1. Who this policy is for
This Privacy Policy explains how Mohamed Hegab, an individual developer (“we,” “us,” or “the Developer”), handles information in the Small Pause app for iPhone and iPad, the Small Pause support service, and this policy webpage.
Small Pause is designed for children age five and under, with setup and controls intended for a parent or legal guardian (“grown-up”). We designed the app to avoid collecting personal information from children.
2. Information handling
Information from children
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. The app does not ask for or transmit a child’s name, age, date of birth, email address, postal address, phone number, precise or approximate location, photos, videos, drawings, voice recordings, contacts, school information, advertising identifier, device identifier, or activity history.
Information stored only on the device
| Local information | Purpose | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome completion and parent choices for narration, gentle sounds, and haptics | Remember the grown-up’s preferences | The app’s local preferences storage only |
| Optional four-digit parent PIN | Offer an adult-only way to pass the parent gate | Apple Keychain on that device, marked “This Device Only” |
| Current activity interactions and timer state | Run the selected play session | Temporary app memory; not saved as a child history |
| Guided Access active-status signal | Show the grown-up whether the hand-off is ready | Used momentarily in the app; not recorded or transmitted |
Small Pause does not request biometric authentication or receive biometric information. Grown-up areas use a randomized adult-level question or an optional parent-created PIN.
Messages sent by a grown-up
If a grown-up voluntarily contacts support, we receive the information they choose to include, such as their email address and message. Please do not send information about a child. We use support correspondence only to answer the request, protect the app, or meet a legal obligation.
This policy website
This HTML page contains no advertising, analytics scripts, tracking pixels, forms, or cookies. The service used to host this static page may automatically process basic request information—such as an IP address, browser type, timestamp, and requested page—only as needed to deliver and secure the website. We do not use or receive those technical logs for advertising, behavioral profiling, or child analytics.
3. Why information is used
Because the app does not transmit personal information, its on-device information is used only to provide requested features: remembering adult settings, running a timed session, protecting grown-up controls, and showing Guided Access status.
Adult support correspondence is used to respond to the request and maintain the security and reliability of Small Pause. Where data-protection law applies, this processing is based on responding to the grown-up’s request, our legitimate interest in supporting the app, or a legal obligation.
5. Children’s privacy
Small Pause is directed to young children, so its default is to collect no personal information from them. The app has no child account, chat, social feature, public posting, personalized advertising, or way for a child to contact us from the playroom.
We therefore do not seek parental consent to collect a child’s personal information because we do not perform that collection. If we learn that a child sent personal information to us outside the app, we will delete it. A parent or guardian may contact us using the details below.
If a future version needs personal information, we will first update this policy, provide the legally required notice, obtain any required verifiable parental consent, and offer appropriate parent controls before collection begins.
6. Retention and deletion
- Activity interactions: temporary and discarded as the session changes or the app closes; no child activity log is created.
- Preferences: remain in the app’s local storage until changed or the app is removed.
- Parent PIN: remains in the device Keychain until a grown-up uses “Remove parent PIN” in Small Pause or the device removes it. Because it is marked “This Device Only,” it is not synchronized through iCloud Keychain or migrated to another device.
- Adult support messages: kept only while needed to resolve the request, then deleted within 90 days unless a longer period is reasonably required for security, dispute resolution, or law.
- Website logs: We do not receive or retain web-server logs. Any temporary delivery or security logs are controlled and deleted by the hosting service under its published retention terms.
A grown-up can clear preferences by removing the app and can remove the PIN from Parent Settings. They can also ask us to delete adult support correspondence by contacting us. There is no server-side child account or activity record for us to retrieve or delete.
7. Security
We minimize risk by not collecting child data, not operating an app backend, and storing the optional PIN in Apple Keychain with device-only protection. No method of storage is perfectly secure, but keeping play data off our servers substantially limits exposure.
8. Privacy rights
Depending on where a grown-up lives, they may have rights to request access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, or objection concerning personal information we hold, and to complain to a local data-protection authority. We will not discriminate against anyone for making a privacy request.
These rights generally apply only to adult support correspondence because Small Pause does not receive child information or app activity. We may need to verify that a requester controls the relevant email address before acting.
9. International use
The app does not transfer child or activity data to us. If a grown-up contacts support or visits this webpage, their limited information may be processed in countries where the email or hosting service operates, subject to that provider’s privacy and security terms. Where required, we will use appropriate safeguards for personal-information transfers.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy when Small Pause changes or legal requirements evolve. We will post the revised version here, change the effective date, and provide additional notice where required. We will not begin collecting personal information from children through a policy update alone.
11. Contact the Developer
Only a grown-up should contact us. Privacy questions, requests, or concerns can be directed to: