Privacy Policy

Last updated: March 28, 2026

Buko ("we," "our," or "us") is a mobile application that helps parents find local services, connect with other parents, and get AI-powered parenting guidance. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information.

1. Information We Collect

Account Information

• Name and email address
• Date of birth
• City, state, and ZIP code
• Race/ethnicity (optional, used for community matching)
• Profile photo (optional)

Children's Information

To personalize service recommendations and connect you with relevant parents, we collect information about your children:

• First name, birth month and year, gender
• School and school type
• Interests, languages spoken
• Parenting challenges and temperament
• Special needs and allergies (sensitive data, stored securely, never shown publicly)

Usage Data

• AI chat conversations (questions and responses)
• Service searches and recommendations
• Messages sent to other parents and businesses
• App open count and session duration

Location Data

We request your approximate location (city-level) to find nearby services. We do not track your precise GPS location continuously.

2. How We Use Your Information

Purpose	Data Used
Personalize AI parenting guidance	Children's info, parenting style, chat history
Find nearby services	Location (city/ZIP), children's ages
Connect with other parents	Location, children's ages, interests, lifestages
Business recommendations and reviews	Name, review text, optional rating
Send messages to businesses on your behalf	Name, message content (your email/phone is never shared with the business)
Improve the app	Usage data, feedback ratings

3. Third-Party Services

We share data with the following third-party services, only as necessary to provide app functionality:

Service	Purpose	Data Shared
Supabase	Database, authentication, file storage	All account and usage data (encrypted at rest and in transit)
Anthropic (Claude)	AI-powered parenting guidance	Chat messages, children's context (anonymized)
Google Places API	Local business search	Search queries, approximate location
Resend	Transactional emails to businesses	Business email, your name and message
Apple (MapKit)	Map directions	Business coordinates

We do not sell your personal information to any third party.

4. Children's Privacy (COPPA)

Buko is designed for parents, not children. We do not knowingly collect information directly from children under 13. The children's information we collect is provided by parents and is used solely to personalize the parent's experience.

Sensitive information about children (special needs, allergies) is:

• Never displayed in public profiles or shared with other users
• Never shared with businesses
• Used only to improve AI guidance relevance
• Stored encrypted and access-controlled

5. Data Security

We use industry-standard security measures to protect your data:

• All data is transmitted over HTTPS/TLS encryption
• Database access is controlled by row-level security (RLS) policies
• Authentication is handled by Supabase Auth with secure token management
• Sensitive fields (special needs, allergies) have additional access restrictions

6. Data Retention and Deletion

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. You can request deletion of your account and all associated data by contacting us at privacy@hellobuko.com. Upon request, we will delete your data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your data
• Export your data in a portable format
• Opt out of non-essential data collection

To exercise any of these rights, contact privacy@hellobuko.com.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes through the app or by email. Continued use of Buko after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

9. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, contact us at:

Buko
Email: privacy@hellobuko.com