Spelling Stream Privacy Policy

Effective Date: April 1, 2026 | Last Updated: April 1, 2026

  The short version: Spelling Stream is designed for children. We collect as little data as possible. All spelling data, voice recordings, and progress stay on your device unless you explicitly enable Cloud Sync. We do not serve ads and we do not sell data.

1. Who We Are

Spelling Stream is published by Monthly Balance Capital LLC, an Arizona limited liability company. This Privacy Policy applies to both the Spelling Stream mobile application and the spellingstream.com website (collectively, the "Service").

Email: support@monthlybalance.com
Phone: (602) 456-7189
Mailing Address: 4539 N 22nd St, Ste N, Phoenix, AZ 85016, USA

2. Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)

Spelling Stream is designed for use by children under the supervision of a parent or guardian. We comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), including the amended rules effective April 22, 2026.

2a. What We Do Not Collect From Children

We do not collect personal information from children.
We do not use behavioral advertising or serve ads of any kind.
We do not sell, rent, or share any user data with third parties for marketing purposes.
We do not collect biometric data from children. Custom voice recordings (made by parents) are stored exclusively on-device and are never transmitted.

2b. Parental Consent

All optional data features require verifiable parental consent before activation. During the app's initial setup wizard, a parent or guardian must:

Pass a math-based parental verification gate
Review this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use
Explicitly tap to consent before proceeding

All parent-only settings are further protected by a PIN or math-based parental gate that children cannot bypass.

2c. Parental Rights

As a parent or guardian, you have the right to:

Review all data stored by the app. All data is visible within the app itself (spelling lists, scores, profiles, recordings).
Refuse further collection. You may revoke consent for optional features (analytics, Cloud Sync, microphone, camera) at any time through your device's Settings or the app's Parent Center.
Request deletion. You may delete all app data at any time using Settings > Delete All Data. For Cloud Sync users, this also deletes all data from our servers. You may also contact us at support@monthlybalance.com to request deletion.

3. Data That Stays on Your Device

The following data is stored only on your device and is never transmitted to us or any third party:

Spelling lists and words
Custom voice recordings of words (recorded by parents; these are never synced or uploaded, even with Cloud Sync enabled)
Test scores, stars, and progress
Child profile nicknames
Sticker and theme selections
Photos taken for OCR word scanning (processed on-device by Apple's built-in text recognition; photos are never uploaded or stored beyond the scanning session)
Parent PIN and biometric preferences

4. Cloud Sync (Pro Feature, Optional)

If a parent explicitly enables Cloud Sync, the following data is synced via Google Firebase/Firestore (operated by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043):

Spelling lists and words
Child profile nicknames and progress
Stars, stickers, themes, and reward data
The parent's Apple ID email (used solely for authentication)

Not synced: Voice recordings, photos, PIN settings, and biometric preferences are never synced and always remain on-device only.

Cloud Sync requires:

An active Pro subscription
The parent to sign in with their Apple ID (not a child's account)
Explicit consent during setup

Synced data is stored in Google Cloud (United States) and is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest. Parents can delete all cloud data at any time from Settings > Delete All Data.

5. Analytics

5.0 Website Analytics

The spellingstream.com website uses Google Analytics (GA4) (operated by Google LLC) to understand visitor traffic and behavior on the marketing site. Google Analytics is used on the website only — it is not present in the mobile app. The website is directed at parents, not children. Standard Google Analytics cookies and identifiers may be set when you visit the site. This data is used solely for understanding how visitors find and use our website.

5.1 App Analytics

Within the mobile app, we use Google Firebase Analytics (operated by Google LLC) solely to understand aggregate app usage (e.g., which features are popular, crash-free session rates).

5a. Consent Required

Analytics is disabled by default and only enabled after a parent provides consent during the initial setup wizard. If consent is not given, no analytics data is collected.

5b. What Analytics Collects

When enabled, Firebase Analytics may collect:

Anonymous usage events (e.g., "game started", "test completed")
Device type and OS version
A Firebase instance ID (a random, anonymous persistent identifier assigned to the app installation)

Firebase Analytics does not collect:

Names, email addresses, or any personally identifiable information
Spelling words, test answers, or any user-generated content
Location data

5c. Persistent Identifiers

The Firebase instance ID is a persistent identifier used solely for internal operations: aggregating anonymous usage statistics and measuring app stability. It is not used for advertising, user profiling, or any purpose beyond internal analytics. This use is covered by the parental consent obtained during setup, in accordance with the COPPA rule's internal operations exception.

We have configured Firebase Analytics with the following restrictions:

ad_storage: denied
ad_user_data: denied
ad_personalization: denied

6. Crash Reporting

We use Google Firebase Crashlytics (operated by Google LLC) to detect and fix app crashes. Crash reports contain only technical information (device model, OS version, stack trace) and do not contain any personal information, user content, or spelling data.

7. Subscriptions & Payments

Subscriptions are processed entirely by Apple Inc. through the App Store. We do not collect or have access to payment information, credit card numbers, or billing addresses. Subscription management (cancellation, plan changes) is handled through your Apple ID account settings.

8. Microphone & Camera

Microphone: Used only if a parent chooses to record custom pronunciations of spelling words. Recordings are stored on-device only and are never uploaded, synced, or transmitted. Voice recordings constitute biometric data under the updated COPPA rule; they are collected only with explicit parental consent and never leave the device.
Speech Recognition: Used only if a parent chooses to add words by speaking. Processed by the device's built-in speech engine (Apple Speech). No audio data is sent to our servers.
Camera: Used only if a parent chooses to photograph a printed spelling list for OCR scanning. Photos are processed on-device by Apple's text recognition framework and are never uploaded or stored beyond the scanning session.

All of these features require explicit parental consent and iOS system permission prompts.

9. Third-Party Services

We use the following specifically named third-party services:

Service	Operator	Purpose	Data Received
Apple Sign-In	Apple Inc.	Parent authentication for Cloud Sync	Apple ID email (parent only)
Firebase Analytics	Google LLC	Anonymous aggregate usage statistics	Anonymous events, device type, Firebase instance ID
Firebase Crashlytics	Google LLC	Crash detection and stability monitoring	Device model, OS version, crash stack traces
Firebase Auth	Google LLC	Authentication for Cloud Sync	Apple ID token (parent only)
Cloud Firestore	Google LLC	Cloud Sync data storage	See Section 4 (synced data)
RevenueCat	RevenueCat Inc.	Subscription entitlement management	Anonymous app user ID, subscription status
Apple App Store	Apple Inc.	Subscription billing and payments	Managed entirely by Apple

No third-party service receives children's personal information, spelling data, voice recordings, or photos.

10. Data Retention & Deletion

10a. On-Device Data

All on-device data (spelling lists, recordings, scores, profiles) persists until:

The parent taps "Delete All Data" in Settings (immediate deletion), or
The app is uninstalled from the device

On-device data (spelling lists, scores, profiles, and recordings) persists indefinitely. There is no automatic time-based expiration or deletion. Parents or guardians have complete control and may delete all data at any time using the in-app "Delete All Data" feature, or by uninstalling the app from the device.

10b. Cloud Sync Data

For users who enable Cloud Sync, synced data is retained on Google Cloud servers for as long as the user's account exists. Data is deleted:

Immediately when a parent taps "Delete All Data" or "Delete Account" in Settings
Within 30 days of subscription expiration if the account is not renewed (grace period for resubscription)

After deletion, data is purged from Google Cloud Firestore and cannot be recovered.

10c. Analytics & Crash Data

Firebase Analytics data is retained for 14 months from the date of collection, after which it is automatically deleted by Google. Crashlytics data is retained for 90 days.

10d. Requesting Deletion

Parents may delete all data at any time using the in-app "Delete All Data" feature, or by contacting us at support@monthlybalance.com. We will process deletion requests within 7 business days.

11. Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect user data:

On-device data is protected by the device's built-in encryption and passcode
Cloud Sync data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256) on Google Cloud
Authentication uses Apple Sign-In with industry-standard token-based security

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be noted with an updated "Last Updated" date at the top. If we make material changes to how we collect or use children's data, we will obtain new parental consent before implementing those changes. Continued use of the app after non-material changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about this privacy policy, your data, or your parental rights under COPPA, contact us at:

Monthly Balance Capital LLC
Monthly Balance Capital LLC
Email: support@monthlybalance.com
Phone: (602) 456-7189
Mailing Address: 4539 N 22nd St, Ste N, Phoenix, AZ 85016, USA