Scope and operator
Operated as: LittleHanzi
Location: Hong Kong
Contact: [email protected]
This notice describes the current LittleHanzi website, including its reading pages, audio and illustration delivery, browser-based collection, recognition questions and restricted content studio. It does not describe a service with reader accounts, payments, newsletters or a voice-recording feature; those are not currently provided.
This notice explains the current implementation. A future public hosting provider, a new feature or a new use of information may require a revised notice. The website operates as LittleHanzi in Hong Kong, using the contact address above. An operating location does not by itself establish the location of a hosting server or email provider.
What is sent when you use the website
Your browser requests the page, images, audio or video needed for the experience. Serving those requests necessarily involves connection information such as an IP address, request path, time and browser request headers. Infrastructure may process diagnostic and security records associated with those requests.
When you choose Discover a character, the site sends only your started and completed character IDs, a temporary current-character ID to reduce immediate repeats, and any requested discovery mode. These IDs guide selection against the server’s eligible published pool; the request does not upload your full activity calendar, timestamps, favorites or local backup to create a server learning profile.
When you answer a recognition question, the story identifier and selected option are sent to the service so it can check the answer and return an explanation. The current application does not create a reader account, a server-side learning profile or a permanent answer-history record from that submission.
Playing pronunciation requests an existing audio file. LittleHanzi does not ask for microphone access, record your voice or send a pronunciation recording for scoring. A background Banner is a visual media file and contains no recording of you.
We do not require a name, email address, date of birth or payment details to read publicly available stories.
If you email our published contact address, your sender address, message and any attachments are processed to investigate and respond to your request. Your email provider and the mailbox provider may also process that correspondence as part of delivering and storing email. Send only the information needed for your question.
Your collection stays in your browser
When you choose “Save this story” or “Mark as finished,” the site stores a small learning record in your browser’s local storage. This lets the same browser remember your collection after a refresh. Those records are not synchronized to a reader account or uploaded as a collection to our database. You can export a versioned JSON backup or import a validated backup that merges with existing progress. Importing data happens in this browser, not as a file upload to the server. Activity records retain the local date at which the event occurred; the current implementation bounds stored activities to the latest 5,000 entries.
- The record uses stable character and story IDs and contains small display labels, first-started and last-opened times, a last-read scene ID, first-completed time, an independent favorite flag, the latest quiz or review result, and a bounded activity history. It does not contain a password, whole story text, large media or a payment record.
- Opening a public story records Started and can save your reading position; only clicking Mark as completed records completion. Repeated completion preserves the first completion time. Quiz results and favorites are separate from reading completion. Revealing a random character does not start or complete it.
- The record is specific to the browser, device and site address. A different browser, a different device or a change of site address may show a different collection.
- Removing a saved or completed item updates the corresponding local record. Clearing this site’s storage in your browser removes the whole local collection.
- Private browsing, storage restrictions and browser cleanup can remove or prevent these records. We cannot restore a collection that existed only in browser storage.
Other people using the same browser profile may be able to see the collection. On a shared device, use a separate browser profile or clear this site’s data when you finish.
Information about administrators
Authorized editors have an email address and password hash in the application database. Plain-text passwords are not stored there. Session records contain a hashed session token, an association with the administrator and an expiry time.
When an editor changes content, revision records may include their administrator identity, time and a content snapshot. These records support accountability, recovery and protection against accidental overwriting. They are not part of the public reading interface.
Content uploads store the media file and metadata such as its type, size, dimensions or duration, checksum and source information. Editors should avoid uploading personal, sensitive or unauthorized material; publication review is not a substitute for permission to use it.
Why information is used
Information is used to deliver requested pages and media, check answers, retain the collection you choose to keep locally, authenticate editors, protect the service and maintain content versions.
Where data protection law requires a lawful basis, the operator must identify the basis appropriate to the actual processing and jurisdiction. Necessary service delivery, requested functionality, security and operational records may involve different bases. We do not treat browsing as blanket consent to unrelated marketing or future uses.
The current application does not use reader requests or local collections to train an AI model, infer a proficiency score or create a marketing audience.
How long information remains
- Local learning records: remains until you change it, clear this site’s storage, or the browser removes it. There is no server backup of your reader collection.
- Administrator session: ceases to authorize access after expiry or logout. Expiry is not the same as deletion: expired database rows are not automatically purged by the current application.
- Administrator accounts and editorial revisions: remain while needed for access management, content history and recovery. Removing an editor’s access may not remove attribution from older revision records.
- Contact correspondence: kept for responding to the issue and resolving follow-up, subject to applicable obligations and mailbox backup practices. A fixed mailbox retention schedule has not yet been established for this preview.
- Operational logs and backups: depend on the eventual hosting and backup setup. A production retention and deletion schedule has not yet been set for this local preview. The operator must establish one before public deployment, based on troubleshooting needs, security, legal obligations and backup rotation.
We do not claim a fixed deletion period that the current system does not enforce. Removing information from a live system may take additional time to be reflected in protected backup copies.
Your choices and privacy requests
You can read without saving a collection, remove individual saved or completed items, clear site data in browser settings, and choose whether to play pronunciation. You can pause Banner animation; reduced-motion or data-saving settings use a static cover, as does a video playback failure.
Depending on the law that applies, you may have rights to request access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection or a portable copy of relevant personal information, and to raise a concern with the appropriate supervisory authority. These rights have conditions and exceptions; they are not a promise that every record can be deleted immediately. In Hong Kong, requests for access to and correction of personal data are addressed under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance. You can find official guidance from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data.
Use the published details on the contact page for a request using the email address published there. Describe the information or interaction concerned and the outcome you seek. Do not send identity documents, passwords or sensitive information unsolicited. Proportionate verification may be needed before disclosing records.
We cannot identify or retrieve an anonymous local collection from our database. For that information, the effective control is the browser that holds it.
Security and access from other countries
Restricted editing requires an authenticated session. The application uses password hashing, validates uploads and separates unpublished content from public content. Production connections must use HTTPS and appropriate infrastructure access controls.
No website can guarantee absolute security. Please do not send information unrelated to the requested service, and do not share administrator credentials.
The local preview has no public hosting region or international transfer arrangement to describe. Before public deployment, the operator must document where information is processed and assess any safeguards required for international transfers. We do not claim that data stays in a particular country without a confirmed hosting arrangement.
Children
LittleHanzi is designed for adult beginners and is not directed at children. It does not provide child profiles, classroom rosters or age-verification services. A parent, guardian or teacher should not submit a child’s personal information through the service.
If you believe personal information about a child has been provided, use the contact details when available and describe the concern without sending additional sensitive details. The operator should investigate and take the action required by applicable law.
Changes and questions
The date above identifies the version of this notice. Material changes to collection, hosting, sharing or features should be reflected here before the new practice begins, with additional notice or choices where required.
Questions about this notice, an accessibility problem or a suspected error can be raised through Contact. The terms of service explain use of the site, while the editorial standards explain how content is prepared and corrected.