Privacy Policy

1. Who this covers

Two kinds of people use Parent Setu, and this policy covers both. A sibling creates an account by signing in with their own phone number and a one-time code -- they are the only ones who ever sign in, and they are also the only ones who ever pay. A parentnever creates an account or signs in: a sibling enters a short profile for them (name, and optionally a date of birth, gender, and a reference phone number, none of which are verified), and the parent's own device is connected using a one-time setup link the sibling sends them. Parent Setu is meant for adults coordinating an adult family member's day-to-day safety -- it is not directed at children, and we don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 18 as their own account holder.

2. Information we collect

• Account basics:a sibling's phone number (used to sign in, and never shown to anyone outside their own family group), the name they choose to enter, when they accepted our Terms of Service, and which kinds of notification they have switched on or off.
• Parent profile: whatever a sibling enters for their parent -- name, and optionally a date of birth, gender, preferred language, and a reference phone number used only to show a call/WhatsApp button, not for sign-in.
• Reminders, daily routines, and check-ins:the reminders and routines a sibling sets up (including whatever text they type into a reminder's name or note), and a record of which ones were marked done and when, entered on the parent's own device with a single tap.
• Emergency contacts: names, roles (e.g. doctor, neighbor), and phone numbers a sibling adds for their parent to reach with one tap.
• SOS alerts:when a parent presses the SOS button, a record of when it happened, the location described below, and -- if the parent's device can do it -- a short written transcript of what they said (see "Speech" below), kept together with the alert so the family can see it.
• Location, only around an SOS press or a check-in:a best-effort GPS fix from the parent's own device at that moment, plus a short place name looked up from it (via OpenStreetMap's Nominatim service), shared with the family so they know roughly where their parent was. Location is never collected continuously or in the background -- only at the moment of an SOS press or a check-in, and only if the parent's device permission for it is granted.
• Moments (photos and voice notes):whatever a sibling or parent chooses to send each other through the app's Moments feature.
• Push notification address: a device token (from Firebase Cloud Messaging) so alerts can reach a specific phone, and whether that phone is using the Android app or a web browser -- this is an anonymous address for sending a notification, not readable content. It is removed when you log out of that device.
• Speech:when a parent presses SOS, their device may listen for about ten seconds and turn what they say into text. On a web browser that speech-to-text is done by a service run by the browser's maker (for Chrome, Google), which receives that short audio; the Android app does not offer it. Separately, the spoken messages that come with alarms and greetings are read aloud by the phone's own text-to-speech feature, on the phone itself -- those words are not sent to us or to anyone else for this.
• Billing records: which sibling is subscribed, at what price, which payment service they used, and the date, amount, and currency of each payment. We never see or store an actual card or bank account number -- Razorpay (in India) or PayPal (outside India), our payment processors, handle that directly (see Section 4).
• Basic technical information:standard web server logs (e.g. IP address, browser type) generated automatically by our hosting providers, and, inside the Android app only, the phone's manufacturer and model -- read on the device itself to show the right battery-settings instructions for that phone, and never sent to our servers.

3. How we use it

Only to run the service itself: showing a family their parent's reminder/routine status, sending the reminders and alerts described in the app, connecting a parent's device via a setup link, processing subscription payments, and responding if someone contacts us for support. We do not use this information for advertising, and we do not build any profile of a parent or sibling beyond what the app visibly shows that family itself.

4. Who we share it with

We do not sell any information, ever, to anyone.A parent's information is visible only to the siblings in their own family group -- never to another family using the app. Beyond that, the only sharing is with the service providers that run Parent Setu on our behalf, each only for the specific job described:

• Google Firebase -- sign-in (phone number verification, including the text message that carries your one-time code) and push notification delivery.
• Razorpay and PayPal -- process sibling subscription payments; card, bank, and PayPal account details go directly to them and are never stored on our own servers.
• Render, Neon, Vercel, and Cloudflare -- host our backend, database, website, and uploaded photos/voice notes respectively.
• OpenStreetMap Nominatim-- turns an SOS/check-in's GPS coordinates into a short, readable place name.

We may also share information if genuinely required by law, or to protect someone's safety in an emergency.

5. Where your information is stored

Our servers and cloud storage are located outside India, primarily in the United States. By using Parent Setu, you understand your information will be processed there, protected by the same security measures described in Section 7 regardless of location.

6. How long we keep it

We keep a family's information for as long as the account is active, and for up to about 12 months after everyone in that family has stopped using the app, after which it may be deleted. Signing out of a device, or uninstalling the app, stops alerts reaching that device (signing out does it immediately) but does not delete anything -- signing back in restores everything exactly as it was. You can delete your account yourself at any time, which removes your information straight away (see Section 8), or ask us to.

When you delete your account,your account and sign-in record are removed. Any family where you were the only sibling is deleted completely, including the parents' profiles, reminders, check-ins, SOS records, photos and voice notes. A family that still has other siblings stays for them. Two small things are kept on purpose: (1) a scrambled (one-way hashed) version of your phone number, the date you first signed up, and whether your free month was used -- nothing else -- so that deleting and signing up again cannot be used to get another free month; and (2) the payment records that Razorpay or PayPal hold on their own systems, which they must keep under financial and tax laws.

Moments (photos and voice notes) are the one exception, kept for a much shorter time on purpose: each one is automatically deleted around 12 hours after it's sent, rather than kept as a lasting archive. Save a copy yourself if you want to keep a photo or recording longer than that. You can also delete a photo or voice note that you sent yourself, at any time, from the Moments screen: it is then removed from our storage straight away (it cannot take back a copy someone has already saved on their own phone).

7. Security

All traffic between the app and our servers is encrypted (HTTPS). Payment card and bank details are handled entirely by Razorpay or PayPal under their own security standards -- we never receive or store them ourselves. No method of storing or transmitting information is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable, industry-standard steps to protect what we hold.

8. Your choices

A sibling can review and correct their parent's profile, remove emergency contacts or reminders, delete a photo or voice note they sent in Moments, choose which notifications they receive (SOS alerts always stay on), and cancel their subscription at any time from within the app. A sibling can also delete their own account at any timein the app (Settings, then "Delete my account"), or by following the steps on our account deletion page. A parent can likewise choose which reminders and cards they see on their own phone, and delete a photo or voice note they sent. You can also ask us to show you what we hold about you, correct it, or delete it, and you can withdraw your agreement at any time by deleting your information and stopping use of the app. To make any of these requests, correct something we can't reach from inside the app, ask any other question about your data, or raise a complaint, contact us at support@parentsetu.com.

9. Changes to this policy

If we make a meaningful change to this policy, we'll update the date at the top of this page and, for a significant change, tell you in the app. Continuing to use Parent Setu after a change means you accept the updated policy.

10. Contact us

Questions about this policy, or about your family's information, can be sent to support@parentsetu.com.