Privacy Policy

Last updated: 29 October 2026

ExplainOwl (explainowl.com) explains a question as a narrated, animated lesson. This page says what information the service handles, why, who can see it, how long we keep it and the choices you have.

The short version

You sign in with Google or with a link sent to your email address. We keep your email address, not your name, phone number or contacts.
Your library (the lessons and videos you made) is yours: other students can't see your list. The site owner can look at lessons to keep the service safe and working, and every such look is logged.
A lesson can be watched by anyone who has its link, and the same saved lesson may be shown to someone else who asks exactly the same question, without your name. So please don't put personal details in a question or a photo. Homework photos themselves can be opened only by you and the site owner.
No ads, no analytics trackers and no advertising cookies. We do not sell your information.
In "My library" you can download your data or delete your account at any time.

Contact

Questions, requests and complaints about this policy or your data: websitebond@gmail.com.

What we collect and why

Your account. Your email address (verified by Google, or by the sign-in link we email you), when you joined and last signed in, which sign-in methods you used, and your country (worked out from your connection when you first sign in, never your exact location). We use it to sign you in, keep your library and keep the service safe. With Google we ask only for your email address.
Signed-in devices. For each sign-in: when it started and was last used, and a short browser name. We use it to keep you signed in and to stop misuse.
Your library. The lessons and videos you make or save: the lesson, the name you give it, its format and language, and what it cost us to make. We use it to show you your lessons again.
Your questions, photos and files. The topic or question you type, the level and language you choose, and any photo, file or link you add, are used to write and voice your lesson. The lesson (text, audio, pictures and any video made from it) is saved so it opens instantly the next time.
Homework photos. We remove a photo's hidden data (such as camera details and location) before storing it. If no lesson is made from it, it is deleted within about 10 minutes; if a lesson is made, it is kept with that lesson until you delete your account.
Daily counts. How many lessons, videos and questions you made each day, for the free daily limits.
Security log. Sign-ins, account changes, blocks and deletions, and every time the site owner looks at student data. For sign-in emails we also keep a scrambled (hashed) form of your network address, to stop people sending floods of emails.
Technical logs. Like most websites, our servers record requests (the page asked for, the time and the network address) to keep the service running and secure. These logs are kept for a short time and are not used to build a profile of you.
On your own device. Practice answers, settings and progress are kept in your browser's local storage and are not sent to us.

We do not collect your name, phone number, postal address, contacts, Google profile photo or exact location, and we do not use your data for advertising or profiling.

Who can see your lessons

You. Your library lists everything you made or saved. Only you (and the site owner) can see that list.
People with the link. Anyone who has a lesson's link can watch it, so you can share it with a friend or a class. Lessons are not listed publicly anywhere.
Other students asking the same thing. When two students ask exactly the same question, the tutor may show the second one the lesson it already made, without anyone's name or email.
The site owner. The owner can read lessons and see which account made them, to keep the service safe, help you, fix problems and improve the tutor. Never for advertising. Every look at student data is logged.
Homework photos can be opened only by the student who sent them and the site owner, even by someone who has the lesson's link.

Services that help us run the tutor

These providers process data for us only to provide the service, and we do not allow them to use it for anything else.

Cloudflare: website delivery, hosting, storage and the account database (worldwide), the "I'm not a robot" check on the email sign-in form (Turnstile), sign-in emails (Cloudflare Email Service), and making pictures and checks (Workers AI).
Finding sources: when you ask the tutor to find sources for a notebook, the search goes to Exa and web pages are read through Firecrawl. Files, links and pictures you add to a notebook are kept with it and used to make its lessons.
Google: "Continue with Google" sign-in (your email address only), and YouTube if you connect a channel (see below).
AI writing: Anthropic (Claude), with OpenAI as a backup when Claude is unavailable. They receive your question and, for photo questions, the photo. They do not receive your email address. TypeSafe makes small checks on the lesson text (for example, which picture fits a sentence).
Voice: Microsoft text-to-speech or AssemblyAI turns the lesson's text into audio.
Talking with the tutor: where "Talk to the tutor" is offered and you use it, what you say is sent to AssemblyAI (in the US) to turn it into text while you speak, and the tutor's spoken replies are made by AssemblyAI too. The text of the conversation goes to Anthropic (Claude) for the replies. We do not keep recordings of your voice.
Pictures and facts: some come from Wikipedia/Wikimedia and Pexels. Our server fetches them; your device does not connect to them for that.

Google and YouTube data

Upload to my YouTube. When you are signed in you can connect your own YouTube channel and upload the lesson videos you made to it. When you connect, Google asks your permission to upload videos, to read your channel's name and, if offered, to add subtitles to the videos you upload.

We use this access only to upload the videos you choose (with the title, description, privacy setting and made-for-kids setting you pick, and subtitles where that is offered), and to show which channel is connected. We never read, change or delete your other videos.
We keep only a renewal token, sealed with encryption on our servers. It is never shown in a web page or a log, and it is not shared, sold or used for advertising.
You can disconnect at any time in the tutor ("Disconnect"; we also cancel the access at Google) or at myaccount.google.com/permissions. Deleting your account disconnects it too. Videos already on your channel stay there until you remove them on YouTube.
The site's operator also uses the same feature to publish lesson videos to the operator's own YouTube channel.
Our use of information received from Google APIs follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.
The YouTube features use YouTube API Services. By using them you also agree to the YouTube Terms of Service, and Google's handling of data is described in the Google Privacy Policy.

Cookies and storage

We use only the cookies the service needs to work. None of them track you on other sites.

Sign-in cookie (__Host-tsid): keeps you signed in. It lasts 30 days after you last used the tutor, and never more than 180 days; signing out removes it.
Sign-in safety cookies (tgs, and one while you connect YouTube): protect the step where Google sends you back to us. They expire after about 10 minutes.
Age cookie (tage): only if we ask your age group before sign-in; it lasts an hour.
Local storage: your settings, progress and practice answers stay in your browser.
The "I'm not a robot" check on the email sign-in form (Cloudflare Turnstile) looks at technical signals from your browser to tell people from bots. It is not used for advertising.

Children and students

The tutor is made for students, including children. We ask for as little as possible: an email address to sign in, and nothing else about you. Teachers and parents: please make sure students don't type names, addresses or other personal details into questions, and don't photograph them. A parent or guardian can ask us to see or delete their child's account and data by writing to websitebond@gmail.com.

Students under 13, or under the age at which your country lets young people agree to online services on their own, should use the tutor with a parent's or teacher's permission.

How long we keep data

Sign-in links: they work once, for 15 minutes, and are deleted after 7 days.
Ended or expired sign-ins: deleted after 30 days.
Daily counts: deleted after 60 days.
Security log: deleted after 12 months.
Your account and library: until you delete your account. Removing a lesson from your library hides it from you; the library entry is deleted with your account.
Lessons themselves: kept so they can be replayed, also after you delete your account (without your email), because others may have their links. Homework photos are deleted with your account. To have a particular lesson removed, write to us with its link.
Backups: clear within 30 days.

Your rights and choices

Download my data (in My library): a file with your account details and the list of your lessons.
Delete my account (in My library): signs you out everywhere at once and removes your email address, sign-in methods, library, daily counts, homework photos and YouTube connection. A blank, nameless record stays so the security log still makes sense.
Sign out on any device at any time.
You can also write to us to see, correct or delete your data, to withdraw your consent, or to complain. Under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act you may also name someone to act for you, and if we don't resolve a complaint you can go to the Data Protection Board of India. If you live in the EU or the UK, you can complain to your local data protection authority.

Security

Connections are encrypted (HTTPS). Sign-in cookies can't be read by scripts. We store only scrambled (hashed) forms of sign-in links and session ids, and the YouTube token is encrypted. Only the site owner can open student data, and each look is logged.

Changes

If this policy changes, we will update this page and its date, and tell signed-in users about important changes.