How private is Kunbaa?
"Private" is a word every app uses, so here's exactly what it means in Kunbaa — including the one thing we deliberately don't claim.
What private means here
- Invite-only. The only way into your family's space is an invite from someone already in it. There are no public profiles, no search, no discovery. Nobody outside the family can see the tree, the photos, the chat — anything.
- No ads in the app. Kunbaa doesn't show ads in your family's space and doesn't build advertising profiles from your family's life.
- No data sold. Your family's data is never sold or shared for advertising. Families pay for Kunbaa; advertisers don't.
- Adults hold the accounts. Kunbaa accounts are 18+. Children appear in the tree and photos, added by the adults — which also means Kunbaa doesn't collect account data about children.
What private does not mean
Kunbaa is not end-to-end encrypted, and we'd rather tell you that than let you assume otherwise. Here's the honest picture:
- Everything travels encrypted between your device and our servers, and calls are encrypted in transit.
- Content stored on our servers is not end-to-end encrypted. It can't be, while the product does what it does: the family digests are written on our servers by reading your family's tree, memories and events, and the app generates previews and thumbnails of your photos so they load fast. End-to-end encryption would make both impossible.
If what you want is Signal for families — a place where nobody, including the service, could ever technically read anything — Kunbaa isn't that, and we won't pretend it is. What we promise is narrower and true: invite-only, no ads, no data sold, and nobody outside your family sees anything.
Your data stays yours
Privacy also means being able to leave. Your family's archive is never deleted for non-payment — it stays readable to everyone in the family, and anything kept under Kunbaa Plus stays kept; adding is limited to the free allowance until you renew. On the free plan, photos and videos sent in chat are kept for a year from sending and then let go, which is the one thing the archive promise does not cover. You can request a complete copy of your family's archive at any time. See getting your data out of Kunbaa and how to delete your account.
The formal documents
The plain-English version above is the promise. The formal versions live in the Privacy Policy and on the security page.
Common questions
Is Kunbaa end-to-end encrypted?
No, and we say so plainly. Your data travels encrypted between your device and our servers, and calls are encrypted in transit. But content on our servers is not end-to-end encrypted — if it were, Kunbaa couldn't write your family digests, and the app couldn't generate previews and thumbnails of your photos. If you want Signal for families, Kunbaa isn't that; what we promise instead is invite-only access, no ads, and no data sold.
Does Kunbaa show ads or sell data?
No ads inside your family's space, ever — and your family's data is never sold or used for ad targeting. You are the customer, not the product: Kunbaa is paid for by families, not advertisers.
Who can see my family's photos?
Only the people in your family space. Kunbaa is invite-only: there are no public profiles, your family isn't searchable, and nobody outside the family — including strangers, other Kunbaa families, and search engines — can see anything.