Family Privacy

The short version

Family uses account and household information to provide the service. Optional features use Google Calendar data and approximate location information. We do not sell personal information or use it for third-party advertising, and you can delete your account from the app.

Who is responsible

Nine Cats Software Inc., a company in Canada, is the controller responsible for the personal information described in this notice. Contact our Privacy Lead at privacy@ninecatssoftware.com.

Information Family handles

The information involved depends on the features you choose to use.

• On Android, you use Google to create or sign in to your account; on iOS, you use Apple. We use the provider identity and the account information you share to operate your account. Optional account linking requires proof of control of both sign-in identities and does not automatically merge separate accounts.
• Authentication and security information, such as session and device identifiers, sign-in times, IP address, approximate sign-in location, country, and security events.
• Apple or Google Play processes your subscription payment. We receive and retain account-linked subscription identifiers, purchase and lifecycle information needed to verify access, restore access and prevent duplicate or conflicting subscription bindings. We do not receive your full payment-card details or unrelated store purchases. Membership of an in-app household does not itself grant subscription access. Apple Family Sharing, where available, is verified separately by Apple.
• Household information, such as household membership and invitations, tasks, responsibilities, grocery items, lists, documents or links, countdowns, dates, labels, assignments, and the account that created or changed an item.
• Optional Google Calendar information, including the connected Google account email, selected calendar names and colours, event details needed to show an agenda, and family annotations you add to calendar events. We retain the connection credentials needed to keep the feature working and temporarily cache minimal event snapshots for reliability.
• Notifications are optional. If you enable task-assignment alerts, we register an account-linked device token with the applicable Apple or Google push service. These alerts are generic and do not include the task text or a person’s name. Calendar reminders are scheduled on your device according to your preferences and permissions and may show event details on its lock screen. Signing out and account/device cleanup revoke the applicable registrations; server registrations expire after 90 days unless renewed.
• Approximate location information detected when you sign in, including coordinates and regional details, used to show local weather, air-quality, and alert information and to select regional defaults.
• Support information you send us, including your email address, message, attachments, and related correspondence.
• You can send feedback or support messages with text and one optional image per message. Images are re-encoded to remove metadata before upload. Messages include limited app, version, platform, operating-system and language context. Conversations expire one calendar year after the last message; expired material becomes unavailable while physical cleanup is processed and retried as needed. Sending feedback does not guarantee a reply.
• The iOS app uses Sentry for crash and responsiveness diagnostics with limited release, operating-system and device context. Explicit identity and content are scrubbed, but approximate diagnostic geography can remain. Server diagnostics can be linked to your account. Google identity and Firebase services also declare processing of account/device identifiers, usage and other data, including vendor analytics described in their service disclosures. Retention varies by service and dataset; the verified 30-day Sentry period applies to current error events at ingest, not universally to every record or backup.

Where the information comes from

Most information comes directly from you. Household members may add or change shared information that concerns you. If you connect an outside service, we receive information from that provider according to the permission screen you approve. Approximate sign-in location and security data may be derived from your connection and device.

Why we use it and our legal bases

• To create and secure your account, maintain sessions, provide shared household features, and respond to support requests. Where the GDPR applies, this is generally necessary to perform our contract with you.
• To verify, restore, and enforce subscription access using Apple-signed transaction and lifecycle information. Where the GDPR applies, this is generally necessary to perform our contract with you.
• To connect optional services such as Google Calendar and show local conditions when you ask us to. We rely on your choice to enable the feature and, where required, your consent. You can disconnect Google Calendar in the app.
• To diagnose faults, maintain availability, prevent fraud or misuse, and improve the safety and reliability of Family. Where the GDPR applies, we rely on our legitimate interests in operating and protecting the service, balanced against your rights.
• To keep records or disclose information when law requires it. We rely on the applicable legal obligation.

When information is required

On Android, you use Google to create or sign in to your account; on iOS, you use Apple. We use the provider identity and the account information you share to operate your account. Optional account linking requires proof of control of both sign-in identities and does not automatically merge separate accounts.

Google Calendar data

If you connect Google Calendar, Family accesses your connected Google account email and basic identity, the identifiers, names, colours, and primary status of calendars on your calendar list, and the identifiers, titles, start times, and end times of events on calendars you select. Family does not request permission to create, edit, or delete Google Calendar data and does not retrieve event descriptions, locations, attendees, or attachments.

Family uses this raw Google user data only to let you choose calendars, display events from selected calendars in the household agenda, deduplicate events, report connection problems, and support reminders you enable. Selected information is combined into the shared household agenda, but Family does not create aggregated or anonymized datasets from Google user data.

The connected account email, selected calendar names and colours, and selected event details are shared with accepted members of your Family family because that is the feature you enable. Amazon Web Services processes the data on our behalf for hosting and transient caching. We do not sell Google user data, share it with advertisers or data brokers, or transfer it to third-party AI or machine-learning services.

Google user data is protected using encrypted network transport, access controls, private backend infrastructure, and limited operational access. Google OAuth refresh credentials are encrypted before storage.

We keep an encrypted Google OAuth refresh credential and calendar-list metadata until you disconnect the Google account or delete your Family account. Minimal backend event snapshots are cached for reliability for no more than three days and are deleted sooner when the calendar is deselected, the Google connection is removed, or the relevant family or account is deleted. Family does not use raw or derived Google user data to develop, improve, or train AI or machine-learning models.

Connecting Google Calendar is optional and separate from signing in. You select the Google account and calendars to connect. Calendar access is read-only: we use selected events to display your agenda and provide the features you enable; we do not edit your Google calendars. You can disconnect access. Cached Google events on your device are retained for no more than 30 days.

Sharing and service providers

Information in a shared household is available to the other members of that household according to the app’s permissions. When you select Google Calendars to share, the connected Google account email, selected calendar names and colours, and event details from those calendars are available to accepted members of your Family family so Family can provide an aggregated family agenda. Calendars you do not select are not shared.

We use service providers for cloud hosting, databases, authentication, email delivery, security, and diagnostics. Current providers include Amazon Web Services, MongoDB Atlas, and Sentry. They process information on our behalf to provide those services. We may also disclose information when required by law, to protect rights or safety, or as part of a corporate transaction subject to appropriate safeguards.

Family’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.

• On Android, you use Google to create or sign in to your account; on iOS, you use Apple. We use the provider identity and the account information you share to operate your account. Optional account linking requires proof of control of both sign-in identities and does not automatically merge separate accounts.
• Open-Meteo and Environment and Climate Change Canada receive coordinates in requests made to retrieve local weather, air-quality, or alert information. They may receive ordinary connection information as part of that request.

International processing

Nine Cats Software is in Canada. Our providers may process information in Canada, the United States, or other countries where they operate. Privacy laws in those places may differ from the laws where you live. Where the GDPR applies and information is transferred outside the European Economic Area, we use an adequacy decision, approved contractual safeguards, or another lawful transfer mechanism as required.

How long we keep information

We keep account and household information while the account is active and as needed to provide the service. We keep optional connection information until you disconnect the provider or delete the account. We retain limited Apple subscription entitlement history while it is needed to provide or restore access, resolve a billing or entitlement dispute, prevent abuse, or meet a legal obligation. Security, diagnostic, support, and legal records are kept only as long as reasonably needed for their purpose or a legal requirement.

Account deletion

An in-app deletion request has a 30-day recovery period, and you can cancel before final deletion begins. For a verified request made through support, we confirm the timing before scheduling. Finalization removes or de-identifies account-owned data and app-held push-routing and subscription bindings while preserving other household members’ accounts and data. Deleting your account does not cancel an Apple or Google Play subscription. Residual backup copies are removed as backups expire.

Backup snapshots expire automatically no later than 60 days after they are created. Residual copies of deleted account data age out through this backup rotation.

To request deletion of your Family account and associated data without reinstalling or signing in to the app, email privacy@ninecatssoftware.com with the subject “Account deletion request — Family”. State which app you use and the sign-in email or other account reference you already know. Do not send passwords, sign-in codes, provider tokens or payment-card information. We will verify account ownership before scheduling deletion.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or receive a portable copy of your personal information; restrict or object to certain processing; and withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent. Withdrawing consent does not affect earlier lawful processing. These rights can have legal exceptions. We respond within the period required by applicable law and do not discriminate against you for making a request.

Children and information about other people

You must be at least 16 years old to create or use a Family account. We do not offer accounts to anyone under 16. Household members may enter information about younger people; they must have authority to share it and should include only what is needed for household organization. Shared information is visible to household members according to the app's permissions. Please do not put unnecessary sensitive information in free-text fields. Contact our Privacy Lead if you believe an under-16 account exists or information about a child was shared without appropriate authorization, or to request deletion.

You must be at least 16 years old to create or use an account. The app asks for an acknowledgement after sign-in and remembers it for that account on that device; it does not collect your date of birth or verify your age. Household members may enter information about younger people. Share only information you are entitled to share and contact us about privacy or deletion requests concerning that information.

Security

We use administrative and technical safeguards intended to protect personal information, including access controls, protected credentials, encrypted network transport, and limited operational access. No service can guarantee absolute security. Protect access to your Apple Account and devices, and tell us promptly if you believe your Family account has been compromised.

Advertising and automated decisions

Family does not sell personal information, show third-party advertising, or use personal information for cross-app tracking. We do not make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

Contact and complaints

Contact our Privacy Lead at privacy@ninecatssoftware.com with a question, request, or complaint. We may ask for information needed to verify your identity and protect the account.

If the GDPR applies, you may also complain to the data-protection authority where you live, work, or believe an infringement occurred. Canadian residents may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the applicable provincial commissioner.

Changes to this notice

We may update this notice when Family, its providers, or applicable requirements change. We will post the revised notice here and change the date at the top. If a change materially affects how we use personal information, we will provide additional notice where required.