Privacy policy

Last updated: September 30, 2026

Sparkle Buddies is a toothbrushing game for children, made for families of Bowker Creek Dental in Victoria, British Columbia. It is operated by Jeremy Matheson ("we").

We built it to collect as little as possible. This policy explains exactly what that is.

The short version

The app works fully without an account, and in that mode nothing leaves your device.
If you choose to create an account so the app syncs between devices, we store the minimum needed for that, in Canada.
We never collect a child's real name, birthdate, photo or location.
There are no ads, no in-app purchases, no tracking and no analytics.
We never sell or share data with anyone for advertising or any other purpose.
A parent can delete everything at any time, from inside the app.

Without an account

Everything stays on the device: your child's nickname, their buddy, their brushing history, gems, rewards and settings. We cannot see any of it. If you delete the app, it is gone.

With an account

An account is optional and is created by a parent, inside the part of the app that is locked behind a parental gate. It exists so that brushing done on one device — say, a tablet in the bathroom — shows up on another, like a parent's phone.

When you create one, the following is stored on our servers:

What	About	Why we need it
Your email address	The parent	To sign you in, with a one-time code sent to that address. We have no passwords.
Your child's nickname and chosen buddy	Your child	To show them in the app on every device. A nickname — never a legal name.
Your child's age band (3–5 or 6–8)	Your child	To set how the brushing session works. A range, never a birthdate.
Whether your child can write their name legibly, and any brushing level you choose	Your child	To decide whether a grown-up helps with brushing.
When each brush started and how long it lasted, and whether a grown-up checked	Your child	This is what the app is for: streaks, gems and the game board are all worked out from it.
Gems, items and prize tickets earned	Your child	So rewards appear on every device.
A clinic patient code, if you enter one	Your family	To unlock real prize tickets redeemable at Bowker Creek Dental. Optional.

We use this data only to make the app work. We do not use it to profile your child, target anyone, or for marketing.

What we never collect

A child's real name, full name or last name
A birthdate
Photos or video — the app never uses the camera
Audio — the app never uses the microphone
Location
Contacts
Advertising identifiers or device identifiers used for tracking

Who else sees it

Nobody, for any commercial purpose. We do not sell, rent or share personal information.

Your data is stored by our database provider, Supabase, in its Canada Central region. They process it on our behalf only to host the service, and not for their own purposes.

If you enter a clinic patient code and earn a prize ticket, the front desk at Bowker Creek Dental can see the ticket and your child's nickname in order to redeem it.

We would only disclose information if the law required it.

Notifications

If you turn on brushing reminders, they are scheduled on the device. We do not use push notification services and send nothing through a third party.

Keeping it safe

Data is encrypted in transit. Access is restricted so each family can only ever read its own records, enforced at the database level rather than only in the app.

How long we keep it

For as long as your account exists. When you delete it, everything is deleted.

Deleting everything

A parent can delete all of their family's data at any time: open the parent area (behind the parental gate), go to Account, and choose Delete all our data. This permanently removes your account, every child profile, all brushing history and all rewards from our servers.

You can also email jeremymatheson85@gmail.com to ask us to do it for you.

Your rights

You can ask to see the information we hold about your family, correct it, or delete it. Email jeremymatheson85@gmail.com and we will respond within 30 days.

If you are in Canada, you have rights under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act. If you are in the United States, you have rights under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

Children

Sparkle Buddies is designed for children aged 3 to 8, used with a parent's involvement. Anything involving an account, a clinic code or deleting data sits behind a parental gate that a young child cannot pass.

Changes

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top. If a change affects what we collect or how we use it, we will tell parents in the app before it takes effect.

Contact

Jeremy Matheson
2065 W 14th Ave
Vancouver, BC V6J 2K3
Canada
jeremymatheson85@gmail.com