ReadUnlock privacy policy

Last updated 3 October 2026

ReadUnlock turns reading aloud into screen time. A grown-up chooses apps to lock with Apple's Screen Time, and a child earns time on them by reading picture books out loud. This policy explains what the app does with information. In short: nothing about your child leaves your device unless you choose to share it (the weekly reading report, described below). The only data that leaves the device is a record of ReadUnlock Plus subscriptions, kept by our subscription service, RevenueCat (described below).

What we don't collect

• No accounts. There is no sign-up, email address or password.
• No child's name, photo or date of birth. A reader in the app is known by their reading friend (such as "Bob's reader"), with their age in years (4 to 10), the languages they read in and a reading level, kept only on the device.
• No recordings. The microphone is used only while your child is reading a page. Speech is turned into words on the device by Apple's speech recognition, compared with the page, and discarded. Audio is never stored or sent anywhere.
• No advertising and no tracking. The only third-party code is RevenueCat's, which records subscriptions (see below).

What stays on your device

The app keeps, on the device only: the readers you set up, the minutes earned and spent, reading progress, stars and keepsakes, words a child found tricky (as text, never sound), your settings, and your parent PIN (stored in the device's Keychain as a salted hash, never as the PIN itself). The apps you choose to lock are held by Apple's Screen Time as private tokens that we cannot read or identify.

Deleting the app deletes all of this, except the parent PIN and its recovery code: iOS keeps those in the device's Keychain until the device is erased, so reinstalling the app asks for the same PIN. We have no copy of any of it.

With ReadUnlock Plus, the app makes a weekly reading report on the device. It only leaves the device if you choose to share it yourself, for example by Messages or email.

Network use

ReadUnlock has no server of its own. Its network connections are Apple's, plus RevenueCat for subscription records:

• Purchases of ReadUnlock Plus go through the App Store (StoreKit). Apple handles payment; we never see your payment details.
• Subscription records. The app uses RevenueCat to keep track of ReadUnlock Plus subscriptions. It receives the App Store's record of a purchase or renewal (which subscription, when, the price and the country) under a random ID made by the app, plus basic technical details any app connection carries, such as the app version, iOS version and IP address. It never receives your name, email, payment details, your child's name or age, or anything read or said in the app, and it is not used for advertising or tracking. We use these records to provide Plus and to understand how many families subscribe. See RevenueCat's privacy policy.
• Books beyond the free shelf download from Apple's servers (Background Assets) and are then read offline.
• Language downloads. When needed, iOS downloads Apple's own language files for on-device speech recognition and for word meanings (Apple's Translation). These requests are made by iOS and are covered by Apple's privacy policy; they contain nothing your child read or said.

Children

ReadUnlock is set up and managed by a parent or carer. Everything for grown-ups, including purchases, settings and links out of the app, sits behind the parent PIN. The one exception is a button that opens the device's own Settings, shown to a child only when the microphone or speech recognition is turned off, so a grown-up can turn it back on. We hold nothing that identifies you or your child. Subscription records are kept under a random ID; to have them deleted, email us and we will remove them.

Changes

If this policy changes, we will update this page and the date above. Any change that would collect data would ask you first.

Contact

Questions: arbazjpltd@hotmail.com