Privacy Policy

HanTrace is a free reference site with an optional Pro tier. We respect your privacy and collect as little data as possible.

Overview

HanTrace is operated by Shenzhen Lansuo Technology Co., Ltd. You can use nearly all functions of HanTrace without registering an account, submitting personal information, or providing any identifiable personal data.

Server logs

When you visit our website, our hosting server may automatically record standard access log information, including your IP address, browser type, referring page, timestamp, and pages visited. These server-side logs are used solely for system stability, security troubleshooting and traffic diagnostics. Log data is not used to track individual visitors and is not linked to your real-world identity.

Cookies & third-party tools

HanTrace does not use advertising scripts, tracking pixels or marketing cookies, and no user-profiling cookies are placed. The only cookie we set is an essential sign-in session cookie: when you sign in, our account system sets a single secure (HttpOnly) cookie that keeps you logged in — without it, staying signed in would not work. It carries no personal information beyond a random session identifier, it is removed when you sign out, and if you never sign in, no cookie is set at all.

Web analytics: HanTrace uses Cloudflare Web Analytics to measure aggregate traffic — which pages are visited and where visitors arrive from. This service is cookieless: it sets no cookies, does not fingerprint your device, does not collect personal information and does not build visitor profiles. We cannot and do not use it to identify individual visitors, and no analytics data is shared with advertisers.

Local browser storage: when you view a character or word page, its name is kept in your browser's local storage ("Recently viewed") so you can jump back to it later. This data never leaves your device — it is not sent to our servers, is readable only by hantrace.com, and you can erase it anytime by clearing your browser's site data.

Microphone (tone curve comparison)

The optional pitch curve comparison on the Tone Practice page can use your microphone so you can compare the shape of your pronunciation with the native recording. If you choose to use it, the microphone audio is analyzed live in your browser — it is never uploaded to our servers, never recorded, and nothing is stored. The analysis happens entirely on your device and disappears when you leave the page. This feature is entirely optional: every other function of HanTrace works without microphone access, and your browser will always ask for your permission first.

Feedback

When you send feedback through the "Feedback" form, we store the message you write, the type you pick, the page you were on, your browser's user-agent string, and — only if you choose to leave one — your email address. We never record your IP address with feedback submissions. Feedback is used solely to fix bugs and improve HanTrace, and is never sold or shared with advertisers. If you leave an email address, we use it only to reply to your message.

Third-party reference data

Dictionary and character data come from third-party sources (CC-CEDICT, hanzi-writer-data / Make-Me-a-Hanzi) used under their respective licenses. Some dictionary entries have been edited and curated for this website. These sources do not receive your personal data.

Saved words & account deletion

A registered account contains just your email address — sign-in uses a one-time code sent to your email, and there are no passwords.

Your saved words are yours. If your Pro subscription ends, your saved words are never deleted automatically — they stay visible in Vocabulary, and you can keep reviewing or removing them. Only adding new words beyond the Free plan limit pauses until you delete down below the limit or subscribe again.

You can delete any saved word yourself at any time (the Remove button in Vocabulary), and manage or delete your tags at any time — no need to contact us for that.

If you want to stop using HanTrace entirely, you may request full account deletion: contact us and we will permanently erase your account and all associated data (email address, saved words, tags, learning progress and statistics). You can export your vocabulary first if you wish — see the FAQ. Reach us via support@hantrace.com.

Payments

If you subscribe to HanTrace Pro, the payment is processed by our merchant of record — an external payment provider that acts as the seller of record and handles checkout, taxes and refunds. Your full payment card details go directly to that provider; we never see or store your complete card number. We receive and store your subscription status (plan, billing period, cancellation state) and your email address so the provider can send receipts and we can link the subscription to your account. This policy does not cover the payment provider's own processing — its privacy terms apply at checkout.

Service providers, data location & retention

We share the minimum data necessary with a small number of service providers:

• Email delivery provider — to send sign-in codes and transactional emails, and to forward your feedback submissions to our support inbox, we pass it the email address and the message content.
• Merchant of record / payment provider — see "Payments" above.
• Cloudflare (Web Analytics) — aggregates anonymous page-view statistics (pages visited, referring site, approximate country and browser/device type). It receives no cookies, no account data and no personal information.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it with advertisers.

Data location: this website and account data are hosted on cloud servers located in the United States (Virginia). If you access HanTrace from outside the United States, your data will be transferred to and stored in the United States. Where required by applicable law, such transfers rely on appropriate safeguards (such as the EU‑US Data Privacy Framework certification of the relevant processors, where applicable, or standard contractual clauses).

Retention: account data (email address, saved words, tags, progress) is kept until you request full account deletion. Sign-in codes expire within minutes and are purged automatically. Records used for abuse prevention (such as failed sign-in attempts) are purged automatically on a short rolling window. Server access logs are retained for a limited period for security and diagnostics.

Your rights

If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Switzerland or another jurisdiction with comparable statutory data protection rights, you may have rights related to your personal data such as access, correction and erasure. For registered accounts, we store your email address and your saved words on your behalf — see "Saved words & account deletion" above for what we keep, what you can delete yourself, and how to request a full erasure. Should you have any privacy-related questions, you may reach us via support@hantrace.com.

Changes to this policy

We may revise this Privacy Policy in the future. Any updates will be published on this page with a revised "last updated" date. We will notify active account holders by email of material changes. Your continued use of the website after the effective date of the revised policy constitutes acceptance of the updates.

Effective date: October 21, 2026.