Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Balm is operated by Fox Haven Group LLC ("we", "us", "our"). This policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you use the Balm application and related services.

2. Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, and authentication credentials. If you sign up using a third-party provider (Google, Apple), we receive basic profile information from that provider.

Family & Household Data

You may create tasks, calendar events, shopping lists, and other household data within the app. This information is stored to provide the service and is shared only with members of your family group.

Calendar Integration

If you connect Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook, we access your calendar events to display them within Balm. We store event data (titles, times, descriptions) to provide the shared calendar feature. You can disconnect at any time.

Payment Information

Payments are processed by Stripe. We do not store credit card numbers, bank account details, or other sensitive payment information. Stripe's privacy policy governs the handling of your payment data.

Usage & Diagnostics

We collect anonymized crash reports and performance data through Sentry to improve app stability. We do not use third-party advertising trackers.

AI Assistant

When you use the AI Assistant (Pro plan), your messages are sent to OpenAI for processing. Messages include sanitized family context (member names, task titles) to provide relevant responses. OpenAI does not use this data for training. AI Assistant messages are stored in your family's account so that you and other members of your family can see prior conversations, and so the assistant can reference context across sessions. You can request deletion of your AI chat history at any time by emailing privacy@balmhq.com.

Push Notifications

If you enable push notifications, we store a device token through Firebase Cloud Messaging to deliver notifications. You can disable notifications at any time through your device settings.

SMS / Text Message Notifications

If you add a mobile phone number in the app and enable SMS notifications, we use it to send you text-message notifications and reminders about your own household tasks (for example, when a family member assigns you a task, or shortly before a task is due). These are transactional messages related to your account; we do not send marketing or promotional texts. Message frequency varies with your household's activity, and message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP at any time to opt out, or HELP for help.

Your mobile information — your phone number and SMS opt-in/consent data — is never shared with or sold to third parties, affiliates, or lead generators for any marketing or promotional purpose. We share your number only with our messaging provider, Twilio, solely to deliver the texts you have opted into; Twilio acts as our service provider and does not use your number for its own purposes. SMS consent is specific to Balm and is not transferable to any other party.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To provide, maintain, and improve the Balm service
• To process payments and manage subscriptions
• To send transactional emails (invitations, task reminders, weekly digests)
• To provide AI-powered features (Pro plan)
• To diagnose technical issues and improve reliability

We do not sell your personal information. We do not use your data for advertising.

4. Data Sharing

We share data only with:

• Your family members — household data is shared within your family group
• Supabase — database and authentication hosting
• Google / Microsoft — calendar sync (only if you connect)
• Stripe — payment processing
• OpenAI — AI Assistant processing (Pro plan only)
• Firebase (Google) — push notification delivery
• Sentry — error monitoring and diagnostics
• Resend — transactional email delivery
• Twilio — SMS text-message delivery (only if you enable SMS notifications)

These providers act as our service providers and process your data only to deliver the Balm service. We do not sell your personal information, and we never share mobile phone numbers or SMS opt-in/consent data with third parties, affiliates, or lead generators for marketing or promotional purposes.

5. Data Retention

We retain your account and household data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law or for legitimate business purposes (e.g., billing records).

6. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your data
• Export your data in a portable format
• Opt out of non-essential data processing
• Withdraw consent for optional features (calendar sync, notifications, AI)

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@balmhq.com. We will verify your request against the account information we hold and respond within the timeframe required by applicable law. You will not be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights.

European Economic Area, UK & Switzerland (GDPR)

If you are located in the EEA, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, we process your personal data to perform our contract with you (providing the Service), to comply with legal obligations, and on the basis of your consent for optional features such as calendar sync, notifications, and the AI Assistant. You may withdraw consent at any time, and you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. For these purposes, Fox Haven Group LLC is the data controller.

California (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have the rights described above, including the right to know, delete, and correct your personal information, and the right to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information as those terms are defined under California law. We do not sell or share your personal information, and we have not done so in the preceding 12 months. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information beyond the purposes permitted by the CPRA. You may exercise your rights, or use an authorized agent to do so, by contacting privacy@balmhq.com.

7. Children's Privacy

Balm is designed for family use. Account holders must be at least 13 years old. Family members under 13 may appear as "household people" (names only, managed by an adult family member) but cannot create their own accounts. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 beyond what a parent or guardian provides.

8. Security

We use industry-standard security measures including HTTPS encryption, Content Security Policy headers, secure authentication (PKCE flow), and access controls. All data is stored in SOC 2 compliant infrastructure.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by email or through the app. Continued use of Balm after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

10. Contact

For privacy-related questions or requests, contact us at privacy@balmhq.com.

Fox Haven Group LLC
United States