Synapse — Privacy Policy

1. Our approach

Synapse is used by children, so we collect as little as we can, protect it carefully, and are honest about the limits. The parent or guardian is our account holder.

2. What we collect

From you (the parent): your email and the subscription amount you choose; card details are handled by Stripe, we never see or store them. About your child: a nickname/pseudonym you choose (not their real name), their school year level, their conversations with Aria, and progress observations Aria records; we do not collect your child's legal name or any government identifier. Voice: when your child speaks to Aria, their device's browser turns speech into text (Apple on iPhone, Google on Chrome/Android); only the text reaches us, never the audio. When Aria replies aloud, we send the reply text to Google Cloud to turn it into speech. Technical: limited data such as IP address and request times for security and rate-limiting; the public agent stores a short "what you've looked at" list in your own browser only.

3. Collecting from others

We collect most information directly from you. Some information about your child reaches us through you (e.g. setting up their profile); where we collect a child's information other than from the child, we rely on you as guardian to be aware of and agree to that collection on their behalf.

4. Why

To provide tutoring, keep Aria aligned to the NZ Curriculum, show you progress, process your subscription, and keep the service secure. We don't use your information for advertising and don't sell it.

5. Who we share with / overseas

Anthropic (United States): the AI behind Aria; your child's typed messages are sent there to generate replies. Apple/Google: on-device speech-to-text. Google Cloud (United States) — converts Aria's written replies into speech (text-to-speech). Stripe Payments Australia Pty Ltd (Melbourne, Australia): payments. Databasemart (United States): hosting. These providers act on our instructions, not for their own purposes; some information is processed outside New Zealand and we take reasonable steps to ensure comparable protection. We don't otherwise disclose your information except where the law requires.

6. How we protect it, and the honest limits

Your family's content is stored encrypted with a key derived from your password that exists only while you're signed in, so stored content can't be read from our database or backups; there are no admin/staff/support routes into your family's content in the app. Two honest limits: your child's typed messages are sent in readable form to our AI provider to generate replies; and as the developer we have server and source access and are not technically prevented from changing how the service works in future. We tell you this rather than claim a guarantee we can't keep.

7. How long we keep it

Conversation history: only the most recent ~20 exchanges are kept as working context. Account, notes and progress data: kept while your account is active, and no longer than we need it. You can delete your account and all its content at any time — a permanent erasure. Two exceptions: a minimal payment record is kept for 7 years as tax law requires, and deleted content persists in encrypted backups until they rotate out, within 30 days.

8. Access and correction

You can ask to see, correct, or get a copy of your family's information; email us and we'll respond within the 20 working days the Privacy Act allows.

9. Deletion

You can permanently delete your account and all content yourself, any time, from your dashboard or by asking us.

10. Children's privacy

Designed for children but contracted with you, their guardian. We collect the minimum, use a pseudonym instead of your child's real identity, and give you visibility and control. If you believe a child has an account without a guardian's involvement, contact us.

11. If something goes wrong

If a breach is likely to cause serious harm, we'll notify the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and affected families as soon as we can, as the Privacy Act requires.

12. Changes

We may update this policy; for material changes we'll give reasonable notice, and you can review the current version on this page at any time.

13. Contact and complaints

projectsynapsekids@protonmail.com. If unresolved, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.

Privacy suggestions

Something unclear, something missing, or something you would like us to do differently? We read every message.

Also see our Terms of Service.