Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 8, 2026

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy describes how the Kolokwa Voice Collection Project ("Kolokwa," "we," "us," or "our"), operated at liberiankolokwa.com, collects, uses, stores, and shares information when you use our voice collection platform. By using our service, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

2. What We Collect

When you contribute to Kolokwa, we collect the following:

  • Voice recordings: Audio files of you reading Kolokwa phrases aloud.
  • Session identifier: A randomly generated anonymous ID stored in your browser to associate your recordings across a session.
  • Nickname (optional): If you voluntarily provide one. We do not require it.
  • Region (optional): If you voluntarily provide your county or region of origin.
  • Recording metadata: Audio format, sample rate, duration, timestamps, and quality check results.
  • Consent record: A cryptographic hash confirming that you agreed to the terms before recording.

3. What We Do NOT Collect

We do not collect:

  • Your name, email address, phone number, or any personally identifiable contact information.
  • Your IP address (we do not log IP addresses).
  • Location data beyond voluntarily provided region information.
  • Device identifiers, advertising IDs, or tracking cookies.

4. How We Use Your Data

Your voice recordings and associated metadata will be used for:

  • Training speech recognition and natural language processing (NLP) models to understand Liberian English.
  • Academic research on Liberian English linguistics and phonetics.
  • Development of voice-enabled applications and services.
  • Building an open-source dataset published for free use by researchers, developers, and organizations worldwide.
  • Any other lawful purpose related to language technology advancement.

5. Data Storage and Security

Your recordings are stored securely on Supabase-hosted cloud servers with encryption at rest. Access is restricted to project administrators. We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data against unauthorized access, alteration, or destruction.

6. Data Sharing and the Open Dataset

The primary purpose of this project is to create an open-source voice dataset. By contributing, you understand and agree that:

  • Your recordings will be included in a publicly available dataset.
  • The dataset will be distributed under an open license allowing free use for research and development.
  • Once published, recordings in the dataset may be downloaded by third parties and cannot be fully recalled.
  • Recordings are anonymized -- they are linked only to random session IDs, not to your identity.

7. Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Stop participating at any time by simply closing the browser. No penalty.
  • Request deletion of your recordings through our data deletion page. Deletion requests will be processed within 30 days.
  • Withdraw consent at any time. Future recordings will not be collected.

Important limitation: If your recordings have already been published as part of a dataset release, we can remove them from our servers and future releases, but we cannot recall copies that have already been downloaded by third parties.

8. Cookies and Local Storage

We use browser localStorage to store your anonymous session ID, consent status, and recording count. These are essential for the service to function and are not used for tracking or advertising. We do not use third-party analytics or advertising cookies.

9. Children's Privacy

Kolokwa is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18. By using our service, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old. We do not knowingly collect data from children.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

11. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, please visit our data deletion page or contact us through the project website at liberiankolokwa.com.