Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Sprout ("we", "us", "our") is a family chores and allowance app, based in South Africa. This policy applies to sproutearnsave.com and the Sprout app.

2. Information we collect

Account information (from the parent who signs up):

• Name and email address
• Password (stored encrypted, we never see or store it in plain text)
• Billing details entered at signup, handled entirely by our payment provider — Paystack for South African customers, Paddle for everyone else Paddle.com, our Merchant of Record. Sprout never receives or stores your card number (see Section 5).

Family information (entered by the parent, about the household):

• Children's names, ages, and chore/allowance activity
• Currency and settings preferences

Usage information: basic technical data such as device type, browser, and login timestamps, used to keep the app secure and working properly.

3. How we use this information

• To create and run your family's account
• To process your free trial and subscription (via Paystack or Paddle, depending on where you arePaddle, our Merchant of Record)
• To send you account-related emails (confirmations, billing notices, support replies)
• To fix bugs and improve the app

We do not sell your data, and we do not use it for third-party advertising.

4. Children's privacy

Sprout is designed to be set up and managed by a parent or guardian. Only the parent creates an account, using their own name, email, and password. Children do not sign up themselves and are not asked for any personal information directly, a parent enters their children's names and ages on their behalf, and children access their own view of the app using a PIN the parent sets, typically on a shared family device.

Sprout is not directed at marketing to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children.

5. Payment processing

If you are in South Africa, your payments are processed by Paystack Payments South Africa (Pty) Ltd ("Paystack"), a licensed South African payment service provider acting on our behalf. Paystack collects and stores your card details securely; Sprout does not see, process, or store your full card number at any point. Paystack's own privacy policy governs how they handle that payment data. Because Paystack is a South African provider, your card data is processed in South Africa.

For customers outside South Africa, payments are handled by Paddle.com Market Limited ("Paddle"), our Merchant of Record and a third-party payment provider acting on our behalf for your subscription. They collect and store your card details securely, Sprout does not see, process, or store your full card number at any point. Paddle's own privacy policy governs how they handle that payment data.

6. Who we share information with

• Supabase, our database and hosting provider, which stores your account and family data securely.
• Paystack, our South African payment processor, which handles billing for South African subscriptions and receives your name, email, and payment details necessary to process your subscription.
• Paddle, our Merchant of Record and payment processor for customers outside South Africa, which handles billing and receives your name, email, and payment details necessary to process your subscription.

We don't share your data with anyone beyond what's needed to run and bill for the service, and we never sell it.

7. How we protect your information

Data is encrypted both in transit and at rest. Passwords are stored using industry-standard hashing, never in plain text. Access to family data is limited to what's needed to operate the service.

8. Your rights

Under South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), and equivalent laws if you're based elsewhere, you have the right to:

• Ask what personal information we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate information
• Request deletion of your account and associated data
• Object to certain uses of your information

To exercise any of these rights, email hello@sproutearnsave.com.

9. Data retention

We keep your data while your account is active. If your subscription is cancelled — including if a card expires or a payment fails — we keep your family's app data (children's profiles, chores and activity history) for a 60-day grace period, so you can pick up exactly where you left off if you reactivate. After 60 days, we permanently delete this data and retain only your name, email address and country. If you close your account outright, we delete or anonymise your personal data within a reasonable period, unless we're required to retain certain records for tax or legal reasons.

10. International transfers

Some of our service providers (including Supabase and Paddle) may process or store data outside South Africa. Where this happens, we rely on those providers' own safeguards to keep your information protected to a comparable standard. Paystack, which processes card payments for South African subscriptions, is a South African provider and processes that payment data in South Africa.

11. Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we'll update the date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you by email.

12. Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data? Email hello@sproutearnsave.com.