Privacy & Data Policy

We believe you should know exactly what happens with your data, in plain language. No legalese walls, no buried clauses.

The Short Version

📵

Offline by default

Install North Star Learning and nothing leaves your device. Period. The app doesn't even request internet access.

🤝

Opt-in, not opt-out

Any cloud feature we ever ship will require your explicit consent. You choose what to share.

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Always pseudonymized

If you do opt in, data uses random identifiers that cannot identify you or your child.

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Never sold

Your data is never sold to advertisers, data brokers, or aggregators. Not now, not ever.

How It Works

Our apps operate on a two-tier model. The default tier is completely private — and for North Star Learning today, it's the only tier: the current app ships with no cloud features at all. The second tier describes how any future cloud features would work.

🔒

Tier 1: Default Install

No action required
  • ✓ All app data (scores, progress, settings) is stored locally on your device
  • ✓ No network calls are made for analytics, tracking, or telemetry
  • ✓ No device identifiers, IP addresses, or location data are collected
  • ✓ No ads are shown, and no advertising SDKs are included in the app
  • ✓ The app functions fully without an internet connection

This is the default experience. Today's North Star Learning build goes further: it has no internet permission at all, so data physically cannot leave the device.

📊

Tier 2: Cloud Insights

Not yet available — explicit opt-in required if it ships

Cloud insights are not part of the current app — nothing is collected today. If we ship richer scoring, progress tracking, or learning metrics in the future, here's the deal:

  • → You get enhanced learning analytics — see how your child progresses across categories, identify strengths, and spot areas for more practice
  • → In exchange, anonymized usage patterns (which game modes are played, which items are interacted with, difficulty levels reached) are shared with us
  • → We use this aggregated data primarily to make the app better at teaching — adjusting difficulty curves, improving content, and identifying where kids get stuck
  • → We may also use aggregated insights to inform development of other EmersonDigital products

What "pseudonymized" means, specifically:

Before any data reaches our servers, it is pseudonymized. We don't store names, emails, or device hardware IDs. Instead, we use a random app-instance identifier that groups gameplay sessions from the same installation — but cannot identify who is using the app. What we see is aggregate patterns linked by random identifiers — "40% of sessions in the 4-5 difficulty range replayed Memory Cards 3+ times" — not "your child played Memory Cards at 7:03 PM on Tuesday."

What We'll Never Do

✗

Sell your data to advertisers or data brokers

Your data — whether anonymized or not — will never be sold, licensed, or traded to third-party advertisers, data aggregators, or brokers. This is a hard line.

✗

Use your data for advertising purposes

We don't run ads, we don't build advertising profiles, and we don't use your data to target you with marketing from third parties.

✗

Collect data from children without parental consent

Our apps designed for children (like North Star Learning) require a parent or guardian to enable any cloud features. The opt-in flow includes age verification to ensure a child cannot consent on their own.

✗

Make it hard to opt out

If you change your mind, one tap turns off cloud data sharing. We also provide one-tap local data deletion. No dark patterns, no guilt trips.

Your Controls

Opt in or out at any time

There is nothing to opt out of today — no data is collected. If cloud features ship, they'll be enabled or disabled from app settings, and opting out will stop data sharing immediately.

Delete your local data

Every app includes a one-tap option to delete all locally stored data — scores, progress, settings, everything.

Request deletion of cloud data

If you previously opted into cloud features and want your anonymized data removed from our systems, email us at contact@emersondigital.dev and we'll handle it.

Children's Privacy

North Star Learning is designed for children ages 2-7. We take COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) seriously.

  • The app collects zero data, requires no account creation, and has no internet permission.
  • Any future cloud features could only be enabled by a parent or guardian through a verified consent flow.
  • We never collect names, photos, voice recordings, or precise location from children.
  • If cloud insights ever ship, only anonymized interaction patterns would be collected — never content that could identify a specific child.
  • Parents can delete all local data with one tap at any time.

Our Commitment

If our data practices ever change, we'll update this page and notify users in-app before any changes take effect. We'd rather lose a feature than lose your trust.

Questions about our data practices? Reach out at contact@emersondigital.dev