Privacy
Last updated 15 July 2026
Sustenance is a private family application. Your family's data belongs to your family. We never sell it. We never share it with anyone for advertising or for their own purposes. We don't build profiles on you or your children.
This page explains what we collect, why, who touches it, and the rights you have. It is written to be read, not to cover us.
Who we are
Sustenance is the data controller for the information described here. If you have any question about your data, or want to make a request, email us at human@sustenance.ie.
What we collect
Only what the app needs to work for your family:
- Account details: a parent email for sign-in, display names, and the avatars and colours you choose.
- What you put in the app: learning logs, the profile notes you keep on each child, messages between family members, wishlists, learning modules, and the reports you generate.
- Photos you upload to log entries or chat. We strip location and device metadata from every image before it is stored.
- Basic technical data needed to run the service and keep it secure, such as sign-in sessions and rate-limit records.
We ask for a child's date of birth only if you choose to add it. You decide how much detail to keep in a child's profile.
Why we can hold it
We process this data to provide the service you asked for, under our agreement with you. Where you give us a child's information, you do so as their parent or guardian. We keep it because you have chosen to record it, and we hold it on your behalf.
Children's data
Most of what Sustenance holds is about children. We treat it that way. Children's profiles are created and controlled by a parent. Content about a child is private to your family and visible only inside it. Conversations are private to the people in them. A parent is not automatically shown a conversation they are not part of. We never use any of it to advertise, and we never sell it.
How we protect it
The most sensitive fields are encrypted at rest with AES-256. That covers the profile notes you keep on each child, messages, learning logs, wishlist items, and generated reports. Uploaded images have their metadata stripped and are served through short-lived private links, not public URLs. When you delete a log entry it is hidden immediately and removed on a rolling basis, so an accidental deletion can be recovered for a short while.
Analytics and cookies
We use only strictly necessary cookies to keep you signed in and the site running. For usage analytics we use Vercel Analytics, which is cookieless. It sets no cookies, collects no personal data, and does not track or profile visitors. There is nothing to opt in or out of.
Who else touches your data
We run Sustenance with a small number of service providers. They process data on our instructions only, never for their own purposes:
- Vercel, for hosting the app and storing uploaded files.
- Neon, for the database.
- Google, to send sign-in links.
- Stripe, if you place a deposit or subscribe.
That is the whole list. We do not pass your data to advertisers, data brokers, or anyone else.
Where your data is held
Your family's data is stored in the European Union. A couple of providers, such as Stripe and Google, may process limited data (a payment, or an email address) outside the European Economic Area. Where they do, the transfer is covered by standard contractual clauses, so your data keeps the same protection it has here.
How long we keep it
We keep your family's data for as long as you have an account. If you close your account, we delete it. Copies held in routine backups clear on a rolling schedule after that. Ask us and we will confirm when your data has gone.
Your rights
Under data protection law you can:
- Ask for a copy of the data we hold about you and your family.
- Correct anything that is wrong.
- Delete your account and your data.
- Ask us to export your data so you can take it elsewhere.
Email human@sustenance.ie and we will handle it. If you are unhappy with how we have dealt with your data, you can complain to the Data Protection Commission in Ireland, or to the supervisory authority where you live.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle your data, we will update this page and change the date at the top. If a change matters to you, we will tell you directly.