Duolingo: Difference between revisions
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According to Duolingo's mission statement, the goal of Duolingo is to make language learning "universally available."<ref>https://investors.duolingo.com/</ref> It states, "We created Duolingo so that everyone could have a chance. Free language education – no hidden fees, no premium content, just free."<ref>https://www.duolingo.com/info</ref> It goes on to say, "We believe true equality is when spending more can't buy you a better education." | According to Duolingo's mission statement, the goal of Duolingo is to make language learning "universally available."<ref>https://investors.duolingo.com/</ref> It states, "We created Duolingo so that everyone could have a chance. Free language education – no hidden fees, no premium content, just free."<ref>https://www.duolingo.com/info</ref> It goes on to say, "We believe true equality is when spending more can't buy you a better education." | ||
=== Pay to win pattern === | ===Pay to win pattern=== | ||
Recently, some of the timed learning games inside the app are impossible to complete in the time allowed, even for a native speaker of the language. In order to win, the user needs to pay for a subscription to buy more time. This also means that the learning high scores can essentially be bought. | Recently, some of the timed learning games inside the app are impossible to complete in the time allowed, even for a native speaker of the language. In order to win, the user needs to pay for a subscription to buy more time. This also means that the learning high scores can essentially be bought. | ||
==Privacy Policy== | === Privacy Policy === | ||
According to the privacy policy, if a Duolingo Max user utilizes artificial-intelligence (AI) features, a copy of their text or audio data will be shared with vendors such as [[OpenAI]].<ref>https://www.duolingo.com/privacy</ref> This is also similar for non-AI features, as Duolingo "may also collect and analyze your speech to help [it] understand the effectiveness of [its] lessons and to improve the product," though the data is anonymized. | According to the privacy policy, if a Duolingo Max user utilizes artificial-intelligence (AI) features, a copy of their text or audio data will be shared with vendors such as [[OpenAI]].<ref>https://www.duolingo.com/privacy</ref> This is also similar for non-AI features, as Duolingo "may also collect and analyze your speech to help [it] understand the effectiveness of [its] lessons and to improve the product," though the data is anonymized. | ||
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The policy states the app works with third-party advertising networks to personalize advertising, such as with [[Google]], [[Meta]], [[OAuth]], and [[Unity]]. Personalized advertising can be disabled in the app's settings. | The policy states the app works with third-party advertising networks to personalize advertising, such as with [[Google]], [[Meta]], [[OAuth]], and [[Unity]]. Personalized advertising can be disabled in the app's settings. | ||
==Tracking== | === Tracking === | ||
The Exodus Privacy project lists as many as 13 tracking, advertising and analytics service libraries being present in the Android version of the app.<ref>https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/de/reports/com.duolingo/latest/</ref> The app does not work for more than about one lesson without internet access, hence turning off internet access is not an option to prevent data exfiltration. The [https://trackercontrol.org/ F-Droid version of Tracker Control] can help with blocking some of the traffic to these services without impacting the functionality of the app. | The Exodus Privacy project lists as many as 13 tracking, advertising and analytics service libraries being present in the Android version of the app.<ref>https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/de/reports/com.duolingo/latest/</ref> The app does not work for more than about one lesson without internet access, hence turning off internet access is not an option to prevent data exfiltration. The [https://trackercontrol.org/ F-Droid version of Tracker Control] can help with blocking some of the traffic to these services without impacting the functionality of the app. | ||
Revision as of 10:59, 15 March 2025
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 |
| Type | Public |
| Industry | Education |
| Official website | https://duolingo.com/ |
Duolingo is a publicly owned, American language-learning website founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker.[1] On July 28, 2021, the company began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.[2] As of Q3 2024, the app has over 37 million daily active users and 8.6 million paid subscribers, with a net income of $23.4 million.[3]
Consumer impact summary
Incidents
Data breach (2023)
In January 2023, the data of 2.6 million users was posted to an online hacking forum for $1,500.[4] The data was scraped from a vulnerable API, with email addresses, usernames, languages spoken, and real names being included.[5] A spokesperson for Duolingo stressed that "these records were obtained by data scraping public profile information" and "no data breach or hack has occurred".[6]
Paywalled content (2023)
On March 14, 2023, a new subscription service was released called "Duolingo Max", that promised highly personalized language learning with ChatGPT-4 integration.[7] In September 2024, a new feature was added to the subscription that allowed users to interact with a character named Lily.[8] This subscription feature would show on the "learning path"[9] for all users, regardless of their subscription status.
On September 3, 2024, users alleged they could not make a lesson have "legendary" status unless they paid for the "Duolingo Max" subscription to access the video-call lessons.[10] At the time, the subscription was $30 per month and to get a legendary status for a lesson, each attempt would be 100 gems for free users[11] (not including Super Duolingo users).[12] Some users were able to fix the behavior, though the "go to legendary" button would still not bring users to a skipped or new level.[13]
Implications
According to Duolingo's mission statement, the goal of Duolingo is to make language learning "universally available."[14] It states, "We created Duolingo so that everyone could have a chance. Free language education – no hidden fees, no premium content, just free."[15] It goes on to say, "We believe true equality is when spending more can't buy you a better education."
Pay to win pattern
Recently, some of the timed learning games inside the app are impossible to complete in the time allowed, even for a native speaker of the language. In order to win, the user needs to pay for a subscription to buy more time. This also means that the learning high scores can essentially be bought.
Privacy Policy
According to the privacy policy, if a Duolingo Max user utilizes artificial-intelligence (AI) features, a copy of their text or audio data will be shared with vendors such as OpenAI.[16] This is also similar for non-AI features, as Duolingo "may also collect and analyze your speech to help [it] understand the effectiveness of [its] lessons and to improve the product," though the data is anonymized.
It is also mentioned that when completing a lesson, a video of a user's lesson "will be logged by a service called FullStory." This service records usage patterns, device specs, and learning activity, and is only disabled by default for child users. Opting out requires going to FullStory's website.
The policy states the app works with third-party advertising networks to personalize advertising, such as with Google, Meta, OAuth, and Unity. Personalized advertising can be disabled in the app's settings.
Tracking
The Exodus Privacy project lists as many as 13 tracking, advertising and analytics service libraries being present in the Android version of the app.[17] The app does not work for more than about one lesson without internet access, hence turning off internet access is not an option to prevent data exfiltration. The F-Droid version of Tracker Control can help with blocking some of the traffic to these services without impacting the functionality of the app.
Products
References
- ↑ https://press.duolingo.com/#about
- ↑ https://investors.duolingo.com/news-releases/news-release-details/duolingo-announces-pricing-initial-public-offering
- ↑ https://investors.duolingo.com/financials
- ↑ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/scraped-data-of-26-million-duolingo-users-released-on-hacking-forum/
- ↑ https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites#Duolingo
- ↑ https://therecord.media/duolingo-investigating-dark-web-post-offering-data-from-2-6-million-accounts
- ↑ https://blog.duolingo.com/duolingo-max/
- ↑ https://blog.duolingo.com/video-call/
- ↑ https://blog.duolingo.com/new-duolingo-home-screen-design/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/how_am_i_supposed_to_legendary/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/comment/llbedvt/
- ↑ https://blog.duolingo.com/super-duolingo-launch/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/comment/m6uspad/
- ↑ https://investors.duolingo.com/
- ↑ https://www.duolingo.com/info
- ↑ https://www.duolingo.com/privacy
- ↑ https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/de/reports/com.duolingo/latest/
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Duolingo is bringing language, math, and music under one roof!". Duolingo Blog. 2023-10-11. Archived from the original on 2025-01-20. Retrieved 2025-03-14.