BandNinePrivacy policy
BandNine is an app for practising the IELTS Speaking test with a live examiner. This page sets out what the app stores, who processes it, how long it is kept and how you delete it. If anything here is unclear, write to hello@bandnine.org.
Your account
When you open the app for the first time, it creates an anonymous account for you: a random identifier stored on your phone and on our server. You can use the app without giving a name, an email address or a phone number.
The account holds your target band, your exam date if you give one, your feedback language, your credit balance and whether you have Plus.
If you sign in with Apple, Google or email
Linking an account is optional. It lets you keep your history on a new phone. If you sign in with Apple or Google, we receive the name and email address they share with us, and Google also shares a link to your profile photo. If you sign in with an email address and password, we keep the email address; the password is stored only as a secure hash. We use these details to recognise your account and show your name in the app, and for nothing else.
Your speaking recordings
During a practice test your voice is streamed to the examiner so it can listen and reply. The app saves a recording of each of your answers so that you can play it back and so that Pronunciation can be estimated. Recordings are deleted automatically after 90 days. Only your account can open them.
Transcripts, band estimates and practice answers
The app keeps a written transcript of each test, the estimated bands and feedback it produces, and your Say it again attempts. These are AI practice estimates, not official IELTS results. It also keeps the answers you give in practice packs, so it can show what you missed and plan your next practice. All of this stays in your account until you delete it.
Problem reports
If you send a report from the app, we keep what you write together with your phone's operating system and its version, so we can look into it. Reports stay with your account until you delete it.
Practice reminders
If you allow notifications, the app stores a push token for your phone so it can send practice reminders. The token is passed to Expo's push service and then to Apple or Google to deliver them. It is removed when you delete the account or turn notifications off, at which point it stops working.
Purchases
Purchases are made through the App Store or Google Play. RevenueCat records which purchases belong to your account so that credits and Plus reach the right place, and we keep a record of your credit balance and how it changed. We never see your card details.
Usage events
The app sends usage events to PostHog, hosted in the EU, so we can see which parts of the app work and which do not: for example, that a test started or finished, how long the examiner took to reply, or that a screen was opened. Events carry a random install identifier, not your account, along with basic device details such as the phone model, operating system, app version and language. They never contain your recordings, transcripts, name or email address, and we do not record your location.
Who processes your data
- Supabase, in Paris, France, stores your account, recordings, transcripts, estimates, practice answers, reports and push token.
- Google Gemini runs the examiner and the scoring. Your voice, transcripts and recordings are sent to Google to produce the examiner's replies and your feedback.
- Anthropic may receive the text of a transcript, never the audio, when we check the quality of our scoring by producing a second estimate for our own comparison.
- RevenueCat handles purchase records, with Apple and Google.
- PostHog, in the EU, receives the usage events described above.
- Expo, with Apple and Google, delivers practice reminders.
These companies process data on our behalf and only to provide these services. Some of them may process it outside the EU. We do not sell your data, we do not show advertising and we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites.
Deleting your account
Open the You tab in the app and tap Delete account at the bottom. This removes your account, recordings, transcripts, band estimates, practice answers, reports and push token straight away, and it cannot be undone. You can also ask by writing to hello@bandnine.org; the delete-account page explains how, and what is kept. Deleting the app from your phone does not delete the account on our server, so delete the account first.
Children
BandNine is meant for adults and older teenagers preparing for IELTS. It is not directed at children under 13.
Changes and contact
If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it. Questions and requests go to hello@bandnine.org.