Privacy Policy

SmartSeed Kids ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting the privacy of every child and family who uses our app. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices available to you.

By creating an account or using SmartSeed, you agree to the practices described in this policy. Parents and guardians are encouraged to review this policy with their children.

Account Information

When you register, we collect your name, email address, and password (stored as an encrypted hash). You may also upload a profile photo.

Usage & Progress Data

We record stories you listen to, playback progress, star ratings you submit, listening duration, and achievements you earn. This helps us personalise your experience and restore your progress.

Device Information

We collect basic technical data such as device model, operating system version, and app version to diagnose issues and improve performance. We do not link this to your personal identity.

Subscription Status

If you subscribe to SmartSeed Premium or Premium+, Apple shares a subscription receipt with us solely to verify your membership tier. We do not receive your payment card details at any time.

Provide the Service

Authenticate your account, sync listening progress across sessions, and unlock premium content for subscribers.

Personalise Your Experience

Show reading recommendations, track achievements, award stars, and display your progress streaks.

Improve SmartSeed

Analyse aggregate usage patterns (never individual children's data) to add new stories, fix bugs, and improve the app.

Customer Support

Respond to questions or account issues you contact us about.

Legal Obligations

Retain records as required by applicable law and respond to lawful government requests.

Story Studio is a premium feature that lets parents submit a personalised audio story request starring their child. Here is how we handle the information involved.

Information You Provide

When submitting a Story Studio request, you provide your child's first name, personality traits, and story theme preferences. This information is used solely to create the personalised story and is never shared with third parties for marketing purposes.

Community Showcase

If selected and produced, your story may be featured in the Community Showcase, visible only to other active Premium subscribers. Your child's first name (as you entered it) may appear in the story title. No other personal information — such as surname, photo, or account details — is publicly displayed.

Parental Gate

A parental PIN is required before any Story Studio request can be submitted. This gate ensures only parents and guardians can initiate story requests on behalf of their child, in compliance with Apple's parental controls guidelines.

Removal Requests

If you wish to have your child's story removed from the Community Showcase, contact us at privacy@smartseedkids.net and we will process your request within 7 business days.

SmartSeed is designed for children and families. We take the protection of children's personal information extremely seriously.

Parental Consent

Children under 13 may only use SmartSeed under the supervision of a parent or guardian who creates and manages the account. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13.

No Behavioural Advertising

We never serve behavioural or targeted advertising to children. We do not build advertising profiles based on children's data.

Parental Rights

Parents may review, correct, or request deletion of their child's personal information at any time by contacting us at privacy@smartseedkids.net. We will respond within 30 days.

If We Discover a Violation

If we learn we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible.

We Do Not Sell Your Data

We never sell, rent, or trade personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes.

Service Providers

We share data with trusted vendors who help us operate the service (e.g., cloud hosting, crash analytics). These vendors are contractually required to protect your data and may not use it for other purposes.

Apple

Subscription verification and in-app purchase validation are handled by Apple. Apple's Privacy Policy governs data Apple independently collects.

Legal Requirements

We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or to protect the safety of users or the public.

Business Transfers

In the event of a merger or acquisition, user data may transfer to the successor entity under the same privacy protections described here.

We implement industry-standard security measures including HTTPS encryption for all data in transit, bcrypt password hashing, and access controls limiting who within our team can access personal data.

No system is 100% secure. If you believe your account has been compromised, please contact us immediately at support@smartseedkids.net.

Access

Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.

Correction

Update your name, email, or profile photo at any time in Account Settings.

Deletion

Delete your account and all associated data from Account Settings → Delete Account. Deletion is permanent and irreversible.

Opt-Out of Analytics

You may contact us to opt out of aggregate usage analytics. Note: core service data (progress, ratings) is required to operate the app.

California Residents (CCPA)

You have the right to know, delete, and opt out of sale of personal information. We do not sell personal information. Submit requests to privacy@smartseedkids.net.

EEA / UK Residents (GDPR)

You have the right to access, rectify, erase, and port your data. Contact privacy@smartseedkids.net to exercise these rights. You may also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

We retain account information and usage data for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account, we permanently delete your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.

Aggregated, de-identified analytics (no personal identifiers) may be retained indefinitely to improve the service.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you via in-app notification and update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page.

Continued use of SmartSeed after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.