What we collect, why we collect it, and the choices you have.
Bondnow is used by older people, by their families, and by care teams. Some of the people it is for may not have set it up themselves. We have tried to write this plainly, because a policy nobody reads protects nobody.
Bondnow Limited (“Bondnow”, “we”, “us”) operates the Bondnow app and related services, and is the data controller for the personal data described here. We are registered in England and Wales, company number 16474630, with our registered office at 34 Gaia Drive, Fairfields, Milton Keynes, England, MK11 4DU. You can reach us at info@bondnow.net, or through our contact page.
Questions about data protection go to the same address, marked for the attention of our data protection lead.
Four groups of people appear in Bondnow, and they are not in the same position:
We collect only what the service needs to work.
Name, email address, and phone number where given; a password, held only as a one-way hash we cannot reverse; a profile photo if one is added. For an account created on someone else’s behalf, the person setting it up provides these.
Why: to create and secure accounts, and to connect the right people to each other. Lawful basis: performance of our contract with you.
This is the most sensitive thing Bondnow handles, so it gets its own section.
So that an older person does not have to remember a password, Bondnow can let them sign in by looking at the screen. If that is turned on, here is exactly what happens:
Why: so that someone who cannot reliably manage a password can still use their own device with dignity, unaided.
Lawful basis: because this is biometric data used to recognise a specific person, UK GDPR treats it as special category data needing a higher standard. We rely on your explicit consent (Article 9(2)(a)) which means you must actively choose it, it is never on by default, and it must be given by the person it is about or by someone with authority to decide for them.
You can say no, and nothing is lost. Signing in with a password works exactly the same. You can withdraw consent at any time by turning the feature off or asking us, and the stored measurements are deleted.
Who called whom, when, and for how long. We do not record calls. Picture and sound travel between devices in real time, encrypted in transit, and we do not store them or listen to them.
Why: to connect calls, show a call history, and fix faults. Lawful basis: performance of our contract.
What you send to the family circle, and who is in that circle. This content is yours. It is visible only to members of that circle, and we do not use it to train anything or show it to anyone else.
Why: to deliver it. Lawful basis: performance of our contract.
The reminders you set, their wording and times, and chosen radio stations. A reminder can mention anything you type, including, if you choose, medication. Please do not type more health detail than the reminder needs to be useful.
Why: to play reminders at the right time. Lawful basis: performance of our contract. Where a reminder contains health information, we rely on your explicit consent to store it, given by setting it.
Device model and operating system, app version, a push-notification token, and error logs. We keep logs deliberately thin and do not put the content of your messages, your photos, or your face data into them.
Why: to deliver notifications, keep the service secure, and diagnose faults. Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in a working, secure service.
Your plan, its status, and the date of the next payment. Card details are entered directly with Stripe and we never see or store them. During your free month we ask for no payment method at all.
Why: to take payment and manage subscriptions. Lawful basis: performance of our contract, and our legal obligation to keep financial records.
Whether a service email reached you and whether you opened it.
Why: service messages verifying your email, your free month, billing are part of the service. Lawful basis: performance of our contract. Marketing email is separate: we send it only with your consent, every message has an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing never affects the service.
Bondnow is software you install on a device you own. We do not manage that device, and we cannot see or control what else is on it. Other apps, the operating system and the manufacturer have their own privacy practices, which are theirs and not ours. If the device is shared, bear in mind that whoever can unlock it can see what is in Bondnow.
If you previously had a tablet supplied and remotely managed by Bondnow, that arrangement has ended and we no longer manage any device.
We use a small number of established providers to run the service. Each one acts on our instructions under a data processing agreement, and gets only what it needs.
WhatsApp is run by Meta, not by us. If you choose to contact us that way, Meta carries the message and handles your phone number under its own terms, which we do not control, and your number becomes visible to us. We keep what you send only as long as we need it to deal with your question. If you would rather Meta was not involved, email us instead it reaches exactly the same people.
We may also share data where the law requires it, to protect someone’s safety, or if the business is sold in which case this policy follows the data.
Care homes and home care agencies: where your provider uses Bondnow for its residents or clients, that organisation decides how the data is used and we act as its processor under a separate agreement. Ask them for their own privacy notice.
Shared photos and videos are stored in Amazon’s London region (eu-west-2), in the UK. To load quickly, they may be cached on delivery servers closer to whoever is viewing them, which can be outside the UK.
Some of our providers are based outside the UK, mainly in the United States. Where personal data leaves the UK, we rely on UK adequacy regulations where they apply, and otherwise on the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, together with the safeguards those require.
When you delete your account we delete or anonymise your personal data within 30 days, except where we must keep it by law billing records being the main case. You can ask us to delete an account from our account and data deletion page.
Data is encrypted in transit. Passwords are stored only as one-way hashes. Access to live systems is limited to those who need it. We keep sensitive content out of our logs, and we review this as the service changes. No service can promise it will never be breached; if one happens and it puts your rights at risk, we will tell you and the Information Commissioner’s Office within 72 hours of becoming aware.
Bondnow is for adults to set up and manage. Grandchildren often appear in it in a shared photo, or on a video call with their grandparent and they take part through a parent’s or guardian’s account, which is where the consent for that sits. We do not knowingly create accounts for under-13s, we do not profile children, and we do not market to them. If you believe a child’s data is in Bondnow and should not be, contact us and we will remove it.
Our website uses only the cookies it needs to function. We do not use advertising cookies, and we do not use tracking or analytics cookies without your consent. The Bondnow app does not use advertising identifiers.
Under UK GDPR you have the right to see the data we hold about you, to have it corrected, to have it deleted, to restrict or object to how we use it, to receive a copy in a portable form, and to withdraw consent at any time where we relied on it including for face sign-in. Withdrawing consent does not undo what was lawful beforehand.
To exercise any of these, email info@bondnow.net. We will respond within one month. There is no charge.
If you are asking on behalf of someone who cannot ask themselves, tell us the basis on which you act we may need to check it, because the right belongs to them.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first and give us the chance to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office, at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, by phone on 0303 123 1113, or by post to Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. You do not have to come to us first.
We may update this policy. If a change matters to you, we will tell you by email or in the app rather than quietly changing the date at the top. The date at the top always shows the current version.
For anything in this policy, email info@bondnow.net or use our contact page.