Help · Hearths
Your Hearth address (optional).
Each Hearth in your cell can carry an optional home address. We designed this for logistics — which-house-tonight, kid check-ins — and not for tracking. This article explains what we store, what we don't, and how kid agency works.
Each Hearth in your cell can carry an optional home address, built for logistics like which-house-tonight and kid check-ins — not for tracking. Adding one is opt-in and deliberate in the Hearth settings; the address never auto-fills from anywhere else, we never prompt you to add one, and you can clear it at any time, with historical proximity-check entries disappearing within minutes.
What we store is approximate, not your exact street: the address is encrypted at rest, and the derived latitude/longitude is rounded to three decimal places (about 100 metres) before storage, so even backend operators with raw database access can't see the precise position. Kids keep agency — a kid can opt out of proximity checks against their own location at any time, and parents are notified but can't override a kid's choice from another device, except for under-13 COPPA-managed accounts.
Adding an address is opt-in
By default, a Hearth has no address attached. Adding one is a deliberate action in the Hearth settings; the address never auto-fills from anywhere else, and we never prompt you to add one. You can clear an address you've added at any time, and any historical proximity-check entries disappear within minutes.
We store an approximate location, not your exact street
The address you type is encrypted at rest on our side. The latitude / longitude derived from it is rounded to three decimal places (about 100 metres) before we store it. We deliberately do not retain the exact street-level position — even our backend operators with raw database access couldn't see it.
Kid agency
A kid in the cell can opt out of proximity checks against their own location at any time — Settings → Privacy → Proximity → Off. Cell-owner parents are notified that the kid opted out (so they can have the conversation) but cannot override the kid's choice from a different device. The kid's say is the kid's say.
Parent override (for under-13s only)
For under-13 child accounts where the parent is the verified COPPA-compliance contact, the parent can re-enable proximity checks at the cell level. The override is logged on both sides so the kid sees that it was re-enabled and by whom. There is no override path for kid accounts 13 and up.
Where the full privacy posture lives
The full retention table, per-region windows, and the technical detail about what reaches our servers during a proximity check is on /privacy. The /features/hearths page summarises the same invariants in plain language.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to add a home address to a Hearth?
No — by default a Hearth has no address. Adding one is a deliberate, opt-in action in Hearth settings; it never auto-fills and we never prompt you to add it. You can clear an address at any time, and historical proximity-check entries disappear within minutes.
Do you store my exact home location?
No. The address is encrypted at rest, and the latitude/longitude derived from it is rounded to three decimal places — about 100 metres — before we store it. We deliberately don't keep the exact street-level position, so even operators with raw database access couldn't see it.
Can my kid opt out of proximity checks?
Yes — a kid can turn proximity checks against their own location off at any time under Settings, Privacy, Proximity, Off. Cell-owner parents are notified so they can have the conversation, but they can't override the kid's choice from another device. The kid's say is the kid's say.
Can a parent re-enable proximity for a young child?
Only for under-13 child accounts where the parent is the verified COPPA-compliance contact — they can re-enable proximity checks at the cell level, and the override is logged on both sides so the kid sees it was re-enabled and by whom. There's no override path for kid accounts 13 and up.