Ihi Ako is a whānau based organisation, made up of learners at various levels. We have a passion for education and a goal to share our learnings from our Reo Māori journeys. We have experience and qualifications in various sectors including software engineering, Te Reo Māori and Education which we have utilised in the development of this application. Though we are not yet a registered company, we plan to do this in the near future.

New Zealand online service. Contact address: admin@punakupu.com

You can play without giving us an email. We still keep a random player ID, your game activity and progress so the games work and your progress can return on this device. These records can be personal information even without your real name. We do not ask for your real name, exact birthday, school, address, photo or location.

An account is optional. We collect your email to verify your account, sign you in and help recover access. Passwords are stored as hashes, not readable passwords. After verification, choose a private username and a self-assessed te reo proficiency: Beginner, Intermediate or Expert. These help you maintain your learner profile. Game difficulty does not change based on this answer yet. Choose a made-up username; do not include identifying details.

You can leave this empty. If you choose one or more iwi from the list, IHI AKO uses it to understand which iwi communities Puna Kupu serves when planning kupu and dialect content. It does not affect game access, scores or difficulty. It is not displayed to other players or used to decide what you see. We ask only for iwi from the Stats NZ classification, never hapū, marae, whakapapa or free text. You can remove it in Ahau (account) > Edit learner profile. We treat iwi affiliation as information that belongs with you and your iwi, and will seek appropriate Māori advice before any new use.

You can choose Prefer not to say. If you provide an age range, IHI AKO uses it to understand the age groups using the service when planning learning content. It does not affect game access, scores or difficulty. It is not displayed to other players. We do not request an exact age or date of birth. You can remove it by selecting Prefer not to say in Ahau (account) > Edit learner profile.

Children have privacy rights too. Ask a trusted adult for help if you are unsure what to share. Parents and caregivers can contact us with questions or requests on a child’s behalf. We check identity and authority proportionately and consider the child’s understanding and wishes. A checkbox or age selection is not verification of parental consent. This service is intended for learners in New Zealand.

Your chosen username, email, proficiency, iwi affiliation and age range are private account details, not public profile fields. Authorised operators may access information when needed to run and support the service or handle a privacy request. Game rankings may show a separate computer-generated alias, score and avatar. They do not use your chosen username, iwi or age. We do not sell learner information or use it for targeted advertising. The current website has no third-party advertising or analytics scripts.

Cloudflare processes the website, database, verification emails and private support inbox for us. Our database uses Oceania placement; this is not a guarantee that all information stays in New Zealand or Australia. Processing, delivery and support can involve other countries. Cloudflare also handles network information such as IP addresses as part of delivering and securing requests. Old accounts and migration records remain with Supabase, and Vercel hosts the old-site recovery bridge while previous players recover their progress. The app has no in-app purchases or advertising. We will update this notice before adding materially different uses or providers.

An essential session cookie keeps you signed in and connects you to your saved progress. Learner sessions can renew for up to 365 days at a time; use your own device and sign out on shared devices. We use HTTPS, private server-side data access and separate staff authentication. The app does not intentionally retain raw IP addresses or browser identifiers in new session records; hashed security rate-limit keys are kept briefly. Hosting providers may separately process network and security logs. No system is guaranteed free from security incidents.

Account and progress records currently remain until an operator processes a deletion request; automatic inactive-account deletion is not yet implemented. Iwi, age and proficiency stay with your profile until you change them or your account is deleted. Expired sessions and verification records are cleaned up, and verification email jobs are removed after sending or expiry. Support messages, migration snapshots, legacy records and backups need separate review when you ask for deletion; deleting a live account does not instantly erase every backup. We assess what is still needed for a lawful purpose, and explain any information retained and why when handling a request.

You can edit your username, proficiency and optional iwi and age range in Ahau (account) > Edit learner profile. Email admin@punakupu.com to request access to your information, corrections, account deletion, or to raise a privacy concern. Do not send passwords, verification codes or identity documents with your first request. We may ask for proportionate evidence to verify your identity. We respond to access and correction requests as soon as reasonably practicable, normally within 20 working days; if a lawful extension applies, we explain it. Deletion requests are assessed against information we still need to hold lawfully. If we disagree with a correction, you may ask us to attach your statement of correction.

Contact Rakaipaka Smiler at admin@punakupu.com first. You can also contact New Zealand’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz. The privacy notice acknowledgement records the version you were shown; it does not waive your rights or authorise unrelated marketing.