Children's Privacy Policy
Last updated: 29 April 2026
This Policy outlines our practices for collection, use, disclosure and parental consent for the personal information of children (users under the age of 13 in the US, or the relevant age of digital consent as otherwise defined by applicable laws).
We comply with applicable laws, including the U.S. COPPA and Kenya’s Data Protection Act, which require special protection for children’s personal information. For more information about COPPA and general tips about protecting Children’s online privacy, please visit the FTC's Online Privacy and Security page. For more information about our privacy practices generally, see our Privacy Policy at https://new.ello.com/legal/privacy-policy
4.1. Information we collect
We apply heightened security measures for children’s data. We do not use children’s data for marketing or share it with third parties for advertising purposes. We delete children’s personal data when it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected or when consent is withdrawn.
Definition of inactive subscription: An account is considered “Inactive” if there is no active subscription, and there has been no login or meaningful interaction with the account for a continuous period of 24 months.
What does Ello collect? | Why does Ello collect it? | How long does Ello keep it? |
|---|---|---|
Raw audio recordings | We use audio recordings for the child to interact via voice with the AI Teacher. These recordings are also used to evaluate reading fluency and pronunciation. We keep these recordings for 30 days in case there are safety concerns with the child’s session. | 30 days after session |
Transcripts of a child’s session with the app | We use transcripts to remember what the child has worked on and is interested in, to personalize future sessions, and to flag anything concerning for AI safety review. We also use them to help resolve support requests. They are necessary to personalize the service, and therefore we retain all transcripts for the lifetime of a subscription, plus three years in the case an account is re-activated. | 3 years of inactive subscription |
Learner profiles: a profile of the child’s academic progress, skills, and interests, derived from child’s use of the app | Learner profiles allow the AI Teacher to personalize instruction for each child. They are necessary to provide the service, and therefore we retain all profiles for the lifetime of a subscription, plus three years in the case an account is re-activated. | 3 years of inactive subscription |
Child profile: Name, Age, Grade | We use this information to greet each child by name and to choose books, activities, and difficulty levels appropriate for their age and grade. It is necessary to provide the service, and therefore we retain this information for the lifetime of a subscription, plus five years in the case an account is re-activated. | 5 years of inactive subscription |
Customer support communication | We keep a history of a parent’s questions and our replies, which helps us resolve issues faster if they reach out again and improve how we support families. This may include a child’s information depending on the nature of the communication with customer support. | 5 years of inactive subscription |
Usage analytics | We do not profile individual children for analytics purposes, but we may use aggregated, anonymized data for analytics. We use this data to understand how features are used across the app (things like which activities kids engage with most and how often the app is opened). Some information about usage may be used for service provision. Any identifiable usage analytics is anonymized or deleted 5 years after an active subscription. | 5 years of inactive subscription |
App performance analytics (error logs, telemetry) | These logs help us spot and fix bugs quickly, keep the app running smoothly, and protect the service against fraud and security issues. Any identifiable performance analytics is anonymized or deleted 5 years after an active subscription. | 5 years of inactive subscription |
Parents have the option to enable General Service Improvement. This requires explicit verifiable parental consent upon sign-up, and parents can withdraw this consent. If enabled, the child’s data collected, included audio recordings and AI transcripts, would be retained for 5 years after active subscription with the purpose to generally improve our service, including improvements to child speech recognition models and pedagogical performance of the AI tutor.
General Service Improvement is an optional setting available during account creation and within the Ello app. It is not required to use the Ello service.
4.2. Parental Consent
Ello obtains verifiable parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from your Child. If you sign up for a paid Ello plan, we obtain your consent through Monetary Transaction by requiring a credit card or payment system information. If you sign up for a free Ello plan, we obtain your consent through “Text Plus” two-step text message process. After you indicate consent in the app, we send a confirmation link to the mobile number you provided. When you tap the link, your consent is recorded, and we send a follow-up text confirming that your child's account has been activated.
If you do not consent, then we will not collect, use or disclose any personal information about your Child, and your Child will not be allowed to use features which require personal information. If you are not using our services for any other purposes and do not provide consent within a reasonable time from the date the direct notice was sent to you, we will also delete your online contact information from our records.
4.3. Parental Rights and Controls
Parents may contact us at support@ello.com at any time to:
- Withdraw consent for further collection or processing of their child’s data.
- Request access, correction or deletion of their child’s personal information. Please note that a request to delete records may lead to termination of an account, membership, or other service.
4.4. Version Log
Past versions of the Children’s Privacy Policy are publicly available for review as follows:
February 2026: https://new.ello.com/legal/childrens-privacy-policy-feb-25-2026