Thank you for choosing Care Tales, Inc. ("Care Tales," "we," "our," or "us"). We provide a health education platform at www.caretales.com and through our iOS and Android mobile applications (together, the "Services"). This Privacy Policy explains in clear, concise language what information we collect, how we use it, and the options you have.

By accessing or using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this policy.

1 Information We Collect

a. Information you give us

• Account details (name, email address, password, display name)
• Profile information you choose to add (age range, pronouns, preferred language, city/state)
• Comments, messages, survey responses, or other content you submit

b. Information we collect automatically

• Device identifiers (IP address, device/OS, browser type, app version, referral URL)
• Usage data (pages or screens viewed, taps, scroll depth, time spent, crash logs)
• Approximate location (country or region inferred from IP or device settings)
• Cookie and pixel data that remember preferences and measure engagement

c. Information from other sources

• Single sign on tokens (e.g., Sign in with Apple or Google)
• Referral or promotional code information
• De identified clinical or educational content you import or that a clinician shares at your direction

Health related content. Your searches and learning activity may reveal health preferences or interests (for example, modules on sleep hygiene or nutrition). We treat such data with heightened care and, where required by law, request your opt in consent before collecting or sharing it.

2 How We Use Your Information

• Operate, maintain, and personalize the Services
• Recommend content, tailor chat answers, and track learning progress
• Develop, test, and improve new features—including training AI models on de identified data
• Process payments, manage subscriptions, and detect or prevent fraud
• Send essential account notices and product updates (marketing messages only if you have opted in)
• Enforce our Terms of Service, protect the integrity of our platform, and comply with legal obligations
• Generate aggregated, anonymous analytics and research reports

3 How We Share Information

We do not sell personal information for money. We share data only as follows:

1. Service providers — trusted vendors that host our servers, process payments, deliver emails, provide analytics, or help with customer support and AI functionality. They may use your information solely to perform services for us and are bound by confidentiality.
2. Professional advisors — lawyers, auditors, and accountants who assist us in running our business.
3. Corporate events — if we merge, acquire, are acquired, or reorganize, your information may transfer, but will remain subject to this Policy.
4. Legal & safety — to comply with a lawful request, court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Care Tales, our users, or others.
5. Aggregated or de identified outputs — statistical insights that cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

4 Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use first party cookies, local storage, pixels, and mobile SDKs (such as Firebase) to:

• remember your preferences;
• measure site and app performance;
• diagnose bugs or crashes.

You can control cookies in your browser settings and limit mobile tracking in your device settings (e.g., "Limit Ad Tracking" on iOS or "Opt out of Ads Personalization" on Android). Visitors from the EU/UK will see a banner that lets them accept or decline non essential cookies.

5 Data Retention

We keep personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Policy:

• Account data stored while your account is active plus a commercially reasonable period thereafter, unless a longer period is required for legal, accounting, or fraud prevention purposes.
• Learning interactions maintained in identifiable form only as long as needed to deliver and refine the Service, after which they are de identified and aggregated for analytics.
• Payment records retained for the full duration required by tax, audit, and financial regulatory rules (generally seven years or longer if mandated).
• Support correspondence — kept as long as necessary to provide assistance and maintain an accurate service history, then archived or securely deleted under our internal schedule.

6 Your Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• Access, correct, or delete personal data
• Port your data to another service
• Restrict or object to certain processing
• Opt-out of specific data sharing or marketing
• Withdraw consent at any time (affects future processing only)

California Privacy Choices: If you are a California resident, you may opt‑out of the "sale" or "sharing" of your personal information for cross‑context behavioural advertising at any time by clicking "Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information" in the website footer or in the app's Privacy Center.

To exercise any of these rights, email support@caretales.com or open Settings → Privacy Center in the app. We may ask you to verify your identity before fulfilling a request.

7 Security

We use industry accepted safeguards—encryption in transit and at rest, multi factor administrative access, and regular security assessments—to help protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we continuously improve our protections.

8 Children's Privacy

Our Services are intended for a general audience and are not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent as required by COPPA and similar laws. If we learn that a child has provided us personal data without such consent, we will delete it and disable the account. Parents/guardians may contact support@caretales.com to review or delete their child's information.

9 International Data Transfers

Care Tales is headquartered in the United States. If we transfer personal data outside your region, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or other approved legal mechanisms.

10 Third Party Links and Embeds

The Services may link to external sites or embed third party content (for example, tutorial videos). Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies. We are not responsible for those independent practices.

11 Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy periodically. If we make material changes, we will post the revised text with a new "Last Updated" date and provide prominent notice (such as an email or in app banner) at least 15 days before changes take effect. Continued use of the Services after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Policy.

12 HIPAA & Protected Health Information (PHI)

Care Tales is not a "covered entity" or "business associate" under the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). We do not connect to any clinic's electronic health record (EHR) system, and we do not receive PHI from healthcare providers. All health related information you choose to enter into our app is provided directly by you and is handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy—not HIPAA.

If, in the future, we partner with a healthcare provider in a way that requires us to handle PHI on their behalf, we will (a) execute a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with that provider and (b) update this Privacy Policy to reflect our HIPAA obligations before any such data exchange begins.