Privacy Policy

1. Who Anchor is for

Anchor is a parental control application. It is intended for use by parents on devices used by their children. The app is installed on the child's device by a parent or legal guardian, who configures it through their own device using a 6-digit pairing code.

This Privacy Policy explains what data Anchor collects from the child's device, what it does not collect, how that data is stored, and how a parent can exercise rights over their child's data.

2. Data we collect

Anchor collects only the minimum data needed to enforce the schedule a parent configures and to alert that parent when something on the device tries to defeat that schedule.

From the child device, Anchor collects:

• App launch events. Which app was opened and at what time. Used to enforce app blocks and daily time limits.
• Schedule compliance status. Whether the device is currently inside or outside an enforcement window such as bedtime or focus time.
• Tamper events. Force-stop attempts, accessibility revocation, device clock changes, and uninstall attempts. Used to send instant alerts to the paired parent device.
• Device identifiers. Android ID and Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) token. Used to deliver enforcement instructions and alert messages to the correct device.

From the parent device, Anchor collects only the email address used to create the account, the pairing code linking the parent device to the child device, and the schedule and rule configuration the parent sets up.

3. Data we do not collect

Anchor is built around device-level enforcement, not surveillance. We do not need the contents of your child's communications to do our job, and we do not collect them.

• Message content (SMS, chat, email, social media DMs)
• Photos, videos, or any other media files
• Browsing history or visited URLs
• Location data (GPS, Wi-Fi positioning, cell tower, IP-based location)
• Microphone audio or any ambient recording
• Contacts or address book
• Keystrokes or typed input
• Screen captures, screen content, or screen recordings

Enforcement does not require any of the above. We made a conscious product decision not to collect them.

4. COPPA and children under 13

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) governs the online collection of personal information from children under the age of 13 in the United States. Anchor is designed to support parental supervision and operates only when a parent or legal guardian has installed the app on the child's device and paired it with their own parent device.

By installing Anchor on a child's device and completing the pairing flow, the parent or legal guardian:

• Confirms that they are the legal parent or legal guardian of the child whose device is being monitored.
• Provides consent for Anchor to process the limited usage data described in Section 2 for the purpose of parental supervision.
• Acknowledges that the parent is responsible for explaining the presence of Anchor to the child in an age-appropriate way.

Children under 13 do not create Anchor accounts. The data subject rights of any child under 13 (access, correction, deletion) are exercised by the parent or legal guardian as set out in Section 7.

5. How we store and protect data

Anchor takes data security seriously, and the security model matches the trust level expected of a parental control product.

• Encryption in transit. All data sent between the child device, the parent device, and Anchor's servers travels over TLS 1.3.
• Encryption at rest. All stored data is encrypted with AES-256.
• Retention period. Event data (app launches, tamper events, schedule compliance) is retained for 90 days, after which it is automatically deleted. We do not keep historical event archives beyond this window.
• Access controls. Internal access to production data is limited to a small operations function, gated behind multi-factor authentication, and logged.
• Backups. Encrypted backups follow the same 90-day retention window. Backups are not used for any purpose other than disaster recovery.

6. Third parties, advertising, and data sale

Anchor does not:

• Sell, rent, or trade any data, including device identifiers, to any third party.
• Share data with advertising networks, data brokers, or behavioral analytics companies.
• Display advertising of any kind inside the app, on the child device or the parent device.
• Use child or parent data to train large language models or any third-party machine learning system.

Anchor uses a small number of infrastructure providers to operate the service (cloud hosting, push notification delivery, transactional email, payment processing for paid tiers). These providers act as data processors. They access data only to deliver the service and are bound by data processing agreements that prohibit secondary use. We do not consider this third-party sharing in the commercial sense.

7. Your rights and your child's rights

You and your child have the following rights with respect to data processed by Anchor. Because Anchor is used by parents on a child's device, the parent exercises these rights on behalf of any child under 13.

• Right of access. Request a copy of the data Anchor holds about your account or your child's device.
• Right of correction. Request that we correct inaccurate data.
• Right of deletion. Request that we delete your account and all associated data.
• Right to object. Withdraw consent and stop further processing. The simplest way to exercise this right is to uninstall Anchor and request account deletion.
• Right to data portability. Request a structured export of your data.

To exercise any of these rights, email support@getanchor.store from the email address associated with the account. We respond within 30 days.

8. Account deletion

Account deletion is a single email away. To delete your Anchor account and all data associated with it:

1. Send an email to support@getanchor.store from the email address used to create your Anchor account.
2. The subject line should read Account deletion request.
3. We confirm receipt within 5 business days and complete deletion within 30 days.

Deletion includes the parent account record, the paired child device record, all schedule configuration, and all event history. Encrypted backups are purged within their retention cycle. Deletion is irreversible.

9. Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify the email address associated with each active account at least 30 days before the changes take effect. Non-material changes (typo fixes, clarifications, formatting updates) may be made without notice. The effective date at the top of this page always reflects the current version.

10. Contact us

For privacy questions, data subject requests, or anything else covered by this policy, contact the Anchor team: