Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 5, 2026

1. Introduction

ReadBorn ("we", "our", "us") is a children's literacy application that helps kids learn to read by using voice recognition to bring illustrated creatures to life. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you use our mobile app and when you visit our website at readborn.com.

2. Information We Collect

• Reading Progress: Words read, reading accuracy scores, creatures hatched, and quest completion data.
• Voice Data: Audio from speech recognition is processed using Apple's Speech framework: on the device for the sound-it-out games, and, when your child reads a book or story, by Apple's speech recognition service (falling back to the device when there is no internet). Voice audio is never transmitted to or stored on our servers; audio sent to Apple is processed under Apple's own privacy policy. Only the recognized text is used, on the device, to check reading accuracy.
• Camera (Augmented Reality): After a creature hatches, an optional augmented-reality view uses your device camera to show the animated creature in your surroundings. This is a live preview only. We do not take, save, or upload any photo or video, and no camera imagery ever leaves your device. A parent can shorten or disable this feature in Settings, and if camera permission is declined the app simply shows a static image instead.
• Purchases and Subscriptions: ReadBorn offers auto-renewing subscriptions (and honors one-time purchases made before September 2026). Purchase history is managed by Apple (via the App Store) and processed on-device through StoreKit. We do not receive or store your payment card details. Apple also sends our servers purchase status events (for example, a trial start, renewal, cancellation, one-time purchase, refund, or refund reversal) so we can understand how many people buy ReadBorn and support your access.
• Refund Requests: If you ask Apple for a refund, Apple can ask us for information to help it decide. By using the app and making in-app purchases, you consent to us sharing four things with Apple for that purpose: whether our app delivered working content, that a free version was available to try before you paid, roughly how much of the paid period had passed, and what outcome we think is fair. That is the entire list. We do not send your name, your email, your child's information, your device identifier, how long you used the app, or anything you have ever spent. Nothing we send decides the refund; Apple does.
• Advertising Measurement: If you install the app after tapping one of our ads on the App Store, Apple provides us with privacy-preserving attribution signals (such as which ad campaign, keyword, and country led to the install) so we can measure how our own ads perform. These signals come from Apple's AdServices framework, contain no device identifiers, and are not used to track you across other apps or websites. They are associated only with the random app-generated identifier described below. This is our own performance measurement; we do not serve third-party ads in the app.
• Anonymous Usage Analytics: To understand how the app is used and improve it, we collect anonymous usage events (for example, which screens are opened, onboarding steps reached, the answers a parent selects during onboarding (such as age range, reading level, and reading goals, stored as anonymous categories), whether a reading session was completed, which story words needed more sounding-out tries, interactions with the subscription screen, and how long a session lasts), along with limited technical context such as app version and build, platform, App Store country, and the device's general type (for example phone or tablet), screen size, and operating system version, and basic diagnostic information if the app hits an error (an error message and the app code location, containing no personal information). These events are tagged with a random app-generated identifier that is not linked to any name, account, or device identifier. We do not collect your child's name or voice through analytics. This data is sent only to our own servers (no third-party analytics services are used in the app) and is used solely to improve the app. You can turn this off at any time in the app under Settings.
• Optional Parent Email: During onboarding a parent may optionally enter their email address to receive reading tips and our newsletter. This is entirely optional and can be skipped. When provided, the email is stored on our own servers to send these messages and is treated as a parent (not child) contact. So that we do not send you an irrelevant message (for example, a promotional offer to someone who has already subscribed), we may associate your email with your installation's random identifier to check your purchase status. We do not sell your email or share it for third-party advertising. Contact us to have it removed at any time.
• Contact Form Messages: The app has a built-in contact form for reporting a problem or suggesting an idea. When you send one, we store the message you wrote, the email address you optionally provide so we can reply, and basic technical context about the installation (app version and build, platform, App Store country, device language, and the device's general type (for example phone or tablet), screen size, and operating system version) so we can reproduce what you described. We use this only to answer you and to improve the app. Any address you enter here is a parent (not child) contact, used for that reply and not added to our newsletter. Sending a message is separate from the anonymous usage analytics described above: the form works even with analytics turned off, and in that case nothing links your message to your installation. Sending anonymously, with no email at all, is always an option. Contact us to have a message removed at any time.

3. Children's Privacy (COPPA)

ReadBorn is designed for children. We comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and similar regulations:

• We do not collect personal information from children under 13 without parental consent.
• We do not serve behavioral advertising to children.
• We do not share children's personal data with third parties for marketing.
• Voice recognition data is processed on the device, or by Apple's speech recognition service for books and stories, and is never transmitted to or stored on our servers.
• Anonymous usage analytics and ad-performance signals are collected solely to support the internal operations of the app (to understand usage, measure our own advertising, and improve the app). The random app-generated identifier is never used for behavioral advertising, to build a profile to target a child, or to identify or contact a child, and it is never combined with any of your child's personal information. The optional parent email is a parent (not child) contact. A parent can turn analytics off at any time in Settings.

4. How We Use Information

• To provide the reading experience and track progress locally on your device.
• To process subscriptions and in-app purchases via Apple StoreKit.
• To understand how the app is used and improve it, using anonymous usage analytics only. We do not use this data to advertise to your child or to build a profile about any individual.
• To measure how our own App Store ads perform, using the privacy-preserving attribution and purchase signals Apple provides.

5. Third-Party Services

• Apple: App Store for distribution and in-app purchases (via StoreKit, processed on-device), speech recognition (on-device, and Apple's speech recognition service for books and stories), App Store purchase- and subscription-status notifications, and Apple Ads attribution signals used to measure our own advertising. We use no third-party analytics or advertising SDKs in the app.
• Google Analytics: Used on the readborn.com website only, never in the app, to count visits and measure which pages help parents. It is configured for measurement and not for advertising; see section 6 below for the exact settings.

6. Website Analytics (readborn.com)

This section is about the readborn.com website only. It does not describe the app, which is covered by everything above.

When you visit readborn.com we record anonymous visit events: which page you opened, which download link you tapped, and which channel brought you here. These events are tagged with a random browser-generated identifier and carry no name, no email address, and nothing you type. Alongside our own record we use Google Analytics 4 to measure the same visits.

Google Analytics here is configured for measurement only, and deliberately not for advertising. Google Signals is off, and advertising storage, advertising personalization, and advertising data sharing are all set to denied, so website visit data cannot be used to show you ads, to build an advertising profile, or to follow you to other sites. No advertising cookies are set. Google Analytics is not in the app, and it never receives your child's reading progress, pets, settings, or voice data.

If your browser sends a Do Not Track signal, this website loads no analytics at all, neither ours nor Google's. You can also opt out of Google Analytics on every website you visit using the browser add-on Google publishes for that purpose, or block analytics with any content blocker. The website works normally in every case.

7. Data Storage, Retention, and Your Choices

Your child's reading progress, pets, and settings stay on your device and are not uploaded to our servers. Voice audio is never uploaded to our servers either: it is processed on the device or, for books and stories, by Apple's speech recognition service, as described above. The information sent to our servers is the anonymous usage analytics described above (not linked to your child's name or identity), the ad-attribution and purchase- and subscription-status signals Apple provides for our own measurement, the optional parent email if a parent chooses to provide it, and any message a parent sends us through the in-app contact form. We retain raw analytics events for up to 180 days and then delete them.

You stay in control: you can turn analytics off at any time under Settings, and you can use "Reset Usage Data" in Settings to delete the anonymous data collected from your device and start a fresh anonymous identifier. You can also delete all on-device data by deleting the app, or contact us to request deletion.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify users of significant changes via the app or email. Continued use of ReadBorn after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

9. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, please contact us at: [email protected]