Speak Security Basics

Overview

Security best practices for Speak API keys, audio data privacy, student data protection, and COPPA/FERPA compliance.

Prerequisites

• Completed

  speak-install-auth

  setup
• Valid API credentials configured
• ffmpeg installed for audio processing

Instructions

API Key Security

# Never commit API keys
echo '.env' >> .gitignore
echo '.env.local' >> .gitignore

# Use secrets manager in production
export SPEAK_API_KEY="$(aws secretsmanager get-secret-value --secret-id speak/api-key --query SecretString --output text)"

Audio Data Privacy

// Speak processes audio on their servers — do NOT store student audio locally
// unless required by your application
class PrivacyAwareClient {
  async assessAndClean(audioPath: string, targetText: string, language: string) {
    try {
      const result = await this.client.assessPronunciation({
        audioPath, targetText, language,
      });
      return result;
    } finally {
      // Delete local audio file after assessment
      fs.unlinkSync(audioPath);
    }
  }
}

Student Data Protection

• Never log student audio recordings
• Redact student names from API logs
• Store assessment scores, not raw audio
• Implement data retention policies (delete after N days)
• COPPA compliance for students under 13: parental consent required
• FERPA compliance for educational institutions: student data agreements

Security Checklist

• API keys in secrets manager, not code
• Audio files deleted after processing
• Student PII not logged
• HTTPS enforced for all API calls
• Rate limiting prevents abuse
• Access logs maintained for audit

Output

• Basics implementation complete
• Speak API integration verified
• Production-ready patterns applied

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
401 Unauthorized	Invalid API key	Verify SPEAK_API_KEY environment variable
429 Rate Limited	Too many requests	Wait Retry-After seconds, use backoff
Audio format error	Wrong codec/sample rate	Convert to WAV 16kHz mono with ffmpeg
Session expired	Timeout after 30 min	Start a new conversation session

Resources

• Speak Website
• OpenAI Realtime API
• Speak GPT-4 Blog

Next Steps

See

speak-prod-checklist

for production readiness.

Examples

Basic: Apply security basics with default configuration for a standard Speak integration.

Advanced: Customize for production with error recovery, monitoring, and team-specific requirements.