Privacy policy

Effective 26 September 2026 · applies to the Kinshift app on Android and iOS.

The short version

• There is no account: no email address, phone number or password is ever asked for.
• Your care circle is shared only with the people who joined with its code.
• Kinshift never uses your location, contacts, camera or microphone.
• The app is free and shows ads from Google AdMob, which uses your device's advertising identifier.
• Anonymous usage statistics show which features help families; they never include names or anything else you type.
• You can delete your data at any time in More → Delete my data.

What the circle stores

Kinshift keeps your circle in Google Firebase (Google LLC), on Google Cloud servers in the United States, so that every helper sees the same thing. It stores:

• a random, anonymous user identifier created by Firebase Authentication for each phone;
• the name you give the person cared for (for example "Mom"), the name each helper chooses to show, and which helper they are;
• the duties (name, time and days), how turns go round, and the days off;
• cover requests and answers, with who asked, who answered and when, and any note;
• each day's status for a shift ("on my way", "there now", "done");
• the updates helpers post: the text, the quick tags (which can describe health, such as "meds taken" or "had a fall"), who posted and when;
• tasks: the title, details, due date, who took it and who finished it;
• the care info pages the helpers fill in, which can include health information (medications, allergies, doctors), contacts, and a home's access details;
• the circle's six-letter code and time zone.

This data is visible only to the members of your circle and is used only to run the shared circle. It is never sold, never used for advertising and never shared with anyone else. Please enter only what your family is comfortable sharing with each other, and ask the person cared for, where they can, whether they are happy for it to be shared. When someone leaves, their name is removed and the circle stays with the others. When the last person leaves, or deletes their data, the circle and everything in it is deleted.

Reminders

Reminders are scheduled on your phone from the schedule it last saw. No push notification token is collected, and reminder settings are not uploaded.

Advertising

Kinshift shows banner and occasional full-screen ads through Google AdMob. Ads are never based on what you write in the app. To serve and measure ads, Google collects your device's advertising identifier (Android Advertising ID; on iOS the identifier for vendors — Kinshift does not ask for permission to track you across other companies' apps), your IP address for approximate location, and how you interact with ads. In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland you are asked for consent before personalised ads are shown, and you can change your choice in More → Ad privacy choices. You can also reset or limit your advertising identifier in your phone's settings. Google's use of this data is described at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

Usage statistics

Kinshift uses Google Analytics for Firebase (Google LLC) to count how the app is used — for example how many circles are set up, how many helpers join, and how many updates and tasks are added. These events carry a random app-instance identifier, your device model, operating system and app version, and an approximate location (country or region) derived from your IP address. They never include names, updates, care info or anything else you type. In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland they are used only as far as you allow in the privacy message. Google keeps this event data for a limited time (at most 14 months).

Crash reports

If the app crashes, Firebase Crashlytics sends a technical report: the error, the device model, the operating system and app versions, and a random installation identifier. Reports are used only to fix bugs.

Children

Kinshift is made for adults caring for a family member. It is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect data from children.

Security

Data travels encrypted (HTTPS) and is stored encrypted at rest by Google Cloud. Access rules on the server let only a circle's members read or change it. Anyone with the circle's current code can join, so share it only with people you trust, and make a new code in More → People and code if it was shared by mistake.

Your rights

You can see everything in your circle in the app itself, and delete your data with Delete my data (see how deletion works). For any question or request — including access, correction or deletion under the GDPR, the CCPA or other privacy laws — write to [email protected]. The legal bases we rely on are performing the service you ask for (the shared circle), your explicit consent for the health information you choose to enter, our legitimate interest in fixing crashes, and your consent where the law requires it for advertising and usage statistics.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new effective date.