Privacy Policy

Effective date: 8 October 2026

This policy explains what information the BANA-X Spelling Wiz app (Android) and this website collect, why, who helps us process it, how long we keep it and how you can delete it. The app is for parents (adults aged 18 or older) who set up profiles for their own children. Children use the app under their parent's account.

1. Who we are

BANA-X Spelling Wiz is provided by BANA-X (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2026/391483/07. Directors: Benjamin Narainsamy, Natalie Narainsamy and Allegra Narainsamy. The company is a private company registered in South Africa. Our Information Officer is Benjamin Narainsamy. You can reach us at support@bana-x.com. Telephone: +27 73 086 3077. Registered address: 47 Proot Street, Roodepoort, 1724, Gauteng, South Africa. Website: spelling.bana-x.com.

Words we use: 'You' means the parent or legal guardian who signs up. 'Your account' (the parent account) is the account you sign up with. A 'child profile' is a profile you add inside your account for a child to use. Each child profile has its own username, PIN and password so the child can sign in, but it is part of your account: you create it, you control it, and you can change or delete it at any time. 'Your child' means a child who uses a child profile in your account.

2. What we collect

From parents

Your email address and password (used to sign in). The password is handled by Google Firebase Authentication and is never stored in our database.
Your full name (as you type it).
Your country (Australia, Canada, Namibia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa or the United States) and your time zone.
A record that you accepted the Terms of Service and this Privacy Policy, and when.
A record that you acknowledged the AI Voice Disclosure, and when.
A record that you passed the age check at sign-up and gave the consent for your children, and when. We do not keep your year of birth (see Children's privacy).
Your settings: whether test reminders are on.
Your subscription status in the app.

About children

You create each child profile. A child never signs up and there is no field for a child's real name.

A username that the app generates (an adjective, an animal and digits).
The avatar, reader voice and colour you or your child choose from our built-in sets.
A 4-digit PIN for Kids Mode. We store it only as a salted hash, never as the PIN itself.
A sign-in account that the app generates for the child (not a real email address).
Results: for each finished round, the list name, each word, the answer the child typed, whether it was right, the score and the date.
Streaks, badges and SmartCents (in-app reward points) and their history.

Spelling lists you create

The list name, the words, the word parts ("Break it up" / "Chunk it") and any example sentences you type.
The test date, the children the list is for and the picture you choose from our built-in set.
If you share a list: a share code that points to that list (see Sharing).

From devices

One record per phone that uses the app: its kind (parent phone, kids' phone or a child's own phone), a fixed label, the child it belongs to (a child's own phone), when it was added and last used, and whether you removed it.
A push notification token - only if you turn test reminders on.

Purchases

Using the app needs the "BANA-X Spelling Wiz - Family plan": a monthly subscription, bought through Google Play, with a 7-day free trial. When you subscribe we keep a purchase record: the purchase token Google Play gives us, the plan, the status of the subscription, whether it renews, its renewal or end date and the last characters of the order number. Google Play takes the payment; we never see your card details. How long we keep purchase records is in the table in How long we keep information.

What we do not collect

No location, contacts, photos, files or calendar.
No advertising ID.

3. Text you type - please leave out real names

Some fields are free text: your full name, list names, words, word parts, example sentences and the answers a child types. The app cannot stop a name being typed there.

Our advice: do not type your children's real names (or anyone else's) in list names, words or example sentences. Words and sentences are turned into audio (see the next sections), and list names appear in test reminders.

As the responsible adult on the account, you are responsible for the information you provide and type into the app (see our Terms of Service).

4. Why we use it

To create and protect your account and the child profiles.
To run the app: show lists, read words aloud, mark answers, and keep results, streaks, badges and SmartCents.
To send a test reminder the day before a test, if you turned reminders on. The reminder shows the list names.
To keep the service safe: limits on repeated sign-in attempts and on share codes.
To meet our legal duties, including keeping the consent records above.

We do not sell personal information and we do not use it for advertising. We use your information to provide the service you signed up for, with your consent for the child profiles and for the AI voices, to meet our legal duties, and for our legitimate interest in keeping the service safe.

The app marks answers right or wrong automatically and works out scores, streaks and badges. This is for practice only and has no legal or similarly important effect on you or your child.

5. AI voices and OpenAI

The voices in BANA-X Spelling Wiz are AI-generated. They are not human voices. AI voices can sometimes pronounce a word wrongly, so please listen to each new list before your child uses it (see our Terms of Service). To create the spoken audio, our servers send text to OpenAI's text-to-speech service:

the words of your lists and their word parts;
the example sentences you type;
letter names (for spelling out a word);
fixed phrases of the app (for example the test welcome and the voice samples).

We send the text, the voice to use and a fixed speaking-style instruction - nothing else. We do not send account IDs, email addresses, names, usernames, country, device IDs or list names with these requests. The phone never contacts OpenAI; only our servers do.

OpenAI states on its page "Data controls in the OpenAI platform" (developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/your-data, read on 6 October 2026) that data sent to the OpenAI API is not used to train or improve OpenAI models unless the customer explicitly opts in, and that abuse monitoring logs are kept for up to 30 days unless a longer period is required by law. For the text-to-speech endpoint the page lists abuse monitoring retention of 30 days and no application state retention. Our OpenAI account is set so that OpenAI does not use this text to improve its models, and we do not store these requests in OpenAI's logging tools.

The audio that comes back is stored on our servers (see How long we keep information).

6. Other companies that help us

Google Firebase / Google Cloud: the database (Cloud Firestore), audio files (Cloud Storage) and our server code (Cloud Functions and Cloud Scheduler) in the region europe-west1 (Belgium); sign-in (Firebase Authentication, which Google runs in the United States); and push notifications (Firebase Cloud Messaging - it receives the notification token and the reminder text, which includes list names). See Where information is processed.
OpenAI: text-to-speech, as described above.
Google Play: distributes the app and handles subscription payments.

These companies process information only on our instructions to provide the service, under data processing agreements.

7. No ads, no tracking, no marketing

The app has no advertising, no advertising ID, no analytics kit and no crash-reporting kit.

We do not send marketing messages. Reminders and service emails are part of the service. If we ever send marketing, we will ask first, and you can opt out at any time.

You can share a spelling list with another parent using a share code. Someone who enters the code sees only the list name, its language, the test date, and the words with their word parts - never the example sentences, the picture, or anything about you or your children. The message with the code is sent by you, through your own messaging app; it does not pass through our servers. A code works until the test day ends, and you can stop it earlier.

Share a code only with people you know. You decide who receives a code, and you are responsible for sharing it and for the words in the list you share. We do not share personal information with anyone else, except where the law requires it (for example a valid court order), and then only what is required.

9. What stays on your phone

The app keeps a few settings on the phone itself: a device ID we generate, whether the phone is a kids' phone, and per-child preferences (music level, keyboard colour, game levels and "already shown" flags). A list you are still typing is kept on the phone until the app closes. Your sign-in session is stored on the phone. Audio clips may be cached by the phone.

10. This website

This website (spelling.bana-x.com) has four plain pages - the home page, this Privacy Policy, the Terms of Service and the "page not found" page. They load no scripts and nothing from other companies (they use the fonts already on your device), and they have no tracking cookies and no analytics. Our own code sets no cookies on this website.

The Delete your account page is the one page with a script. It is our own code, served from this website, and it uses Firebase Authentication and Cloud Functions to sign you in and delete your account. It reads its settings from this website and keeps your sign-in in the browser tab only (session storage): the page starts signed out, and the sign-in is gone when you close the tab.

11. Security

Passwords are handled by Firebase Authentication; child PINs are stored only as salted hashes that the app cannot read back.
Repeated wrong sign-in attempts are limited, and a child profile's PIN locks after too many wrong tries.
Deleting an account needs a sign-in within the last 5 minutes.
Our server logs hold IDs, codes and counts only - never words, sentences, names or email addresses.
All connections to our servers are encrypted (HTTPS). Our database rules let each family read only its own data.

No system is perfectly secure. If a security breach affects personal information, we will tell the Information Regulator and the affected parents as section 22 of POPIA requires. In other countries we will tell the regulators and people that local law requires.

12. How long we keep information

This table is the one place for every period. Other parts of this policy, the Terms of Service and the Delete your account page point to it.

Information	How long we keep it
Your account	Your name, email address, country, time zone, settings and the consent and age-check records are kept while your account exists, and deleted when you delete your account.
Child profiles	The username, avatar, voice, colour, PIN (salted hash), streaks, badges and SmartCents are kept until you delete the child profile or your account.
Spelling lists	Kept until you delete the list or your account. You can delete a list only until the end of its test day; after that the list stays until you delete your account.
List count	How many lists you created in the current billing period (a number, the name of the period and the ID of the last list). Kept while your account exists, and deleted when you delete your account.
Results	Kept until you delete the child profile or your account. If you delete a list before the end of its test day, its results are deleted with it.
Example-sentence audio	Kept until you delete your account (also if you delete or change the list).
Word audio (shared library)	Audio for words, word parts, letters and fixed phrases is kept in a shared library used by all families. A clip is filed under the text only and is not linked to you. It is not deleted when you delete your account - one more reason not to type names as words.
Share codes	A code works until the test day ends. Its record is removed 7 days later, or at once if you stop sharing or delete the list.
Sign-in attempt counters	Counters that limit repeated tries, held under hashed identifiers. Each counter covers one window: 15 minutes for a child's sign-in, 10 minutes and 1 day for share-code and purchase checks, 5 minutes for making a list's audio again. A counter is removed automatically one more window after its window ends (at most 2 days). Lock records for unknown sign-in details are removed 30 days after the last try. The lock on a child profile's PIN (5, 15 or 60 minutes; it resets after 1 day) is kept with the child profile.
Purchase records	Kept while your subscription runs. They are deleted automatically 12 months after the subscription ends. If you delete your account, they are deleted straight away.
Reminder history	Your account ID, the date and the number of lists. Deleted with your account.
Devices you removed	The record stays until you delete your account.
Deletion audit entry	One entry with the time of the deletion and counts (how many child profiles, lists, classes and devices were deleted). It holds no account ID, email address or username. We keep it as proof that deletions are carried out.
Server logs	IDs, codes and counts only. They are deleted automatically after 30 days.
Backups	We keep daily backups of the database for 7 days, to recover from mistakes or failures. Information you delete is gone from the backups within 7 days.
Inactive accounts	If an account has had no active subscription and no sign-in for 24 months, we will email you and delete the account 30 days later unless you sign in.
Deletion requests by email	Handled within 7 days.

What we keep after you delete your account, and why

The deletion audit entry (no account ID, email address or username).
Sign-in attempt counters (hashed identifiers), until they are removed automatically.
The shared word audio library.
Backups, for up to 7 days.

Purchase records are deleted with your account. Each period is in the table above.

13. Deleting your account

In the app: Parent Mode, Settings, Delete Account. Deletion is immediate.
On the web: Delete your account - sign in and confirm. Deletion is immediate.
By email: write to support@bana-x.com from your account's email address. We handle the request within 7 days.

Deleting your account deletes your parent account, every child profile (with results, typed answers, badges, streaks, SmartCents, PIN and sign-in account), all your lists and their share codes, your devices and notification tokens, your subscription status in the app, your purchase records and your example-sentence audio. You can also delete one child profile in Settings, Manage Children.

We cancel your Google Play subscription when you delete your account. If we cannot, we will tell you, and you can cancel it yourself in Google Play. Google keeps its own record of your payments under Google's privacy policy.

What we keep after deletion, and for how long, is in the table in How long we keep information.

14. Children's privacy

Children cannot create accounts. A parent or legal guardian creates the account and then creates each child profile. We ask for as little information about a child as the app needs: no real name, no email address, no photo, no location.

When you sign up we ask for your year of birth to check that you are an adult. We keep only a record that the check was passed, not the year. At the same step you give one consent that covers every child you add to your account, and we keep a record of when you gave it. A parent whose account was made before this step existed is asked once, the next time they sign in. The consent reads:

I am the parent or legal guardian of the children I add to BANA-X Spelling Wiz. I consent to BANA-X Spelling Wiz processing their information as described in the Privacy Policy, and I accept responsibility for the lists and tests I create.

Parent accounts are for adults aged 18 or older. If we learn that a parent account belongs to someone under 18, we will close it and delete its information.

We never disclose children's information for advertising or to train AI models.

Under South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act, we process children's information only with the consent of a competent person - the parent or legal guardian who creates the child's profile (section 35).

For parents in the United States (COPPA)

This part applies to children under 13 in the United States (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act). Operator: BANA-X (Pty) Ltd, 47 Proot Street, Roodepoort, 1724, Gauteng, South Africa. Telephone: +27 73 086 3077. Email: support@bana-x.com. We answer all questions from parents about children's information.

What we collect from children: when a child uses the app we collect the answers they give, their results and scores, their streaks, badges and SmartCents, and the identifiers that keep their profile working (the generated username, the child's sign-in account and the app's ID for the phone). You, the parent, create the child profile (generated username, avatar, reader voice and a 4-digit PIN that we store only as a salted hash). We do not collect a child's real name, email address, photo or location.

How we use it: only to run the app for your family - marking answers, showing you your child's progress, rewards, reminders on your phone and keeping the service secure. These identifiers are used only for these internal purposes, never for advertising or profiling. We do not sell children's information.

Who receives it: we do not disclose children's information to third parties. Google (Firebase and Google Cloud) stores and processes it for us as our service provider. OpenAI receives only the text of the lists parents type, never anything a child types.

How long we keep it: while the child profile exists. It is deleted when you delete the child profile or your account, or under the inactive-account rule in this policy; every period is in the table in How long we keep information.

Your rights: you can review your child's information in the app, delete it by deleting the child profile, and refuse further collection by deleting the profile or stopping use of the app (the app cannot work for a child without this information). You can also contact us to do any of this. We do not ask a child for more information than is needed to use the app.

Consent: before a child in the United States uses the app, we ask the parent for verifiable consent.

15. Your rights and your regulator

Depending on where you live, you can ask us for access to your information, to correct it, to delete it, to object to or restrict how we use it, or to withdraw your consent. You can do most of this in the app; for anything else write to support@bana-x.com. You can also complain to your regulator.

We reply within 30 days, or sooner if the law of your country requires.

South Africa: Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) - the Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za).
United States: Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) - the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (ftc.gov).
Australia: Privacy Act 1988 - the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) (oaic.gov.au).
New Zealand: Privacy Act 2020 - the Privacy Commissioner (privacy.org.nz).
Namibia: the right to privacy in the Namibian Constitution (Article 13).
Canada: Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) - the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) (priv.gc.ca).
Singapore: Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA) - the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) (pdpc.gov.sg).

16. Where information is processed

Whichever country you are in, the app's database, audio files and server code are in Google's europe-west1 region (Belgium, European Union). Your sign-in account details (email address, password hash and sign-in records) are processed by Firebase Authentication in the United States. Our short-lived server logs (IDs, codes and counts only) are handled by Google Cloud Logging, which may store them outside the European Union. The text for AI voices is sent to OpenAI, which processes it in the United States. Where personal information is transferred outside South Africa, we rely on our providers' safeguards and data processing agreements and on the conditions for transborder information flows under POPIA.

17. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we will update this page and its effective date. If a change is important, we will tell you in the app and by email at least 30 days before it takes effect.

18. Contact us

BANA-X (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2026/391483/07. Directors: Benjamin Narainsamy, Natalie Narainsamy and Allegra Narainsamy. Information Officer: Benjamin Narainsamy. Email: support@bana-x.com. Telephone: +27 73 086 3077. Registered address: 47 Proot Street, Roodepoort, 1724, Gauteng, South Africa.