Privacy Policy

Effective Date: [June 26, 2026] Last Updated: [June 26, 2026]

Family Next Step (“Family Next Step,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is an AI-guided support tool designed for parents, guardians, and adult caregivers. It helps users think through everyday family situations and generate a practical Next Step Plan.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, how we share it, how long we keep it, and what choices you have.

Family Next Step is designed for adults caring for children. It is not intended for children to use on their own.

If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, please do not use Family Next Step.

1. Who this service is for

Family Next Step is designed for:

• parents;
• guardians;
• grandparents;
• and other adult caregivers.

It is not designed for children to use independently.

If you are a child or minor, please do not use Family Next Step on your own. Please ask a parent, guardian, or trusted adult for help.

2. Important safety and privacy note

Family Next Step may involve sensitive family information.

Please avoid sharing unnecessary identifying information, such as:

• your child’s full name;
• school name;
• home address;
• exact location;
• ID numbers;
• medical records;
• photos;
• recordings;
• or other information that directly identifies your child or family members.

You can usually use Family Next Step by describing the situation in general terms.

For example, instead of writing:

“My son John Smith at ABC School…”

you can write:

“My 12-year-old son…”

3. What Family Next Step does and does not do

Family Next Step uses AI to help organize information and suggest possible next steps.

Family Next Step does not provide:

• medical diagnosis;
• mental health diagnosis;
• therapy;
• crisis intervention;
• emergency support;
• legal advice;
• child protection services;
• school counseling;
• or professional advice.

If there is immediate risk of harm, self-harm, violence, abuse, exploitation, medical emergency, or any unsafe situation, do not rely on Family Next Step. Please contact local emergency services, a qualified professional, a school counselor, a child protection service, or another trusted real-world support person as appropriate.

4. Information we collect

We collect information you provide directly, information generated through your use of the service, and limited technical information.

4.1 Information you provide

You may provide information such as:

• your email address;
• your relationship to the child, such as parent, guardian, grandparent, or other caregiver;
• the child’s age range;
• the family situation you want to discuss;
• what you hope to improve;
• your conversation with the AI guide;
• feedback you submit about an AI response or report;
• and any other information you choose to share.

We ask you not to provide unnecessary identifying information about children or family members.

4.2 Family topic and conversation information

When you use Family Next Step, we may collect and store:

• your initial family situation;
• your desired outcome;
• your guided chat messages;
• AI-generated responses;
• generated Next Step Plans;
• safety-related flags, if any;
• and feedback or reports you submit about AI output.

We use the term “family topic” in the product interface. Internally, our systems may refer to this as a “concern.”

4.3 Account information

If you create an account, we may collect:

• your email address;
• login verification information;
• preferred language;
• country or region, if provided;
• account creation date;
• last login time;
• and saved family topics.

We may use email-based sign-in codes or magic links. If we do so, we do not need to store a password for your account.

4.4 Anonymous session information

You may start your first Next Step Plan without creating an account.

To support this, we may create an anonymous session and collect limited information such as:

• an anonymous session identifier;
• session token hash;
• approximate technical information such as browser or device type;
• IP address hash or similar anti-abuse information;
• session creation time;
• and session expiration time.

This helps us provide the free first plan, prevent basic misuse, and keep your session available for a limited time.

4.5 Payment information

If you purchase another guided plan, payment is processed by our payment provider.

We do not store your full card number or full payment card details.

We may store limited payment-related information, such as:

• payment provider;
• payment status;
• transaction identifier;
• amount;
• currency;
• purchase date;
• refund status, if applicable;
• and the number of guided plan credits purchased.

Payment providers may process your payment information under their own terms and privacy policies.

4.6 AI output feedback and issue reports

We may provide buttons such as:

• “Flag this response”;
• “Report an issue”;
• or similar feedback options.

If you use these features, we may collect:

• the message or report you are giving feedback on;
• the reason you selected;
• your optional written feedback;
• date and time;
• and related technical information.

Feedback categories may include:

• inaccurate or unhelpful;
• unsafe suggestion;
• too harsh or judgmental;
• medical or diagnostic claim;
• privacy concern;
• other.

We use this information to improve service quality, safety, and reliability.

We may not be able to provide an individual response to every feedback submission.

4.7 Technical and usage information

We may collect limited technical and usage information, such as:

• pages viewed;
• buttons clicked;
• session events;
• device type;
• browser type;
• approximate region;
• error logs;
• request identifiers;
• security logs;
• and service performance information.

We use this information to operate, secure, debug, and improve Family Next Step.

We do not need to log the full content of your family topic in ordinary technical logs.

5. How we use your information

We use your information to:

• provide Family Next Step;
• create and manage your family topics;
• guide the AI conversation;
• generate your Next Step Plan;
• save your plan if you create an account;
• allow you to continue a saved family topic;
• process payments and guided plan credits;
• identify and respond to safety-related signals;
• receive and review feedback about AI output;
• improve quality, reliability, and safety;
• prevent abuse, fraud, and unauthorized access;
• troubleshoot technical issues;
• communicate with you about your account or payment;
• comply with legal, safety, security, accounting, or compliance obligations;
• and enforce our Terms of Use.

We do not sell your family topic content.

We do not use your family topic content for targeted advertising.

We do not use high-risk family content for marketing.

6. AI processing

Family Next Step uses AI systems to help generate chat responses and Next Step Plans.

When you use the service, your inputs and relevant conversation context may be processed by AI models or AI infrastructure providers that help us operate the service.

We may use an AI routing or model management layer to help manage model calls, reliability, safety, and usage records.

We may send limited metadata with AI requests, such as:

• feature type;
• user or anonymous session identifier;
• family topic identifier;
• message identifier;
• report identifier;
• model name;
• and request identifier.

This helps us operate the service, troubleshoot issues, and understand usage and cost.

We do not intentionally submit your saved family conversations for the purpose of training public AI models. If we use third-party AI providers, their processing of data is governed by our service settings, contracts, and their applicable policies.

AI output may be incomplete, inaccurate, inappropriate, or not suitable for your situation. You should not rely on AI output as professional advice.

7. When safety concerns appear

Family Next Step may detect or receive information suggesting a safety concern, such as:

• self-harm;
• suicidal thoughts;
• harm to others;
• violence;
• abuse or neglect;
• domestic violence;
• sexual abuse or exploitation;
• severe emotional or behavioral crisis;
• medical emergency;
• or an unsafe environment.

If this happens, the service may display a safety-focused message and may stop ordinary family guidance.

We may store limited safety-related information, such as a risk level or safety flag, to provide appropriate safety boundaries and improve the service.

Family Next Step is not an emergency service and does not monitor conversations in real time for emergency response.

If there is immediate danger, contact local emergency services or qualified real-world support.

8. How we share information

We may share information with service providers that help us operate Family Next Step.

These may include providers for:

• cloud hosting;
• database services;
• AI model processing;
• AI routing or model management;
• email delivery;
• payment processing;
• analytics;
• security;
• logging;
• customer support;
• and infrastructure monitoring.

These providers may process information on our behalf and only for permitted purposes.

We may also share information if necessary to:

• comply with law;
• respond to lawful requests;
• protect the rights, safety, and security of users, children, others, or Family Next Step;
• investigate fraud, abuse, or security incidents;
• enforce our Terms of Use;
• or complete a business transaction such as merger, acquisition, restructuring, or sale of assets.

We do not sell your family topic content.

9. Payments

Payments are processed by third-party payment providers.

Family Next Step does not store your full card details.

We may keep limited payment records for:

• purchase confirmation;
• account management;
• refunds;
• dispute handling;
• accounting;
• tax;
• fraud prevention;
• and legal compliance.

If you delete a family topic or account, we may still retain limited payment records where required or reasonably necessary.

We aim to separate payment records from sensitive family topic content where possible.

10. Data retention

We keep information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

10.1 Anonymous users

If you use Family Next Step without creating an account:

• anonymous sessions may expire after a limited period;
• anonymous raw chat messages may be deleted or de-identified after a short period;
• generated reports may be kept for a limited period so you can return to them during that time;
• if you create an account, your family topic may be saved to your account.

Specific retention periods may change as we improve the service, but our goal is to keep anonymous data for a limited time.

10.2 Registered users

If you create an account, we may keep:

• your account information while your account remains active;
• your saved family topics until you delete them;
• your conversations until you delete the related topic or account;
• your Next Step Plans until you delete the related topic or account;
• payment records as required for payment, accounting, tax, fraud prevention, or legal purposes;
• security and audit logs for a limited period.

10.3 Feedback and safety records

Feedback and safety-related records may be retained for service quality, safety, security, and compliance purposes.

Where appropriate, we may de-identify or aggregate this information.

11. Your choices and controls

Depending on your account status and applicable law, you may be able to:

• view your saved family topics;
• continue a saved family topic;
• delete a family topic;
• delete your account;
• submit feedback about AI output;
• request access to certain personal information;
• request correction or deletion of certain personal information;
• object to or restrict certain processing;
• or contact us about privacy questions.

Some rights may depend on where you live.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests.

12. Deleting a family topic

If you delete a family topic, we will delete or remove from active use:

• the family topic;
• related conversation messages;
• related Next Step Plans;
• and related topic-level information.

Some limited records may remain where necessary for:

• security;
• fraud prevention;
• debugging;
• legal compliance;
• payment records;
• or backup systems for a limited period.

We will not keep the deleted family topic content in active product use.

13. Deleting your account

If you delete your account, we will delete or de-identify your account information and saved family topic content, subject to limited records we may need to retain for:

• payment;
• accounting;
• tax;
• security;
• fraud prevention;
• legal compliance;
• dispute resolution;
• or service integrity.

After account deletion, you may lose access to saved family topics, conversations, and Next Step Plans.

14. Children’s privacy

Family Next Step is designed for parents, guardians, and adult caregivers.

It is not intended for children to use on their own.

We do not knowingly create accounts for children or invite children to submit personal information directly.

If you believe a child has used Family Next Step on their own or submitted personal information without appropriate adult involvement, please contact us at:

privacy@familynextstep.com

We will review the request and take appropriate steps, which may include deleting relevant information.

Parents and guardians should avoid submitting unnecessary identifying information about children.

15. International users and data transfers

Family Next Step may be accessed from different countries or regions.

Your information may be processed in countries or regions other than where you live.

These countries or regions may have data protection laws that differ from those in your location.

Where required, we will take steps designed to protect your information in accordance with applicable law.

16. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures designed to protect information.

These may include:

• HTTPS;
• secure cookies;
• limited access controls;
• session security;
• payment provider integration;
• logging and monitoring;
• database access controls;
• and other security practices.

However, no online service can guarantee complete security.

Please use caution when sharing sensitive family information.

17. Cookies and similar technologies

We may use cookies or similar technologies to:

• keep you signed in;
• maintain anonymous sessions;
• remember basic preferences;
• secure the service;
• prevent misuse;
• understand basic usage;
• and improve performance.

Some cookies are necessary for the service to work.

If we use analytics or advertising cookies in the future, we may update this Privacy Policy and provide additional notices or choices where required.

MVP note: Family Next Step does not need advertising cookies to provide the core service.

18. Analytics

We may use limited analytics to understand how users interact with the service, such as:

• page views;
• button clicks;
• completion rates;
• report generation rates;
• error rates;
• and service performance.

We aim to use analytics in a way that does not require storing sensitive family topic content in analytics tools.

We do not use family topic content for targeted advertising.

19. Marketing communications

If we send product updates or service communications, you may be able to unsubscribe from non-essential marketing emails.

We may still send important account, payment, security, legal, or service-related messages.

We do not use sensitive family topic content to target marketing messages.

20. Data used to improve the service

We may use de-identified, aggregated, or limited information to improve:

• AI response quality;
• safety boundaries;
• product reliability;
• user experience;
• issue detection;
• and abuse prevention.

We do not sell your family topic content.

We do not use saved family conversations to train public AI models.

If we later introduce additional uses of data, we will update this Privacy Policy and provide notice where required.

21. Misuse and prohibited content

You should not use Family Next Step to:

• harm, threaten, exploit, or manipulate a child or another person;
• generate abusive, coercive, or unsafe instructions;
• submit unlawful, abusive, or exploitative content;
• violate another person’s privacy or rights;
• impersonate another person;
• attempt to bypass safety systems;
• or misuse the service.

We may restrict, suspend, or terminate access if we believe the service is being misused.

22. Third-party links and services

Family Next Step may link to third-party websites or services.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties.

If you use a third-party service, its own terms and privacy policy apply.

This includes payment providers, email providers, AI infrastructure providers, and any external support resources.

23. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

If we make material changes, we may provide notice through the service, by email, or by other appropriate means.

The “Last Updated” date at the top shows when this Privacy Policy was last revised.

Your continued use of Family Next Step after changes become effective means you accept the updated Privacy Policy.

24. Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or want to make a privacy request, please contact us at:

privacy@familynextstep.com

Website: www.familynextstep.com

25. Regional rights notice

Depending on where you live, you may have additional privacy rights under applicable law.

These may include rights to:

• access your personal information;
• correct inaccurate information;
• request deletion;
• object to certain processing;
• restrict certain processing;
• request data portability;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• or lodge a complaint with a data protection authority.

To exercise privacy rights, contact us at:

privacy@familynextstep.com

We may ask you to verify your identity before responding.

Short plain-language summary

Family Next Step is for parents, guardians, and adult caregivers.

You can start your first Next Step Plan without an account.

If you create an account, you can save and continue your family topics.

Please avoid sharing your child’s full name, school name, home address, or other identifying details unless necessary.

We use AI to help organize your information and suggest possible next steps.

Family Next Step does not provide diagnosis, therapy, crisis support, emergency services, legal advice, or professional advice.

You can delete saved family topics and request account deletion.

We do not sell your family topic content.

We do not use your family topic content for targeted advertising.

If there is immediate danger, contact local emergency services or qualified real-world support.