Privacy Policy for Karda

Effective date: August 20, 2026

Karda ("the app", "we", "us") is a reading app for children aged 3 and over, intended to be set up and supervised by a parent or guardian. This Privacy Policy explains what information the app handles, how it is used, and the choices you have. By using Karda you agree to this policy.

Karda is designed to keep as much data as possible on the child's own device. We do not show advertising, we do not use any advertising or tracking networks, and we never sell or share personal information.

Children's privacy

Karda is directed to children. We take that seriously and have built the app to collect as little as possible:

• We do not show ads of any kind, and we use no advertising SDKs, ad networks, or third-party tracking services.
• We do not collect advertising identifiers (Android Advertising ID, iOS IDFA/IDFV) or device serial numbers, and the app does not track users across other companies' apps or websites.
• We do not build advertising or behavioural profiles of children, and we do not use children's information for marketing.
• We do not sell or share children's personal information, and we do not disclose it to third parties except the service provider described below, which processes it on our behalf.
• There is no chat, messaging, commenting, social feed, or any other way for a child to communicate with other users or to publish content.
• We do not require an account, email address, phone number, or date of birth in order to read.

We aim to comply with the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the Google Play Families policy, and applicable children's provisions of the GDPR. If you are a parent or guardian and would like to review, correct, or delete information relating to your child, contact us at the email below and we will act on your request. You may also refuse further collection at any time by deleting the app's data (see Data retention and deletion) or uninstalling the app.

Information we handle

Information provided in the app

• First name or nickname — the name entered during onboarding, used to personalise the app. It is stored on the device, and is also attached to the app's analytics data (see Service providers) so that usage can be told apart between readers. We ask for a first name or nickname only — never a surname — and a nickname or initial works just as well. Parents who would rather no name be recorded at all can enter a nickname of their choosing.
• Profile photo (optional) — if a photo is chosen, the image is stored only on the device. It is never uploaded to our servers.
• Feedback (optional, intended for parents and guardians) — the feedback form asks for an email address and a message so that we can reply. It is stored in our backend (Google Firebase / Firestore). Because this collects an email address, the form is intended to be completed by an adult. Nothing else in the app requires an email address.

Information collected automatically

• Reading activity & usage data — analytics events such as opening a book, reading session duration, creating highlights and bookmarks, in-app searches, screen views, and theme or language changes, recorded together with the anonymous identifier and the first name or nickname described above. They are used only to keep the app working and to improve it, and never for advertising or profiling.
• Anonymous identifier — when the app is first opened we create an anonymous account (Firebase Anonymous Authentication). It is a random identifier, is not linked to any real-world identity, and exists so purchased books can be restored and feedback can be answered.
• Purchase records — if a book is purchased, we store the product identifier and the store transaction reference against that anonymous identifier so the purchase can be restored later. Payment is handled entirely by Google Play or the App Store; we never see or store card or payment details.
• Device language — used to display the app in the preferred language.

We do not collect precise location, contacts, photos other than an optional on-device profile picture, microphone or camera data, or advertising identifiers.

How we use information

• To provide and personalise core app features (name, reading progress, highlights, bookmarks, collections).
• To deliver and restore books the reader is entitled to.
• To understand usage trends and fix problems (analytics), which are internal operations only.
• To reply to feedback sent to us.

We do not use any of this information for advertising, marketing, or profiling.

Purchases

Books can be purchased inside the app. Purchases are processed by Google Play or the Apple App Store and are charged to the store account holder — normally the parent or guardian. We recommend that parents enable purchase authentication or parental controls in their store account settings. We receive only a confirmation that a purchase occurred, never payment details.

Service providers

We use Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore, Storage, Cloud Functions, and Analytics) to operate the app's backend and analytics. Google processes this data on our behalf and is not permitted to use it for its own advertising purposes. Advertising-identifier collection and all ad-related signals are switched off in our Firebase configuration. See Google's privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Store purchases are processed by Google Play and the Apple App Store under their own privacy policies.

Data retention and deletion

• On-device data (name, profile photo, reading progress, highlights, bookmarks, collections) can be removed at any time from Settings → Delete Account, which permanently clears this data from the device.
• Purchase records are retained for as long as needed to honour restore requests and to meet tax and accounting obligations.
• Feedback is retained so we can address it. To request deletion, contact us at the email below.

Parents and guardians may request deletion of any information associated with their child by contacting us at the email below.

Your choices and rights

Depending on where you live, you or your child may have rights to access, correct, or delete personal data. To exercise these rights, contact us at the email below.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the effective date above.

Contact

Questions or requests, including requests from parents and guardians: karda.app@gmail.com