Privacy Policy
Effective Date: February 27, 2026 Last Updated: February 27, 2026
1. Introduction
Welcome to ButWhy Learning ("we," "our," or "us"). We are committed to protecting the privacy and safety of children who use our educational app. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you use the ButWhy Learning mobile application.
Important: ButWhy Learning is designed for children and complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children without verifiable parental consent.
2. Information We Collect
2.1 Parent/Guardian Information
- Parent or guardian's name (for parental consent verification)
- Parent or guardian's email address (for privacy notifications and updates)
- Parental consent records and verification status
- Storage: This information is stored locally on your device and used solely for parental verification and sending privacy-related communications
Data Retention Period: Parental contact information (name and email) and consent records are retained for the duration of your use of the app to maintain consent validity and for legal compliance. This information is kept until you request deletion by contacting us at iggy@butwhylearning.com or by uninstalling the app and requesting account deletion.
2.2 Child Profile Information
- Child's first name or nickname (for personalization, stored only on-device)
- Age range (to provide age-appropriate content, stored only on-device)
- Learning preferences and interests
- Content filter settings set by parents
2.3 Learning Activity Data
- Questions asked by the child (sent to third-party AI services for educational responses)
- Educational conversations and interactions
- Learning progress and achievements
- Time spent in different learning categories
- Geographic locations explored in the Geography Explorer feature
2.4 Audio Data (Transmitted to Third Parties)
- Voice recordings when using speech-to-text features
- IMPORTANT: Audio recordings of your child's voice are temporarily transmitted to OpenAI's Whisper service (a third-party provider) for speech-to-text conversion
- Audio files are processed by the third-party service and immediately deleted after conversion
- Voice data is used only to convert speech to text for educational interactions
- We have contractual agreements with OpenAI that they do not store or use this audio data for any other purpose, including training their AI models
2.5 Technical Information
- Device type and operating system version
- App usage analytics (crash reports, performance data)
- Error logs for improving app functionality
3. How We Use Information
We use the collected information solely for educational purposes:
- Providing personalized, age-appropriate educational content
- Tracking learning progress and achievements
- Enabling voice-based interactions with our AI learning companion
- Allowing parents to monitor their child's learning journey
- Improving our educational algorithms and content
- Ensuring content safety through our filtering systems
- Sending privacy notifications and updates to parents via email
4. AI and Educational Content
ButWhy Learning uses artificial intelligence (AI) to power educational conversations:
- AI responses are filtered to ensure age-appropriate, educational content
- Conversations are designed to encourage learning and curiosity
- Content is aligned with educational standards and developmental milestones
- Parents can review all conversations through the parent dashboard
- We do not use child data to train general AI models
5. PII Protection System
We have implemented an advanced PII (Personally Identifiable Information) filtering system that automatically scans and removes personal information from your child's questions before they are sent to any third-party service.
- Automatically detects names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, and other personal information
- Removes detected PII before sending questions to AI services
- Notifies your child when personal information is detected and removed
- All filtering happens on-device before any data leaves the app
6. Data Storage and Security
- All data is stored securely using industry-standard encryption
- Data is stored on secure servers with appropriate access controls
- Voice recordings are processed temporarily by third-party services and deleted immediately after conversion to text
- Parent information is stored locally on your device
- We regularly review and update our security practices
- Access to child data is limited to authorized personnel only
7. Parental Rights and Controls
Parents and guardians have full control over their child's data and app experience:
- View all conversations and learning activities through the parent dashboard
- Set content filters and age-appropriate restrictions
- Request deletion of all child data at any time
- Export learning progress and conversation history
- Modify or delete the child's profile information
- Control audio recording permissions
- Update or delete parent contact information
- Withdraw parental consent at any time
8. Data Sharing and Disclosure
We do not sell, rent, or share personal information about children. We may disclose information only in the following limited circumstances:
- With parental consent for specific educational purposes
- To protect the safety and security of our users
- To comply with legal obligations or court orders
- With service providers who help operate our app (under strict confidentiality agreements)
9. Third-Party Services and Data Transmission
CRITICAL NOTICE FOR PARENTS: ButWhy Learning transmits your child's data to third-party artificial intelligence services to provide educational content. Please read this section carefully to understand exactly what data is shared with these external services.
9.1 OpenAI Services — Third-Party Data Processing
We use OpenAI Corporation's services for educational content generation and speech processing. OpenAI is a third-party company that processes your child's data as follows:
- ChatGPT (Question Processing): Your child's educational questions (in text form) are transmitted to OpenAI's ChatGPT service to generate age-appropriate educational responses. Questions are sent anonymously without the child's name, but the content of the question itself is processed by OpenAI.
- Whisper (Speech-to-Text): Your child's voice recordings are temporarily transmitted to OpenAI's Whisper service to convert speech to text. This means your child's actual voice is sent to a third-party service. Audio files are processed and immediately deleted by OpenAI, but the voice data does travel outside our app.
- Text-to-Speech: Educational response text is sent to OpenAI's text-to-speech service to create audio responses for your child. This includes the content of educational responses but NOT your child's name or other personal identifiers.
9.2 Third-Party Data Protection Measures
To protect your child's privacy when using third-party services:
- Child names and personal identifiers are NOT sent to third-party AI services
- We use anonymous session IDs instead of personal information
- Questions and educational content are sent without identifying information
- Personalization (like using the child's name) happens after receiving the AI response on your device
- Audio recordings are processed temporarily and immediately deleted by the third-party service
- COPPA Compliance: OpenAI has contractual commitments that they do not store, retain, or use data transmitted through their API for training their models or any other purpose
9.3 Anonymous User ID System
To provide personalized learning experiences while protecting privacy:
- We generate anonymous user IDs that contain no personal information
- These IDs allow us to track learning progress without exposing child names to third parties
- Anonymous IDs cannot be linked back to any personal information by third parties
- All backend services use only these anonymous identifiers
9.4 Third-Party Service Agreements
- OpenAI API Agreement: We have contractual agreements with OpenAI that require them to immediately delete any data transmitted through their API and prohibit them from using this data for training or any other purpose
- All third-party services must maintain COPPA-compliant safeguards for children's data
- We do not use any third-party analytics or advertising services that receive child data
- No personally identifiable information is shared with third parties for advertising purposes
- We regularly audit our third-party service providers for compliance
9.5 Alternative Options for Privacy-Conscious Parents
Parents who prefer to minimize third-party data transmission can:
- Use text input instead of voice input to avoid sending voice recordings to third-party speech processing services
- Access the app's built-in educational content library that doesn't require AI processing
- Review all conversations and questions through the parent dashboard
- Disable voice features in the app settings if available
9.6 External Learning Resources
Our app may include links to external educational websites and resources:
- All external links are protected by a parental gate that requires adult verification before access
- We do not control the content or privacy practices of external websites
- Parents should review the privacy policies of any external sites accessed through our app
- External resources are curated for age-appropriateness but may contain advertising or other content outside our control
10. What We Don't Do
We never:
- Share your child's data with third parties for marketing
- Use your child's data for advertising
- Collect unnecessary personal information
- Use third-party tracking or analytics services
- Store payment information (handled securely by third parties)
- Send child names or ages to third-party AI services
- Send personal information without filtering it first
11. Data Retention
- Learning progress data is retained to track educational development
- Voice recordings are processed temporarily by third-party services and immediately deleted after speech-to-text conversion
- Parents can request deletion of all child data at any time
- Data is automatically deleted if the app is not used for 2 years
- Upon account deletion, all associated data is permanently removed within 30 days
- Parent contact information stored locally can be deleted by uninstalling the app
12. International Data Transfers
If you use ButWhy Learning outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States where our servers and third-party service providers are located. We ensure that such transfers comply with applicable data protection laws including COPPA and GDPR where applicable.
13. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify parents of any material changes by email (using the contact information you provided during parental consent) or through the app interface. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.
14. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, our data practices, or wish to exercise your parental rights, please contact us at:
- Email: iggy@butwhylearning.com
- Phone: (530) 598-1229
- Address: Venice, CA 90291
- Response Time: We will respond to privacy inquiries within 48 hours
15. COPPA Compliance Statement
ButWhy Learning complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). We:
- Collect verifiable parental consent before collecting any personal information from children under 13 years of age
- Provide parents with clear information about what data is collected and how it's used, including third-party data transmission
- Provide parents with tools to review, modify, and delete their child's information
- Do not require children to provide more information than necessary for educational activities
- Take reasonable steps to ensure the confidentiality and security of children's information, including contractual protections with third-party service providers
- Do not share children's personal information for advertising or marketing purposes
This privacy policy complies with COPPA, GDPR, and other applicable privacy laws. We are committed to protecting your child's privacy and providing a safe learning environment.
This Privacy Policy was last updated on February 27, 2026. By using ButWhy Learning, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy, including our use of third-party services for educational content generation and speech processing.
