Spelling.live is used by children aged 5–11, so the bar for privacy and safeguarding isn't "good enough" — it's the first thing we build, not the last. This post lays out, in plain English, exactly what we do with your data and the controls you have. Everything described here is live in the app today.
Most spelling apps don't tell you any of this. We think you should be able to check.
Children don't have accounts — parents do
There's no way for a child to sign up on their own. Every account is created and managed by a parent or guardian (aged 18+). Children practise under a profile you create and control. You decide what's switched on.
Your data is never used to train AI
We use AI to generate example sentences, gentle hints, meanings and to mark handwriting — but the data we send is never used to train anyone's AI models. That's enforced by our configuration with each provider, not just a promise.
We go a step further: we keep a published list of every AI provider we use, what each one receives, and whether your data is used for training — and we re-check their terms on a recurring schedule. You can read it any time on our AI providers & your data page.
Photos and voice are processed in the moment
When you photograph a spelling sheet, or your child spells a word out loud:
- The full-size photo is sent securely to be read by AI, the result comes back, and the full image is discarded. We don't keep the picture you took, or photos of your child.
- The voice recording is transcribed and then discarded. We don't keep audio.
There's one deliberate exception. If you switch on the handwriting report, we keep a small thumbnail of your child's writing so the report can show you examples and how their formation improves over time. It's stored against your child's profile, included in your data download, and erased the moment you delete it, the child, or the account — and you can turn the report off whenever you like.
The AI helps, but you're always in control
When the app reads a marked sheet or a dictation page, every result is shown to you in an editable review before anything is saved. If the AI misreads a letter, you fix it in a tap. And anywhere the app shows AI-generated text, there's a small "Report this" link so you can flag anything that looks wrong — a real person reviews it.
One tap to download or delete everything
From your account you can:
- Download my data — a complete copy of everything we hold for you and your children, as a single file.
- Delete my account — an immediate, permanent erase of your account and all associated data. No emailing support, no waiting.
We don't keep data forever
We automatically remove old operational data on a schedule (for example, usage and email logs and expired game sessions), so nothing lingers longer than it needs to. Data minimisation is built in, not bolted on.
Built to the UK GDPR and the Children's Code
We're a UK service, and we build to the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, following the principles of the ICO's Age Appropriate Design Code (the "Children's Code"). Everything above — parent-managed accounts, data minimisation, transient photos and voice, one-tap export and delete — is how those principles show up in the product, not just on paper.
Behind the scenes we also keep the accountability paperwork: a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA), a Children's Code self-assessment, and a Record of Processing Activities (ROPA) with a breach-response plan. We're happy to share these with parents, schools or regulators on request — just email support@spelling.live.
You have the full set of data-subject rights — access, correction, deletion, portability and objection — and most are a single tap inside the app (see export and delete above). Our privacy policy sets out the legal bases and the detail.
In short
- Parent-managed accounts; children can't self-register.
- Your data is not used to train AI models — and we publish and re-review our provider list.
- Full photos and voice are processed in the moment and not kept; the handwriting report keeps only a small thumbnail, which is in your export and deletable anytime.
- Every AI mark is editable; every AI text can be reported.
- One-tap export and delete.
- Automatic data retention limits.
If you have a question we haven't answered, our full privacy policy has the detail — and you can always email us at support@spelling.live.