Your parents asked you to install Kids Are OK
Here is the deal.
This page is for you, not for them. It says exactly what your parents can see, what they can never see, and what you see about them.
They may never look at all. Most likely they just want to know you are safe, and would open a check only if something seemed wrong. That may never happen.
They see where you are only during a check
You see every check: who, since when, how far back
You can replay exactly what they saw
Calls only with the adults you switch on. Your messages, apps and photos are never collected, and no call is recorded
What your parents can see
- Where you are, during a check. Not between checks.
- Your route, only inside a check: up to 24 hours back, or 6, or 1, depending on what your family picked.
- Your live location while a check is open, if your family allows it. It ends when the check ends.
- Your battery and whether recording works, any time, without a check.
- That a call happened, who called whom, audio or video, how it ended and how long it was. Never what was said: no call is recorded.
- Safety zones, if your family sets them: you see every zone, and you see it when one sends your parents an alert.
What they can never see
Messages and chatsApps and screen timeContactsPhotosRecordings of your callsYour phone number
Not switched off. Not built. There is no setting your parents could find to turn any of it on. Your WhatsApp, your texts, your Snapchat and everything else on your phone stay yours: the app never reads them, and it has no chat of its own either.
Your microphone and your camera work only in a call you start yourself or answer yourself. Nobody can answer for you, nobody can switch them on from their phone, and no call is recorded.
Calls: two switches, and one of them is yours
Calls in the app need two switches to agree, and they belong to different people. Here is the whole thing, with nothing left out.
- Yours: who may call you. Next to each adult in your family there is a switch, Calls. It starts off. You switch on the ones you want, and nobody can switch an adult on for you. Not your parents, not us. If things are hard with one of your parents, you can keep calls on only with the ones you want, and you do not have to explain it to anyone.
- Each adult sees only their own switch. They see whether it is on with them, and nothing about what you decided for anyone else. It does not go into the family log either.
- It works both ways. An adult you have not switched on cannot call you, and you cannot call them. Switch them on and both of you can.
- Theirs: whether you have calls at all. Each parent has one switch for you, and it starts on. A parent can switch it off, and then calls in the app stop working for you with everybody until a parent switches it back on. They cannot use it to pick who you talk to: it is all of them or none.
- You will know if they do. When a parent switches calls off for you, or back on, your feed says so with their name, and the family log says so too, so you and your other parent both see who did it. It cannot be done quietly, and it cannot be erased from the log.
- SOS always works. Even with calls switched off for you completely, SOS still goes out to every adult, and so do alerts, "Are you OK?" and Check In. Nobody can switch off the people who should come if something happens.
- No call is recorded. Not by us, not by your parents. Your microphone works only in a call you start or answer yourself, and your camera only if you turn the video on.
- There is no chat in the app. Nobody can write to you here, and the app never reads what you write anywhere else.
If a parent switches your calls off and it feels unfair, say so. You can also write to us at [email protected] and we will answer you.
What you see about them
Everything your parents do in the app shows up on your phone.
Every check
While a check is open, your Status screen says who is looking, since when, how far back they can see, and their reason if they picked one. After that it stays in your list of checks.
The replay
Tap a check to watch the exact route they saw, point by point. You can replay a check for 30 days.
Their promise
If your parent wrote you a promise, it is at the top of your Rules tab. If they change it, your feed says so.
Everything they change
New rules, a safety zone, a new adult in the family, a call you had with them, switching your calls off or back on: it all shows up in your feed with the time and with the name of who did it.
Every alert about you
Low battery, recording stopped, a late check-in, leaving a safety zone: when your parents get an alert about you, your phone says so.
Who else is in
Grandparents or a nanny can join as trusted adults. They get your SOS and alerts and never see where you are. Your feed tells you who they are.
The small print, honestly
- No pop-up when someone looks. Open the app: your Status screen shows whether anyone is looking right now.
- The blue dot on iPhone, or the notification on Android, means your location is being recorded. It never shows whether someone is looking.
- If you switch location off, your parents get an alert, and your phone tells you that they did.
- Your route is deleted after 24 hours, or sooner if your family picks 6 or 1. What a parent saw in a check is kept 30 days, so you can replay it.
- Your parents set the rules, you pick the people. The rules about location are theirs, and so is the switch that decides whether you have calls at all; you can always read the rules in the Rules tab. Which adults may call you is yours, in Settings, any time.
What's yours
The app is not only for your parents.
SOS
Hold the SOS button for 3 seconds, even when the app is locked. Every parent and trusted adult gets it, and you see that it went out. If you are in danger, call 911, 112 or 999 too.
Check In
Heading somewhere? Say where and by when. If you are late, your parents get an alert. Need more time? Add 15 minutes.
Are you OK?
When a parent asks, answer with one tap: I'm OK, Call me, or Pick me up.
Calls, with no credit
Call any adult you have switched calls on for, by voice or with video, over the internet. No credit and no phone number needed. Your microphone works only in a call you start or answer yourself, you decide whether to turn the video on, and nothing is recorded. Afterwards your feed shows one line: who called, how long, how it ended. An adult you have not switched on cannot call you, in either direction, and if a parent has switched calls off for you, nobody can, until a parent switches them back on. Calls here reach only your own family: you cannot call 911, 112 or 999 from the app, so in an emergency use your phone's normal dialler. If something in a call upsets you, tell an adult you trust, or write to [email protected] with "report" in the subject. We read it and answer you.
Your PIN
Lock your journal with a PIN, so someone else holding your phone cannot read your checks. SOS still works when it is locked.
Where your parents are
Your parents can send you their location, once or for up to 2 hours. You see it if your phone has a screen lock or your app has a PIN, so a stranger holding your phone can't see where your parents are.
Talk to your parents
Ask them when they plan to look, and ask them to write it in the app as a promise. It will show up at the top of your Rules tab. If something feels unfair, say so: you will both be looking at the same screen.
What your parents read