Child Safety and Privacy

Version 5 — November 6, 2026

Koru Roots LLC — Miami, Florida, USA

Koru is a family support platform for parents, guardians and teens ages 14 to 17, and for young adults ages 18 and 19 with their own consent. It currently runs as an invitation-only pilot program with families living in Florida, United States.

Koru is not therapy. We are a family support platform. We do not provide mental health diagnosis, treatment or care, and we are not a substitute for a professional. Koru is not an emergency service.

Age and consent. A teen ages 14 to 17 can use Koru only if a parent or legal guardian has enrolled them, verified their identity and expressly accepted our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The teen also gives their own agreement before using their space. We do not accept users under 14. If we receive information from a child under 14, we suspend the account, delete that information and notify the parent or guardian.

Artificial intelligence. Our assistants, Kai (for teens) and Flow (for parents), are artificial intelligence, not people. They say so clearly at the start. Their responses may contain errors. To give continuity, they use the messages of the last 7 days as memory. They do not open images, videos or files: if a user sends one, they ask the user to describe it in words. Voice messages are automatically transcribed into text and the audio is deleted. Transcripts may contain errors: if something is urgent, it is best to write it.

Human review and safety. A system reviews conversations to detect signs of risk, such as self-harm, abuse, exploitation or danger to someone else. Every alert is reviewed by a person on the Koru team. No decision about a family is made by an automated system alone. The team does not read every conversation in real time, and no system detects every risk.

Help resources. If there is immediate danger, call 911. For an emotional crisis, call 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) and press 2 for Spanish, or text 988 (text AYUDA for Spanish). Our assistants share these resources when they detect a sign of risk.

Mandatory reporting. Florida law requires anyone with a reasonable suspicion of child abuse, abandonment or neglect to report it to the Florida Abuse Hotline. Koru complies with this obligation and reports immediately. Notifying parents does not replace the report, and we do not notify them first when doing so could put the minor at risk. We report child sexual abuse material, sexual exploitation and the enticement of minors for sexual purposes to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline and to the appropriate authorities.

Teen privacy. What a teen writes or says in a voice message is private: their parents or guardians cannot read their conversations or the transcripts of their voice messages. If there is a risk situation, only the minimum information necessary to protect the teen is shared, never the full conversation. Otherwise, content is shared only when the law requires a report to the authorities, under a court order, or with the teen’s own consent. To tailor support, Kai and Flow may exchange general guidance with each other about what may help the family, never the content or wording of conversations.

Contacting parents in a risk situation. If we detect that a teen may be at risk, the Koru team reserves the right to decide, case by case, whether to contact the registered parent(s) or guardian, and which one, and, if it cannot reach them, the second emergency contact. If the minor’s custody is suspended or in dispute, we apply our co-parenting protocol before contacting either party. When it does, the communication will include the type of alert and recommended crisis resources. Koru does not share the text of conversations. Only when necessary to protect the minor, the team may share the minimum information about the risk (for example, that the teen mentioned having access to medication), never the full conversation. We do not contact a parent or guardian when there are signs that this person is the source of the risk, or when contacting them could put the minor in danger. In those cases we report to the authorities, and contact with parents depends on their instructions. From age 18, we may notify parents only if the young adult has authorized it, and even then the team decides case by case whether to contact them. If there is immediate danger, Koru may call 911 without prior notice. Koru is not an emergency service and does not guarantee response times.

Data. We ask only for the information needed to operate the service. We do not sell data and do not share minors’ data with third parties for commercial purposes. We do not ask about or record anyone’s immigration status. Data is processed by technology providers acting on Koru’s behalf (artificial intelligence model, voice message transcription, forms, WhatsApp messaging, automation, storage, team email, alerts to the team, AI-generated voice calls and website). The full list is in our Privacy Policy.

How long we keep data.

• Conversations, including transcripts of voice messages: encrypted, for a maximum of 12 months. Images, videos and files that are sent are deleted after 24 hours without anyone opening them, unless there is a safety alert for that user: in that case they are kept unopened while the alert is handled, and anything reported to the authorities is kept as content reported to NCMEC.

• Account data: while the account is active. After cancellation, it is deleted within 30 days.

• Records of crisis situations (including recordings, transcripts and proof of contact) and of reports to authorities: 3 years, for legal reasons, even if the account is closed.

• Content reported to the NCMEC CyberTipline: 1 year from the report, or as long as the law requires, even if the account is closed or the conversation retention period ends.

Your data rights. A parent or guardian may ask to review, correct or delete their child’s data at any time. From age 18, that decision belongs to the young adult. To protect the teen’s privacy, a parent’s request does not include the text of the teen’s conversations. We respond within 30 days. Records of crises and of reports to authorities are kept until their legal retention period ends.

Prohibited use. Koru may not be used for any content or conduct that puts a minor at risk, including child sexual abuse material, enticement of minors for sexual purposes (grooming), sextortion, harassment and exploitation. We report it to the authorities.

Contact. Legal questions or to report a concern: legal@koruroots.com. Privacy and data deletion requests: privacy@koruroots.com.

This statement is provided together with Koru’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Koru Roots LLC · Child Safety · Version 5 · November 6, 2026