Privacy Policy
Local-first design, short on collection, clear on what stays on your device.
Overview
Latch (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates the Latch app for iPhone and iPad. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your choices. Latch is designed to be local‑first: your settings, profiles, schedules, and block records stay on your device by default.
What we collect
The categories below describe the current app. Website processing is explained separately in section 13.
- ·Support communications: messages you send to app@latch.family and our replies.
- ·Crash diagnostics: anonymous crash logs, only if you enable crash reporting through iOS system settings. These contain no browsing activity.
- ·Apple account identifier: when you sign in with Apple, we receive a stable user identifier and, if you choose to share it, your name and email address. We use this solely to link your subscription and enable account recovery. See Apple’s Privacy Policy for how Apple handles Sign in with Apple data.
- ·App Store purchase records: Apple processes payment and provides us a receipt confirming subscription status. We do not receive your payment card details.
What we don't collect
To be explicit, Latch does not collect or receive:
- ·Your browsing history or the domains you visit
- ·The content of your DNS queries beyond what is needed to apply your rules on device
- ·Your location
- ·Your contacts or address book
- ·Any data about which apps you use or how long you use them
- ·Any data from children that we are aware of
Local DNS protection extension
Latch runs a local DNS protection extension on your device using Apple’s Network Extension framework. When you enable protection, iOS will show a network or VPN permission prompt. This is required by the system for any app that installs a local network extension. The extension runs entirely on your device and does not route your traffic through any server we operate.
DNS queries for domains that are blocked by your rules are resolved locally and never leave your device. DNS queries for domains that are not blocked are forwarded to an upstream DNS resolver. The default resolver is Cloudflare (1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1). Cloudflare operates under its own privacy policy. We do not control, log, or receive any data from queries passed to Cloudflare.
Latch also uses Apple’s Screen Time framework (ManagedSettings and FamilyControls) to block apps and app categories at the system level. Shield events from both the DNS layer and the Screen Time layer are recorded locally and appear in Reports inside the app. Neither Latch nor any third party receives these records.
How we use information
We use the information we collect only for the following purposes.
- ·Verifying and maintaining your subscription access
- ·Enabling account recovery when you reinstall or switch devices
- ·Responding to support requests
- ·Investigating crashes when you have opted in to diagnostics
- ·Complying with applicable law and responding to lawful legal requests
We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or any purpose not listed above.
Security
We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect the limited information we hold. The guardian PIN is stored in the iOS Keychain on your device and is never transmitted to us. Your Apple account credentials are managed entirely by Apple and are not accessible to us. Because most app data exists only on your device, we have no access to it and cannot be breached for it.
Retention
Support emails are retained as long as needed to resolve your request and maintain a reasonable correspondence record, typically no longer than two years unless required by law. Crash logs, if collected, are retained for a short period sufficient to diagnose issues.
App data (settings, schedules, profiles, and block records) lives on your device. Deleting the app removes it. If you delete your account through Settings, Latch removes the Apple account identifier stored on that device and returns the app to its first-run state.
Children
Latch is intended for use by adults and by adults configuring devices for children in their care. Latch is not directed to children under 13 (or the applicable age in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Parental or guardian controls in the app are managed by the adult who sets up the device; block records generated by a child’s device activity stay on that device and are not transmitted to us.
If you believe we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13, please contact us at app@latch.family and we will delete it promptly.
Your choices and rights
You can delete all on-device app data at any time by deleting the app. To delete your account and disassociate your Apple ID from Latch, go to Settings → Account → Delete Account inside the app. This clears local Latch account data and then shows Apple’s steps for revoking Latch access from your Apple ID. Your subscription is managed through Apple and must be cancelled separately in iOS Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions.
Depending on your region (including the EU/EEA under GDPR, California under CCPA, and other applicable laws), you may have rights to access, correct, port, or delete personal information we hold, and to object to or restrict processing. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at app@latch.family. We will respond within the time required by applicable law.
Contact
Privacy questions and requests go to app@latch.family.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the app and applicable law evolve. We will post the revised version with an updated date at latch.family/privacy and, for material changes, provide notice inside the app. Continued use after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Website and optional quiz
Vercel hosts latch.family and processes network information needed to deliver pages and protect the service, including IP addresses, requested paths and browser information. Hosting records are separate from the app’s local reports.
We use Vercel Web Analytics to understand visits and Speed Insights to measure page performance. These tools process page paths, referring sites, browser and device information, approximate country and performance measurements. We limit reported page URLs to known public pages and remove query strings and fragments. Private Together invitation routes are excluded from these analytics events. Your browser still connects to Vercel to load the website.
Vercel describes these analytics as cookie-free and aggregated, with its visitor identifier discarded after 24 hours. This does not mean all hosting or aggregate records are deleted after 24 hours. See Vercel’s Web Analytics privacy information and Speed Insights privacy information.
The optional Parents and Students quiz keeps your choices in the current page until you request a summary. Generating a summary sends those three choices to our Vercel-hosted endpoint, which sends a description of them to xAI’s Grok API when AI generation is available. We do not include your name, email, app reports, or browser chat messages in that model request. Latch does not save quiz answers or generated summaries to an application database. The provider processes them under its API terms; its published default retention is 30 days, with exceptions for legal and safety requirements. See xAI’s API data handling. You can leave the quiz without generating a summary. If generation is unavailable, the page can show a Latch-written suggestion selected locally from your choices.
Vercel’s documented standard runtime-log window is three days. Our hosting review found no configured Vercel drains exporting these projects’ logs or analytics. Provider security, billing and operational records can have separate retention. We do not claim that hosting providers keep no records.
