Privacy policy

Who we are

PocketPals is a chores and pocket money app for families, run by PocketMoney Pals (ABN 60 894 086 567) in Australia. "We" and "us" on this page means us.

What we collect

When you sign up, we keep your first name, your email, your family's name and your time zone. If you tell us where you heard about PocketPals, we keep that too, along with the name of the link or post that brought you to the website (if there was one), so we know which posts are worth making.

If you joined our earlier waitlist, we keep your email, only to tell you when there's a spot. Ask us and we'll take it off.

For grown-ups' accounts, we keep each grown-up's email, the name they go by and their password. Passwords are stored scrambled (hashed), so we can't read them.

Inside your family's space, the app keeps what you and your kids put in it:

• each child's first name, their own PIN for signing in (the PIN stored scrambled), and their pal and its name
• jobs, who did them and when, and whether a grown-up checked them
• pocket money amounts, paydays, what's in each chest, spends and saving goals
• game progress: Sparks, levels, outfits, pets and badges
• an activity log of changes, so you can see and undo them
• the devices a grown-up has signed in on, named from the browser (for example, "iPad, Safari"), so kids can sign in there

We don't collect your children's email addresses, photos, location or contacts. PocketPals doesn't hold or move money, so we never see bank or card details for your kids' pocket money.

Paying for PocketPals: payments are handled by Stripe. You give your card details to Stripe, not to us, and we never see your full card number. Stripe tells us your name, email, plan and whether your payments went through, and we keep that with your family's account. Stripe may store this information outside Australia, including in the United States (see stripe.com/privacy).

Pal voices: every pal can talk, saying lines that come with the app ("Great job!"). Those need nothing from your family. A grown-up can also turn on Pal says their name for a child, from that child's Plan or from Settings. It's off until you turn it on. Then, to have the pal say "Hi Ava!" and read out jobs, we send our voice service, ElevenLabs, only the words for the pal to say: the child's first name (or how you spell it out for the pal), the names of their jobs and steps, and any words you write for the pal to say. Never their age, PIN, money, your family's name or web address, or who the words are for. ElevenLabs turns the words into short sound clips, which we keep with your family. ElevenLabs may handle the words outside Australia, including in the United States, under its own privacy policy (elevenlabs.io/privacy). Turn it off any time and that child's clips are deleted from your family.

So the same words aren't made twice, we also keep each clip by its words and the pal's voice (for example, "Now it's time to brush your teeth!" in the fox's voice) and reuse it for anyone whose pal says exactly those words. A kept clip holds only the sound and its words, never which family or child it was made for. We count how many clips each family has made, to keep an eye on what the voices cost.

When you or your kids use PocketPals or visit this website, our servers keep short logs: the time, the internet (IP) address the visit came from, and the first part of the page address. If a screen in the app breaks, the app sends us the error message and which page it was on, so we can fix it. These logs don't include what's on your screen, and older entries are deleted as new ones come in.

How we use it

Only to run PocketPals for your family: to show your family its jobs, money and game, to have your kids' pals talk to them, to send the emails you need (your setup link, and sign-in and password reset emails) and the ones you choose (the Sunday summary and reminders when jobs are waiting), and to keep the service safe and working. We don't use it for advertising, and we don't sell or rent it to anyone.

Counting how it's used

We count how this website and the app are used, so we can fix what confuses people and keep what works. For example: which pages and guides get visited and read, where visitors came from, how many people finish signing up, and which parts of the app get used, like jobs ticked, goals made or the shop opened.

• What's counted is the name of the action and a few plain labels, like which screen it was. Never names, email addresses, PINs, amounts of money, or anything anyone types.
• Nobody is singled out. A family's counts are kept together under a random code that has nothing to do with its name or web address, so we can see how many families use something without knowing which ones. Kids aren't counted one by one, and we keep no exact screen size, only phone, tablet or computer.
• Where it goes. We use Mixpanel for this. The counts travel through our own server first, so Mixpanel doesn't get your IP address, and it keeps them outside Australia.
• Your say. If your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control, we count nothing from it. We don't use these counts for advertising and we don't sell them.
• Billing counts. We also count when a free week starts, a subscription starts or ends, or a payment fails, with the plan chosen and nothing else. Never a name, email address or card detail. Each count carries a code that only we can match back, and that we never give Mixpanel.

Where it's stored

On Amazon Web Services (AWS) servers in Sydney, Australia. Backup copies are kept in the same Sydney region. Emails we send, like your setup link, go through Amazon's email service. The pals' sound clips are kept here too, once ElevenLabs has made them.

Who can see it

• The grown-ups you add to your family.
• Helpers you invite, like a grandparent, can check jobs. They don't see the money.
• Your kids, each on their own screen, signed in with their PIN on a device a grown-up has signed in on.
• We can reach it when we need to keep the service running or fix a problem.

Your family's web address only shows a sign-in page. Your kids' names aren't shown to anyone who visits it, only on devices a grown-up has signed in on.

If something goes wrong

If we find that someone got into information they shouldn't have, we'll stop it first, then email the grown-ups in each family affected as soon as we can. We'll say what happened, what information was involved, and anything you should do. Where the law requires it, we'll also tell the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Cookies

We use only the cookies needed to keep you signed in, and to remember a device a grown-up has trusted for the kids. No advertising or tracking cookies. The counts above use no cookies either.

How long we keep it

For as long as your family uses PocketPals. If a sign-up isn't finished within a day, the family space is removed.

An email from our earlier waitlist is kept until we've told you about a spot, or you ask us to remove it.

When a family is removed, it comes off the live service straight away. Backup copies age out on their own: daily copies within about 5 weeks, and monthly copies within a year. We also keep one final copy, locked away, for 30 days in case the removal was a mistake, then delete it.

Your choices

• See and download your data. The family's main grown-up can download it any time, from Settings, then Privacy and your data. That page also says plainly what PocketPals stores.
• Correct it. Change names, amounts and jobs in the app.
• Delete a child's data. The main grown-up can delete one child and everything of theirs, from that child's Plan, under Time and access. Their sign-in name stays reserved so nobody new gets it.
• Close your account. Ask from Settings, then Privacy and your data, or email hello@pocketpals.com.au. We check you have a download and settle the last bill, then remove your family.
• Complain. Tell us first, and we'll reply within 30 days. If you're not happy with our answer, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (oaic.gov.au).

Children

A parent or guardian, 18 or over, sets up the family and adds the kids. Kids don't sign up themselves, don't need an email address, and can't message anyone.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll tell the grown-ups in your family before it takes effect.

Contact

Email hello@pocketpals.com.au with any question about your family's information.