Children’s privacy (draft)

This notice explains, for parents and guardians, how Elaüquent handles children’s data. It adds to our privacy policy. [LEGAL REVIEW: confirm COPPA, GDPR-K and UK Age Appropriate Design Code wording and the age of digital consent per country]

Everyone gives a date of birth when they sign up. A child under 13 gives a parent’s or guardian’s email address instead of their own.
That grown-up gets an email with a link to a plain page that explains what the child can do. They sign in to their own adult account (or make one) and say yes or no.
Until they say yes, lessons work on the child’s phone and nothing is shared or synced.
If the grown-up says no, or doesn’t answer within 14 days, the child’s account is deleted.
Children have no email address or password of their own. The app is signed in once after the yes; for a new phone, the guardian makes a one-time sign-in code.

What we collect about a child

Date of birth, to work out their age group. It is never shown to anyone and never written to logs.
In the kids’ space: a first name, an age band and their progress.
Progress, practice time, stickers and badges.
Voice notes with people their guardian approved. Practice recordings in the kids’ space stay on the phone.
The guardian’s email address and their link to the child’s account.

What we never do

No ads, no tracking tools and no third-party code in the kids’ space.
No purchases in the kids’ space. Plans are bought by grown-ups.
No chat with strangers, and no public profile.
Children’s recordings are not used to train computer voices or AI models. [LEGAL REVIEW: confirm]

Who a child can reach

Only the study buddy, circles and families their guardian approved. Messages pass the same safety filter as everywhere in the app, and anything can be reported. Paid native speakers are not available to under-13s.

Teens (13 to 17)

Teens can sign up themselves. Casual and slang words and paid native speakers need a linked guardian’s OK, given on the same consent page.

What parents can do

See progress: words learned, speaking practice and time spent.
Set daily time limits, and switch Play on or off.
Approve, and remove, the people a child can swap voice notes and play with.
Stop the account at any time, which deletes it.

Contact

Questions or worries about a child’s data or safety: hello@elauquent.com. [LEGAL REVIEW: named contact for children’s data requests and response time]

Children’s privacy