This explains what personal information BandNotIncluded.com collects, why, who else sees it, and how long we keep it. We keep it short and we try not to collect anything we do not need. The site is run by Alan C Ernst, based in the Philippines.
What we collect
Your email address. Used to confirm your account, sign you in, send your feedback reports, and contact you about your account.
Your speaking test recordings. Used to turn what you said into text and give you feedback. We keep them for 72 hours, in case you have a question about your report, then delete them automatically.
The essays you submit. Used only to produce your feedback. We do not store the essay text itself after the feedback is produced. We keep a scrambled fingerprint of each essay, not the text, so we can recognise a repeat and not charge you twice.
The feedback reports we create for you, and the text of your speaking answers. We email you a copy of each report and keep ours for 72 hours, then delete it automatically. Reports may quote short parts of your essay or answers.
Which practice questions you have been given and how many tests you have used. So you don't get the same questions again and your plan's limits work. This holds question numbers and dates only, never your answers.
Your network (IP) address and sign-up and access dates. Used to stop people abusing free passes and to run your free pass, subscription or 7-day pass.
Payment records. Whether you have paid, which product you bought, the date, the amount, PayPal's reference number for the payment, any refund, and when your access ends. Your card or PayPal login details stay with PayPal and are never seen or stored by us. We may keep payment records for as long as tax or accounting law requires, even after deleting your account. If we give you a first-payment refund, we keep a record of it, even if you ask us to delete your account, so the one-time refund cannot be claimed twice.
A sign-in cookie. A small cookie that keeps you signed in for up to 30 days (it renews each time you use the site). We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.
Referral codes. If you arrive through a link or enter a code, we note it so the right person is credited later.
Who else handles your information
We use a small number of trusted services to run the site, including to email you your one-time sign-in links. They only receive what they need to do their job:
Anthropic (the AI that writes your feedback) receives the text of your essay, or the text of your speaking answers.
Cloudflare hosts the site, stores our database and (for 72 hours) your recordings and reports, runs the speech recognition that turns your recordings into text, and provides the bot check shown at sign-up.
Resend sends our emails to you.
PayPal processes payments and refunds.
These services may store and process information outside your country, including in the United States.
We do not sell your information, and we do not use your essays to advertise to you. We may share information if the law requires it.
How long we keep things
Essay text: not kept by us after your feedback is produced.
Speaking recordings, the text of your answers, and feedback reports: deleted automatically 72 hours after your test. During those 72 hours, if you question a report, Alan may listen to the recording to check whether you or the AI was right. Your emailed copy of the report is yours to keep.
Your account details (email, dates, plan, questions given, tests used): kept until you ask us to delete them. Email us and Alan will delete them.
Sign-in cookie and temporary records (sign-in links, repeat-essay fingerprints, network limits): these expire automatically, after anywhere from 15 minutes (sign-in links) and 72 hours (repeat-essay fingerprints) to 30 days (the sign-in cookie), and up to 12 months for the free-pass network limit.
Payment records: our own record of each payment and refund is kept with your account until you ask us to delete it, except that we may keep payment records for as long as tax or accounting law requires, and we keep a record of any first-payment refund so the one-time refund cannot be claimed twice. PayPal keeps its records under its own rules and the tax law that applies to it.
Your choices
You can ask us at any time to show you what we hold about you, correct it, or delete it. Email support@bandnotincluded.com from the address on your account and we will deal with it promptly. Deleting your data ends your account.
Security
We use reputable providers and keep our secret keys out of our code. No system is perfectly safe, so please do not put anything in an essay or a speaking answer that you would not want read by our AI provider.
Children
The site is not meant for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their information.
Changes
If we change this policy in an important way, we will tell you by email or on the site.
