Privacy

What we keep about you, who sees it and why.

Last updated 3 November 2026

This page lists what Grove English keeps about you, who can see it and how to have it deleted. To get a copy of what we keep about you, or to ask anything about it, write to hello@groveenglish.com.

Grove English is for people aged 16 and over. A teacher may invite someone younger to a group only with a parent's consent (see the Terms).

When you sign in with Google

We receive and keep:

your name, email address and profile picture link;
your Google account ID, to recognise you next time;
your role on the platform (student, teacher or administrator), when your account was created and when you last signed in;
the level and the interface language you choose in Settings.

We do not receive your Google password.

When you study

If you are signed in, we keep:

the cards you saved;
your saved words (My words): the words you save and the ones you add yourself, with any notes you write, and for each word when you last reviewed it and when it comes back for review. They are private to you: no teacher, group or other learner sees them, and the administrator sees only how many you saved and reviewed, never the words or your notes;
which cards you marked as known or still learning, and when you last changed that;
when you started and finished studying a set, with how many cards you knew and how many you were still learning at the end;
your Match rounds: for each finished round, the set, how many pairs were on the board, your time, how many wrong pairs you tapped and when. We use them to show your best time for a set;
your quiz attempts: when you started and finished, your score, and the answers you gave on each page you checked;
your level tests: the questions you were given, your answers (including anything you typed), the score of each part, the result, your confirmed level and the dates. We use them to set your level and, counted over all learners, to find questions that are too easy or too hard. Teachers and other learners do not see your answers or your scores; the teacher of a group you are in sees your confirmed level (see Groups);
the stars you gave a set or quiz, if you rated it. Others see only the average, and only once a set or quiz has at least three ratings.

Without an account, nothing about your studying is stored on our server, apart from a level test taken as a guest (below). That includes the first page of a public quiz, which you can check without signing in: your answers are graded and the result is shown, and nothing is kept on our server. On a quiz without a time limit, the answers you checked on page 1 stay in this browser tab (its session storage). If you sign in from the same tab and come back to the quiz (sign-in brings you back to it), they are checked again on our server and saved as page 1 of your attempt, and the tab's copy is deleted. It is also deleted when you sign out, and gone when you close the tab.

On a trial lesson, and on the first cards of a set in the catalog, you can study without an account. The cards you mark there stay in this browser tab (its session storage), not on our server, for the last set you studied this way only. If you sign in from the same tab, they are added to your account as one study session, as if you had studied signed in, and the tab's copy is deleted. If you do not, they are gone when you close the tab.

You can take the level test without an account. The test is then kept on our server: the questions you were given, your answers (including anything you typed), the score of each part, the result and the dates. It is kept under a random key in the placement_guest cookie: only that key opens it, and the server stores only a hash of the key. If you sign in in the same browser within 24 hours of finishing the test (or while it is still running), it is added to your account as if you had taken it signed in, and the key stops working. If you do not sign in, the test is deleted about two days after it was last used.

XP, ranks, daily goal, streak and badges

When you are signed in, studying earns XP (experience points), and a teacher also earns XP for publishing materials and for each new learner who studies them. For this we keep:

a history of every XP award: why it was given, how many points, the set or quiz it came from, the day and the time;
a daily record: how much XP you earned that day, your daily goal and whether you reached it;
your total XP, your daily goal, your current and longest streak, and the day your streak started;
the badges you earned and when you earned each one;
your time zone, as your browser reports it (for example "Europe/London"). We use it only to tell when your day starts and ends, so the daily goal and the streak follow your calendar.

You can hide game features in Settings. That hides your rank, XP messages, the daily goal, the streak, badges and the leaderboard from you. XP is still recorded, so nothing is lost if you show them again. Hiding them also takes you off the weekly leaderboard (below).

The weekly leaderboard

The Progress page shows the 20 students who earned the most XP this week (Monday to Sunday, UTC). Students and the administrator see the whole list; a teacher sees only the students in their own groups. For each student it shows:

the first name and the first letter of the last name, for example "Anna S.";
their rank and the XP they earned this week.

The leaderboard is not shown to people who are not signed in.

Students are on it by default once they earn XP in a week. To take yourself off, turn off "Show me on the weekly leaderboard" in Settings, or hide game features; you can turn either back on at any time. Teachers and administrators are never listed, and neither are blocked or deleted accounts.

News and reminders by email

In Settings, or once on Home after you have earned your first XP, you can agree to receive news about Grove English and a reminder after a break in your studies, at most one email a week in all. It is off unless you turn it on. The emails go to the email address on your account, which comes from your Google account and is updated when you sign in. We keep whether you agreed, and for each time you agreed or said no: which it was, when, and where (Settings, Home, or an unsubscribe link). We also keep when you first answered or closed the question on Home, or made a choice in Settings, so Home does not ask again. We keep this history to show what you chose and when. We do not send any of these emails yet; before we do, we will name the service that sends them on this page. Every email will carry a link to unsubscribe without signing in. You can turn them off at any time in Settings or with that link.

Groups

A teacher can invite you to a group by your email address. The invitation waits in your account, under "My groups", until you accept or decline it. If you have no account yet, it appears when you first sign in with that email. Until you accept, the teacher sees only the email they typed, whether the invitation is pending, accepted, declined or revoked, and when it was sent and answered. A teacher can also share a join link for a group. Anyone who opens it and signs in joins the group as a student; the page shows the group's name and the teacher's name, never who else is in it.

Once you accept, the teacher of that group and the administrator see:

your name;
your rank, your total XP and the XP you earned this week;
your current streak;
the last day you were active, and the day you joined the group;
whether your account is also a teacher account;
your confirmed level and how it was set (by the level test, by choosing "I'm just starting", by your results, from the level you had before level locks, or by a teacher or the administrator), but not your test answers or scores. The teacher can raise your level, never lower it, and can add a note; you see the new level, who set it, when, and the note in Settings;
for each homework in the group and each material in it: whether you have started it or done it, and when you did it; for a quiz, your score in per cent on your first attempt after the material was set or added to the homework, whether that attempt was left unfinished or came in below the required score, and how many attempts you made since then; if the teacher let you redo a quiz, your first attempt after that counts instead, and the teacher sees when that was allowed and by whom; for a flashcard set, how many of its cards you know; for a grammar rule, whether and when you marked it as read; for a quiz with a time limit, whether you took it without the timer or your answers came in after the time was up. A teacher with Pro also sees, for each quiz, which of its questions you got wrong on that attempt (never what you answered), on a page that shows all your homework in the group, and how many members got each question wrong, counted across the group. They can also download the group's homework results as a file: each member's name and, for each material, its status and score. The file is made when the teacher downloads it; we do not keep a copy.

Nothing else about your studying is shown to the teacher: not your answers, not the other sets and quizzes you studied, not your badges and not your words.

Other members of the group see its name, the teacher's name, how many members it has and the group's XP total for the week, added up from everyone in it. The group pages do not show them who the other members are or how much XP each of them has. In a group with only two members, each can work out the other's XP for the week from that total.

You can leave a group at any time on the "My groups" page; the teacher then no longer sees your progress. The teacher can also archive you in the group. You then no longer see the group, its homework or its materials, and you are not counted among its members, but the teacher keeps seeing your results for the homework set while you were in it, marked as archived, in the group's homework and, with Pro, on the page with all your homework in the group. The teacher can restore you, and you are back in the group with those results. To have them removed, ask the teacher to remove you from the group for good (your results then leave its homework), or delete your account. To join again you need a new invitation or the group's join link.

What the administrator sees

The administrator sees, for every account, blocked ones included: the name, email address, profile picture, role and status, when it was created, when it last signed in and when it last studied. They also see its progress: XP, current and longest streak, the confirmed level and the level chosen in Settings, and how many quizzes were finished, cards learned and words saved. They see its latest 20 learning actions: which set or quiz and when, the study mode, quiz scores, how many cards were known at the end of a session, Match rounds with the number of pairs, grammar rules marked as read in homework, level tests with their result, and what was left unfinished. Saved and reviewed words are only counted there, per day, never shown. They also see the groups the account is in or teaches and how far it got with the homework of its current groups, and for a teacher how many materials they published and how many students are in their groups. They also see where the account came from (see Where you came from). Of a deleted account, the administrator sees only that it was deleted and when. Apart from accounts, the administrator sees a usage report for the whole platform: for example, how many quizzes and flashcard sessions learners start on a day, counted by each learner's own day, and how many students and materials teachers have. It shows only figures counted across accounts and names no one. The same is true of the report of sign-ups by source: how many accounts made in a period came from each site, tag or first page.

The administrator uses this to run and improve the platform and to plan messages you agreed to receive (see News and reminders by email). The administrator can also download the list of accounts as a file, which never includes deleted accounts: for each account its ID, name, email address, role, status, confirmed level, the dates of sign-up, last sign-in and last activity, XP, current streak, quizzes finished and cards learned, and for a teacher materials published and students in their groups. The file is kept on the administrator's computer for at most 30 days. Neither the page nor the file includes your answers in quizzes and level tests, or the words you saved.

Where you came from

When you first open the site without being signed in, we note where you came from in a cookie called first_visit: the name of the site that sent you (for example www.google.com, never the full address or what you searched for), the utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign tags if the link had them, the first page you opened (keeping only its level, topic, page number or view; a group's join code and the codes in share and unsubscribe links are never kept), and the day of that visit. It holds no ID and nothing about your device, and not your IP address.

We keep this without asking because it tells us only which pages and searches bring learners to Grove English, so we know what to improve. Scripts on the page cannot read the cookie, and it is never sent to anyone else.

The cookie is deleted after 30 days or when you sign in, whichever comes first. If signing in creates your account, the same note is saved with the account, and an existing account never takes it. The administrator sees it on your account's page and counted together with everyone else's in a report of sign-ups by source. It stays until you delete your account; deleting the account removes it.

Plans

If you have a plan, such as Premium for learners or Pro for teachers, we keep which plan it is, when it starts and ends, whether it is active or was ended early, who on our side granted it and when, who ended it early and when, and a note the administrator may add (for example, the invoice it was paid by). You see your plan and its last day in Settings (Premium) or in Teaching (Pro); the administrator sees all of it on your account's page. Other teachers and learners do not see it. If you use a promo code, we keep which code it was, when you used it and the plan it gave you; the administrator sees this with the code and on your account's page. A promo code made for you personally keeps the email address it was made for and, once you sign in with that address, your account. The site does not take payments.

When a teacher publishes a set or quiz

A published set or quiz shows its author's name to everyone who opens it, including visitors who are not signed in. Drafts are visible only to their author and the administrator.

A teacher can copy a share link for a published set or quiz. For that we create a random code and keep it with the material. Anyone who has the link can study the whole material without an account, quiz checks included; nothing about them is stored, and our logs leave the code out, except the web server's error log for a request that failed (see Server logs).

When a teacher uploads an image

The image is stored on our server together with who uploaded it and when. It is converted to WebP; photo metadata, such as the place a photo was taken, is not kept.

When a teacher uses AI

AI features are switched off on groveenglish.com for now. When they are on, a teacher can ask AI to write draft quiz pages, to add transcriptions to the words of a flashcard set, or to check a set or quiz for mistakes. For this we send Anthropic, the company that makes the Claude AI model:

for quiz pages, what the teacher typed (the task, the style and the constraints);
the number of pages, the number of questions and the question type;
the quiz's level, topic and title;
the questions already in the quiz, so the new ones do not repeat them;
for transcriptions, the words of the set that do not have one yet;
for a check, the text of the set or quiz: its level, topic, title and description, and its cards, or its pages with their instructions, questions and answers. A quiz is sent one page at a time, a set 25 cards at a time.

Nothing about learners is sent: no names, answers, results or progress.

We do not store the request. Quiz pages and transcriptions that come back go into the teacher's editor and are kept only if the teacher saves. The findings of a check are kept with the material, so unchanged text is not sent again; the author and the administrator see them, and they are deleted with the material. When a teacher marks a finding as not a problem, we keep that mark and who made it, without the text. For each request we keep one record: which teacher asked and when, which feature it was for, the AI model used, whether it worked or why it failed, how many tokens (pieces of text) it used, and how long it took. We use it for the daily limit on requests, to follow the cost and to find failures. The record stays after the teacher's account is deleted, under the deleted account.

Server logs

Our web server and the app keep a technical log of the requests they receive: the IP address, the time, the page or data asked for and the page the request came from (both without the part of the address after “?”), the response code, and the name and version of the browser. Sign-in cookies, the security token and the codes of share, group join and unsubscribe links are not written to it. When a request fails on the server, the web server's error log keeps the full address of that request and of the page it came from, including the part after “?” and a group join link's code. The web server's logs are kept for at most 15 days. The app's log is limited by size, not by time: its oldest lines are dropped once it passes about 30 MB.

Your browser may also send us a short report when a page of this site tries to load something our security rules do not allow, for example a script added by a browser extension. From each report the app's log keeps only the kind of resource, the site it came from (its address without the path), the address of our page without the part after “?”, and whether it was blocked. The report is not linked to your account and is not stored anywhere else; the request itself is in the server log like any other.

Cookies and storage

Everything in this table except first_visit and the last row is needed for the site to work or is a setting you picked yourself, so it is always on. first_visit is set without asking, as Where you came from explains. A setting is stored only when you change it. Session storage is cleared when you close the tab.

Name	What it does
`access_token`CookieNecessary	Keeps you signed in, for 7 days. Scripts on the page cannot read it.
`csrfToken`CookieNecessary	Stops other sites from sending forms in your name, for 7 days.
`oauth_state`CookieNecessary	Protects the sign-in with Google, for up to 10 minutes.
`return_to`CookieNecessary	Remembers which page to bring you back to after you sign in, for up to 10 minutes.
`placement_guest`CookieNecessary	The key of a level test taken without an account, for up to 2 days or until you sign in. Scripts on the page cannot read it.
`group_join`CookieNecessary	The key of a group's join link while you sign in with Google, for up to 30 minutes. Scripts on the page cannot read it.
`first_visit`CookieKept without asking: where you came from	Where you came from on your first visit (the site that sent you, the link's utm tags, the first page and the day), for up to 30 days or until you sign in. Scripts on the page cannot read it. See Where you came from.
`locale`CookieYour setting	The interface language you picked, for one year.
`level`CookieYour setting	The level you picked, for one year.
`sidebar_collapsed`CookieYour setting	Whether you collapsed the sidebar, for one year.
`intro_hidden`CookieYour setting	On which section pages (Flashcards, Quizzes, Grammar) you hid or opened the block that explains how to use them, for one year.
`theme`Local storageYour setting	The colour theme you picked.
`word-lookup`Local storageYour setting	Whether word lookup is on.
`level-opened-dismissed`Local storageYour setting	That you closed the card saying a new level is open, so it stays closed.
`quiz-attempt-draft:`Local storageNecessary	While you take a timed quiz signed in, the answers you have entered but not yet checked (with the attempt's id), so a reload does not lose them. They are deleted when the attempt finishes, when you start another one, or when you sign out.
`match-best:v1:`Local storageNecessary	Without an account: your best Match time for each set you played, so the game can tell you when you beat it. It is never sent to us and is not added to your account when you sign in.
`cookie-consent`Local storageNecessary	Your choice in Cookie settings and its date. If this table changes in a way that needs a new choice, we ask again.
`grove.draft.v1:`Local storageNecessary	For teachers: changes to a set, quiz or rule you are editing that are not saved yet, with your account ID, so they can be offered back if the page closes. A copy older than 30 days is not offered again; every copy is removed when you sign out.
`grove.draft.alive:`Local storageNecessary	For teachers: which editor tabs are open (a random tab code and the time), so an unsaved copy is not offered in two tabs at once. Removed when the tab closes or you sign out.
`grove.draft.signedOut`Local storageNecessary	For teachers: your account ID and the time you last signed out, so an editor still open in another tab stops keeping copies.
`grove.draft.signedIn`Local storageNecessary	For teachers: your account ID and the time an editor opened after you signed in again, so editors keep copies again.
`teach-last-level`Local storageYour setting	For teachers: the level of your last new material, so the next one starts at it.
`teach-prompt-choices:`Local storageYour setting	For teachers, with your account ID: your last choices in Copy prompt for AI (how many pages and questions or cards, the style and the constraints), so the next prompt starts from them.
`teach-getting-started-hidden:`Local storageYour setting	For teachers, with your account ID: that you hid the Getting started card.
`teach-getting-started-done:`Local storageNecessary	For teachers, with your account ID: that you did every step of Getting started, so the card does not come back.
`teach-game-hidden-note-seen:`Local storageYour setting	For teachers, with your account ID: that you closed the note about hidden game features, or used that switch in Settings.
`teach-textbook-hint-seen:`Local storageYour setting	For teachers, with your account ID: that you closed the hint about adding the textbook and unit to your materials.
`tz-synced`Session storageNecessary	Your time zone was sent, so it is sent once per visit.
`words.savedToastShown`Session storageNecessary	The hint after saving a word was shown.
`chunk-reload-at`Session storageNecessary	The page already reloaded itself after an update.
`grove.trial-marks`Session storageNecessary	On a trial lesson or a set's first cards without an account, the cards you marked, until you sign in.
`grove.quiz-guest-page`Session storageNecessary	Without an account, on a quiz without a time limit: the answers you checked on page 1, with the quiz's id, until you sign in and come back to the quiz.
`placement-draft:`Session storageNecessary	With the test's id: the answers you have chosen in the part of the level test you are on, until you check that part.
`group_join_pending`Session storageNecessary	That you are signing in from a group's join link, so you join the group straight after.
`grove.draft.dismissed`Session storageNecessary	For teachers: unsaved copies from another tab that you chose not to restore, so this tab does not offer them again.
`grove.admin-users-query`Session storageNecessary	For the administrator: the filters of the users list, so the way back from an account's page keeps them.
`youtube-nocookie.com`YouTube's playerOptional: embedded content	Only if you allow embedded content or press Load video on a quiz page (or in the quiz editor's preview). YouTube's player comes from Google's servers: before you press play it already contacts several Google hosts, which receive your IP address, and it stores data in your browser under youtube-nocookie.com, for example in local storage and IndexedDB. Once you play a video, YouTube may store more, including cookies. Google's privacy policy applies to it.

The only optional item is YouTube videos on quiz pages. On your first visit we ask whether they may load; with Necessary only, each video waits for your click. Your choice is kept in cookie-consent with its date. You can change it at any time in Cookie settings, which is also next to the Privacy link in the footer and the menus.

Grove English sets no advertising cookies and uses no analytics service: first_visit is our own and never leaves our server. YouTube's player, if you allow it, follows Google's policy.

Who else sees it

Google handles sign-in, and your browser loads your profile picture from Google. YouTube (Google) serves the videos on some quiz pages, only after you allow it (see Cookies and storage). Anthropic receives what a teacher sends to an AI feature, when AI features are on (see above).

Where your data is kept

Grove English runs on its own virtual server at hoster.by, in Belarus. The database, uploaded images and database backups are all kept on that server. Once a day the operator's own computer copies the database backups and the uploaded images, so they are not lost with the server. The site is reached over HTTPS only, so what you send and receive is encrypted on the way.

Deleting your data

You can delete your account yourself: in Settings, under Danger zone, choose Delete account and type your email address to confirm. If you cannot do that, write to hello@groveenglish.com and we will delete it for you. Either way we remove your name, email address, profile picture link and Google account ID, and the account can no longer be used. Signing in with the same Google account later starts a new, empty account.

Your saved words (with your notes), the cards you saved, your card progress, study sessions and Match rounds, your XP history, daily goals, streak and badges, and your level tests (the questions you were given, your answers, the scores and the results) with your confirmed level are deleted, and the answers you typed in quizzes are erased. You leave every group, and invitations you have not answered are withdrawn. An invitation you already answered keeps the email address it was sent to, and the group's teacher still sees it in the list of invitations. If you ran groups as a teacher, they are archived: their members can still open them and their homework, and invitations to them that nobody has answered yet are withdrawn. Your choice about news and reminders by email and its history are deleted too. The note of where you came from is deleted too. Your plans and their history are deleted too, with the promo codes you used; a promo code made for you personally is switched off and loses your email address.

Your quiz scores and the ratings you gave stay under the deleted account, without your name, email address, profile picture or Google account ID, so the numbers other people see stay right. Sets and quizzes you made as a teacher stay on the platform with the images they use, and they show "Deleted user" as the author; other images you uploaded are deleted.

Database backups made before the deletion still hold your data until they are removed: after 30 days on the server and after 60 days on the operator's computer. Copies of uploaded images on the operator's computer are not removed automatically; they are deleted by hand when you ask at hello@groveenglish.com. Lists of accounts the administrator downloaded before the deletion are not changed by it; they are deleted within 30 days of download.