Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how People Who Code LLC d/b/a Freshman (“Freshman”, “we”, “us” and “our”) collects, uses, shares and protects your personal information when you use Freshman, and the choices and rights you have.

The short version

• We collect what we need to run your tutor: your account details, study profile, the materials you upload and your study activity.
• We do not sell your personal information or use it for targeted advertising.
• We do not use your content to train AI models.
• Voice sessions are streamed live and are not recorded.
• You can delete your account and your data from the app at any time.

1. Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to the Freshman apps for iPhone and Android, the Freshman desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux, and our website at joinfreshman.com (together, the “Services”). Your use of the Services is also governed by our Terms of Use.

2. Information we collect

2.1 Information you give us

• Account details: your email address, first name and, if you add one, a profile photo. If you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive your name and email address from them. Apple may give us a private relay email instead.
• Study profile: your education level, country, exam system, subjects, courses and topics, exam and deadline dates, language, timezone, learning preferences, tutor settings (such as name, voice and instructions) and how you heard about us.
• Study materials: files you upload, such as PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Markdown documents, and images on desktop, plus the text we extract from them.
• Tutor conversations and study activity: your messages to the tutor, your answers to tests and mock exams, and the study plans, guides, mind maps and session summaries created for you.
• Voice: when you use voice tutoring or dictation, audio from your microphone is sent in real time so it can be transcribed and answered. We do not keep recordings of your voice. We keep text transcripts and summaries of your sessions so the tutor can pick up where you left off.
• Purchases: your plan, billing period, subscription status and transaction identifiers from Apple, Google or Stripe. Payments are handled by those providers, and we never receive or store your full payment card details.
• Support and feedback: what you send us by email or in-app feedback, and the reason you give if you delete your account.
• License keys: if your school or organisation gives you a license key, we record that you redeemed it.

2.2 Information collected automatically

• Usage data: which features you use, sessions, streaks and progress. In the apps we use Mixpanel for product analytics. During onboarding only, Mixpanel may record a session replay of the screens, with text and images masked.
• Device and technical data: device type, operating system, app version, language, timezone and IP address. We use your IP address for security and rate limiting.
• Push notifications: if you allow notifications, OneSignal gives your device a push identifier so we can send them.
• Website: joinfreshman.com uses Simple Analytics, which does not use cookies, collect personal data or track you across websites.
• Cookies and local storage: we only store what is needed to keep you signed in and remember your preferences. We do not use advertising cookies.

We do not collect your precise location, your contacts or access to your camera.

3. How we use your information

• To provide the Services: building your study plan, tutoring you, generating tests and study materials, tracking your progress and syncing it across your devices.
• To communicate with you: sign-in codes, welcome and billing emails, and study reminders by email or push notification, which you can turn off.
• To process payments and manage your subscription.
• To keep the Services safe: preventing abuse and fraud, rate limiting and enforcing our Terms.
• To improve the Services: understanding how features are used, fixing bugs and measuring the quality and cost of AI responses.
• To meet legal obligations and respond to lawful requests.

3.1 AI and your content

To answer your questions and create study materials, we send the relevant parts of your materials, messages and voice audio to our AI providers: OpenAI for language and voice, and Deepgram for speech-to-text. They process this data on our behalf under API terms that do not allow them to use it to train their models. We do not use your content to train AI models, whether our own or anyone else’s.

AI-generated content is created automatically from your materials and questions. It is not reviewed by a person before you see it.

4. How we share your information

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.

4.1 Service providers

We share personal information with service providers that help us run the Services. They may only use it to provide services to us.

4.2 Other disclosures

• Apple and Google: when you sign in with them or buy a subscription through the App Store or Google Play, they process that information under their own privacy policies: Apple Privacy Policy and Google Privacy Policy.
• At your direction: if you share a study guide or other file using your device’s share sheet, you choose who receives it.
• Legal and safety reasons: when we believe in good faith that it is required by law or legal process, or needed to protect the rights, property or safety of you, us or others.
• Business transfers: if we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganisation or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this Privacy Policy.

5. Your choices

• Notifications and reminders: turn off push notifications and study reminder emails in the app settings or your device settings. We will still send essential emails, such as sign-in codes and billing notices.
• Microphone: you can deny or remove microphone access in your device settings. Text tutoring still works without it.
• Your materials: you can delete individual materials and subjects in the app.
• Delete your account: use Delete Account in your account settings on mobile or desktop. Deleting your account does not cancel an App Store or Google Play subscription, so please cancel it there first.

6. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• access the personal information we hold about you;
• correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• delete your personal information;
• receive a copy of your information in a portable format;
• restrict or object to certain processing;
• withdraw consent where we rely on it; and
• not be discriminated against for exercising these rights.

To make a request, email us at team@joinfreshman.com from the email address on your account. We may need to verify your identity, and we will respond within the time required by applicable law. You may also use an authorised agent where the law allows.

7. How long we keep your information

We keep your information for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account, we delete your account and profile, uploaded files, conversations and study data, and we ask RevenueCat to erase your subscriber record. We keep:

• the feedback you give when deleting your account (including your email, first name, country, plan and reason), so we can improve Freshman;
• usage and cost records for AI requests, with your account removed from them;
• billing and tax records we are required by law to keep; and
• copies in backups for a limited period until they are overwritten in the normal course.

8. Security

We protect your information with measures such as encryption in transit, access controls and, on desktop, encrypting your sign-in session on your device where your operating system supports it. Your materials are private to your account. No system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee the security of your information.

9. International transfers

We are based in the United States, and our service providers may process your information in the United States and other countries whose data protection laws differ from yours. Where required, we rely on safeguards such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses.

10. Children and teens

Freshman is not for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If we learn that a child under 13 has created an account, we will delete it.

If you are between 13 and 17, you need permission from a parent or guardian to use Freshman. In some countries the age of digital consent is higher (up to 16 in parts of the European Union). Where that applies, a parent or guardian must give consent on your behalf.

Parents and guardians can contact us at team@joinfreshman.com to review or delete their child’s information.

11. Notice for California residents

This section applies to California residents under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act. In the past 12 months we have collected the categories of personal information below for the purposes described in Section 3, and disclosed them for business purposes to the categories of recipients shown.

We do not sell or share personal information, including that of consumers under 16, and we do not use or disclose sensitive personal information for purposes that would require offering a right to limit. You can exercise your rights as described in Section 6.

12. Notice for residents of other US states

If you live in a state with a consumer privacy law, such as Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah or Texas, you may have rights similar to those in Section 6. We do not sell personal information, use it for targeted advertising, or use it for profiling that has legal or similarly significant effects. If we decline your request, you can appeal by replying to our response or emailing team@joinfreshman.com with the subject “Privacy appeal”.

13. Notice for the EEA, UK and Switzerland

People Who Code LLC is the controller of your personal information. We process it on the following legal bases: to perform our contract with you (providing the Services); our legitimate interests (keeping the Services secure and improving them); your consent (for example, push notifications and microphone access); and to comply with legal obligations.

You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. You can find yours in the list of EU data protection authorities, or contact the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK.

14. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will change the effective date above and, if the changes are material, let you know in the app or by email before they take effect.

15. Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your information, contact us at:

People Who Code LLC
447 Broadway, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10013, United States
Email: team@joinfreshman.com