Privacy policy
Kinfold is a small company building a friendly voice for older adults, set up and managed by their families. This page says, in plain words, what information we handle, why, how long we keep it, and who can see it.
The short version
- We don't sell your information and we don't use it for advertising.
- Nothing leaves the device until the person presses its button or says its wake phrase. There is no camera.
- Sound is turned into text on our own server, and the sound is deleted right away. We don't keep recordings.
- Our server logs record that something happened, not the words that were said.
- You can ask us to delete your information at any time.
What we collect, and for how long
| Information | Why | How long we keep it |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot request form: your name, email, who it's for, which device interests you, and anything you add in the note | To contact you about the pilot | Until we've finished contacting you about the pilot, or until you ask us to delete it. Please don't put medical details in the note. |
| Website visits: your internet address (IP address) and the pages requested | To keep the site working and secure | 14 days, then deleted |
| Reminders the family writes (for example "Take your morning pills") | So the device can read them out at the right time | Until the family deletes them or the service ends |
| Family messages sent from the dashboard | So the device can read them out | 30 days, then deleted |
| Activity summary: how many times the device was used each day, and whether each reminder was heard | So the family can see how the week went. It shows activity, not what was said. | About 5 weeks, then deleted |
| Which devices belong to which family (device number and household name) | To keep each family's reminders, messages and summary separate and secure | While the family uses Kinfold |
| Family dashboard login: household name and a password (stored scrambled, never in readable form) | So only your family can see and change your settings | While the family uses Kinfold |
| Server activity logs: that a device connected, errors, and sizes. They are set up not to contain the words said or the text of reminders and messages. | To fix problems | 14 days, then deleted |
What happens when someone talks to Mae
- The device listens for its wake phrase on the device itself. Sound is sent to our server only after the person presses the button or says the wake phrase.
- Our server turns the sound into text, then deletes the sound. We keep no audio recordings.
- To write a reply, the text of what was said is sent to an AI service, together with the day's reminders so Mae can answer questions like "what's next?". The reply text, and any reminder or family message being read out, is sent to a voice service that turns it into Mae's spoken voice. These services process that text under their own terms and privacy policies. We use them only for this purpose and don't send them names, email addresses or other details from our records.
- Mae doesn't remember past conversations. Each conversation starts fresh.
- We don't keep a copy of conversations. We don't show them to the family either: the weekly summary shows activity only.
Reminders can be sensitive
Families write the reminders. A reminder such as "Take your blue pill" can reveal health information, and it is stored on our server and read aloud by the device. Please write only what you're comfortable having stored. Mae reads reminders exactly as written and never changes medication wording. Mae can't tell whether a pill was taken.
Who can see your information
- Your family, through the family dashboard (reminders, messages, activity summary).
- Kinfold staff, only as needed to set up, support and fix the service for you. Access is limited to the people who need it.
- Service providers that run parts of Kinfold for us: server hosting, the AI service and the voice service described above, and our domain and website providers.
- Anyone the law requires us to tell, for example in response to a valid legal request.
We don't sell or rent your information to anyone.
Security
Connections between your device, our server and this website are encrypted. Each device is registered to one family and the server refuses unknown devices. Family dashboard passwords are stored scrambled. Our server's access is restricted and kept up to date. No system is perfectly secure, and if something happens that affects your information we will tell you.
Consent for the person using the device
The adult child usually signs up, but the person who talks to Mae is the one being heard. Before a pilot device is set up, that person (or someone with legal authority to act for them) is asked to agree in writing.
Your choices
- See, correct or delete your information, or stop the service, at any time.
- Family members can delete reminders on the dashboard whenever they like.
- To ask us to delete something, use the pilot form on our home page and write "please delete my information" in the note, and we'll reply by email. We will add a dedicated email address here soon.
Children
Kinfold is for adults and their families. We don't knowingly collect information from children.
Changes to this policy
If we change what we collect or how long we keep it, we'll update this page and the date at the top. For families already using Kinfold, we'll tell them before a change takes effect.