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Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 5, 2026

Rooted ("we," "us," or "our") is a family coordination application that helps parents and guardians manage schedules, goals, milestones, documents, and expenses for their children and pets. We take your family's privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your information when you use the Rooted application and related services (collectively, the "Service").

1. Information We Collect

We collect the following types of information:

Account Information

When you create a Rooted account, we collect your name and email address. This information is required to authenticate your identity and provide you with access to the Service.

Dependent Profiles

You may create profiles for your dependents (children and pets). For each dependent profile, we collect the name, date of birth, and type (child or pet) that you voluntarily provide.

Avatar Photos

You may optionally upload avatar photos for dependent profiles. Photo uploads require explicit parental consent before the first upload. See Section 2 for details on our photo-specific safeguards.

Milestone Photos & Videos

You may attach photos and short video clips to milestones you create for your dependents. Free accounts may attach one photo or video per milestone; Rooted+ subscribers may attach multiple. Videos are limited to 30 seconds (free) or 60 seconds (Rooted+). Milestone media receives the same privacy protections as avatar photos (see Section 5). Videos are transcoded to a standard format; all metadata is stripped before storage.

Timeline Photos (Rooted+ subscribers)

Rooted+ subscribers may upload photos to a per-dependent photo timeline with optional captions and dates. Timeline photos are stored within your plan's storage quota and receive the same privacy protections as all other photos (see Section 5).

Calendar Events

Schedules, appointments, custody arrangements, and other calendar events you create within the Service.

Documents

Files you upload to the document vault, such as medical records, school documents, and identification documents.

Expenses

Expense records you create for tracking and splitting costs related to your dependents.

2. Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)

We take the privacy of children extremely seriously. Rooted is designed for use by parents and guardians — not by children under the age of 13.

  • Children do not create accounts or use the app directly. Only parents, guardians, or authorized adult family members create and access accounts.
  • Parents voluntarily upload information about their children. Any information about a child (name, date of birth, milestones, medical records) is provided at the sole discretion of the parent or guardian.
  • Photos and videos require explicit parental consent. Before a parent can upload the first photo or video of a dependent, we require explicit consent via an in-app consent flow. This consent is recorded with a timestamp and the identity of the consenting parent.
  • Consent can be withdrawn at any time. Parents may revoke their photo consent at any time through their account settings. Withdrawal of consent is processed immediately.
  • Parents can delete any or all photos and videos at any time. Deletion is immediate and permanent. We do not retain copies of deleted media.
  • Photos and videos are NOT used for advertising, analytics, AI/ML processing, or shared with third parties. Dependent media exists solely to help parents identify profiles and capture milestones within the app.
  • Photos and videos are NOT processed with facial recognition or any biometric analysis. We do not apply any form of facial recognition, age estimation, emotion detection, or biometric processing to any media.
  • GPS/EXIF metadata is stripped from all uploaded photos before storage. Location data, camera information, and all other EXIF metadata are removed at the point of upload before the photo is stored.

3. How We Use Information

We use your information solely to provide and improve the Service. Specifically:

  • To operate the core features of the app (calendars, profiles, goals, documents, expenses)
  • To authenticate your identity and secure your account
  • To share information with members of your family circle, as you configure
  • To send you important account notifications (e.g., security alerts, policy changes)

We do NOT:

  • Sell your data to anyone, for any reason
  • Use your data for advertising or ad targeting
  • Share your data with third-party data brokers
  • Use your data for AI/ML model training
  • Profile your behavior for marketing purposes

4. Data Storage & Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your family's data:

  • Encrypted at rest: All data is encrypted when stored using AES-256 encryption.
  • Encrypted in transit: All data transmitted between your device and our servers is encrypted using TLS (Transport Layer Security).
  • Access-controlled: Data is accessible only to members of your family circle. No Rooted employee can view your family's content without explicit authorization for support purposes.

5. Photo & Video Safeguards

All uploaded photos and videos receive additional protections beyond our standard security measures:

  • Metadata stripping: All metadata (GPS coordinates, camera model, timestamps) is removed from photos and videos before storage.
  • No ML processing: Photos and videos are never analyzed, scanned, or processed by machine learning systems of any kind.
  • No third-party access: Media is never shared with, transmitted to, or accessible by any third-party service.
  • Immediate deletion: When you delete a photo or video, or withdraw consent, the media is permanently removed from all storage systems immediately.
  • Size limits: Photos are resized to reasonable display dimensions (avatars to 512px, milestone photos to 1200px, timeline photos to 2048px). Videos are limited to 60 seconds and transcoded to a standard format at reasonable quality. We do not store full-resolution originals.
  • Family circle only: All milestone and timeline media is visible only to members of the dependent's family circle. Media is never indexed, searchable, or accessible outside your private family group.
  • Storage limits: Timeline photos and milestone videos count toward your plan's storage quota. When storage is full, you will be prompted to manage existing media before uploading more.
  • Video audio: Milestone videos may contain audio. Audio is transcoded along with video but is never separately processed, analyzed, or transcribed.

6. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your data:

  • Access: You may request a copy of all data we hold about you and your dependents at any time.
  • Correction: You may update or correct any information in your account or dependent profiles at any time.
  • Deletion: You may delete individual records, dependent profiles, photos, or your entire account at any time.
  • Data portability: You may export all of your data in a standard, machine-readable format.
  • Withdraw consent: You may withdraw consent for photo uploads or any optional data collection at any time, without affecting the core functionality of your account.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@rootedfamily.app or use the in-app settings.

7. Data Retention

  • Photos & Videos: Avatar photos, milestone photos, milestone videos, and timeline photos are deleted immediately and permanently upon request or consent withdrawal. When you withdraw consent, ALL media across ALL dependents is deleted within 24 hours. No backups or copies are retained.
  • Account data: Upon account deletion, all associated data (profiles, calendar events, documents, expenses, goals, milestones) is permanently deleted within 30 days.
  • Consent records: Records of parental consent (timestamps and consent status) are retained for compliance purposes and deleted alongside account data upon account deletion.

8. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Email: privacy@rootedfamily.app

We aim to respond to all privacy inquiries within 5 business days.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you via email at the address associated with your account. Your continued use of the Service after such notification constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

We encourage you to review this page periodically for the latest information on our privacy practices.