Children's Code Compliance

Last updated: 14/05/2026

This document explains how Animal Bonds complies with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Age Appropriate Design Code, also known as the Children’s Code. The Code applies to online services likely to be accessed by children under 18 in the UK.

The Code sets out 15 standards. We address each below, in plain English.

1. Best interests of the child

Every product decision is evaluated against the question: “Is this in the best interests of children using it?”

Specifically:

• The game’s primary purpose is educational benefit (number bond fluency).
• The game is designed not to encourage excessive screen time. There are no “energy” or “lives” mechanics that lock a child out, and core progression — coins, number-bond mastery, and animal ranks — is never lost by missing a day. The game does include optional play-streak badges that celebrate playing on several days in a row, but these are purely celebratory: missing a day simply resets the running streak count and never removes coins, badges, mastery, or progress the child has already earned.
• The game contains no advertising, in-app purchases, dark patterns, or manipulative design.
• We do not optimise for engagement metrics that conflict with child welfare.

2. Data protection impact assessments

A Data Protection Impact Assessment has been undertaken for the Service and is being finalised ahead of pilot deployment. It will be reviewed annually and updated when significant changes are made.

3. Age-appropriate application

The Service is designed for children aged 5 to 11. Within that range:

• Content (animals, themes, language) is age-appropriate throughout.
• Adaptive difficulty matches each child’s mastery level.
• The interface uses large touch targets, simple language, and minimal text.
• We do not attempt to verify age beyond asking the year group at signup.
• The Service does not collect data that becomes more sensitive at different ages.

4. Transparency

We provide:

• A full Privacy Policy for adults.
• Just-in-time explanations: when we ask for any information, we explain why immediately.
• No buried terms. Important information is shown in context.

5. Detrimental use of data

We do not use children’s data in ways that could harm them. Specifically:

• No advertising or commercial messaging.
• No profiling that affects access to services.
• No sharing with third parties beyond essential technical service providers listed in the Privacy Policy.
• No use of data for product decisions that would compromise the child’s interests.

6. Policies and community standards

We uphold the standards we publish. Our Privacy Policy, Terms, Safeguarding Statement, and this document are not aspirational: they describe how the Service actually works.

7. Default settings

All settings default to the most privacy-protective option:

• Location: off (we do not request precise location).
• Pupil identity in the game: pupils see themselves and each other only by their auto-generated display name (e.g. “OtterRiver”). A pupil’s real name is never shown on the pupil-facing interface, not even to the pupil themselves.
• Leaderboards: scoped to a class or school, never global, never visible to strangers. Pupils on leaderboards are shown by display name only.
• Marketing communications: not applicable. We do not send marketing communications because we do not collect email addresses from any user.

8. Data minimisation

We collect only what we need to run the Service:

• A real name for the pupil, entered by the school administrator. Recommended format is first name plus surname initial (e.g. “Alex S.”). This is visible to teachers, school admins, and linked parents only: never to the pupil themselves and never to other pupils.
• An auto-generated animal-and-noun display name (e.g. “OtterRiver”), shown to the pupil for themselves and to other pupils during multiplayer.
• A class or year group, set by the school, used to organise pupils into their class.
• Gameplay data (responses, timings).

We do not collect:

• Email addresses from anyone: children, parents, teachers, or school administrators.
• Postal addresses, phone numbers, photographs, videos, or voice recordings.
• Geolocation.

9. Data sharing

Children’s data is not shared except with essential technical service providers listed in the Privacy Policy. We do not share with advertising networks, analytics aggregators, or data brokers.

10. Geolocation

Geolocation is off by default. We do not request it. We do not use it.

11. Parental controls

Linked parent and teacher dashboards are disclosed to the child in the game’s privacy information. The child cannot disable parental visibility, but they are not deceived about it. There is no real-time observation feature. Parents and teachers see historical progress data, not live sessions.

12. Profiling

We do not profile children for advertising, marketing, or commercial decision-making. We do use educational profiling: adapting question difficulty based on a child’s individual mastery. This is a core feature of the Service and is disclosed clearly.

13. Nudge techniques

We do not use nudge techniques to encourage children to provide more data, reduce privacy settings, or extend playing time beyond what supports learning.

We do use motivational features (coins, animal ranks, biome unlocks) to support learning engagement. These continue to progress for slow players, not just fast ones. They do not punish absence. They are not tied to providing additional personal data.

14. Connected toys and devices

Not applicable. The Service does not connect to physical toys or IoT devices.

15. Online tools

We provide adults with the tools to manage their children’s accounts:

• View the data held about their child, via the parent or teacher dashboard.
• Request a full data export by contacting us or asking the school administrator.
• Request deletion at any time: fulfilled within 30 days.

School administrators can disable or remove pupil accounts immediately.

Review

This statement is reviewed annually and following any material change to the Service.

Contact

Questions about our Children’s Code compliance: hello@animalbonds.co.uk

The ICO Children’s Code in full: ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/childrens-information/childrens-code-guidance-and-resources/