Privacy policy · Phrase Bites IELTS

Phrase Bites IELTS is run by Martzey Ltd. Martzey Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (company number 14466643). Registered office: 86-90 Paul Street, London, England, EC2A 4NE. This page says what we collect when you join the waitlist or create an account, why, who else handles it, how long we keep it, and how to have it deleted. It is written for people, not lawyers.

What we collect

Your email address, which you type into the waitlist form.
The test you are preparing for (Academic, General Training or not sure), only if you choose to say.
Where you came from. If you followed a link from, say, Instagram, the link can carry a short label such as “instagram”, and we keep it with your sign-up so we can see which links work.
When you joined.

If you create an account, we also keep:

Your email address, which is how you log in. There is no password: we email you a short code each time.
If you log in with Google instead of with a code: what Google sends us, which is your email address, your name, the address of your profile picture and Google’s ID number for your account. All of it stays in your account record. We use only the email address. We do not show or use the rest, and we never sell any of it or use it for advertising.
When you created your account and when you last logged in.
Your course progress while you are logged in: the lessons you mark as done and the day, your level, your goal band, your XP (in total and for each of Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking, and how much you earned each day, for the last 90 days), your best test scores and attempts, your flashcard progress, your test date, how many minutes and questions you did each day in exam-style practice and in tests, how your answers went in each lesson and each type of question, and your latest exam-style practice results (which question, the day, your score or our estimated band and criteria, and your short answers, such as the option you chose or a few words you typed, so you can look at a question again), with the questions you flagged. It is saved to your account so it follows you to another device and is not lost if you clear your browser. It holds no writing, recordings or personal details.
A note of each login code we send and each code typed in, with the time. It is kept against a scrambled, one-way form of your email address (a hash), not the address itself, so we can stop anyone flooding an inbox with codes or guessing them. We delete them once they are a day old (the next time anyone uses the login).

Like any website, our server and our host (Vercel) see your internet address (IP address) when you use the site. To slow down anyone who keeps sending our forms (the waitlist and the login), our server remembers it for a short while: in its memory only, for as long as that limit lasts (an hour at most), and it is never saved. Logging in goes through our server, so Supabase, which runs our database and logins, keeps your email address and your login times, not your IP address.

If you become a member, we also keep, linked to your account:

Your Stripe customer and subscription numbers, which tell Stripe, our payment provider, which payments are yours.
Your membership’s status and dates: whether it is in its free trial, active or cancelled, when the trial ends, when it renews, and when it stops if you cancel.
Which country’s price you started at, and the country your card was issued in (a two-letter code that Stripe tells us), because the price depends on the country (see our terms).

You give your card details on Stripe’s own payment page. They go to Stripe, never to us: we never see or store your card number. Stripe also keeps your email address, your billing details and your payment history, to take the payments and to meet its own legal duties.

To show the price for your country, our host (Vercel) works out which country you are in from your internet address, and our server reads it when you open the membership page, your dashboard or start a trial. We don’t keep it.

We do not ask for your name or phone number.

Cookies

The waitlist and the home page set no cookies. If you log in, we set one cookie that keeps you logged in on that device. The site cannot log you in without it, and we do not use it for advertising or to follow you around the web. It is removed when you log out, or after 30 days without a visit. If you choose a language with the language button, a cookie named rf_lang remembers your choice for a year, so the site shows that language (English needs none: choosing it removes the cookie). It is not used for anything else. While you sign in with Google, a temporary cookie holds a one-time check code. It is removed when the sign-in finishes, or after an hour if it never does. If you log in with Google, the login cookie holds a little more, so it may be split into two parts. We use no other cookies. When you pay, you are on Stripe’s own page, which sets its own cookies (for example to prevent fraud) under Stripe’s privacy policy.

The course: your progress, and what stays on your device

Your progress. When you mark a lesson as done, that is remembered in your browser’s storage on that device, with the day you did it (for the weekly chart on your dashboard). While you are logged in, a copy is also saved to your account (see “What we collect”), so it follows you to another device and clearing your browser data does not lose it. If you are not logged in, it stays on the device only.
How far through a lesson you are. The percentage of each lesson you have been through (the ring beside it in the course menu) is kept in your browser’s storage on that device only, so the menu can show it. It is not sent to us; clearing your browser data removes it.
Your practice-test answers. In the Reading and Listening practice tests, your first answer to each question is remembered in your browser’s storage on that device, so the dashboard can show your estimated band. It is not sent to us; “Take it again” on the dashboard, or clearing your browser data, removes it.
Your level, goal and flashcards. The level you choose (or are placed at by the short placement test), the IELTS band you want, your XP and how much you earned each day (the last 90 days), your best score and attempts in each test, the questions your last test used (so the next one differs) and your flashcard progress are remembered in your browser’s storage on that device and, while you are logged in, saved to your account in the same way as your progress, so that your level cannot be lost by clearing your browser. While you go through the welcome tour after signing up, the screen you are on and your answers so far (your level or that you would like the English test, the band you want, and whether a test is booked) are also kept in your browser’s storage on that device, so the tour can carry on after the payment page; they are removed when the tour ends.
Your test date. If you type your test date on your dashboard for the countdown, or in the welcome tour, it is kept in the same way as your progress: on your device and, while you are logged in, in your account.
Which account the progress on this device belongs to. A note of your account number is kept in your browser’s storage so that progress from one account is never mixed into another on a shared device.
Your practice answers. What you type into a writing practice box is kept in the same way, on your device only, so you can come back to it. We never receive it, unless you press “Get feedback” (see “AI help and marking”). Your last 15 marked Writing practice answers and their feedback are kept on your device only, so you can open them again; the band and criteria are saved with your progress. Which practice questions you have done lately (up to 30 for each skill) is kept on your device only, so the next one is new. The language you choose for explanations, and your Speaking practice set-up, are kept on your device only.
Highlights. Highlights you add to a Reading passage stay on the screen for that passage only; they are not kept.
Your mock paper answers. The answers you give in the Reading and Listening mock papers are kept in your browser’s storage on that device only, so you can read them back with the right answers once the paper is finished (in a full test, only after you hand in Writing). They are not sent to us. The score and band are saved with your progress.
Small settings. Whether you have closed the left-hand menu is remembered in your browser’s storage on that device only. So that one person’s progress is never mixed into another account’s, the browser also keeps a marker of which account its saved progress belongs to (the account’s random identifier, not your email address); it is removed when you clear your browser data.
Your speaking recordings. If you use the record button, your browser asks before it uses your microphone. The recording stays in the page, is never uploaded or saved by us, and disappears when you leave the page.
Speaking in lessons. When a lesson asks you to say something and you press Speak, your browser asks before it uses your microphone and turns what you say into words on the screen. Some browsers (Chrome and Edge) use their maker’s own speech service to do this; your voice is never sent to us and nothing is kept. The words are compared with the sentence on the card in your browser.
Read-aloud listening practice uses your device’s own built-in voice; nothing is sent to us.

Page views

We count visits to this site with Vercel Web Analytics. It counts page views without cookies and does not follow you to other sites. It is not linked to your email address.

AI help and marking

The Help bot. The question you type, and the last few messages of that chat, are sent to Anthropic, who run the AI, so that it can write an answer. We do not send your name or email. We do not keep your questions.
Marking. When you send a mock Writing paper or a Writing practice answer for feedback, or take the mock Speaking test, your writing, or the words you spoke written out as text, are sent to Anthropic to be marked. For a mock paper, the result (your estimated bands and the notes) is saved in your account with your progress, and you can ask us to delete it (see “Your choices and rights”). For a Writing practice answer, only the estimated band and the band for each criterion are saved with your progress; your answer and the notes stay on your device only. Please do not put personal details in your answers.
Short answers in lessons. When you press Check on a lesson card that asks you to write or say a sentence or two, your answer (the words, not your voice) is sent to Anthropic to be checked, with the language you chose for the explanations. Nothing is kept: the notes appear on the card and are gone when you leave the lesson.
Speaking practice. When you talk with the AI examiner, your answers (the words you spoke, written out as text by your browser, or what you type) and the conversation so far are sent to Anthropic so the examiner can reply, and at the end to mark it. Your voice itself is never sent to us: turning speech into text happens in your browser (some browsers use their maker’s own service for this). Only the estimated band and criteria are kept, with your progress.
Limits. We keep a count of how many AI answers your account has used in a day, to limit use, and on the free plan how many of its free ones it has used in all. It holds no words.

Anthropic handles what it receives under its own terms and privacy policy.

Why we use it

To email you once, when the writing feedback opens, and to understand which test people are preparing for so we build the right things first. We do this with your consent, which you give when you join and can take back at any time. We use your account details to let you log in and to keep your account safe, which is needed to run the account you asked for. If you become a member, we use your membership details to give you the members’ lessons and practice and to take the payments you agreed to, which is needed for the membership you asked for, and we keep payment records because tax law requires it.

Who else handles it

Supabase stores the waitlist, your account and the login notes in a database, and makes your login codes.
Resend sends our login emails, so it receives your email address and the code; it keeps a delivery log.
Google signs you in if you choose “Continue with Google”: it sees that you are logging in to Phrase Bites IELTS and tells us your email address, your name, the address of your profile picture and its ID number for your account (see “What we collect”). We never see your Google password, and we do not read anything else in your Google account.
Anthropic runs the AI that answers Help bot questions, marks Writing and Speaking, checks short answers in lessons and plays the Speaking practice examiner: it receives what you type or say into those features (see “AI help and marking”), not your name or email.
Stripe takes the payments for membership: it receives your card and billing details and your email address, and tells us whether your membership is active.
Vercel hosts this website, so it sees your internet address when you visit, and counts page views.

Each only handles your data to provide that service for us. Some of their servers are outside the UK, for example in the United States, where it is protected by the safeguards UK data protection law requires. We do not sell your data, and we do not share it for advertising.

How long we keep it

Waitlist details: until we have emailed you that the writing feedback is open and for up to 12 months after, or until you ask us to delete them, whichever is first. Your account, with your course progress: until you ask us to delete it; the progress is deleted with the account. Notes of login codes: about a day. Your membership details: as long as your account; they are deleted with it. Stripe keeps payment records for as long as the law requires (in the UK, usually six years).

Your choices and rights

You can ask us for a copy of your data, to correct it, or to delete it (your account included), and you can withdraw your consent and ask us to stop emailing you. Write to aman66@hotmail.co.uk from the address you signed up with and we will do it within one month. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk) or to the data protection authority where you live.

Children

Phrase Bites IELTS is not aimed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their details.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will change the date at the top and, where we can, tell you.