Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

CareCircle Family (carecirclefamily.app) is a private family care organiser for practical coordination. It is operated by the CareCircle Family team, which is the controller of personal information described here. We are based in the UK and apply UK data protection law (UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018).

Contact us about privacy at us@carecirclefamily.app.

2. What we collect

We only hold what you or your Circle members choose to add, plus what's needed to run the service:

• Account and profile: name, email address, password (stored only as a secure hash), optional profile photo, and settings such as notification preferences and quiet times.
• Circle membership: which Circles you belong to, your role in each, invitations and who added whom.
• Information about the person you care for: name, relationship, optional photo, care setup answers, a daily routine ("How today works"), important dates, food preferences and dietary notes, and an optional area (such as a town or postcode district) if you choose to set one.
• Calendar export: when you choose to export an appointment or date range, the selected calendar items are put in a calendar file on your device. This is an explicit one-way export; CareCircle Family does not read or automatically update your external calendar.
• Care coordination records: appointments, tasks, help requests, visits, pinned updates, handovers, timeline entries, contacts and care team details, shopping lists and expenses or receipts.
• Health-related information: medications, supply and dose logs, allergies, family-recorded observations and reactions, and imported medication lists.
• Files and media: documents, photos, video, audio and voice notes you add to Records, Evidence, Memories or elsewhere.
• Memories and Wishes: personal memories shared with permitted close-family roles, and planning-ahead wishes that are private to their author unless shared.
• Feedback: ideas and problem reports you send us, with any screenshot you attach.
• Technical data: sign-in session data, basic device and browser information, security logs and anonymous product usage events.

3. Health and care information

Much of what families record is special category data about health. We process it only to provide CareCircle Family to you and your Circle, on the basis of your explicit choice to record it. We never sell it, never use it for advertising, and never use it to target sponsors or partners. Sponsors and partners have no access to Circles or anything recorded in them.

Family-recorded observations are labelled as such. CareCircle Family does not diagnose, interpret or make medical decisions, and it is not connected to the NHS or any clinical record system.

4. How we use information

• To run your Circle: showing the right records to the right members, reminders and handovers.
• To keep accounts secure and prevent misuse.
• To answer support requests and feedback you send.
• To understand, in aggregate, which features are used, using counts and action names only — never names, notes, documents or care details.

Our legal bases are performance of our agreement with you, your explicit consent for health information you choose to record, our legitimate interests in keeping the service safe and working, and legal obligations where they apply.

5. Who can see your information

Only members of the relevant Circle, according to their role. Some areas are narrower still: Wishes are private to their author unless shared. Memories are available to the Owner, Family members, Primary carers and the person receiving care. Documents, financial records and medication information have their own role restrictions. Access rules are enforced by the database on every read and write, not only by the app screens. Files are held in private storage and opened through short-lived secure links.

A small number of authorised CareCircle Family staff can access systems for support, security and legal reasons, under confidentiality.

6. Signing in with Google or Apple

If you choose Google or Apple, we receive your name and email address, and the provider confirms your identity. If you use Apple's "Hide My Email", we receive a private relay address and treat it as its own account. We never receive your Google or Apple password, and we don't merge accounts automatically where there's any doubt they belong to the same person.

7. Camera, microphone, photos and files

CareCircle Family asks for camera, microphone or photo access only when you choose to take a photo, record audio or video, or pick a file. Nothing is captured in the background, and you can withdraw permission in your device settings at any time.

8. AI features and CC

CC, our helper, answers questions using only records you can already see in your Circle. Some features — importing a medication list from a document or photo, and drafting handover summaries — send the relevant content to our AI processing provider for that single request. It is not used to train AI models.

AI can make mistakes. Information extracted from documents is shown to you as a suggestion to review, and nothing is saved to your medication list until an authorised member checks and confirms it. CC does not give medical advice.

9. Notifications

The in-app notification centre shows relevant Circle updates, with category, quiet time, Quiet day and remembrance settings. Supported phones can also schedule on-device reminders from records you can already see: upcoming appointments, your own due tasks and document follow-ups. These require device permission, use neutral lock-screen wording and are not email or SMS reminders. Open the app with a connection to load new or changed records; delivery is not guaranteed. People whose names are typed in by hand but who aren't Circle members are never contacted.

10. Service providers

We use carefully chosen processors, acting only on our instructions, for:

• cloud hosting, database and secure file storage;
• sign-in and authentication, including Google and Apple if you choose them;
• AI processing for the features described above;
• sending emails such as sign-up confirmations and password resets;
• app store and device notification services on mobile.

Where these providers process data outside the UK, we rely on recognised safeguards such as UK adequacy regulations or the UK International Data Transfer Addendum. We do not sell personal information to anyone. We disclose information to authorities only where the law requires it.

11. How long we keep information

We keep your information while your account is active. Circle records stay while the Circle exists. When you delete your account, your profile and sign-in are removed, and Circles you choose to delete are removed with their records and files. If you leave a Circle, its shared history stays for the remaining members without your account attached. Encrypted backups are overwritten on a rolling basis, and limited security or legal records may be kept only as long as necessary.

12. Deleting your account

Delete your account in the app under More → Your account → Delete my account, or at carecirclefamily.app/delete-account. If you can't sign in, that page explains how to ask us to delete it after we verify it's you.

13. Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to the use of your information, ask for a portable copy, and withdraw consent at any time. You can export and delete much of this yourself in the app. To make a request, email us@carecirclefamily.app; we'll verify your identity and reply within one month. If you're unhappy, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

14. Children

CareCircle Family is designed for adults coordinating care. Information about a child may be recorded by adults caring for them, and is protected in the same way.

15. Changes to this policy

If we make significant changes, we'll let you know in the app or by email. The date at the top shows when this policy was last updated.

Not medical advice

CareCircle Family is an organisational tool. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or emergency services. If someone needs urgent medical help, contact the appropriate emergency or healthcare service.