Privacy
Last updated 31 October 2026.
ProtectKids helps parents set screen-time limits on their children's phones. This page says what we collect, why, who processes it, and how to delete it. We don't show ads, we don't use ad or attribution trackers, and we don't sell or share data for advertising.
What a parent gives us
- Your email address, to send sign-in codes. There is no password.
- Your children's first names and, if you choose, their birth year (to pitch puzzles at the right level).
- The rules you set: daily allowances, schedules, app lists and limits, chores and their rewards, and your PIN, which we store only as a one-way hash.
- Your subscription status, which the App Store or Google Play reports through RevenueCat. We never see card details.
What a child's phone sends
- The phone's model, system version, time zone and battery level.
- The list of apps that can be opened on it, with their icons and store category, so a parent can sort them.
- How long each app was in front each day, so limits can be enforced and parents can see the day.
- Which app is in front right now (its name only, never what is in it), and whether the screen is on, so parents can see it live.
- Whether the settings ProtectKids needs are switched on, and events such as an attempt to remove the app.
- Chores marked done, minutes earned with puzzles, and requests for more time.
ProtectKids does not collect message contents, what is on the screen or on a web page, what is typed, photos or contacts. Children don't create accounts or give us personal details; the phone uses an anonymous account tied to the family by the pairing code.
Location is off unless a parent turns it on for a child. While it's on, the child's phone sends where it is about every 15 minutes, with its regular check-in, and shows a notice saying so. The family's adults see it on a map, with the places they saved (and a notification when the child arrives or leaves one). Points are deleted after 30 days, and at once when the phone, the child or the account is removed.
If a parent turns on web safety, the phone reads the web address shown in a browser's address bar and checks it on the phone against the parent's list and a list of adult sites that ships with the app. Unless the parent has also turned on browsing history, the address is then dropped: it isn't kept or sent. The sites a parent blocks or always allows are stored with the family's settings.
Browsing history is off unless a parent turns it on for a child. While it's on, the child's phone sends each page it opens in those browsers: the site and the address without the part after the "?", the words of a search on a known search engine, and whether web safety closed it. Never what is on the page. The child's phone shows a notice saying so. Only the family's parents see it, not caregivers. It is kept 30 days, a parent can clear it at any time, and it is deleted at once when the child or the account is removed.
If a parent turns on the Walking task, the phone asks the child to let it count steps. Steps are counted on the phone and never sent: only the minutes earned are.
The Exercise task uses the front camera to count squats and jumps. The picture is read on the phone, frame by frame, and never recorded, kept or sent: only the minutes earned are.
Who processes it
- Supabase: database, sign-in and file storage (the region is chosen when the service is set up).
- RevenueCat: subscription status.
- Apple and Google: payments and refunds; push notifications through their services.
- Google Firebase: delivering push notifications.
- Resend: sending sign-in emails, and your “Something's wrong” messages to our support inbox.
- Sentry: crash reports, if enabled, without personal content.
- Vercel: hosting this website.
How long we keep it
Daily usage, earned time, answered requests and finished chores are deleted after 400 days, and notifications after 90 days. Everything else stays while your account exists.
Deleting it
In the ProtectKids app: More, Account, Delete account. That deletes your family: children, rules, history and every connected phone's data. Each connected phone lets go the next time it checks in: no rules, no uninstall lock. If you share the family with another parent, they keep it, and become its owner if you were. Without the app: delete your account.
When you write to us
If you use “Something's wrong” in the app, we keep your message and your email address to answer you, and, if you leave the box ticked, your family's phones' details: models, app versions, which settings are on and when each last checked in. Never messages, usage or anything on a screen.
The beta list
If you join the beta on this website, we keep your email address and which phone you use, only to tell you about the beta. Write to us and we remove it.
Children
ProtectKids is set up and controlled by a parent or guardian, who gives the child's first name and connects the child's phone. The child's app explains what it does before it starts, and the child can always see why an app is paused.
Contact
Questions or requests: privacy@protectkids.app.