contact the PDPC (pdpc.gov.sg).

Cookies and our website

Our apps do not use advertising cookies or tracking cookies. Our website uses only the cookies and local storage necessary for the site to function and, where applicable, to keep you signed in to your account. We do not use the website to serve third-party advertising. Most browsers let you control cookies through their settings.

Links to other websites

The Service may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites; we encourage you to read their privacy policies. This Policy applies only to the Service.

Changes to this Policy

We may change this Policy from time to time — for example to reflect new features, new service providers, or changes in law or our practices. We reserve the right to update it at any time. When we make a material change, we will take reasonable steps to notify you before it takes effect — for example by posting a notice in the App, updating the effective date at the top of this Policy, and/or emailing the address associated with your account. Your continued use of the Service after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Policy. If you do not agree to a change, please stop using the Service and, if you wish, delete your account.

Contact us

For any question about this Policy or your personal data — including access, correction or deletion requests — contact our data protection contact at hello@zenreader.co, or write to Datgel Asia Pte. Ltd., 1 North Bridge Road, #08-08, High Street Centre, Singapore 179094. We aim to respond within a reasonable time and in any case as required by law.