Privacy Policy
Last updated: January 28, 2026
1. Introduction
Akono B.V. ("Akono," "we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our AI-powered adaptive learning platform at akono.ai (the "Service").
Controller:
Akono B.V.
Diaconessenplein 95, 2012JX Haarlem, Netherlands
KvK (Chamber of Commerce): 98954377
Contact: support@akono.ai
By using our Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.
2. Information We Collect
2.1 Account Information
When you create an account, we collect:
- Email address
- First name (optional)
- Authentication data (password hash or OAuth tokens)
- How you heard about us (referral source)
If you sign up using Google, we receive your name and profile picture from Google.
2.2 Study Materials You Upload
When you create a course, you upload study documents (PDFs, Word documents, etc.). These documents are:
- Temporarily stored during course generation (typically 2-5 minutes)
- Processed by our AI to extract educational content
- Permanently deleted from our storage immediately after course generation completes
We retain the extracted educational content (lessons, concepts, questions) but not your original documents.
2.3 Learning Activity Data
As you use Akono, we collect:
- Courses you create and their content
- Questions you answer and your responses
- Study session data (time spent, concepts reviewed)
- Learning progress and mastery levels
- Chat conversations with the AI tutor
- Feedback you provide on questions
2.4 Payment Information
If you subscribe to a paid plan, Stripe (our payment processor) collects your payment details. We store only:
- Your Stripe customer ID
- Subscription status and plan type
- Billing period dates
We never store your credit card number, CVV, or full billing address.
2.5 Technical and Usage Data
We automatically collect:
- Device information (browser type, operating system)
- IP address
- Pages visited and features used
- Session recordings (see Section 4.2)
2.6 Voice Data
Akono includes a voice dictation feature powered by Deepgram. When you use voice input:
- Audio is streamed directly to Deepgram for transcription
- We do not store audio recordings
- Transcribed text is processed like any other text input
3. How We Use Your Information
We use your information to:
- Provide the Service: Create courses from your materials, generate questions, track your learning progress, and personalize your study experience
- Process payments: Manage subscriptions and billing through Stripe
- Improve the Service: Analyze usage patterns, fix bugs, and develop new features
- Communicate with you: Send transactional emails (account confirmation, password reset) and respond to support requests
- Ensure security: Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and unauthorized access
Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)
We process your data based on:
- Contract performance: Processing necessary to provide the Service you signed up for (Article 6(1)(b))
- Legitimate interests: Analytics and service improvement, provided these don't override your rights (Article 6(1)(f))
- Consent: Where required, such as for optional features (Article 6(1)(a))
4. Third-Party Services
We use the following third-party services that process your data:
4.1 Infrastructure & Database
Supabase (United States - California)
- Stores all user data, course content, and learning progress
- Provides authentication services
- Privacy: https://supabase.com/privacy
Render (United States - Oregon)
- Hosts our application servers
- Privacy: https://render.com/privacy
4.2 Analytics
Mixpanel (United States)
- Tracks feature usage and user flows
- Records session replays (screen recordings of your interactions)
- Form inputs are captured in session recordings (passwords are masked)
- Privacy: https://mixpanel.com/legal/privacy-policy
4.3 AI Processing
Google Gemini API (United States)
- Processes your uploaded documents to generate courses
- Generates questions, explanations, and chat responses
- Your content is sent to Google's servers for AI processing
- Privacy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Braintrust (United States)
- Monitors and improves our AI prompts
- Receives prompts and AI responses (may include course content)
- Privacy: https://www.braintrust.dev/privacy
4.4 Payments
Stripe (United States)
- Processes all payments
- Stores your payment methods securely
- Privacy: https://stripe.com/privacy
4.5 Email
Resend (United States)
- Sends transactional emails (confirmations, etc.)
- Receives your email address
- Privacy: https://resend.com/legal/privacy-policy
4.6 Voice Transcription
Deepgram (United States)
- Converts voice input to text
- Receives audio streams when you use voice features
- Privacy: https://deepgram.com/privacy
5. International Data Transfers
Our services and third-party providers are located in the United States. When you use Akono, your data is transferred to and processed in the United States.
For transfers from the European Economic Area (EEA) to the US, we rely on:
- Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission
- The EU-US Data Privacy Framework, where applicable
These mechanisms ensure your data receives adequate protection as required by GDPR.
6. Cookies and Local Storage
Cookies
We use minimal cookies:
- Authentication cookies: Managed by Supabase to keep you logged in
- Temporary cookies: For specific features (e.g., course cloning)
We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.
Local Storage
We store preferences locally in your browser:
- Theme preference (light/dark mode)
- UI state (selected views, temporary answer selections)
- Analytics deduplication flags
This data stays on your device and is not transmitted to our servers.
To change your cookie preferences, to reset your choice.
7. Data Retention
| Data Type | Retention Period |
|---|---|
| Account data | Until you delete your account |
| Uploaded documents | Deleted immediately after course generation (minutes) |
| Course content & progress | Until you delete the course or your account |
| Payment records | As required by law (typically 7 years for financial records) |
| Analytics data | Subject to Mixpanel's retention policies |
When you delete your account, all your personal data, courses, and learning progress are permanently deleted from our systems.
8. Your Rights (GDPR)
As a user in the European Economic Area, you have the right to:
- Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Rectification: Correct inaccurate or incomplete data
- Erasure: Request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten")
- Restriction: Limit how we process your data
- Portability: Receive your data in a portable format
- Object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests
- Withdraw consent: Where processing is based on consent
To exercise these rights, contact us at support@akono.ai. We will respond within 30 days.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. In the Netherlands, this is the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (https://autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl).
9. Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data:
- All data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS)
- Database access is protected by Row Level Security policies
- Authentication tokens are securely managed
- Payment processing is handled by PCI-compliant Stripe
- Access to production systems is restricted
While we strive to protect your data, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure.
10. Age Requirement
Akono is intended for users who are at least 16 years old. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you are under 16, please do not use our Service or provide any personal information.
If we learn that we have collected data from a user under 16, we will delete that information promptly. If you believe we may have data from someone under 16, please contact us at support@akono.ai.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by:
- Posting the new policy on our website
- Updating the "Last updated" date
- Sending an email notification for material changes
Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
12. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, contact us at:
Akono B.V.
Diaconessenplein 95
2012JX Haarlem
Netherlands
Email: support@akono.ai
This Privacy Policy is governed by Dutch law and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).