Privacy Policyগোপনীয়তা নীতি

Sothik (‘সঠিক’) is a Bangla spell & grammar checker built by EBLICT, BCC, ICT Division. It works by sending the text you ask it to check to the Sothik web service over an encrypted connection, where the text is analysed and correction suggestions are returned. This policy describes what data the software and the service use, why, and for how long it is kept.

Applies to

The Sothik web app, the Chrome / Edge / Firefox / Safari extensions, the Android and iOS keyboard apps, the Microsoft Word add-in, the stand-alone versions for Windows, Linux and macOS, and the Sothik API.

Tags

সঠিক, Sothik, Shothik, Bangla, spell, grammar, checker

Author

EBLICT, BCC, ICT Division.

Website

spell.bangla.gov.bd

Wherever this policy relies on your permission — storing the text you submit, adding a word to the dictionary, sending feedback, or analytics — you can withdraw that permission at any time, as described below.

The text you submit for checking

• We don't store the text that you submit for spell and grammar checking on Sothik products, with the following exceptions:
  • You explicitly gave permission to store the data.
  • You explicitly submitted feedback, for example about a false alarm or an error that was not detected.
  • When you accept a correction, we log the internal rule id of that error (something like BENGALI_HOMONYMOUS_WORD_RULE for a misplaced homonymous word). The text itself is not logged.
  • When you explicitly ignore a correction, we log the internal rule id of that error, the text fragment that was marked as incorrect (the small part of the sentence that was underlined) and 15 characters to the left and to the right of that fragment. This lets us analyse and reduce false alarms.
  • In case of an internal software error (which is extremely rare), we log the sentence that caused the error so we can reproduce and fix it. Such a sentence can be stored for up to 365 days.
• To keep checking fast, analysed sentences and the errors found in them are held in server memory (not on a permanent storage medium) for the duration defined by our cache policy. This cache carries no IP address or any other information that would allow a sentence to be attributed to a person.
• Text you submit is never used to identify you, is never sold, and is never shared with third parties for advertising.
• If you do not have a user account, we have no way of linking stored data back to you — which also means we cannot single it out for deletion on request.

Files you upload in the web app

• A .docx or .txt file opened with the Upload option is read inside your own browser. The file itself is never transmitted to our servers; only the text extracted from it is checked, exactly like text you type.
• Uploads are limited to 4 MB and 40,000 characters. The extracted text is treated like any other submitted text and is not retained after your session, subject to the exceptions listed above.

‘Add to Dictionary’ and word reports

• Words you add through Add to Dictionary (‘অভিধানে যুক্ত করুন’) are kept in your own browser or device so that they are no longer flagged for you, and the word is also submitted to our server, where it is stored separately from the main dictionary.
• Submitted words are reviewed by language experts and may be included in a later release of the dictionary. Only the word is submitted — not the sentence or the document it came from.
• You can review and remove your own dictionary entries from within the app at any time. Clearing your browser's site data also removes the local copies.

Data kept on your own device

• The following is stored locally in your browser or device and is not transmitted to us:
  • your personal dictionary words;
  • your preferences — number of suggestions, inline or sidebar layout, ‘ignore all’, error statistics, add-to-dictionary and word-report toggles, Unicode/ANSI mode;
  • the light/dark theme choice for these documentation pages.
• Clearing your browser's site data, or uninstalling the app or extension, removes this local data.

Service logs

• To improve the spell & grammar checking service, we keep a log of the following information:
  • date and time;
  • length of the submitted text;
  • text language;
  • processing time on the server;
  • number of detected errors;
  • type of detected errors — for example incorrect spelling, context (real-word) error, punctuation, subject–verb agreement;
  • the page or application from which the request was submitted.
• In our web server log files your IP address is stored in an abbreviated form (like 192.168.xxx.xxx) so that it cannot be used to identify you. Error messages for exceeding the query limit are stored with the full IP address for up to 48 hours so that we can prevent abuse.

Browser extensions (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari)

• In addition to the service logs above, the extension transmits:
  • the extension version;
  • the date of installation;
  • a random id for the text field that is being checked.
• Password fields are ignored by the extension and their content is never transmitted to our servers.
• Only when you uninstall the extension: the number of times you used it and the URL of the page where it was last used, so that we can see which web pages cause problems with it.
• Only when you have an account on bangla.gov.bd and are signed in to that account in the extension: the extension contacts our servers about once a day to report that you are an active user. This includes your browser (Chrome/Edge/Firefox/Safari) and your email address — which we already hold because you have an account with us — but never any text you have written.
• If you send feedback through the feedback function built into the extension, the following is transmitted so that we can analyse the problem better: extension version, languages accepted by the browser and the language of the browser interface, your country as determined by the IP address, the website currently visited, the HTML of the current text field without its text content, number of CPU cores, date of first use, your rating of the extension (thumbs up/down), duration of usage in days, the address of the Sothik API server in use, the status of the “Do not track” setting, internet connection speed, and the rules you have deactivated.

Keyboard apps (Android, iOS)

• The keyboard apps send text to the same checking service over an encrypted connection, and only when a check is performed; the same rules on storage and logging apply as above.
• The content of password fields is not checked and not transmitted.
• Your personal dictionary and your preferences stay on the device. Uninstalling the app removes them.
• The apps are distributed through Google Play and the App Store; those stores collect their own download and crash statistics under their own privacy policies, which we do not control.

Microsoft Word add-in and stand-alone versions

• The Word add-in and the stand-alone versions for Windows, Linux and macOS check text through the same service and follow the same rules on storage and logging. Your documents are not uploaded; only the text being checked is sent.
• These builds may check whether a newer version is available, which transmits the product version and the platform, but no document content.

Sothik API

• Requests made through the Sothik API are covered by the same rules on text storage, caching and service logging as described above.
• If you integrate the API into your own product, you are responsible for informing your own users about that processing and for obtaining any consent required where they are.

Accounts, feedback and email

• Sothik is free to use and we never ask for payment details. Some features require an account: when you sign up, your username and email address are stored in our database. If you want to modify that information or delete your account, please contact us.
• If you contact us via a contact form, your data is transferred over an encrypted connection and stored in one of our databases.
• We send emails using our own dedicated servers.
• All of our servers are hosted in Bangladesh.

Analytics

• This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service of Google LLC (“Google”), to understand how the site is used. Google Analytics sets “cookies” — small text files placed on your device — and the information they generate about your use of this website is usually transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there.
• Analytics data may be linked to a pseudonymous user id, which allows sessions and interactions across several devices to be analysed together. It is not linked to the text you check.
• The IP address transmitted by your browser in the context of Google Analytics is not merged with other Google data. For Google's terms of use and data protection information, see google.com/analytics/terms and policies.google.com.

Purposes of the processing

• To provide the checking service itself: detecting spelling, context (real-word) and grammatical errors in the text you submit, and returning correction suggestions.
• To improve accuracy: reducing false alarms, finding undetected errors, and extending the dictionary through expert review of submitted words.
• To keep the service reliable and fast: diagnosing software errors, measuring processing time, and preventing abuse of the query limit.
• On behalf of the operator of this website, Google uses analytics information to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity, and to provide the website operator with other services related to website and internet use.

Rights of the persons affected

• You have the right, upon request and free of charge, to receive information about the personal data we store about you, and to ask for it to be corrected or deleted.
• You can revoke your consent to analytics cookies at any time with effect for the future by blocking the storage of cookies in your browser settings; however, please note that in this case you may not be able to use all functionality of this website to its full extent.
• You can also prevent Google from collecting and processing the data generated by these cookies — including your IP address — by installing Google's browser opt-out add-on. An opt-out applies per browser and per device, so it must be set on every system you use.
• You can stop the product-side collection described above by not granting storage permission, by not submitting feedback or dictionary words, and by uninstalling the extension or the app.
• If you believe that the processing of your personal data is unlawful, you have the right to complain to the competent regulatory authority.

Changes to this policy

• This policy may be revised as Sothik develops. The current version always carries the ‘Last updated’ date shown above, and material changes will be announced on bangla.gov.bd.

Contact

E-mail

support@bangla.gov.bd

Phone

+88-02-55006880

Web

bangla.gov.bd