1. About AcademicWingman

AcademicWingman (“we”, “us”, “our”) is an AI-assisted academic writing coaching platform operated from New Zealand. We provide feedback, grade estimates and coaching suggestions on submitted academic drafts to help students improve their own writing. Our service is available globally, with a primary focus on New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with service available globally.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 16 years of age to use AcademicWingman. By creating an account you confirm that you are 16 or older. If you are under 18, you confirm that you have the consent of a parent or legal guardian. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13.

3. Academic integrity — important notice

AcademicWingman is a coaching and feedback tool, not a writing or ghostwriting service. All AI-generated suggestions are provided strictly as coaching guidance.

• You must independently review all feedback and rewrite suggestions entirely in your own words.
• Submitting AI-generated text, suggested rewrites, or substantially AI-edited work as your own original work may constitute academic misconduct, plagiarism, or contract cheating under your institution’s policies.
• We expressly prohibit use of our service to produce work submitted without substantial independent intellectual contribution.
• You are solely responsible for ensuring your use complies with your institution’s academic integrity policies, honour codes, and applicable laws in your jurisdiction.
• AcademicWingman accepts no liability for academic misconduct findings, disciplinary outcomes, or consequences arising from your use of our service.

4. Your account

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activities under your account. Notify us immediately at [email protected] of any unauthorised access. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms without prior notice.

5. Your content and intellectual property

You retain full ownership of all drafts, rubrics and content you submit. By submitting content you grant us a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to process and store your content solely to generate your feedback report. We do not claim ownership of your work. We will never share, sell, license, or use your submitted content for any purpose beyond generating your personalised feedback report. Your work is never shared with other users or used to train AI models.

6. AI-generated content disclaimer

Feedback reports are generated using artificial intelligence (Anthropic Claude). AI-generated feedback: is indicative only and does not constitute professional academic, legal, or other advice; may contain errors or inaccuracies; should not be relied upon as a definitive assessment of your work; and grade estimates are approximations that do not guarantee any outcome from your institution. We expressly disclaim any warranty, express or implied, regarding the accuracy or fitness for purpose of AI-generated feedback.

7. Payments and refunds

Payments are processed securely via Stripe or PayPal. We do not store payment card details. Prices are displayed in your selected currency (NZD, AUD, or USD) and are inclusive of any applicable taxes where required by law.

Refund policy: You are entitled to a full refund if we cannot deliver your report within 72 hours of submission. Submit refund requests to [email protected] within 7 days of the expected delivery date. Refunds are processed to your original payment method within 5-10 business days. No refunds are provided for successfully delivered reports.

EU users: You have the right to withdraw from a purchase within 14 days under the EU Consumer Rights Directive, except where digital content has been delivered with your explicit consent to immediate delivery.

Australian users: Our services come with guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot be excluded. Nothing in these Terms limits your rights under the ACL.

UK users: You have statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 which are not affected by these Terms.

8. Prohibited uses

You agree not to: submit content that infringes third-party intellectual property rights; submit unlawful, harmful, defamatory or offensive content; reverse-engineer or scrape our platform; circumvent security or authentication measures; create multiple accounts to abuse promotions; or resell or redistribute feedback reports without our prior written consent.

9. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, AcademicWingman shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages including loss of grades, academic standing, scholarships, or employment. Our total liability for any claim shall not exceed the amount paid for the submission giving rise to the claim. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability for fraud, gross negligence, or any liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law (including the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (NZ), Australian Consumer Law, Consumer Rights Act 2015 (UK), or applicable EU consumer law).

10. Service availability

We aim to provide a reliable service but cannot guarantee uninterrupted availability. We reserve the right to modify or discontinue any part of the service with reasonable notice. We are not liable for loss resulting from service unavailability outside our reasonable control.

11. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand. For EU users, mandatory consumer protection laws of your country of residence also apply. For Australian users, the Australian Consumer Law applies. Any disputes shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New Zealand, without prejudice to your right to bring proceedings in your local jurisdiction where required by applicable law.

12. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes via email or prominent platform notice at least 14 days before they take effect. Continued use of the service after that date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

13. Contact

AcademicWingman
Email: [email protected]
Website: myacademicwingman.com

1. Data controller

AcademicWingman operates this platform and acts as the data controller for personal data collected through this service. For privacy enquiries contact: [email protected]

2. Data we collect

Account data: Email address, first and last name, encrypted password (via Supabase Auth).

Submission data: Academic draft text, rubric or marking criteria text, assessment type and level, submission metadata (timestamps, submission ID).

Usage data: Pages visited, features used, browser type, device type, and approximate location (country/region level only via IP address). We do not use tracking cookies or cross-site advertising trackers.

Payment data: Payment transactions are processed entirely by Stripe or PayPal. We receive only a transaction confirmation and amount — we never see, store, or process your card number, bank details, or full payment credentials.

Communications: Any messages you send to our support email.

3. How we use your data

• To provide the service: Your submitted drafts are sent to the Anthropic Claude AI API solely to generate your personalised feedback report. No other use is made of your draft content.
• Account management: To create and maintain your account, authenticate your identity, and send essential service communications.
• Service improvement: Aggregated, anonymised usage analytics (never individual draft content) to improve platform features.
• Legal compliance: Where required by applicable law or to enforce our Terms of Service.
• Support: To respond to your support enquiries.

We never: sell your data; use your submitted drafts to train AI models; share your work with other students or third parties; use your data for advertising; or make automated decisions with legal or significant effects on you.

4. Legal basis for processing (GDPR / UK GDPR)

For users in the EU and UK, we process your personal data on the following legal bases:

• Contract performance: Processing necessary to deliver the feedback service you have contracted with us.
• Legitimate interests: Aggregated analytics and platform security, where these do not override your fundamental rights.
• Legal obligation: Where required to comply with applicable law.
• Consent: For any optional communications (you can withdraw consent at any time).

5. Data storage and security

Your data is stored in Supabase (PostgreSQL database) hosted in secure cloud infrastructure. We implement the following security measures:

• Row-level security: each user’s data is isolated — only you can access your own submissions.
• All data is encrypted in transit (TLS/HTTPS) and at rest.
• Passwords are hashed and never stored in plaintext.
• Access to production data is restricted to authorised personnel only.
• Our Anthropic API key is stored in server-side encrypted secrets, never in client-side code.

International transfers: Supabase infrastructure and Anthropic’s API may process data in the United States. Where required by EU/UK GDPR, such transfers are protected by appropriate safeguards including Standard Contractual Clauses.

6. Data retention

We retain your account data and submissions for up to 24 months from your last activity, or until you request deletion. You may request deletion of your account and all associated data at any time through your Account settings or by emailing [email protected]. We will process deletion requests within 30 days.

We may retain certain anonymised and aggregated data for longer periods for analytical purposes. We may also retain limited data where required by law (e.g. financial records).

7. Your rights

Depending on your location, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal data (“right to be forgotten”).
• Portability: Request your data in a machine-readable format (EU/UK GDPR).
• Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests (EU/UK GDPR).
• Restriction: Request restriction of processing in certain circumstances (EU/UK GDPR).
• Withdraw consent: Withdraw any previously given consent at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, contact [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days (or 1 month for GDPR requests). You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

8. Third-party services

We use the following third-party services to operate AcademicWingman:

• Supabase (database and authentication) — supabase.com/privacy
• Anthropic (AI feedback generation) — anthropic.com/privacy. Your submitted draft is sent to Anthropic solely to generate your report.
• Stripe (payment processing) — stripe.com/privacy
• PayPal (payment processing) — paypal.com/privacy
• Netlify (website hosting) — netlify.com/privacy

9. Cookies

We use only essential session cookies required for authentication and maintaining your logged-in state. We do not use advertising cookies, cross-site tracking cookies, or analytics cookies that identify individual users. You can disable cookies in your browser settings but this will affect your ability to log in.

10. Regional provisions

New Zealand: This policy complies with the Privacy Act 2020 (NZ). You have the right to access and correct your personal information under the Act.

Australia: This policy complies with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. For complaints, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

European Union and EEA: This policy complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Our lawful basis for processing is set out in Section 4. You may lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority.

United Kingdom: This policy complies with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. You may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

California (USA): If you are a California resident, you have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) including the right to know, delete, and opt-out of sale of personal information. We do not sell personal information.

Canada: This policy complies with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

11. Changes to this policy

We will notify you of material changes to this Privacy Policy via email or a prominent notice on the platform at least 14 days before they take effect. The date at the top of this page shows when this policy was last updated.

12. Contact and complaints

For any privacy enquiries, data requests, or complaints:
Email: [email protected]
We aim to respond to all privacy requests within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to escalate to the relevant data protection authority in your country.