Privacy Policy

BestBuddAI uses the following information to work:

• Child profile settings — the child's name, age, and learning preferences, created by a parent or teacher during setup.
• Questions and learning context — the questions a child asks and the learning mode they choose (Hint Me, Teach Me, Quiz Me, Memory Trick).
• Parent and teacher rules — settings like response length, safe-topics-only mode, time limits, and no-direct-answers mode.
• Session history — a record of questions asked and answers given during each session, so adults can review what happened.

The app does not collect advertising identifiers, device fingerprints, or location data.

The following data is stored only on the device and never sent elsewhere:

• Child profiles and parent/teacher configurations
• Saved mnemonics and memory tricks in the learning journal
• Session history and learning progress
• The 4-digit grown-up PIN code (stored securely in the iOS Keychain)
• Parent and teacher rule presets

When live AI is enabled, the following happens each time a child asks a question:

1. The child's question and a limited learning context (age, learning mode, and active rules) are sent to the BestBuddAI backend relay.
2. The backend relay wraps the question with safety, age, and teaching rules and sends it to our AI processing provider.
3. The AI provider returns a response, which the backend checks and reshapes before sending it back to the app.

The child's name, full profile, session history, and PIN code are never sent to the backend or the AI provider.

If live AI is unavailable, the app falls back to a built-in local tutor, and no data leaves the device.

Questions sent to our backend relay are retained for up to 30 days for debugging and safety monitoring, then permanently deleted. Our AI processing provider may retain data according to their own policies (see Section 6).

To request deletion of your data, email support@bestbuddai.com with the subject line "Data Deletion Request." We will process your request within 30 days.

Data stored on the device can be deleted at any time by uninstalling the app.

BestBuddAI is designed so adults set the rules. Parent and teacher modes are protected by a 4-digit PIN code created during setup. Adults can:

• Control response length and complexity
• Enable no-direct-answers mode (hints only)
• Restrict topics to safe-topics-only mode
• Set daily time limits
• Lock classroom mode to a specific lesson topic
• Review session history to see what the child asked and how BestBuddAI responded

These controls affect how the app processes questions and shapes answers. They do not change what data is sent to the backend.

Before any question text can leave the device, a grown-up must tick the "Allow live AI answers from xAI Grok" toggle during the one-time adult setup, alongside a guardian email, a 4-digit grown-up PIN, and a confirmation that the person completing setup is an adult. With this consent off, every question stays on the built-in local tutor and no data leaves the device. A grown-up can revoke consent any time from the PIN-protected parent dashboard; a child cannot.

BestBuddAI does not include any third-party analytics SDK. We do not integrate Firebase Analytics, Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude, AppsFlyer, Adjust, Branch, Segment, or any equivalent product. The only diagnostic data we use is Apple's standard, opt-in MetricKit and crash reports surfaced through App Store Connect, which you control through iOS Settings → Privacy → Analytics & Improvements.

BestBuddAI does not contain advertising of any kind. There are no ad SDKs, no advertising identifier collection, no App Tracking Transparency prompt, and no sponsored or promoted content.

BestBuddAI uses xAI's Grok API to process learning questions. When a child asks a question, the question text and limited context (age, learning mode, active rules) are sent through our backend relay to xAI for processing using thegrok-4-fast-non-reasoning model.

xAI's data handling is governed by their Privacy Policy and API Terms of Service. Per xAI's published documentation, API request and response data may be retained for abuse monitoring; consult the linked terms for the current retention windows. Our backend retains request logs for up to 30 days for debugging and safety monitoring, then permanently deletes them.

If you have questions about this privacy policy, want to request data deletion, or need help with the app, contact us:

Email: support@bestbuddai.com

For App Store review questions, mention "App Review" in the subject line.

We may update this policy from time to time. When we make changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. If we make significant changes to how we handle your data, we will notify you through the app or by email.

We encourage you to review this page periodically for any updates.