1. Information we collect

Information you give us

• Contact form: your name, email address, phone number (optional) and message. Form submissions are received through our hosting provider, Netlify.
• Messages to us: anything you send us by text, phone, email or WeChat.
• Sheet music purchases: payment is handled on Stripe's secure checkout page. We do not see or store your card number. We receive the details needed to fulfill your order, such as your email address, the items you bought and the amount paid. Your sheet music is then delivered to you by email through our service provider, Amazon Web Services.
• Member login: if we have set up a student account for you (accounts are not open to public registration), your username and password are handled by our login provider, Okta.

Melody, our AI chat assistant

• The messages you type to Melody are sent to our AI provider, OpenAI, to generate replies. OpenAI stores these conversations together with a random session code (not your name), and we may read them to improve Melody's answers.
• To keep your conversation when you reload the page, your chat history is saved in your own browser for up to 7 days. The "new chat" button erases it from your browser.
• Melody is an AI and can make mistakes. Please do not share sensitive information (such as payment details, passwords or health information) in the chat.

Information collected automatically

• Analytics: we use Google Analytics to see which pages are visited, and Microsoft Clarity to understand how people use the Website (for example through anonymous session recordings and heat maps). These tools may collect your device and browser type, approximate location, pages viewed and how you interact with them. We ask them to anonymize IP addresses where available, and we mask typed text in forms and in the chat.
• Hosting logs: our hosting provider, Netlify, keeps standard server logs such as IP address, browser and the pages requested.
• Cookies and local storage: the analytics tools above use cookies. We also store your language choice, your chat history (see above) and, if you log in, your login session in your browser.

Content loaded from other services

Videos come from YouTube, images from Cloudinary and fonts from Google Fonts. When these load, those providers may receive your IP address and browser information.

2. How we use information

• To answer your questions and arrange lessons, including trial lessons.
• To provide lessons, sheet music and member-only content, and to process and deliver purchases.
• To operate, secure and improve the Website and Melody.
• To keep records and to comply with the law.

3. How we share information

We share information only with service providers who help us run the Website and our business, and only as needed: Netlify (hosting and forms), Stripe (payments), Okta (login), OpenAI (Melody), Google (analytics, fonts, YouTube), Microsoft (Clarity), Amazon Web Services (storage and email delivery of sheet music) and Cloudinary (images). We may also disclose information when the law requires it, or to protect our rights, or as part of a sale or transfer of our business. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not run third-party advertising on the Website.

4. Your choices

• You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, and Google offers a browser add-on to opt out of Google Analytics.
• You can erase your chat history from your browser with the "new chat" button.
• You can ask us to access, correct or delete the personal information we hold about you, including a Melody conversation you want removed, by contacting us (see below).

5. How long we keep information

We keep messages and records for as long as we need them to respond to you, provide our services and meet legal and accounting requirements. Chat history in your browser is kept for up to 7 days. Information held by our service providers, such as OpenAI, is kept under their own policies.

6. Children

We teach students as young as five, but the Website is intended for adults, parents and guardians. We do not knowingly collect personal information online from children under 13. Parents and guardians should contact us about lessons for a child. If you believe a child has given us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

7. Security

We use reasonable measures to protect information, and we rely on trusted providers for payments and login. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure.

8. Visitors from other countries

We are based in the United States and our providers process information in the United States and other countries. If you live outside the United States, including in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you may have additional rights under local law. Contact us to exercise them.

9. Links to other sites

The Website links to other sites and services such as YouTube, Facebook, X, WeChat, the Dallas Guzheng Association and Music of Love. We are not responsible for their privacy practices.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will post the new version here and change the effective date above. If we start offering a new service that collects information, such as a newsletter, we will update this policy first.

11. Contact us

Crystal Zheng Studio, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Email: zhengzither@gmail.com

Phone and text: +1 (469) 298-9768