Privacy Policy

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: (877) 4-BUTWHY
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.

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