Privacy Policy

Maitri Kids is designed for children ages 2 to 5 and their parents. We take privacy, especially children’s privacy, seriously. This policy explains what information our mobile app (“Maitri Kids”) and website (maitrikids.com) collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. It is written to comply with the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). It also follows Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines for Kids category apps and Google Play’s Families Policy.

Short version

• We do not collect personal information from children. The child does not enter, and is never asked for, a name, email, or any other identifying detail.
• We do not show advertising, use third-party analytics SDKs, or track users across apps or websites.
• We use anonymous Firebase authentication. This saves your child’s story progress on their device and syncs it across their devices without ever requiring a name, email, or password.
• The only personal information we may handle is a parent’s email address. This is collected only if the parent voluntarily provides one either by creating an optional account in the app to back up progress across devices, or by contacting us for support.

1. Information the app collects

When a child uses the Maitri Kids app, it creates an anonymous account using Firebase Authentication. This account is identified only by a randomly generated ID. It is not tied to a name, email address, phone number, or any other identifier that could be used to contact or identify the child.

The app only saves:

• The random account code mentioned above.
• Progress within a story (e.g., which obstacles have been completed in “Ganesha & the Little Obstacles”).
• Non-personal device details, like the device type, are automatically reported by Firebase’s SDK to run the service.

We do not collect names, photos, voice recordings, contacts, location data, advertising IDs, or any persistent identifiers linked to a real-world identity from your child. The app does not access your device’s camera, microphone, contacts, or location.

2. Optional parent account

A parent may create an optional account using their email and password. This is entirely optional; the app works fully without one. The parent account backs up the child’s story progress. Progress can then be restored if the app is reinstalled or if the family uses more than one device.

When a parent creates an account, we collect:

• The email address they enter.
• A securely-hashed password. This is handled by Firebase Authentication; we never see or store the plaintext password.

We use the parent’s email address only to operate the parent’s account, such as for signing in and, if available, for account recovery. We do not send marketing emails to this address or share it with any third party. If a parent wants their account and email deleted, they can contact us from that address at hello@maitrikids.com.

3. Information the website collects

This website is mainly informational. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party analytics. If we add a “notify me at launch” email form, we will only collect the email address you voluntarily provide. We will use it solely to email you about Maitri Kids. You may unsubscribe at any time.

4. How we use information

We use the limited information we collect only to:

• Save and restore your child’s progress in a story.
• Keep the app working reliably by using this information to diagnose crashes or errors.
• Respond to parents who contact us at hello@maitrikids.com.

We do not sell or rent information to anyone. We do not use children’s information for marketing or advertising.

5. Third parties

Maitri Kids uses Google’s Firebase service to save anonymous progress. Firebase helps us store and protect our users’ data. Their privacy rules can be found at firebase.google.com/support/privacy.

We do not integrate advertising networks, social media SDKs, third-party analytics, or any other SDKs that are not essential to the app’s operation.

6. Parental rights (COPPA)

Under COPPA, parents have the right to review, delete, or refuse further collection of their child’s information. A parent who wishes to delete their child’s stored progress can do so by:

• If a parent account exists, email us at hello@maitrikids.com from the parent email on file. We will delete the account and its associated progress on request.
• If only an anonymous account exists, delete the app from the device. This severs the only link between the device and the anonymous record. Because anonymous accounts are not linked to any real-world identifier, the orphaned record becomes inaccessible to us and others. A parent who wants us to also remove the underlying record from our database can email us with enough context (e.g., approximate creation date, device platform) to help us locate it.

7. Data retention

We retain a child’s story progress as long as the associated account (anonymous or parent-created) is active. A parent who wants data deleted can email us at hello@maitrikids.com, and we will delete it. Uninstalling the app severs the device’s link to its anonymous account. If the account was never linked to a parent email, the record becomes orphaned and inaccessible to anyone, including us.

We keep parent email addresses (when a parent account exists) until the parent requests that we delete the account. We also delete it if the account remains inactive for an extended period and decide to clean it up.

8. Data security

Firebase data is protected by Firestore security rules. Each account can only read and write its own records; no account can see another’s progress or profile. Data in transit is encrypted (HTTPS/TLS). Passwords for the optional parent account are hashed by Firebase Authentication using industry-standard algorithms. We never see or store the plaintext password.

9. International users

Maitri Kids launches first in the United States and Canada. Data is stored in Google Cloud’s us-central1 region (Iowa, USA). If you use the app outside North America, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States.

10. Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we will update the “Effective” date above. Where required by law, we will notify parents directly before the change takes effect.

11. Contact

If you have questions about this policy or your child’s information, please contact us at hello@maitrikids.com.