Privacy Policy

TinyTales is a Montessori-inspired iOS app that recommends children's books based on your child's age and developmental milestones. All recommendation logic runs on-device using Apple's built-in machine learning — we never send your child's information anywhere.

What we collect — and where it lives

All data is stored locally on your device using Apple SwiftData and is never transmitted to TinyTales or any third party.

• Child profile — name and date of birth, used to calculate age and select appropriate books.
• Book shelf — titles you add to your child's library, stored locally for recommendation context.
• Milestone progress — Montessori developmental milestones you mark, used to personalise recommendations.
• Onboarding state — a single true/false flag in system preferences recording whether setup is complete.

We do not collect email addresses, device identifiers, location, or any other personal information.

Third-party services we contact

The app makes two types of outbound requests, neither of which includes personal information:

• Google Books API — when you scan or search for a book, the app sends the book's barcode number (ISBN) or your typed search text to Google Books to retrieve metadata (title, author, cover image). No child or account information is included. Google's privacy policy applies: policies.google.com/privacy.
• Google Analytics for Firebase — we use Google Analytics to understand how the app is used in aggregate (e.g. which screens are visited, session length, app version). Google Analytics collects pseudonymous identifiers, device information (model, OS version), approximate location (country/region), and in-app events. This data is associated with a randomly generated advertising identifier, not your name or email. You can opt out of interest-based advertising on your device via Settings → Privacy & Security → Apple Advertising. Google's privacy policy applies: policies.google.com/privacy.
• Amazon CDN — book cover images are loaded from Amazon's content delivery network using URLs stored in the app's bundled catalog. No personal data is sent.

Camera

The camera is used only to read ISBN barcodes on the back of physical books. Camera frames are processed on-device in real time; no images are captured, stored, or transmitted.

Amazon affiliate links

Links to purchase books on Amazon include an affiliate tag (essentialx-20). If you make a purchase after tapping a buy link, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Amazon's privacy policy governs that interaction: amazon.com privacy notice.

Children's privacy

TinyTales is designed for use by parents and caregivers on behalf of young children. We do not knowingly collect any information from children directly. All information entered in the app (child's name, birthday) remains on the device under the parent's control and is never transmitted to us.

Data retention and deletion

Because all data lives on your device, you control it entirely. To delete all TinyTales data, delete the app from your device. iOS will remove the app container and all associated SwiftData files.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics for Firebase to collect anonymised, aggregate usage data — such as which screens are viewed and how long sessions last. This helps us improve the app. No personally identifiable information (name, email, child details) is included in analytics events. No advertising SDKs are present and we do not serve ads.