Polya — Privacy Policy
Plain-English summary: Polya is a homework-checking app made by one person, Ethan Chow. When you photograph a problem or ask a question, that photo and text are sent to the AI companies whose models Polya uses — currently OpenAI, Google and Anthropic — so the AI can check your work; that's the only way the app works. When Polya speaks, the sentence he is saying is sent to Microsoft's voice service. Homework photos are automatically deleted from Polya's server after 24 hours. Voice questions are turned into text on your own phone before anything is sent anywhere; your raw voice recording never leaves your device. Payment is handled entirely by Apple — Polya's server never sees your card number. Polya also records anonymous usage statistics — that a check finished, how long it took, which plan you are on — through an analytics service called PostHog, which never receives your homework, your questions, your name or your email address. The details are below.
Who runs Polya
Polya is built and operated by Ethan Chow, an individual developer, not a company. If you have any question about this policy or your data, email ethanchowcode@gmail.com.
What information Polya collects
| What | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A photo of your homework, and any typed or spoken question | Whenever you use "check my work," live-camera mode, or chat | Sent to third-party AI models so they can read the problem and generate feedback. This is the core of the app — without it, Polya can't check anything. Which company receives it depends on the step: see Who else sees your information below. |
| Transcribed text of your spoken questions | Voice mode | Your phone's own speech-to-text turns your voice into text before anything is sent. Your raw audio recording is never uploaded — only the resulting text goes to the AI. Polya's spoken replies are generated from text by a third-party voice service, which likewise only ever receives text, never your voice. |
| A device token (a random ID, not tied to your name) | First time you open the app | Identifies your device to the server so it can show your own history and enforce your plan's usage limits. It is stored as a one-way hash, not as plain text, on the server. |
| Your Apple or Google account identifier, and your email address if you choose to share it | Only if you use "Sign in with Apple" or "Continue with Google" | Links your device token to an account, so your history and plan follow you if you switch phones. Polya never sees or stores your Apple or Google password — they verify your identity and only pass Polya a signed token. |
| Your email address and a password | Only if you choose "Continue with email" instead of Apple or Google | Your email address identifies the account. Your password is never stored. What the server keeps is a scrypt hash of it — a one-way scramble that can be used to check a password you type but cannot be turned back into the password itself. Polya cannot read your password and cannot tell you what it is. If you forget it, "Forgot your password?" emails a six-digit code to your address, which lets you set a new one; that email is sent through Resend (see below). Signing in with Apple or Google avoids passwords entirely and is the recommended route. |
| Usage data: timestamps, which AI model was used, credits spent, processing cost | Every time you use the app | To run the service, show you your own usage, and enforce plan limits (e.g., how many checks you have left in your current billing period). |
| Subscription status (active plan, renewal date) | If you buy Magna or Summa | Apple, not Polya, processes your payment and sends the server a signed notice of your subscription status. Polya's server never receives or stores your card number, billing address, or any other payment details — Apple keeps that. |
Who Polya shares information with
Polya does not sell your data, and does not use ad networks or ad trackers. Information is shared only with the services that make the app work:
- AI providers — OpenAI, Google and Anthropic — receive your homework photos, questions, and transcribed voice text, to generate the AI feedback. Polya picks whichever model suits each step, so one check can involve more than one of them: as of 3 September 2026, OpenAI reads the handwriting on your page, Google reviews the work and answers chat questions, and Anthropic reads pencil marks. Each provider's own privacy policy governs how they handle that processing. This list can change as the models change, and this page is where the current one is kept.
- Apple — handles all payments (Polya never sees your card details) and, if you use it, Sign in with Apple.
- Google — only if you choose "Continue with Google", and only to verify who you are. Choosing email or Apple instead means Google is not involved at all.
- Microsoft — converts Polya's text replies into spoken audio (its neural text-to-speech service). It receives only the text being spoken, never your photos or your voice. Turning the voice off in the app stops this entirely.
- Resend — delivers the password-reset email, and receives your email address and the message. Nothing else is emailed to you.
- PostHog — Polya's product analytics, used to see which parts of the app people actually use and where they get stuck. It receives a note that something happened — a check finished, a sign-in succeeded, a live session ended, an account was deleted — together with technical details of that event: which AI model ran, how many seconds it took, how many credits it cost, which plan you are on, and why a request was refused when one is. It never receives your homework photographs, your typed or spoken questions, Polya's replies, your name, or your email address. Events are labelled with the same one-way hash of your device token the rest of the server uses, so PostHog can tell that two events came from the same device without being told whose device it is. PostHog processes this on servers in the United States.
Polya may disclose information if required by law, or to protect the safety of users or the service.
How long Polya keeps your data
- Homework photos and their results are automatically deleted from the server 24 hours after they're processed. They are not kept for training, review, or any other purpose beyond generating your feedback.
- Your device token, account link, and usage/credit totals are kept for as long as your account exists, so your history and plan work correctly.
- Analytics events held by PostHog are kept for up to 12 months and then deleted.
- If you delete your account (see "Your choices" below), this data is deleted too, except an aggregate spending total with no photos or personal identifiers attached, which is kept only to prevent abuse of the free plan.
Security
Photos and questions travel between your phone and Polya's server over an encrypted connection (HTTPS/TLS). Device tokens are stored as one-way hashes, so even someone with access to the database cannot recover your original token. No system is perfectly secure, and Polya cannot guarantee absolute security, but reasonable steps are taken to protect your information.
Children's privacy
Polya is not directed at children under 13, and knowingly collecting information from a child under 13 is not something Polya does. Users between 13 and 17 need a parent or legal guardian's permission to use Polya, consistent with Polya's Terms of Service. If you believe a child under 13 has used Polya and provided information, contact ethanchowcode@gmail.com and it will be deleted.
Your choices
- Delete your account and data — open the Polya app, go to Profile, and tap Delete my account. After one confirmation your account, every device signed into it, your saved checks and any class materials you uploaded are erased from the server immediately. This cannot be undone, and it does not cancel an App Store subscription — cancel that separately in Settings → your Apple ID → Subscriptions. If you cannot get into the app, email ethanchowcode@gmail.com from the address or Apple ID associated with your account instead, and it will be deleted, usually within a few days.
- Live-camera mode only captures and sends photos while you have it turned on; turning it off stops it immediately, and it never records or uploads video.
- Voice is optional — typing works everywhere voice does.
- Restoring or managing a subscription is done entirely through your Apple ID (Settings app → your name → Subscriptions); Polya's server can see your plan but cannot change or cancel a purchase on Apple's side.
Changes to this policy
This policy may be updated as Polya changes — for example, if a new feature changes what data is collected. The effective date above will change when it is updated, and significant changes will be noted in the app.
Contact
Questions, requests, or concerns about your privacy: ethanchowcode@gmail.com.