Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-10-08

1. Who we are

Sygmatic is operated by Idea Engine LLC, a Wisconsin limited liability company ("we", "us"). We decide how the personal information described here is used and are responsible for it.

This policy covers the Sygmatic website at sygmatic.idea-engine.studio.

2. What we collect

Lessons can be browsed without an account. To start a lesson you sign in, either with Google or with a one-time sign-in link sent to your email. There are no passwords.

Account

• Your email address (your sign-in identity).
• If you sign in with Google: the name and profile-picture URL on your Google account, and the identifiers Google and our sign-in service assign to you. We never receive your Google password.
• Your interface language, your preferred lesson language, and when you created and last updated the account.
• When you last signed in after agreeing to these documents, and which version of the Terms that was.
• A session record that keeps you signed in, with its expiry time.

Learning activity

• The lessons you open and how far you got in each one.
• Your quiz answers and scores.
• A lesson-history record linked to your email (the lessons you started and finished, quiz attempts and best score). This record predates accounts and is still kept for signed-in learners.

Tips

Tips are optional. If you leave one, Stripe processes the payment. We receive and keep the email you gave Stripe, the tip type and amount, the currency, the Stripe payment references, which version of the Terms was shown, whether it was later refunded or disputed, and your account id if you were signed in. We never see or store your card details.

Technical data

• Your IP address and browser details, which our hosting provider processes to deliver and secure each request. Server logs can contain request details.
• For abuse protection, short-lived counters of sign-in-email and tip-checkout requests, keyed by a one-way hash of the email address or IP address rather than the address itself.
• Aggregate counts (visits, lesson views, quiz attempts, sign-ins) that contain no personal information.
• When a visit starts we also note the website that sent you (its domain only, for example google.com), any campaign tags in the link you followed (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content or source), the page you arrived on, and whether your browser's user agent looks automated (only that yes/no answer is kept, never the user agent itself). This record doesn't include your IP address or any identifier, and we use it only to see which links bring people here.

We do not use advertising or third-party analytics trackers. We do not collect sensitive information, and we do not collect government ID numbers or payment card numbers.

3. How we use it

• To sign you in and keep you signed in.
• To save your progress and quiz results so you can continue on any device.
• To record tips for our bookkeeping and tax records, and to handle refunds.
• To run and secure the service: preventing abuse such as sign-in-email flooding, fixing errors, and measuring overall usage.
• To answer you when you contact us.

We do not send marketing email. The only emails we send are the sign-in links you ask for. Stripe emails tip receipts. Our administrators can see learners' emails and lesson activity to run the service; we do not share that with anyone else.

For visitors in the EU/UK, our legal bases are: performing our agreement with you (account, progress, sign-in), our legitimate interests in running and securing a free service (logs, abuse counters, aggregate usage), and legal obligations (tip records).

4. Who processes it for us

We use these service providers ("sub-processors"), and only for the purposes above:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS), United States (us-east-1): hosting and content delivery (Lambda, CloudFront), our database (Aurora), the sign-in service (Cognito), sign-in emails (SES), and logs and metrics (CloudWatch).
• Stripe: processes tips. Stripe handles your payment details under its own privacy policy.
• Google: "Continue with Google" sign-in, only if you choose it, and the embedded YouTube player described below.

We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers.

5. YouTube videos (YouTube API Services)

Each lesson plays its video in YouTube's embedded player, which uses the YouTube API Services. The player loads only when you start the video. From then on Google/YouTube receives your IP address and browser details and may set its own cookies or similar technologies, under the Google Privacy Policy. By watching a lesson video you are also using YouTube and agree to the YouTube Terms of Service. We do not receive your YouTube account details or viewing history. You can manage Google's access to your data at myaccount.google.com/permissions.

6. Cookies and browser storage

We set only what the site needs to work. There are no advertising cookies.

• Sign-in cookies (authjs.session-token, authjs.csrf-token, authjs.callback-url, sometimes with a __Secure- or __Host- prefix): keep you signed in and protect the sign-in forms.
• NEXT_LOCALE: remembers your interface language.
• syg_lead: an older cookie that links this browser to your lesson history (kept up to one year). It is no longer used to ask for your email.
• Local and session storage: sygmatic:last-seen and sygmatic:session (so a visit is counted once), and your light/dark theme choice.
• Offline cache: the app stores public pages (lessons, articles, these policies) in your browser so they open offline. Private pages such as your profile are never cached, and the cache is cleared when you sign out or delete your account.
• YouTube/Google cookies, once you start a video (see section 5).

You can clear all of these in your browser settings. The site still works; you will need to sign in again.

7. How long we keep it

• Account, progress and quiz data: until you delete your account (or ask us to).
• Sign-in sessions: until you sign out, or after 30 days without use. Sign-in links expire after 24 hours.
• Tip records: 7 years, for tax and accounting. When you delete your account the tip is detached from it; the email you gave Stripe, the amount and the date stay with the tip record.
• Server logs: about one month.
• Abuse-protection counters: each is reset when its window (at most one hour) ends.
• Stripe and Google keep their own records under their own policies.

8. Your choices and rights

• Delete: Profile → "Your data" → Delete account removes your account, progress, quiz results and lesson history, and your record in our Google sign-in service. You can also just reset your progress there.
• Access, export or correction: email privacy@idea-engine.studio and we will send you a copy of your data or fix it.
• We answer requests within 45 days and may need to confirm the request comes from the account's email address. We honour these requests wherever you live.
• If you are in the EU/UK you may also object to or restrict our processing, and you may complain to your local data-protection authority.

We do not sell or "share" personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising, and we do not use it for automated decisions with legal effects.

9. Children

Sygmatic is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. Learners aged 13 to 17 may use Sygmatic only with a parent's or guardian's permission. Some lessons use real-world videos that discuss mature topics; these are labelled. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information, email privacy@idea-engine.studio and we will delete it.

10. Security and breach notification

Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and stored with AWS in the United States. Access is limited to what is needed to run the service. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your personal information we will notify you without unreasonable delay and as required by law, including Wisconsin's notice law (Wis. Stat. § 134.98), which requires notice within 45 days where it applies. We do not hold the kinds of data that statute covers (such as Social Security, driver's licence or financial account numbers); Stripe holds payment details.

11. International users

We are based in the United States and store and process data in the United States (AWS us-east-1). If you use Sygmatic from elsewhere, including the EU or UK, your information is transferred to and processed in the United States, where data-protection law may differ from yours.

12. Changes to this policy

We will update the date at the top when this policy changes. For material changes we will also show a notice on the site or email signed-in learners before the change takes effect.

13. Contact

Privacy questions and requests: privacy@idea-engine.studio. Anything else: support@idea-engine.studio.