TellMum Privacy Policy

Last updated: 27 October 2026. DRAFT, to be reviewed by the founder before publishing.

TellMum ("we", "us") is a picture-card communication app for children who are non-verbal or minimally verbal. This policy explains what information the app handles, why, and the choices parents and carers have. We follow the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Who the app is for

The child uses the app to communicate. A parent or carer sets it up and controls every setting. We never collect information from a child without a parent or carer having created the family account and chosen to link the child's device.

Information that stays on the device

The child's board, the cards that are switched on, custom cards, photos, recorded voices, routines, favourites and usage insights are stored only on the device the app is installed on. None of this is sent to us unless a parent or carer turns on the connected Tell Mum feature described below.

Information we hold if you turn on Tell Mum

Tell Mum lets a child send a message from their device to a linked parent or carer. To make that work we store on our servers:

• The parent or carer's email address and a securely hashed password.
• The family name and the child's first name or nickname as entered by the parent.
• The messages the child sends with Tell Mum, the time they were sent, and any reply the parent chooses.
• A device identifier so we can deliver messages and replies to the right phones.

We use this information only to deliver messages between the child's device and the linked parents and carers. We do not use it for advertising, profiling or analytics, and we never sell it.

What we do not do

• No adverts and no advertising networks.
• No third-party analytics or tracking.
• No selling or sharing of personal data for marketing.
• No collection of location data.

Permissions the app asks for

• Microphone: only when a parent chooses to record their own voice for a card. Recordings stay on the device.
• Camera and photos: only when a parent chooses to add a photo to a card. Photos stay on the device.
• Internet: only used for the connected Tell Mum feature.
• Fingerprint or face unlock: optional, to open parent mode faster on that device.

Service providers

Push notifications for the Tell Mum feature are delivered using Firebase Cloud Messaging, a Google service. Firebase receives a device token and the notification content needed to show the alert. See Google's privacy policy for how Google handles that data.

How long we keep information

Account details are kept while the account exists. Tell Mum messages are kept so parents can see recent history, and parents can delete messages at any time. When an account is deleted, all family, child and message data linked to it is deleted from our servers.

Your rights

Parents and carers can view, correct, export or delete the information we hold about their family, including everything about their child, by using the options in parent mode or by emailing us. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

Security

Data travels over encrypted connections (HTTPS). Passwords are stored hashed, never in plain text. Parent mode on the device is protected by a hold gesture and a PIN so that children cannot reach settings or account details.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top and, for significant changes, tell parents inside the app.

Contact

Email: support@tellmum.com
Website: https://tellmum.com