tamil.academy is a place to learn Tamil. Most of it, the reading, games, library and ASL lessons, works without an account. This page explains what we collect, why, who helps us, and what you can ask us to do.
When you just visit
- Visit statistics. We count page views with our own first-party analytics: the page, where you came from, your device type and browser, how long the page was visible, and your approximate country, region and city. We work the location out from your IP address and then store only a scrambled (hashed) form of the IP, never the address itself.
- A visitor cookie (
ta_vid, kept up to 2 years) tells a returning visitor from a new one. It is a random number and is not linked to your name unless you sign in. - No advertising cookies, no third-party trackers, and no fingerprinting.
- Your theme and text-size choices, and a nickname for games, are saved only in your own browser.
When you take part
- Star ratings after an activity: the rating and a hashed IP, so one person counts once a day.
- Course requests and feedback: what you write, your email if you give it, your browser type and a hashed IP.
- Upload & Share: the file and description you send, your email if you give it, and a hashed IP. Uploads are checked by an AI service and by our team before anything is published.
When you have an account
- Your email, display name, password (stored only as a secure hash; we cannot read it), language choice and, if you give it, your date of birth.
- Your learning progress, certificates and support requests.
- Sign-in cookies (
ta_atfor 15 minutes,ta_rtfor up to 30 days) that keep you signed in. They are not readable by page scripts. - If you arrive through a referral or partner link, a cookie (
ta_reforta_aff, 30 days) remembers who sent you. - Booking live lessons with a teacher adds more, explained in privacy for Hire a Tamil Teacher.
Who helps us
- Our hosting provider runs the servers and database.
- An IP location service turns an IP address into an approximate country and city for the visit statistics.
- OpenAI checks uploaded files before publishing, powers the speaking practice tools, and helps teachers draft lesson notes. Only the content needed for that task is sent.
- Have I Been Pwned checks new passwords against known data breaches. Only the first five characters of a scrambled form of the password are sent; the password itself never leaves our server.
- Our email provider sends account and lesson emails.
- Stripe handles card payments where the site takes them. We never see your card number.
We do not sell personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.
Children
Children can use the free learning pages without an account, and we do not ask them for personal information. Children's live lessons are booked by a parent from the parent's account, as described in the child-safety policy.
How long we keep it
- Visit statistics are kept so we can see how the site is used over time. They hold no names or raw IP addresses.
- Account information is kept while your account is open. When you close it, we delete or anonymise it, except records we must keep by law (such as payments).
- Feedback and uploads are kept until they are dealt with, or for as long as a shared file is published.
Your choices
You can ask to see, correct or delete your information, or ask a question about this policy, from the Support page when signed in. You can also block or clear cookies in your browser; the free learning pages keep working without them.
Changes
When this policy changes in a way that matters, we will say so on the site, and email account holders.