This Privacy Policy explains how KidWhy ("KidWhy", "we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, and protects personal information when parents and children use our website, mobile applications, and related services (collectively, the "Services").
KidWhy is designed for young children (around ages 3–7) and their parents. Children interact with KidWhy primarily through voice and images (no reading required). All accounts, consents, and purchases are handled by parents or legal guardians.
If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, please do not use our Services.
1. Who we are & how to contact us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, you can contact us at:
- Email: privacy@kidwhy.app
2. Scope of this Policy
This Privacy Policy applies to:
- Our website, including any landing pages, marketing pages, and parent dashboards.
- Our mobile and tablet applications that provide the KidWhy experience.
- Any related services, content, or features that link to this Privacy Policy.
This Policy does not apply to third-party websites, apps, or services that we do not control, even if you access them through our Services.
3. Child-directed service & parental responsibility
KidWhy is a child-directed experience aimed at children ages 3–7, but we expect parents or legal guardians to:
- Create and manage accounts,
- Provide any required consent,
- Control access to the app and device,
- Review their child's activity and settings.
Children should use KidWhy under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian.
Depending on where you live, we may be subject to laws such as:
- The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the United States, and
- Child privacy provisions of laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU/EEA and UK.
Where required, we will request verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from a child.
We also intend to comply with platform requirements for child-directed apps, including restrictions on advertising, tracking, and data sharing for apps primarily aimed at children.
4. Information we collect
We collect different types of information from and about users, including children, in order to provide the Services safely and effectively.
4.1 Information provided by parents or guardians
When a parent or guardian uses KidWhy, we may collect:
Account information
- Name or display name
- Email address
- Password or authentication credentials
- Child's first name or nickname
- Child's age or age range (e.g., 3–4, 5–7)
Subscription & payment information
- Billing name and address
- Subscription plan details
- Payment method information processed by a secure third-party payment processor (we do not store full payment card numbers ourselves)
Support and communication
- Messages you send to us (email or in-app support)
- Feedback, survey responses, and bug reports
4.2 Information collected from or about children's use
When a child uses KidWhy, we may collect:
Voice recordings and audio data
- Audio of the child's questions and interactions with the app
- These recordings are used to understand what the child said and to generate an appropriate response.
Transcripts and interaction content
- Text transcripts generated from the child's voice by speech-to-text systems
- AI-generated responses, explanations, and content shown or played to the child
- Information about the questions asked (e.g., "Why is the sky blue?")
Usage information
- Features used and content viewed
- Time and duration of sessions
- In-app actions (e.g., which questions are frequently asked, which topics are selected)
Device & technical information
- Device type, operating system, and app version
- Approximate location information such as country, language, and time zone
- IP address and device identifiers where necessary for security, fraud prevention, and service functionality
We do not require a child to provide an email address or other direct contact information to use the child-facing experience.
4.3 Cookies and similar technologies (website & parent areas)
On our website and in parent-facing areas, we may use:
- Cookies
- Local storage
- Similar technologies
These technologies help us:
- Remember your preferences,
- Keep you logged in to your account,
- Understand how our site and parent features are used.
We do not use cookies or similar technologies for behavioral advertising or for tracking children across websites or apps.
Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before using non-essential cookies or similar technologies.
5. No ads & no third-party analytics
5.1 No advertising
KidWhy does not show advertising to children and does not include third-party advertising networks in the child-facing experience.
We do not use children's personal information for targeted or behavioral advertising.
5.2 No third-party analytics SDKs in child experience
KidWhy does not use third-party analytics SDKs in the child-facing part of the app.
We may perform limited, privacy-respecting analytics using our own systems (or server-side tools) to understand how the app is used, improve the experience, and maintain security. Where possible, these analytics use aggregated or de-identified data.
If we use third-party tools for analytics in parent-only sections (for example, on the website or parent dashboard), we will configure them not to receive children's personal data and only for limited purposes such as understanding overall usage and improving the service.
6. How we use the information
We use personal information for the following purposes:
6.1 To provide and operate the Services
- Enable children to ask questions by voice and receive audio + visual explanations.
- Generate, customize, and display images and stories suitable for the child's age.
- Maintain and manage parent accounts, including authentication and parental controls.
- Provide customer support and respond to your inquiries.
6.2 To ensure safety and appropriate use
- Enforce our safety filters and content policies.
- Detect and block inappropriate or unsafe questions and content.
- Monitor for abuse, security issues, or misuse of the Services.
6.3 To improve and develop KidWhy
- Analyze usage patterns in an aggregated or de-identified manner to understand which topics and features are most helpful.
- Improve our AI models, voice interactions, and educational content.
- Develop new features and enhancements.
6.4 To communicate with parents or guardians
- Send account-related and transactional emails (e.g., confirming your email address, password reset, subscription changes, payment receipts).
- Send important updates about safety, policy changes, and critical service information.
- With your consent where required, send newsletters or product updates to parents (not to children).
6.5 To comply with legal obligations
- Comply with applicable laws and regulations.
- Respond to lawful requests from public or government authorities.
- Protect our rights, privacy, safety, and property, and that of our users and others.
7. Third-party AI providers (OpenAI & Google Gemini)
To provide KidWhy's core functionality (answering children's questions via voice and images), we use trusted third-party AI providers, including but not limited to:
- OpenAI (e.g., for language understanding and generation), and
- Google's Gemini models (e.g., for language, vision, or other AI capabilities).
7.1 What data they receive
To process a child's question and generate a response, we may send the following to these AI providers:
- Voice recordings and/or audio streams of the child's questions, and/or
- Text transcripts generated from the child's speech, and
- Limited context needed to maintain the conversation (for example, recent prior questions and answers in the same session).
We do not share children's data with third-party AI providers for their own advertising or marketing purposes.
7.2 How they use the data
These AI providers process the data on our behalf to:
- Recognize what the child said (speech-to-text),
- Generate understandable explanations, stories, and answers,
- Help create image descriptions or visual elements that match the explanation.
We require these providers to:
- Protect the data with appropriate security measures,
- Use it only to provide their services to us and not for independent targeted advertising or profiling of children,
- Handle the data in accordance with applicable child privacy laws and our agreements with them.
We obtain parental consent where required by law before processing children's personal information through these third-party AI providers.
8. Legal bases for processing (for EEA/UK users)
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, we process personal data based on the following legal grounds:
Performance of a contract
To provide the Services you request as a parent or guardian, including your access to KidWhy and your child's use of the app.
Consent
When we rely on your explicit consent, for example for certain data practices related to children or for optional communications.
Legitimate interests
For limited purposes such as improving the Services, preventing fraud, and ensuring security, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.
Legal obligation
When we are required to comply with laws and regulations.
9. Children's privacy & parental rights
9.1 Parental consent
Where required by law (for example under COPPA, GDPR, or similar regulations), we will take reasonable steps to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from a child.
If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child in a way that requires parental consent but we do not have that consent, we will take steps to delete the information as soon as reasonably possible.
9.2 What parents can do
As a parent or legal guardian, you may:
- Review the personal information we have collected about your child.
- Request deletion of your child's personal information.
- Withdraw consent and request that we stop further collection and use of your child's information.
- Manage usage through any parental control tools we provide (for example, screen-time limits, disabling certain features, or viewing a history of questions).
To exercise these rights, please contact us at privacy@kidwhy.app and clearly state that you are the parent or legal guardian of a child user of KidWhy. We may take steps to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.
10. How we share information
We do not sell personal information of children.
We may share information in the following limited circumstances:
10.1 Service providers
We work with trusted service providers who help us operate, secure, and improve KidWhy, such as:
- Cloud hosting providers
- Payment processors
- Customer support tools
- Third-party AI providers (OpenAI, Google Gemini, and similar)
These providers may only use personal information as needed to perform services for us and must handle it securely, in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.
10.2 Legal and safety reasons
We may disclose information if we believe in good faith that it is necessary to:
- Comply with a legal obligation or valid legal process (such as a court order or subpoena),
- Protect the rights, privacy, safety, or property of KidWhy, our users, or others,
- Detect, prevent, or address fraud, abuse, security, or technical issues.
10.3 Business transfers
If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of all or part of our assets, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to appropriate confidentiality protections. We will notify you of any material change in ownership or control that affects your personal information.
10.4 Aggregated or de-identified data
We may share aggregated, anonymized, or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify an individual child or parent, for example to describe usage trends or to improve our services.
11. Data retention
We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to:
- Provide the Services,
- Fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy,
- Comply with legal obligations,
- Resolve disputes, and
- Enforce our agreements.
Examples:
- Voice recordings and transcripts may be stored for a period of time to:
- Allow parents to review their child's activity (where such a feature is available),
- Improve explanations and ensure consistency and safety,
- Monitor and investigate abuse or security incidents.
- Account and subscription information will be retained while your account is active and for a reasonable period after closure for backup, legal, and record-keeping purposes.
You may request deletion of your or your child's personal information as described in Sections 9.2 and 12. In some cases, we may need to retain certain information for legal or security reasons, even after a deletion request, but we will limit what we keep to what is strictly necessary.
12. Data security
We use reasonable technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to help protect personal information from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. These safeguards may include:
- Encryption in transit (and in some cases at rest),
- Access controls and authentication,
- Secure development practices,
- Regular monitoring, logging, and backups.
However, no system is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential and for supervising your child's use of the Services.
If you believe that your account or your child's information has been compromised, please contact us immediately at privacy@kidwhy.app.
13. International transfers
KidWhy may process and store information in countries other than the one you live in. These countries may have different data protection laws than your jurisdiction.
Where required by law (for example, in the EEA/UK), we will implement appropriate safeguards for international transfers, such as standard contractual clauses or other legally recognized mechanisms.
14. Your rights (parents & adult users)
Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal data, including:
- The right to access the personal data we hold about you.
- The right to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
- The right to delete or request erasure of your data.
- The right to object to or restrict certain processing activities.
- The right to data portability (to obtain a copy in a structured, commonly used format).
- The right to withdraw consent, where processing is based on consent.
To exercise these rights, please contact us at privacy@kidwhy.app. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.
Parents also have the specific rights described in Section 9 regarding the personal information of their children.
You may also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe we have not handled your personal data in accordance with applicable law.
15. Third-party services and links
Our Services may contain links to third-party websites, apps, or services that are not operated by KidWhy. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party's site or app.
We are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or policies of third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services before providing them with personal information.
16. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will:
- Update the "Effective date" at the top, and
- Post the updated Privacy Policy on our website and/or in the app.
If we make material changes that significantly affect how we handle personal information (especially children's information), we will take additional steps to inform parents, such as sending an email or showing a prominent notice in the parent area. Where required by law, we will obtain renewed consent.
17. Contact us
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, or if you wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at:
- Email: privacy@kidwhy.app
We will do our best to respond within a reasonable time and in accordance with applicable law.