YOUR DATA, YOUR CHOICE
Privacy policy
Last updated: 30 October 2026
Who we are
Words In The Wild (formerly Arabic in the Wild) turns photographs of the language you find in the world, starting with Arabic, into translations and vocabulary. It is made by ALFApps, the trading name of Amy French ("we", "us"), who decides how your information is used and is responsible for it under UK and EU data protection law.
This policy covers the Words In The Wild Android app and website. It explains what we collect, why, who processes it for us, how long we keep it, and the choices you have. We collect as little as the app needs: no advertising, no analytics trackers and no selling of data.
The information we collect
| What | Details | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Your email address and password. Your password is stored only as a secure hash by our sign-in provider, Amazon Cognito; we never see it | You, when you register |
| Pictures | The photographs you choose to upload. The app resizes each one before upload, which also removes hidden metadata such as GPS location and camera details | You |
| Learning data | Your chosen languages and levels, the text read from each picture, translations, vocabulary, quiz scores, ratings you give translations, and how many pictures and quizzes you have used, each month and from your free trial | You, and generated by the app |
| Translation feedback (optional) | If you rate a translation 1/10 and choose to say why, the words you write and the word you rated. It is stored without your name or email, so it cannot be linked back to your account; please don't include personal details in it | You |
| Two-step verification (optional) | If you turn it on, a secret key shared with your authenticator app, held by Amazon Cognito. We do not ask for or store a phone number | You |
| Purchases | If you subscribe or buy a photo pack: the product, order reference and subscription status that Google Play sends us. We never receive your card or bank details | Google Play |
| Technical data | Error and activity logs (for example which picture failed to process and why) and the IP address your device connects from, which our hosting provider needs to deliver the service | Your device, automatically |
Pictures can contain other people or personal details if they happen to be in the shot. Please avoid photographing people who haven't agreed to it, or documents with personal information.
The app keeps your sign-in in your browser's session storage, which is cleared when you close the app or tab. We use no advertising or analytics cookies, and no tracking across other apps or websites. If you install the app, your device keeps only a small offline page, so it can tell you when you have no connection.
How we use it, and our lawful bases
| Use | Lawful basis (UK GDPR / EU GDPR) |
|---|---|
| Creating and signing you in to your account, including two-step verification | Contract: we need it to provide the app you signed up for |
| Reading your pictures and building your vocabulary, quizzes and scores | Contract |
| Counting pictures against your plan and checking purchases with Google Play | Contract |
| Sending account emails, such as verification codes and password resets | Contract |
| Keeping the service secure, preventing abuse and fixing faults, using logs | Legitimate interests: keeping the app and your data safe |
| Adding general word entries, which contain no personal information, to the shared word lists | Legitimate interests: keeping the app affordable for every learner |
| Using translation ratings and feedback to remove and improve poor translations in the shared word lists | Legitimate interests: keeping translations accurate for every learner |
| Keeping records we are required to keep, for example for tax | Legal obligation |
We do not use your pictures or data for advertising, profiling, or to train any AI model, and we make no automated decisions about you with legal or similarly significant effects.
How your pictures are analysed by AI
When you ask the app to analyse a picture, it sends that picture and your chosen language and level to Anthropic's Claude model, running inside Amazon Bedrock, an AWS service. The model reads the Arabic, describes the scene and suggests vocabulary. It is instructed not to identify people.
- AWS hosts the model itself. Anthropic, the model's maker, does not receive your pictures or the results (AWS: does Bedrock share data with model providers?).
- Your pictures and results are not used to train any AI model, by AWS, Anthropic or us.
- Bedrock does not keep the picture after answering. Your copy of the picture and its results are stored only in your account with us, except as described in the next point.
- Shared word lists. To keep the app affordable, general dictionary entries the AI writes (a word, its meaning, level, a usage note and a made-up example sentence) are added to a shared word list for that language, which the app reuses for other learners. These entries never include your picture, the text in it, names, businesses, places, numbers or contact details, and nothing in them identifies you or shows that you contributed them. Learners can rate these entries from 1 to 10; an entry rated 4/10 or lower on average by 10 or more learners is removed, and the AI writes it afresh next time. Each shared entry keeps only an anonymous count of ratings and their total. Deleting your account removes your own words and ratings; it does not remove general entries or those anonymous counts, because they contain no information about you.
- To keep the app fast and reliable, Bedrock may process the request in any AWS region worldwide, not only in Ireland. The data stays on AWS's own encrypted network throughout.
AI can make mistakes. Translations, levels and notes are learning guidance; please check anything important.
Who we share it with
We never sell your information or share it for advertising. Only these service providers process it, and only on our instructions:
| Provider | What they do for us | What they handle |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Web Services EMEA SARL (AWS) | Hosting, storage, sign-in (Amazon Cognito), account emails and AI analysis (Amazon Bedrock) | Everything listed above except purchase payments |
| Google (Google Play) | App distribution, subscriptions and payments | Your purchases and payment details, under Google's privacy policy |
We may also disclose information if the law requires it, for example to comply with a court order, or to protect the safety of our users.
Where it is stored, and how we protect it
Your account, pictures and learning data are stored by AWS in Ireland (EU). AI analysis may take place in other AWS regions, including outside the UK and EEA. AWS protects those transfers with the UK and EU standard contractual clauses in its data processing addendum.
How we protect your information:
- Everything is encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and at rest (AES-256).
- Your pictures are stored privately and are never publicly accessible; the app shows them through links that expire after 15 minutes.
- Every request is checked against your sign-in, so one account can never reach another's data.
- Optional two-step verification protects your account even if your password is stolen.
- Deleting your account, or changing two-step verification, needs a fresh sign-in.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your information, we will tell you and the regulator as the law requires.
How long we keep it, and deleting your account
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Account, pictures and learning data | Until you delete them or your account |
| A picture you delete | Removed straight away; a hidden backup copy is erased within 30 days |
| An upload you start but never finish | 24 hours |
| Error and activity logs | 14 days |
| Database backups (for disaster recovery only) | Overwritten within 35 days |
| General entries in the shared word lists | While the app runs; they contain no information about you |
| Translation feedback | One year, then deleted automatically. It is not linked to your account, so deleting your account does not remove it |
Deleting your account. In the app, go to Settings → Your account → Delete account. This deletes your sign-in, every picture (including backup copies), and all your vocabulary, scores and settings, for every language. Deletion starts immediately and is normally complete within minutes; database backups age out within 35 days. If you can't sign in, email WordsInTheWild@proton.me from your registered address, or follow the steps on our account deletion page.
Deleting your account does not cancel a Google Play subscription; cancel it in the Play Store first. Google keeps its own records of your purchases under its privacy policy. We keep nothing about you once your account is deleted.
Your rights
Under UK and EU data protection law you can ask us to:
- give you a copy of your information (access and portability)
- correct it, or delete it (you can also delete your account yourself, as above)
- restrict or object to how we use it, including anything we do on the basis of legitimate interests
Email WordsInTheWild@proton.me and we will reply within one month. You can withdraw from the service at any time by deleting your account.
If you're unhappy with how we handle your information, please tell us first. You can also complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, or to the data protection authority where you live.
Children
Words In The Wild is not intended for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, email WordsInTheWild@proton.me and we will delete it.
Changes and contact
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If a change affects how we use information you've already given us, we'll tell you in the app before it takes effect.
Questions or requests about your privacy: ALFApps (trading name of Amy French), WordsInTheWild@proton.me.