Privacy Policy

Emberthorn Studio LLC ("Emberthorn Studio," "we," "us") makes MellowBee, a childcare logging app for in-home caregivers and the families they serve. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who can see it, and the choices you have.

It covers the MellowBee mobile app, mellowbee.app, and emberthornstudio.com (together, the "Services"). Questions? Email privacy@emberthornstudio.com.

1. Information we collect
2. Children's information
3. How we use information
4. Who can see it
5. Service providers
6. Retention and deletion
7. Your choices and rights
8. Security
9. Changes and contact

1. Information we collect

Account information

When you create a MellowBee account, we collect your name, email address, role (for example, daycare owner, staff member, or parent), and, if you add them, a phone number and profile photo. Sign-in is handled by our authentication provider; we never see your password in plain text.

Daycare information

Daycare owners can add a daycare name, phone number, photo, and payment instructions for families (such as a Venmo username). MellowBee does not process payments between families and daycares.

Information about children

Parents, guardians, and caregivers can enter information about the children in their care, including:

• Profile details: name, birthday, sex, whether the child was born prematurely, guardian and emergency contact details, and a photo.
• Health details: allergies, medical notes, and the child's doctor's name and phone number.
• Care logs: feedings, solids, pumping, diapers, potty, sleep (including mood before naps), outfits, medicine given (name and dose), temperature readings, and notes.
• Attendance: check-in and check-out times and who confirmed them.

Pickup contacts

Parents can add adults who are allowed to pick up their child, with that person's name, relationship, phone number, and photo, and can create time-limited pickup passes. If you add someone, please make sure they're comfortable with their details being shared with your daycare.

Messages and posts

We store messages between caregivers and parents, daycare feed posts and the photos attached to them, and reactions, so they can be delivered and shown to the right people.

Device and technical information

• Notifications: a push notification token and your device platform, so we can send alerts you've turned on.
• Crash reports: if the app crashes, technical details such as the device model, operating system, app version, and error. We configure crash reporting to exclude personal information.
• Camera: used only to scan MellowBee QR codes for invites, drop-off, and pickup. Camera images aren't stored or sent to us.
• Photos: MellowBee accesses only the photos you choose to add.

Websites

• Contact form: your name, email address, topic, and message.
• Waitlist: your email address, if you join the MellowBee early access list.
• Spam protection: our forms use Cloudflare Turnstile, which processes information such as your IP address and browser characteristics to tell people from bots.
• Preferences: your light or dark theme choice is saved in your browser. Our websites don't use advertising or analytics cookies.
• Server logs: our hosting provider keeps standard logs (such as IP address and pages requested) for security and reliability.

2. Children's information

MellowBee is built for adults: parents, guardians, and childcare providers. It is not directed to children, and children don't use it. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13.

Information about a child is entered by the child's parent or guardian, or by their childcare provider. Providers who add information or photos of a child are responsible for having the parent's or guardian's permission to do so. We use children's information only to provide MellowBee to the child's family and caregivers. We never use it for advertising, and we never sell it.

Parents and guardians can review, update, or delete their child's information in the app, or ask us for help at privacy@emberthornstudio.com.

3. How we use information

• To provide MellowBee: storing care logs and showing them to the child's family and caregivers.
• To send notifications you've enabled, such as new log entries or messages.
• To respond to your messages and support requests.
• To keep the Services secure, prevent abuse, and fix problems.
• To process subscriptions, when paid plans are offered.
• To comply with legal obligations.

We do not sell or rent personal information, we do not show ads, and we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites.

4. Who can see it

• Your daycare: the daycare owner and staff see the children enrolled there and their logs, health details, attendance, and pickup contacts. Owners control what each staff member can do.
• Families: parents and family members linked to a child see that child's logs, the daycare's feed, and their own messages. They never see other families' children.
• Service providers: companies that help us run the Services (listed below), only as needed to provide their services to us.
• Legal reasons: when required by law, or to protect the safety of a child or anyone else.
• Business transfers: if Emberthorn Studio is involved in a merger or acquisition, your information may be transferred as part of that deal and will remain protected by this policy.

5. Service providers

• Supabase: database, sign-in, and photo storage for the app.
• Sentry: crash reporting.
• Apple and Google: delivering push notifications and, where applicable, processing App Store purchases.
• Vercel: hosting our websites.
• Resend: sending email from our websites, such as contact form messages and replies.
• Cloudflare: spam protection on our forms.

These providers may process information in the United States and other countries.

6. Retention and deletion

We keep your information while your account is active. You can delete your account at any time from the Account screen in the app. When you do:

• Your account, your profile, and the photos you uploaded are deleted.
• If you own a daycare, the daycare, its feed and photos, and staff access are deleted. Children are unlinked from the daycare but remain with their parents.
• A child's profile, logs, and photos are deleted when the last parent account linked to that child is deleted.

Deleted information may remain in encrypted backups for a limited time until those backups expire. Contact form messages are kept in our inbox as long as needed to help you; waitlist emails are kept until you ask us to remove them.

7. Your choices and rights

• Access and correct: view and edit your information, and your children's, in the app.
• Delete: delete your account in the app, or email us.
• Get a copy: email us to request a copy of your information.
• Notifications: change notification settings in the app or in your device settings.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under local law. We honor these requests for everyone. Email privacy@emberthornstudio.com, and we'll respond within the time the law requires. We may need to confirm your identity first.

8. Security

Information is encrypted in transit. Access is restricted by account, so people only see what their role allows, and photos are kept in private storage. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information, and we'll notify you of any breach that affects it as required by law.

9. Changes and contact

We'll update this policy as the Services change and will revise the date at the top. If we make significant changes, we'll let you know in the app or by email before they take effect.