Privacy policy

The short version

• The app has no accounts, sign-in, ads, analytics or tracking. It has no chat and no way to contact strangers.
• Everything you enter stays on your phone. We don't run servers that store your family's information, and we never see it.
• The app's data is kept out of iCloud and computer backups, so it never leaves the device.
• The camera and microphone work live only. Nothing is recorded, saved or sent anywhere.
• The only online connection is for Club subscriptions. It uses an anonymous code and never anything about your child.

Information stored on your phone

The app saves the following in its own private storage on your device:

• Agent name or squad names, owl choice (Barnaby or Hazel), accent, and solo/squad setting
• Sticker charts, stars and mission history
• Reminder times
• Your pet's photo and name for Where's Molly?, if you add one
• Whether admin access is switched on (the code itself is never stored)

None of this is sent to us or anyone else. We don't use it to build an online profile of your child.

Not in backups: the app's saved data is excluded from iCloud Backup and computer backups. If you restore your phone or move to a new one, the app starts fresh. Club subscriptions aren't affected; use Restore purchases in the Club tab.

Camera

The Water the Plants and Silly Face missions use the camera live, so the app can see when your child is in the picture and react to their faces. All of this happens on the phone, in the moment. No photos or video are taken, recorded, saved or sent. A note on screen says so while the camera is on, and the camera turns off when the mission ends.

Microphone and speech recognition

The Secret Reading mission listens while your child reads a word aloud, so the owl can cheer when they get it. The app only listens on phones that can recognise speech on the device itself. Audio is never sent to Apple or anyone else, and nothing is recorded or kept. On phones without on-device listening, the mic stays off and a grown-up taps "they said it!" instead.

Photos (Where's Molly?)

If you choose a pet photo, you pick a single photo with Apple's photo picker. The app never sees the rest of your photo library. The app cuts your pet out of the background on the phone and keeps both images in local storage. They are never uploaded. You can use our illustrated puppy, Molly, instead of a photo.

Reminders

Routine reminders, such as Bath Time at 6pm, are scheduled on your phone by the app itself. Nothing is sent from a server. They arrive with the standard short alert sound, and a mission only starts if a grown-up taps the reminder.

Club subscriptions and purchases

Apple handles all payments through your Apple ID. We never see or store your card details.

RevenueCat (our subscription service) checks whether your Club subscription is active. It receives an anonymous code generated by the app, your purchase and subscription status, and the basic technical details needed to make that check work. It never receives your name, email, child's details, photos or anything you enter in the app. See RevenueCat's Privacy Policy.

Subscription screens sit behind a grown-up check. We don't sell or share any information with advertisers.

Manage or cancel your subscription anytime in Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions on your iPhone.

Crash reports

The app has no crash reporting or analytics of its own. If you've chosen to share app analytics with developers in your iPhone's settings (or tap Share when a TestFlight test version crashes), Apple may send us an anonymous crash report. It covers what the app was doing when it closed, plus your device model and iOS version. It contains nothing you've entered in the app. You can turn this off in Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements.

Deleting your data

Reset sticker charts or Change pet in the grown-up settings removes that information. Deleting the app removes all of its data from your phone — because the data isn't backed up, no copies remain in your backups. Apple and RevenueCat keep purchase records as required for billing; contact us if you'd like help with those.

Children's privacy

Helper Hotline is designed to be used by a parent with their child. We don't collect children's personal information on our servers — everything stays on the family's device. Helper Hotline is designed to meet the requirements of COPPA (USA), the UK Age Appropriate Design Code (Children's Code), the GDPR (EU), the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020. If you have questions about your child's information or your privacy rights, contact us below.

Website

The Helper Hotline website doesn't collect email addresses or personal information. It uses no tracking cookies, advertising pixels or third-party ad networks. Our hosting provider uses privacy-focused, cookie-free analytics that measure aggregate site visits (such as page views and country) without identifying individual people. Like any website, the hosting service may also briefly process technical request details (such as IP address and browser type) to deliver pages and fix errors. These website analytics never apply to the app.

Terms

The app is provided under Apple's Standard End User License Agreement.

Changes to this policy

If anything changes, we'll update this page and the date at the top.

Contact

Questions, or a request to remove information: tradewidgets@yahoo.com