Privacy Policy
Effective date: April 21, 2026 · Last updated: April 21, 2026
1. Introduction
Welcome to Kidera ("we," "us," or "our"). Kidera is a private family journaling application that helps parents capture, preserve, and recall their children's most precious memories. We are committed to protecting your privacy and the privacy of your children.
This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your rights regarding your personal data. By using Kidera, you agree to the practices described in this policy.
If you have questions, contact us at help@kidera.co.
2. Who we are
Kidera is operated as a software service accessible at app.kidera.co and kidera.co. Our primary contact for privacy matters is help@kidera.co.
3. Information we collect
3.1 Account information
When you create a Kidera account, we collect:
- First and last name
- Email address
- Authentication method (Google OAuth or email/password via Clerk)
- Account creation date
3.2 Children's information
When you add a child profile to your journal, we collect:
- Child's first name
- Child's date of birth
- Child's gender (optional)
- Child's avatar photo (optional)
This information is provided voluntarily by you as the parent or legal guardian. We do not directly collect information from children. All children's data is controlled by the parent or guardian who created the account.
3.3 Journal content
When you use Kidera to journal, we collect and store:
- Journal entry text written by you
- Dates of journal entries
- Tags, mood, activities, locations, and people you associate with entries
- Milestone classifications
- AI-generated summaries and descriptions of your entries and photos
3.4 Photos and videos
When you upload media to Kidera, we collect and store:
- Photos and videos you upload
- File metadata (size, type, duration for videos)
- AI-generated descriptions of photos (via OpenAI's GPT-4o Vision API)
- Thumbnail images generated from your uploads
3.5 Usage data
When you use Kidera, we automatically collect:
- Device type and operating system
- Browser type
- IP address
- Pages and features accessed
- Time and date of access
- Actions taken within the app (entries created, questions asked, etc.)
3.6 Payment information
When you subscribe to Kidera Pro, payment is processed by Lemon Squeezy. We do not store your credit card numbers or full payment details. We receive and store:
- Subscription status (free, active, cancelled)
- Subscription plan type (monthly or yearly)
- Lemon Squeezy customer ID and subscription ID
- Billing history records
3.7 Communications
If you contact us at help@kidera.co, we collect the contents of your message and your email address to respond to your inquiry.
4. How we use your information
We use the information we collect to:
Provide the service
- Create and maintain your account
- Store and display your journal entries, photos, and videos
- Generate AI-powered descriptions of your photos using OpenAI GPT-4o Vision
- Power the Ask Your Journal feature using our RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) pipeline
- Generate and deliver weekly email summaries via Resend
- Detect and categorize developmental milestones in your entries
- Display your journal calendar, timeline, and media gallery
Personalize your experience
- Show age-appropriate context for your children's entries
- Personalize greetings and journal prompts
- Remember your preferences and settings
Process payments
- Manage your subscription through Lemon Squeezy
- Process upgrades, downgrades, and cancellations
- Send payment confirmation and receipts
Communicate with you
- Send weekly summary emails (Pro users, opt-in)
- Send important account notifications
- Respond to support requests
- Send product updates (you may opt out at any time)
Improve the service
- Analyze usage patterns to improve features
- Debug technical issues
- Monitor system performance and security
Legal compliance
- Comply with applicable laws and regulations
- Respond to lawful requests from authorities
- Enforce our Terms of Service
5. AI processing disclosure
Kidera uses artificial intelligence to enhance your journaling experience. We are committed to transparency about how AI processes your data.
5.1 Photo description (GPT-4o Vision)
Photos you upload to Kidera are sent to OpenAI's GPT-4o Vision API to generate automatic text descriptions of what is depicted in the photos. These descriptions are:
- Stored privately in your journal
- Used to make your memories searchable
- Not used to train OpenAI's models (we use the API under terms that prohibit training on API inputs)
- Only accessible to you and anyone you have invited to your family journal
Important: Photos of children are processed by OpenAI's API. OpenAI's privacy policy governs how they handle API inputs. OpenAI does not retain API inputs beyond what is required to provide the service. Review OpenAI's practices at openai.com/privacy.
5.2 Ask your journal (RAG pipeline)
When you ask questions about your journal, your question and relevant journal entry text are sent to OpenAI's GPT-4o-mini API to generate answers. Your journal content sent to OpenAI is:
- Limited to the most relevant entries for your question
- Not used to train AI models
- Processed under OpenAI's API data processing terms
5.3 Entry metadata extraction
When you save a journal entry, the entry text is sent to OpenAI's GPT-4o-mini API to extract mood, activities, locations, milestones, and tags. This processing happens when you save or update an entry, makes your entries more searchable, and is processed under OpenAI's API terms.
5.4 Text embeddings
Journal entry text is converted into vector embeddings using OpenAI's text-embedding-3-small model. Embeddings are stored in our database and used for semantic search in Ask Your Journal. They are mathematical representations and are not designed to be reverse-engineered into readable text.
5.5 Cohere reranking
Search results in Ask Your Journal may use Cohere's reranking API. Relevant journal text snippets are sent to Cohere. Cohere's privacy policy governs their handling of this data.
6. Children's privacy (COPPA compliance)
Kidera is designed for parents and guardians. We take children's privacy seriously and comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
6.1 Who creates accounts
Accounts are created by adults (parents or legal guardians) only. We do not knowingly allow children under 13 to create their own accounts. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account without consent, contact help@kidera.co and we will delete the account.
6.2 Parental consent
By creating an account and adding a child profile, you consent to the collection and processing of information about your child as described here. You have full control over your child's data at all times.
6.3 Parental rights
As a parent or guardian, you have the right to:
- Review all information stored about your child in your journal
- Request correction of inaccurate information
- Request deletion of your child's information by deleting their profile or your entire account
- Refuse further collection by deleting a child's profile
- Export all data about your child using the Export feature
6.4 AI processing of children's images
As disclosed in section 5.1, photos you upload (which may include children) are processed by OpenAI's API. By uploading, you consent to this processing. We do not use children's photos for any purpose other than generating private journal descriptions for you.
6.5 No advertising to children
We do not serve advertising in Kidera. We do not use children's data for advertising or share it with advertisers or data brokers.
7. How we share your information
We do not sell your personal data. We do not share your data with advertisers. We share information only as described below.
7.1 Service providers
We share data with service providers that help us operate Kidera. They are contractually required to use data only to provide services to us.
| Provider | Purpose | Data shared | Privacy policy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clerk | Authentication and user management | Email, name, auth tokens | clerk.com/privacy |
| Supabase | Database and backend infrastructure | User data and journal content as stored in our app | supabase.com/privacy |
| Cloudflare R2 | Photo and video object storage | Media files | cloudflare.com |
| OpenAI | AI descriptions, entry analysis, search | Photos, journal text (as described in section 5) | openai.com/privacy |
| Cohere | Search result reranking | Relevant journal text snippets | cohere.com/privacy |
| Lemon Squeezy | Payment processing | Email, subscription data | lemonsqueezy.com |
| Resend | Email delivery | Email address, content of sent emails | resend.com |
| Vercel | Application hosting | Usage logs, IP addresses | vercel.com |
7.2 Partner invites
If you invite a partner to your family journal, they can access all entries, photos, videos, and child profiles in that shared journal. Only invite people you trust with your family's data.
7.3 Legal requirements
We may disclose information if required by law or valid process, including court orders, law enforcement, legal proceedings, protection of our rights, and prevention of fraud or harm. We will notify you to the extent permitted by law.
7.4 Business transfers
If Kidera is acquired, merged, or involved in a significant transaction, your data may be transferred. We will notify you by email and/or a prominent notice on our site before your data is governed by a different policy.
7.5 With your consent
We may share your information with third parties when you explicitly agree.
8. Data storage and security
8.1 Where we store your data
Your data is stored on infrastructure from our service providers. Journal text, metadata, and account data are in Supabase (PostgreSQL). Photos and videos are in Cloudflare R2. Authentication is handled by Clerk. Infrastructure for our hosting stack operates in the United States as implemented by our providers.
8.2 Security measures
- TLS/HTTPS for data in transit
- Encrypted delivery of media via Cloudflare's network
- Row Level Security (RLS) in the database where applicable
- Clerk for authentication, including support for multi-factor authentication
- API keys and secrets in environment configuration, not in public code
- Regular security review of our codebase and infrastructure
8.3 Data breach notification
In the event of a breach that affects your personal data, we will notify you within 72 hours of becoming aware, to the extent required by law.
8.4 Your responsibility
Keep your credentials secure. Use a strong password. Do not share your account with anyone except a partner you invite through our official feature.
9. Data retention
9.1 Active accounts
We retain your data as long as your account is active and for a reasonable period afterward to allow reactivation where applicable.
9.2 Account deletion
When you delete your account, we permanently delete journal text, media in R2, child profiles, account data, AI descriptions and embeddings, and ask history. Deletion is permanent. Use Export before deleting if you need a copy.
9.3 Deletion timeline
We initiate deletion immediately. Complete removal from all backups may take up to 30 days.
9.4 Legal holds
We may retain certain data longer if required by law or for legitimate legal purposes (e.g., fraud prevention, disputes).
9.5 Payment records
We retain payment transaction records for 7 years as required by financial regulations, even after account deletion.
10. Your rights and choices
10.1 Access
Access your journal data through the Kidera app.
10.2 Export
Export all your data, including photos and videos, from Profile settings. Exports are provided as a ZIP organized by date.
10.3 Correction
Update your account in the app. For data you cannot correct yourself, contact help@kidera.co.
10.4 Deletion
Delete your account and associated data in Profile > Danger Zone. This is permanent and irreversible.
10.5 Opt-out of emails
Opt out of weekly summary and marketing emails in Profile settings or via the unsubscribe link in our emails.
10.6 GDPR (EU users)
If you are in the EU, you may have rights to access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, and withdrawal of consent, and the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. Contact help@kidera.co — we respond within 30 days.
10.7 California (CCPA)
California residents have rights to know, delete, opt out of sale (we do not sell personal information), and non-discrimination. Contact help@kidera.co.
11. Cookies and tracking
11.1 Cookies we use
| Cookie | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication (Clerk) | Keep you signed in | Session / 30 days |
| Onboarding completion | Remember onboarding status | 1 year |
| Pending invite | Remember invite during signup | 10 minutes |
| Pending plan | Remember selected plan during signup | 10 minutes |
11.2 No advertising cookies
We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or third-party ad profiling.
11.3 Analytics
We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with our website. This helps us improve the product experience. Google Analytics collects anonymized usage data such as pages visited and session duration. It does not build ad profiles and we do not use it for advertising purposes. You can opt out of Google Analytics by using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
12. Third-party links
Kidera may link to third parties (e.g., Lemon Squeezy for subscription management). We are not responsible for their privacy practices. Please read their policies before providing information.
13. International users
Kidera is operated from the United States. If you use Kidera from outside the U.S., your information is transferred to and processed in the U.S. By using the service, you consent to that transfer. We use appropriate safeguards for international transfers as required by law.
14. Changes to this privacy policy
We may update this policy. For significant changes we will update the "Last updated" date, email you for material changes when appropriate, and may post a notice in the app. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
15. Contact us
For privacy questions or requests:
- Email: help@kidera.co (privacy questions and general support)
- Website: kidera.co
We will respond to privacy inquiries within 5 business days.