This is the privacy statement applicable to the use of the Proloquo and Proloquo Coach applications (hereinafter collectively: the “applications”), as offered by AssistiveWare B.V. (hereinafter also: “we” or “us”).

We value your privacy and process your personal data (i.e. information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person) in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) and specific national laws and regulations as may be applicable, such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (“COPPA”). In this privacy statement we will explain which types of personal data we collect, for which purposes and how we protect such data to the best of our abilities.

This privacy statement applies to personal data processed through use of the applications. In some instances we may not be considered the ‘controller’, but merely ‘processor’ of the personal data. This for example applies in the context of educational use of the applications by schools and universities.

  1. Identity and contact

    AssistiveWare B.V.
    Laurierstraat 193
    1016 PL Amsterdam
    the Netherlands
    E: legal@assistiveware.com

  2. Types of personal data and processing purposes

    The Proloquo applications are software applications through which the person that uses Proloquo to speak (i.e. the “AAC User”) is supported by a group of people, typically the parents, teacher and care professionals (the “AAC Team”). The AAC User’s vocabulary, app usage, and app usage preferencessettings are shared among the authorized AAC Team members. Specific AAC Team members with an ‘admin’ role control who is part of the AAC Team and the amount of information that will be shared. AssistiveWare, nor other third parties have direct access to these files.

    When you access and use our Proloquo applications, we will collect and process personal data in the ways as explained in more detail here below:

    1. AssistiveWare account

      Information you provide to us. When you register for an AssistiveWare account in order to make use of the application(s), we collect and process the personal data you provide, such as your name, email address, country of residence.

      In the event you create an account on behalf of a school/university or care institution, we may also ask for additional (predominantly optional) information, such as name and type of the organization, your role within the organization, license or certification information.

      As AAC Team admin you are the primary administrator and able to appoint the AAC User and other AAC Team members. All other AAC Team members may also register for an AssistiveWare account via an invitation link (as received from the AAC Team admin).

      AAC User generated data is not stored on an AssistiveWare Account. The AAC User only has an AssistiveWare Account if they are made part of the AAC Team themselves.

      The legal basis for processing these types of personal data can be found in (the preparation of) providing you with a license and/or access to the application. In the event access to the applications is provided for through the AAC User’s school, the legal basis for processing personal data is based on consent.

    2. Application use / User (generated) data

      Information collected from the use of Proloquo. When the AAC User makes use of our applications, we collect information about the AAC User and the usage of the applications by the AAC User.

      Mandatory personal data fields for the AAC User are: first name. The AAC User’s birth year and diagnose are non-mandatory fields. The information about age and/or diagnose is used to improve our products and to have an appropriate conversation with the AAC Team in connection with support request.

      To support the use of the application, we collect and store the AAC User’s settings (e.g. pronunciation exceptions), their personalization (user specific words, uploaded photos), and their activity (e.g. the number of times the app is use to speak in a certain time frame).

      Communication messages are created on the hardware device itself and do not use any connection with AssistiveWare or other parties in the generation process. We will never transmit or collect the actual communication (chat transcripts) of the AAC User, nor will we process the communication to extract the essence, meaning or intent of the communicated messages.

      The applications allow the AAC Team admin to store a backup of the device data (such as the AAC User’s vocabulary) on a local computer or in third party cloud storage, such as iCloud, Dropbox or Google Drive. AssistiveWare has no access to these back up storages, and is not able to guarantee the protection of personal data in connection with these backups.

      Only with the AAC Team admin’s prior consent, we will also collect and process usage statistics, such as, but not limited to, the number of different words spoken in a week, the total number of words spoken in a week, and the number of times words from a list of 120 core words are spoken. This anonymized information can be used to improve our products (e.g. accessibility and usability of the application, features and settings), for research publications and/or as a parameter for monitoring the development of the AAC User in relation to its peersto provide feedback on the AAC Users language development.

      To support the use of Proloquo Coach the application stores the progress a AAC User makes in the application, as well as the communication with AssistiveWare’s support team.

      The legal basis for processing these types of personal data can be found in the execution of our agreement with you regarding the use of the applications, or by consent (e.g. depending on the context of home versus school use) given by a parent or guardian.

    3. Support

      When you create a support request, we collect the personal data you provide, such as name, email address and potentially other (contact) details you voluntarily provide to us. This information will be used to contact you and/or follow up on a support request.

      The legal basis for processing these types of personal data can be found in the execution of our agreement with you regarding the use of the applications.

  3. Minors

    AssistiveWare recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy of minors. Because our applications are intended for people in need of augmentative and alternative communication, in many cases this includes minors. Our applications have been setup by default in such a way that:

    1. We limit the collection and processing of personal data of minors as much as possible, in any event no more than is necessary to make reasonable use of the minimum features in the applications;
    2. We let the AAC Team admin (e.g. a parent) control the collection and use of the personal data of the minor via the applications, in particular by making the AAC Team admin responsible for providing the amount of personal data of the AAC User and selecting the AAC Team members with whom information about the use of applications may be shared.
    3. In the event our applications are being used by schools and/or universities, we shall only act as ‘processor’ and adhere to the instructions of the school and/or university.

  4. Personal data we share with third parties

    We will never sell your personal data to third parties, nor will we use or share your personal data for third party advertising, -profiling or -marketing purposes. Your personal data will only be shared with third parties in the following circumstances:

    1. (i) authorized AAC Team members;
    2. (ii) where we engage external suppliers, service / hosting providers, support members or advisors for the benefit of our service performance ("(sub-)processors");
    3. (iii) (government) authorities or organizations to whom we must disclose certain personal data on the basis of a legal obligation.

    Where applicable, we have concluded data processing agreements and/or confidentiality agreements with service providers or third parties involved in connection with the use of the applications, wherein we only permit them to process personal data subject to and in accordance with specific instructions.

    The personal data will be collected and processed through servers located in the European Economic Area (EEA) and in the United States of America (USA). In the event personal data under the responsibility of AssistiveWare as the ‘controller’, is being transferred to countries or third parties outside the EEA, we will take into account the statutory requirements in relation thereto. This may for example include the existence of EU standard contractual clauses.

  5. Protection and retention of personal data

    We have taken adequate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against loss and the unauthorized access or misuse thereof. Amongst others we use encryption and SSL for security. We also have two-factor authentication (2FA) where applicable, access management, and we have internal guidelines for our personnel regarding the use and processing of personal data and what to do in the event of a data breach.

    We retain your personal data no longer than is necessary for the purpose for which we have collected the personal data, or in correspondence with an applicable statutory retention term. Unless requested otherwise, we retain personal data of the AAC User for a period of eighteen (18) months after expiration of a license. Personal data of AAC Team members will be deleted once the AssistiveWare account is deleted. You may at all times request the removal of your personal data. We will respond to such request within the statutory timeframe.

  6. Your rights

    You have the right to request access to or the amendment, deletion or data transfer of your personal data. You may also submit a request to restrict or object to certain data processing. You furthermore have the right to withdraw any previously provided consent.

    You may direct any requests or complaints regarding the processing of your personal data to us via the contact details as provided in this privacy statement. We will respond to such requests within the applicable statutory timeframes. For completeness, we also note that you have the right to submit a complaint with the relevant data protection authority in your country of residence.

  7. Changes

    We reserve the right to unilaterally amend this privacy statement to ensure compliance with the GDPR and/or other applicable data protection laws. It is recommended that you consult this privacy statement on a regular basis in order to be aware of any potential changes. If we make material changes to how we process your personal data, we will send you a notification thereof. Your continued use of the application(s) after changes to the privacy statement will deemed to be your acceptance of such changes.

This privacy statement was last updated in October 2023.