For parents & carers

Privacy Policy

Last updated:

Animal Friends is a free picture-book encyclopedia for children. This policy explains what information is involved when someone uses the site, how we keep that footprint small, and how to reach us with questions.

This page describes how Animal Friends works in plain language. It is not legal advice.

At a glance

  • No accounts, names, ages, or profiles
  • No advertising or ad networks
  • Favourites and preferences stay on the device
  • Aggregate, privacy-oriented analytics only
  • Questions go to Throwing Eights

1. Who we are

Animal Friends is operated by Throwing Eights Pty Ltd (ABN 53 670 017 802), a studio based in Melbourne, Australia. In this policy, “we”, “us”, and “our” mean Throwing Eights Pty Ltd.

The website is available at animal-friends.club.

2. Who this applies to

Animal Friends is designed primarily for children (approximately ages 2–10) and the parents, carers, grandparents, and educators who use it with them. This policy is written for adults who need a clear record of our practices.

3. What we do not collect

Animal Friends is built to collect as little as possible. We do not ask for or knowingly collect:

  • Accounts, usernames, or passwords
  • Names, email addresses, or phone numbers from visitors using the encyclopedia
  • Dates of birth, ages entered by a child, or school details
  • Precise location (GPS) from the device
  • Camera or microphone access
  • User-generated content, public profiles, or chat messages
  • Information for advertising, behavioural targeting, or cross-site ad tracking

There is nothing to buy on the site and no advertising networks.

4. Information on your device

Some small preferences are stored only in the browser on the device being used (localStorage). The app does not upload these preferences to our servers.

  • Favourites — animal identifiers marked as favourites
  • Animals met — which animals have been opened on that device
  • Theme — light or dark appearance preference

Clearing site data in the browser removes this information. It does not travel with a child to another device unless that device’s browser already has its own copy.

5. Automatic technical data

Like most websites, Animal Friends is hosted on infrastructure that processes technical request data needed to deliver pages securely and reliably.

Hosting (Vercel)

We host the site with Vercel. When someone visits, Vercel’s systems may process standard server and network information such as IP address, browser type, request URL, and timestamps. This is ordinary web hosting telemetry used to operate and protect the service—not a child profile we build or sell.

Analytics (Vercel Analytics and Google Analytics)

We use Vercel Analytics and Google Analytics 4 to understand aggregate usage (for example, how many people visit, which pages they open, and general performance). Both are intended to support site operation, not advertising. We do not use them to identify individual children by name, or to build an advertising profile.

Google Analytics sets first-party analytics cookies on this site so it can count visitors and sessions over time (including in Google’s realtime reports). Advertising storage, ads personalisation, and Google signals stay switched off, so Google does not use this site for ads or cross-site advertising identifiers. Vercel Analytics is a separate, first-party measurement tool provided with our hosting.

Offline cache

In production, a service worker may cache pages and assets that have already been visited so the site can work better offline. That cache stores content for revisit; it is not used to build a social or advertising profile.

6. Cookies and similar technologies

We do not use advertising cookies or third-party ad trackers. Technologies that may be used include:

  • Browser storage for the on-device preferences described above
  • Hosting and analytics technologies provided by Vercel as part of delivering the site
  • Google Analytics first-party cookies used only to count visitors and page use, as described above (no advertising cookies)
  • The offline cache described above

We do not use unnecessary cookies to track children across other websites.

7. Children’s privacy

Animal Friends is directed to children. Consistent with child-privacy principles (including the spirit of the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, COPPA, and similar rules elsewhere), we:

  • Do not require registration or parental account creation to use the encyclopedia
  • Do not knowingly collect personal information from children to create accounts or profiles
  • Do not enable behavioural advertising aimed at children on this site
  • Keep favourites and progress local to the device
  • Limit outbound links that leave the child-friendly experience; sources and similar links are intended for grown-ups

If you believe a child has provided personal information to us in a way that is inconsistent with this policy, please contact us using the details below and we will look into it promptly.

8. Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example under the EU/UK GDPR, Australian Privacy Principles, or similar laws), you may have rights to ask about personal information, request correction or deletion, object to certain processing, or lodge a complaint with a regulator.

In practice for Animal Friends:

  • On-device data — favourites, animals met, and theme preference can be removed by clearing this site’s data in the browser settings on that device.
  • Hosting and analytics — questions about server logs or aggregate analytics can be raised with us via Throwing Eights. We will help where we reasonably can, noting that much of this data is technical and short-lived, and is not organised as named child profiles.

You do not need to create an account with Animal Friends to exercise these options. Contact us as an adult on behalf of a child where appropriate.

9. Third parties and links

  • Vercel — website hosting and Vercel Analytics, as described above.
  • Google — Google Analytics 4 for visitor and page measurement, as described above.
  • Outbound links — some pages (especially Sources and attribution) may link to external websites for grown-ups. Those sites have their own privacy practices; we do not control them.
  • Operator communications — Throwing Eights may publish Animal Friends stories on social channels (for example Facebook) as the operator. That publishing workflow is not a way for children to create accounts or upload personal information on this site.

We do not sell children’s personal information.

10. How to contact us

For privacy questions about Animal Friends, contact Throwing Eights using the contact form on our website, or email us:

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when our practices or the law change. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Please check back from time to time.

12. Governing law

Animal Friends is operated from Australia. This policy is governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia, without limiting any mandatory consumer or privacy rights that apply where you live.