GuardianKid — Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 22, 2026

GuardianKid (“the app”, “we”, “us”) is a parental-control and screen-time enforcement app for Android. This policy explains what the app does with your information. The short version: GuardianKid runs entirely on your device. It has no servers of its own, does not require an account, and does not transmit your personal data anywhere.

What data the app processes, and where

GuardianKid is designed to work offline, on-device. The categories below are processed locally and are never uploaded to us (we operate no servers).

Camera / face detection

The app uses the front camera with on-device face detection (Google ML Kit) to estimate how close the device is being held to the user’s face, so it can nudge the child to hold it farther away.
Camera frames are analysed in memory and discarded immediately after each frame. No photo or video is ever saved, cached, or transmitted.
The only value derived from a frame is a single number — the ratio of the detected face’s width to the image width — used to decide “too close”. Faces are not identified, recognised, matched, or stored.

Voice reminders

GuardianKid can speak gentle spoken reminders using your device’s built-in text-to-speech — for example, to hold the phone farther away, or to wind down when it is used after the parent-set night cut-off time.
No microphone is used, and no audio is ever recorded, stored, or transmitted. These are audio output only, generated on the device, and can be turned off in settings.

App usage and the active app

To enforce blocking and time limits, the app needs to know which app is currently in the foreground. It reads this via the Accessibility Service and Usage Access permission.
The Accessibility Service also reads on-screen text to detect attempts to uninstall or disable GuardianKid (tamper protection), so it can ask for the parent PIN.
All of this is processed only on the device, in real time, to decide whether to gently dim the screen and show a reminder (when a time limit is reached), show a “not available” screen for an app you have blocklisted, or ask for the parent PIN (tamper protection). Screen content is never stored, logged off-device, or transmitted.

Reaching a time limit only shows a gentle dim overlay and a dismissible reminder card — the device is never hard-locked, and calls and emergency access always work. A firm “not available” block is shown only for apps a parent has explicitly added to the blocklist.

Settings and parent PIN

Your settings, schedules, and the parent PIN are stored locally on the device using Android DataStore. The PIN is stored as a salted hash, never in plain text. None of this leaves the device.

Purchases

The optional one-time “Premium unlock” is processed by Google Play Billing. We never see or store your payment details — Google handles the transaction. The app only records, locally, whether Premium has been unlocked.

Permissions and why they are needed

Permission	Why GuardianKid needs it
Camera	On-device face detection to estimate viewing distance (frames are discarded immediately).
Accessibility Service	Read on-screen text on the device to detect the foreground app (to apply limits) and to detect uninstall/disable attempts (tamper protection). Processed in real time; never stored or sent.
Usage Access (`PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS`)	Determine which app is in use, to apply your time limits and blocks.
Display over other apps (`SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW`)	Show the gentle dim overlay and reminder cards for time limits, and the “not available” screen for apps you have blocklisted.
Query all packages	List installed apps so a parent can choose which to block.
Device admin	Parent-activated. Prevents the child from uninstalling GuardianKid without the parent PIN.
Foreground service	Keep enforcement running reliably in the background.
Run on boot / restart alarms / ignore battery optimization	Keep enforcement active after a reboot or if the OS kills the service.
Notifications	Show the persistent foreground-service notification required by Android.

All permissions are used solely for the parental-control features described above.

What we do NOT do

We do not collect, sell, or share your personal data.
We do not show ads or use advertising/tracking SDKs.
We do not require an account or sign-in.
We do not store or upload photos, videos, or audio.
We do not track your location.

Children’s privacy

GuardianKid is configured by a parent or guardian and may run on a child’s device. Because all processing happens on the device and nothing is transmitted to us, the app does not knowingly collect personal information from children. The parent controls all settings.

Data retention and deletion

Because data stays on the device, uninstalling the app removes the locally stored data (settings, PIN, Premium flag). Your Google Play purchase record is held by Google and can be managed through your Google account.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app evolves. The “Last updated” date at the top will reflect any change.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email ram.kasu@gmail.com.