Introduction

Welcome to ChorePulse ("we," "our," or "us"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and the privacy of your family members, especially children. This Privacy Policy explains:

• What information we collect and why
• How we use and protect that information
• Your rights and how to exercise them
• Special protections for children under 13

By using ChorePulse, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use our service.

This Privacy Policy applies to:

• The ChorePulse web application (chorepulse.com)
• Any related services we provide

Important Information About Our Service

Beta Testing Status: ChorePulse is currently in beta testing. During this period, features and data practices may evolve. We will notify users of any material changes to this Privacy Policy.

Geographic Availability: ChorePulse is currently available only to users in the United States.

Questions? Contact us at privacy@chorepulse.com

Information We Collect

We collect different types of information depending on your role in the family and your age.

1. Information You Provide to Us

Account Owner Information (18+ Years Old):

When you create a ChorePulse account as the account owner, we collect:

• Email address - Used for account access, notifications, and security
• Name (first and last) - Displayed in your account and to family members
• Password - Encrypted and never stored in plain text
• Organization/family name - What you call your family or household
• Home address (optional) - Used for location-based chore suggestions via Google Places API and property details via RentCast API
• Payment information - Processed securely through our payment provider (not stored by us)

Adult Family Member Information (18+ Years Old):

• Email address - For notifications and account access
• Name (first and last)
• 4-digit PIN - Encrypted, for quick app access
• Avatar selection and color preference
• Birth month and year (optional) - Used for age-appropriate features only

Teen Family Member Information (13-17 Years Old):

• Email address (optional) - With parental permission, for notifications
• First name - Last name optional
• 4-digit PIN - Encrypted, for app access
• Avatar selection and color preference
• Birth month and year (optional) - Used for age-appropriate task suggestions

Children Under 13 (See "Children's Privacy" Section for Details):

We collect very limited information from children under 13, and only with verified parental consent:

• First name only (no last name)
• Birth month (not full birthdate or year)
• 4-digit PIN - Encrypted, for app access
• Avatar selection and color preference
• Task completion data - Which tasks they complete and when
• Task verification photos (if required for specific tasks) - Temporarily stored and auto-deleted after approval
• Points and rewards - Gamification data within the family

2. Information About Your Home (Optional)

If you provide your home address, we may collect:

• Property information via RentCast API (number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, property features like pool, fireplace, etc.)
• Address components via Google Places API (for autocomplete functionality)

Important: We only use this information to suggest relevant household chores. We do not share your address or property details with third parties except the APIs necessary to retrieve this information.

3. Information We Collect Automatically

Device and Usage Information:

• Device type and operating system (e.g., iPhone iOS 17, Android 14)
• Device identifier - Anonymous ID for your device
• Browser version - Which browser and version you're using
• IP address - Used for security and regional compliance
• Usage data - Which features you use, how often, and for how long
• Error reports and crash logs - Technical information when something goes wrong (via Sentry)
• Task verification photos - If you upload photos to prove task completion (temporarily stored, auto-deleted after approval)

Cookies and Similar Technologies:

• Session cookies - Keep you logged in
• Preference cookies - Remember your settings
• Analytics cookies - Help us understand how the app is used (aggregated data only)

For children under 13: We use only essential cookies necessary for the service to function. No advertising or tracking cookies are used for children's profiles.

4. Information from Third-Party Integrations

If you choose to connect third-party services:

• Google Calendar - Calendar events, titles, times, descriptions (see dedicated section below)
• Google Places API - Address autocomplete data
• RentCast API - Property information based on your address

All third-party integrations are optional and can be disconnected at any time.

How We Use Your Information

We use your information only for legitimate purposes related to providing and improving ChorePulse.

Service Delivery and Functionality:

• Account management - Create, authenticate, and manage your account
• Family organization - Coordinate tasks, schedules, and rewards among family members
• Task recommendations - Suggest age-appropriate chores based on age and home features
• Synchronization - Keep your data synced across devices
• Calendar integration - Sync tasks with Google Calendar if you enable this feature
• Gamification - Track points, rewards, and achievements to motivate children
• AI assistance - Power the "Pulse" assistant to provide helpful suggestions

Communication:

• Service notifications - Account confirmations, password resets, security alerts
• Task reminders - Notify family members about upcoming or overdue tasks
• Family updates - Keep family members informed about activities
• Parental consent - Confirm consent for children under 13
• Support responses - Reply to your questions and requests
• Beta feedback - Communicate with beta testers about updates and issues

We do NOT use your email for marketing during beta testing.

Improvement and Analytics:

• Usage analysis - Understand which features are used and how to improve them
• Bug fixing - Identify and resolve technical issues
• Feature development - Build features users actually want
• Performance optimization - Make the app faster and more reliable
• Security monitoring - Detect and prevent fraud or abuse

All analytics data is aggregated and anonymized. We cannot identify individual users from analytics data.

Advertising and Personalized Ads:

ChorePulse displays advertisements through Google Ad Manager to support our free tier. To show you more relevant ads, we share certain demographic information with Google.

What We Share With Google for Advertising:

• Household income range (if you provided it)
• Home ownership status (owner/renter, if you provided it)
• Home size and features (bedrooms, bathrooms, pool, etc., if you provided your address)
• Family size (number of family members)
• Age brackets of family members (general ranges like "has children under 13", "has teens")
• Hobbies and interests (if you provided them)
• General location (city/region level, not precise address)

Legal and Safety:

• Compliance - Meet legal obligations including COPPA, CCPA, and other regulations
• Safety - Protect users from fraud, abuse, and security threats
• Enforcement - Enforce our Terms of Service
• Legal processes - Respond to legal requests such as subpoenas or court orders

AI Features and OpenAI

ChorePulse includes AI-powered features to help parents manage household tasks and routines. This section explains how AI works, what data is used, and how we protect your privacy.

AI Features Are Adults-Only

Why: We protect children's privacy by preventing them from interacting with AI systems or providing information that could be processed by third parties.

How Parents Use AI (Pulse)

Adult users may optionally use Pulse to:

• Generate age-appropriate task suggestions
• Create custom chore lists and routines
• Receive parenting tips and organizational advice
• Get help planning household schedules

AI features are completely optional. You can use ChorePulse's full functionality without ever using AI.

Your Control and Consent

You decide what to share:

• Providing information to AI is completely voluntary
• You control exactly what information you enter in prompts
• You are not required to include any child information
• You can use AI features with generic information only (e.g., "age 8-10" instead of names)

Parent-Directed Disclosure: When you voluntarily include information about your children in AI prompts, this constitutes a "parent-directed disclosure" under COPPA. You, as the parent, are choosing to share this information to receive the requested service (AI-generated suggestions).

Our AI Service Provider: OpenAI

ChorePulse uses OpenAI's language models (GPT) to power Pulse features.

How OpenAI Processes Your Data:

When you submit an AI prompt:

1. Your text is sent securely to OpenAI's API
2. OpenAI's models process your prompt to generate a response
3. The response is returned to ChorePulse and displayed to you
4. OpenAI does not use your data to train their general models
5. OpenAI does not retain your prompts beyond what's necessary to provide the service

What We Send to OpenAI:

• Only the specific prompt text you enter
• General context needed for relevant suggestions (e.g., "family with 2 children ages 8 and 10")
• System instructions to generate family-appropriate responses

What We DO NOT Send to OpenAI:

• Passwords or authentication credentials
• Payment information
• Email addresses
• Data from child accounts
• Information you didn't explicitly include in your prompt
• Your full account history or activity

AI Usage Logging:

We log AI feature usage statistics (such as number of requests, tokens used, and feature type) to monitor costs and improve the service. We do not permanently store your actual prompts or AI responses.

Your Rights Regarding AI Data

You have the right to:

• Not use AI features - All AI features are optional
• Control what you share - You decide what information to include in prompts
• Delete your data - You can delete your account at any time
• Opt out - Simply don't use AI features if you prefer not to

To exercise these rights: Contact privacy@chorepulse.com

Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)

We take children's privacy extremely seriously. We comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and take special precautions to protect children under 13.

Parental Consent Requirement

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without verified parental consent.

Our Verifiable Parental Consent Process

Before a child under 13 can use ChorePulse, we obtain consent through the following process:

1. Account owner attempts to add a child under 13 to the family account
2. System displays detailed COPPA notice explaining what data we collect and how we use it
3. Parent reviews the notice and checks the parental consent checkbox
4. Parent provides their email address for our records
5. We record the consent with date, time, IP address, and parent email
6. Confirmation email sent to parent documenting consent details

Parental Rights Under COPPA

As a parent or legal guardian, you have the right to:

1. Review the personal information collected from your child
2. Delete your child's personal information at any time
3. Refuse further collection of your child's information
4. Revoke consent at any time, even after initially providing it
5. Prevent sharing of your child's information with third parties (we don't share children's data anyway)

How to Exercise These Rights:

Response Time: We respond to parental requests within 48 hours for children's data requests, and within 30 days for other privacy requests.

No Third-Party Access for Children

Children under 13 cannot:

• Access or use AI features - No interaction with OpenAI or any AI systems
• Connect their profile to Google Calendar or other third-party services
• Share information with third parties
• Post content visible outside the family
• Communicate with users outside their family account

Children's data is never sent to OpenAI: When parents use AI features, only the information the parent voluntarily includes in their prompt is sent to OpenAI. Children's account data, activity, and personal information are never automatically sent to OpenAI or any AI system.

How We Share Your Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to anyone.

We only share your information with trusted service providers who help us operate ChorePulse, and only to the extent necessary.

Service Providers We Use:

Google Calendar Integration

ChorePulse offers optional integration with Google Calendar to sync your tasks with your calendar.

What Google Calendar Data We Access

When you choose to connect Google Calendar, we access:

• Calendar events - Event titles, descriptions, start times, end times, attendees
• Calendar metadata - Calendar names, IDs
• Your timezone setting - Retrieved from your Google Calendar to ensure tasks sync at the correct time
• Your Google account email - Used only to identify which calendar belongs to your account

How We Use Google Calendar Data

We use your Google Calendar data solely to:

1. Sync tasks to calendar - Create calendar events for ChorePulse tasks so they appear in Google Calendar
2. Keep schedules updated - Automatically update calendar events when you modify task details
3. Two-way sync (optional) - Import calendar events as tasks if you enable this feature
4. Display sync status - Show when your calendar was last synchronized

Your Control Over Google Calendar Integration

• Optional - Calendar integration is entirely optional and not required to use ChorePulse
• Disconnect anytime - Go to Settings → Integrations → Google Calendar → Disconnect
• Revoke access - Revoke ChorePulse's access directly from your Google Account permissions page
• Control sync direction - Choose whether to sync tasks to calendar only, or enable two-way sync
• Not available for children - Children under 13 cannot connect their own Google Calendar

Google API Services Limited Use Disclosure

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

Specifically, we:

• Only use Google Calendar data to provide the calendar synchronization feature you explicitly requested
• Limit use of Google data to practices disclosed in this Privacy Policy
• Only request access to Google data necessary for calendar sync functionality
• Do not use Google data for serving ads (except anonymized device data for general app ads)
• Do not allow humans to read Google data except for: security purposes, debugging, or complying with legal obligations

Data Security

We take the security of your information seriously and implement industry-standard security measures.

Data Retention

We retain your information only as long as necessary to provide the service and comply with legal obligations.

Account Deletion Timeline:

1. You delete your account from Settings
2. Account marked for deletion immediately
3. All personal data deleted from active systems within 30 days
4. Data may persist in backup systems for up to 90 days (not accessible)
5. After 90 days: Complete removal from all systems

Children's Data Deletion:

When a parent requests deletion of a child's data or revokes consent:

1. Child's account disabled immediately
2. All child's personal data deleted within 48 hours
3. Only anonymized, aggregate data (not traceable to the child) may be retained
4. Parental consent records retained for 3 years per COPPA requirements

Your Rights and Choices

You have rights regarding your personal information. Here's how to exercise them.

California Privacy Rights

If you are a California resident, you have additional privacy rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA).

Your California Rights:

• Right to Know - What personal information we collect, sources, why we collect it, and who we share it with
• Right to Delete - Request deletion of your personal information (subject to certain exceptions)
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing - Opt out of the sharing of your personal information for advertising purposes
• Right to Non-Discrimination - We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights
• Right to Correct - Request correction of inaccurate personal information
• Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Information - Request limits on how we use sensitive personal information

Sale vs. Sharing of Personal Information:

What Information We Share for Advertising:

• Household income range
• Home ownership status
• Home features (bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.)
• Family size and age brackets
• Hobbies and interests
• General location (city/region)

How to Exercise Other California Rights:

• Email: privacy@chorepulse.com
• Subject line: "California Privacy Rights Request"
• Include: Your name, email, and the right you wish to exercise
• Response time: 45 days (may extend to 90 days if complex)
• No fees: Exercising your rights is always free

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or service features.

How We Notify You of Changes:

Material Changes:

• Email notification to your registered email address
• Prominent notice in the app
• 30 days advance notice before changes take effect (7 days during beta)

Your Acceptance of Changes: Continued use of ChorePulse after changes take effect constitutes acceptance. If you disagree with new terms, you must stop using the service and may delete your account.

Version History:

• December 4, 2024 - Added Stripe, Resend, and Sentry to service providers; added task photo verification disclosure; added timezone collection for calendar sync; clarified AI usage logging; updated to reflect web-only platform
• December 1, 2024 - Added detailed disclosure of demographic data sharing with Google for personalized advertising; added opt-out instructions; updated California privacy rights section for CPRA "sharing" distinction
• November 12, 2024 - Initial privacy policy for beta launch

Contact Us

We're here to answer your privacy questions and help you exercise your rights.