Le Baby and privacy
(version FR ici)
Respecting user privacy is becoming an often mistreated notion in the mobile app world. Parenting apps, sadly, are not immune to this problem. With this post we want to clearly communicate how we stand on this issue.
People interested in using Le Baby should know:
we have zero interest in their data,
we make sure they know where their data goes,
we’ll maintain user privacy while growing our business.
What happens in Le Baby stays in Le Baby
Just as we would feel very uncomfortable entering a stranger's home to observe how their baby is eating or sleeping, we would also be uncomfortable going through any data a user has added in Le Baby.
A journal can store extremely personal information, sometimes of a medical nature. For this reason alone, we will never access a user's data without their explicit and informed consent.
It does not belong to us
We view Le Baby as the best possible tool to document the growth of a new-born child. The data set created by parents is theirs, not ours. In the same way pictures taken with a camera app would be theirs and not the camera app maker's.
Some businesses don’t think this way, and sell their data sets to others – insurance or advertising companies for example. Our revenue comes solely from selling the paid version of the app. We feel this is a more straightforward and transparent way to exchange value for money.
Where does the information go
A page on our website documents all the different types of information the app records and describes where this information can be found.
In short, everything is stored on the user's device, computer or in an iCloud backup. The journal can be exported to a file (.csv) which users can save where they see fit. It is their responsibility to manage the file’s exposure, just as with a baby picture.
If and when the app crashes, we do receive a report containing the app's version number, the hardware model, the crash timestamp, the OS version number, and details about where in the app’s code the crash might have originated from. User data is never included in this report.
Usage insight
Some apps have embarked analytics tools sending reports of the apps use to a server, most of the time without explicit consent. If we ever use such a tool to get insights on how our app is used, it will be through our beta testing effort, and we will explain to testers what we will see from their use of the app before they agree to help us try new features.
Marketing Le Baby
For now Le Baby is a confidential app, but we plan to bring it into as many new parents hands as possible. A way to do this is to buy advertising.
We won't be using advertising tools relying on user profiling methods to target with more relevant ads, such as Facebook or Google Ads. We have been averse to these for a long time, so it would be hypocritical to pay them to grow our business. Other options are available.
We hope this has made our perspective and actions about user privacy as transparent as possible to you.
If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate in contacting us.