Privacy Policy

Last updated: 25 September 2026

Empation lets grandparents, parents and grandchildren read children's books together over a video call. This policy explains what information the Empation app and website use, why, and what choices you have. We keep it short and plain on purpose.

Empation is operated by Granular Concept LLC, Spokane Valley, Washington, USA (“we”). Contact: privacy@empation.com.

What we collect and why

• Your phone number — to sign you in with a one-time code and so family members who have your number can find you.
• Your name — the name you enter, shown to your family when you call them.
• Your family list — the Empation users you have added or who were found in your contacts: their account ID, phone number and the name you saved them under.
• Contacts (only if you allow it) — to show which of your contacts already use Empation, the phone numbers in your address book are sent over an encrypted connection to our server and compared with Empation accounts. Only numbers that belong to Empation users are saved to your family list; all other numbers are discarded immediately and never stored. You can use Empation without giving access to contacts and add people by number instead.
• Call records — who called whom, when, the call status and the book suggested, so calls can ring, be answered and be ended correctly.
• Device push token — so your phone can ring when someone calls you.

What we do not collect

• Calls are not recorded. Video and sound travel live between the participants and are not stored by us.
• Page turns and other reading actions are sent live to the other person in the call and are not stored.
• No advertising, no advertising IDs, no tracking across apps or websites, no analytics profiles. We do not sell or rent your data to anyone.

Camera and microphone

Used only during a call you start or accept, to send your picture and voice to the other person. You can answer without video and switch the camera or microphone off at any time. Background-noise reduction runs on your device.

Services we use

• Google Firebase (Google Ireland Ltd.) — sign-in, database, server functions and push notifications. Data is stored in Google's Frankfurt (EU) data centre.
• LiveKit (LiveKit, Inc.) — delivers live video and sound between call participants.
• Our own web server hosts empation.com and the app download.

These providers process data only on our behalf and under their data-protection terms.

Children

Empation accounts are for adults (for example grandparents and parents). Children take part in calls on an adult's device or account. We do not create accounts for children and do not knowingly collect personal information from children; nothing about a child is stored beyond the live call itself.

How long we keep data

We keep your information while you have an account. When you delete your account, your profile, family list, call records and push tokens are deleted, and you are removed from other people's family lists.

Your choices and rights

• Delete your account at any time: in the app, open Profile → Delete account, or see empation.com/delete-account.
• Withdraw contact access in your phone's settings; your family list stays unless you delete it.
• You may ask us for a copy of your data or to correct it by writing to privacy@empation.com. If you are in the EU, you also have the rights given by the GDPR, including to complain to your data-protection authority.

Security

All connections are encrypted. Only you can read your own family list and calls; access between users is controlled by our server. Our lookup index of phone numbers stores only a keyed hash, not the numbers themselves.

Changes

If we change this policy we will update this page and the date above, and tell you in the app if the change is significant.