1. Who controls your information

Hanzi Forge is operated by Fang Lin, an independent software developer based in mainland China. Privacy questions and rights requests may be sent to [email protected].

2. Scope

This notice applies to the Hanzi Forge website, learning application, account features, support channels, and our handling of purchase fulfilment data. Paddle’s own privacy notice applies to information Paddle collects during checkout and payment processing.

3. Information we collect

• Account information: email address, internal user identifier, account status, and authentication or security metadata.
• Learning information: chapter progress, discovered characters, and preferences stored in your browser or associated with your account.
• Purchase fulfilment information: our order identifier, Paddle transaction reference, product, amount, currency, payment status, and VIP activation or expiry. We do not receive or store your complete card number.
• Support information: messages, contact details, and information you choose to provide when requesting help.
• Technical information: IP address, browser or device information, request timestamps, diagnostic logs, and security events.

4. How we use information

We use information to create and secure accounts, authenticate sessions, provide the learning experience, remember progress, fulfil and reconcile purchases, answer support requests, prevent abuse, diagnose failures, comply with law, and improve reliability. Where applicable, these activities rely on performance of our agreement, legitimate interests in operating and securing the service, consent, or legal obligations.

5. Paddle and payment processing

Paddle is the authorised reseller and Merchant of Record. Paddle collects payment, billing, tax, fraud-prevention, and transaction information under its own Privacy Notice. Paddle shares limited transaction and customer information with us when needed to deliver access, reconcile orders, handle support, and prevent fraud.

6. Other service providers

We may use infrastructure, database, email-delivery, security, and customer-support providers to operate Hanzi Forge. They may process information only as needed to provide those services or comply with law. We do not sell your personal information.

7. Local storage and similar technologies

Hanzi Forge uses browser local storage and similar technical storage to maintain sessions, save guest or account learning progress, remember preferences, and support security. Blocking this storage may prevent sign-in or saved progress from working correctly.

8. Retention

We retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described above. Account information is retained while the account is active and handled through the account-closure process. Transaction and financial references may be kept as required for reconciliation, fraud prevention, tax, accounting, or legal obligations. Security logs and support records are retained for operational, dispute-resolution, and legal needs, then deleted or anonymised when no longer required.

9. International processing

Our service providers and Paddle may process information in countries other than your own. Where required, appropriate contractual or legal safeguards are used. The protections available to you under mandatory law remain unaffected.

10. Your choices and rights

Depending on your location, you may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, portability, or withdrawal of consent. You can close your account using the in-product controls or contact us. We may need to verify your identity and may retain limited information where required by law or to protect legitimate security and transaction records.

11. Children

Purchases and account creation must be made by someone with legal capacity or with the authorisation of a parent or guardian. We do not knowingly request more personal information from children than is necessary to provide the educational service. A parent or guardian may contact us regarding a child’s information.

12. Security and updates

We use access controls, encrypted transport, provider separation, and operational safeguards designed to protect information. No online system can guarantee absolute security. We may update this notice when our practices, providers, or legal obligations change.