This policy explains how OtterDict collects, uses, and protects your data when you use our Chinese dictionary and learning platform.
OtterDict (otterdict.com) is operated by TDH Software CO.,LTD, the data controller for your personal data. For privacy questions, contact [email protected].
Information We Collect
We collect account information (such as your email and a hashed password, or an identifier from Google/Facebook when you sign in with a social provider), profile information you provide, and content you create such as your lookup history and notebook.
A country inferred from your IP address, stored with your account.
How Advanced Features Use Your Input
When you use automated word explanation or comparison features, your input is sent to a third-party service provider to generate a response. Only the information needed for the request is sent.
Reading Mode, OCR, and Handwriting
Content you paste into reading mode is processed only to serve your request and is not logged or stored on our servers beyond that. The OCR feature uploads your image securely to OtterDict's storage and recognizes the text using Google Cloud Vision (Google LLC), our sub-processor for character recognition. Guest images are deleted immediately after recognition and are not used for long-term storage or model training. The handwriting input feature sends your drawn strokes (not an image, and no other content) to Google IME, Google LLC's inputtools service, to recognize the character; strokes are not logged or stored on our servers.
Voice Tutor
Speaking practice in the voice tutor sends your recorded voice to a sub-processor specialising in speech recognition and pronunciation scoring (located outside Vietnam) — this happens on every practice turn, including a guest's. The resulting transcript is then used to generate a reply the same way as our other AI-powered features (see How Advanced Features Use Your Input above). If you are signed in, we keep an encrypted transcript and your pronunciation scores; on Free these are deleted after 7 days and no audio recording is ever stored. On Pro, we additionally store your recorded audio for up to 180 days, then delete it automatically; you can turn this off anytime in your preferences — your recording will then never be stored, though it is still sent to that sub-processor in the moment to produce that turn's transcript and score. Guests: nothing from a conversation is kept once it ends.
Browser Extension
The OtterDict browser extension lets you look up Chinese on any web page. It handles data narrowly and only in response to your actions:
- Only the text you act on is sent. When you click, Shift-hover, select, or search Chinese text, the extension sends just that snippet to OtterDict's servers to return the dictionary entry, translation, pinyin, stroke order, or audio. For a click on a character, it also sends the sentence that character sits in, up to 200 characters — that context is what distinguishes a polyphone and picks the right sense. It does not read, collect, or transmit the pages you browse in the background, does not send the address or title of the page you are on, ignores anything you type into a form or editor, and never sends anything on every keystroke — only when you interact.
- No browsing history or tracking. The extension does not track the sites you visit, build a browsing profile, or share data with advertising partners. It contacts only OtterDict's own servers.
- Local storage on your device. On your device the extension keeps a time-limited cache (7 days) of recent dictionary results, and a list of the 20 words you looked up most recently — shown in the extension popup and clearable in one click from the "Recent" section. None of this is sent anywhere, and all of it goes when you uninstall the extension or clear its storage. Your settings are the one exception: your browser syncs them between the browsers you are signed in to, through your browser account rather than through us, and they include the list of sites where you switched the extension off. We never receive that list.
- Looked-up content is not logged. The words and passages you look up through the extension are not written to our logs.
- No sign-in, and no account data. The extension cannot sign you in: it holds no password, no session token, and no email address or other account details, so it never learns who you are. When you save a word it opens otterdict.com — where your account and your notebook already are; you sign in there, not here.
Text you look up through the extension is processed by the same services and under the same terms as the corresponding features on the website (see How Advanced Features Use Your Input, Data Sharing and Sub-processors, and the Translate note above).
Advertising
OtterDict displays advertising banners to Free-tier users. The Pro plan is ad-free. Our advertising partners may set cookies or device identifiers and may collect usage data to serve and measure ads. These partners operate under their own privacy policies.
Payments
Payments are processed by Polar Software, Inc. and its affiliates, acting as the Merchant of Record (authorized reseller) for OtterDict. Polar handles billing, payment, tax (VAT/GST), invoicing, and subscription management; subscriptions renew automatically until canceled. We never store full card numbers, only the card brand and last 4 digits provided by Polar. Cancellations and refunds are governed by our Refund Policy.
Analytics
We use privacy-friendly analytics to understand how the product is used and to measure traffic, for the purpose of improving the service, not for advertising and not for sale.
- Product analytics: configured without cookies and hosted in the European Union. When you are signed in, product-interaction events are associated with your account ID (not your name or email). This data is not sold and is not used to serve ads.
- Traffic measurement: uses no cookies, does not track users across websites, and collects only session-level aggregate data.
- Google Analytics: we use Google Analytics 4 (Google LLC) to measure traffic and usage. It sets cookies (e.g.
_ga) on your device; the stored IP is anonymized (truncated). This data is used only to measure and improve the service, is not used to serve ads, and is not sold. We do not send your name, email, or the content you type to Google Analytics.
Cookies and Local Storage
We use cookies and browser local storage to keep you signed in and to remember your preferences (such as language and display settings). Google Analytics also sets measurement cookies (e.g. _ga) to count site traffic — see Analytics above. You can review or withdraw consent anytime via the "Cookie settings" link in the site footer.
Data Sharing and Sub-processors
We share data only as needed with the sub-processors that help us run the service, in the following functional categories:
- Cloud hosting and storage.
- Optical character recognition (OCR): Google Cloud Vision (Google LLC).
- Handwriting recognition: Google IME, Google LLC's inputtools service (receives only stroke data, never an image or other content).
- Speech recognition and pronunciation scoring (voice tutor): a speech-recognition and audio-processing provider located outside Vietnam.
- Multi-language translation.
- Payment processing, tax, and subscription management (Merchant of Record): Polar Software, Inc.
- Product analytics and traffic measurement (cookieless).
- Google Analytics 4 (Google LLC): traffic and usage measurement (uses cookies).
- Advertising partners: ad delivery and measurement (Free-tier users only).
Each sub-processor receives only the data needed for its function. A current list of the specific sub-processors is available on request at [email protected]. We do not sell your personal data. Some sub-processors are located outside Vietnam, including in the United States and the European Union; where your personal data is transferred abroad, the transfer is made under binding data-protection terms with the recipient and in accordance with applicable law on cross-border transfers of personal data.
Distributors and partner language centres. If you created your account through, or your subscription is managed by, a distributor or partner language centre ("tenant operator"), that operator can see your account email, your display name, and your Pro subscription status, so they can provide support and manage your access. The tenant operator cannot see your notebook, lookup history, scans, translations, or payment details. OtterDict remains the operator and data controller for your personal data; the tenant operator is a recipient, not a co-controller.
If you are in a country served by a distribution partner, your general support request may be handled by that partner. Billing and privacy requests are always handled by OtterDict.
When you use the Translate feature, the text you submit is sent to a third-party translation service to produce the translation. Submitted content is not used to train models and is not retained beyond serving that request.
Data Retention
We retain your account data and content for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the service. You can request deletion at any time.
If an email address is banned from the service for abuse, we retain only a salted one-way hash of that email, never the plaintext address, to prevent abuse and re-registration. This hash is kept on a legitimate-interest (abuse-prevention) basis even after the account is deleted.
Your Rights
You have the right to access, export, and delete your data. You can export all of your data or delete your account at /account/data, in the spirit of GDPR-style protections.
Security
We serve the service over HTTPS only and hash passwords with bcrypt. No system is perfectly secure, but we apply reasonable measures to protect your data.
Contact
If you have questions about this privacy policy, please contact [email protected].