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Terms of Service

Effective date: 16/03/2026
Last updated: 16/03/2026

1. Welcome to ScreenBuddy

Welcome to ScreenBuddy, a mobile application created by The Blended Citizens Project, founded by Dr Cathryn Horvat.

These Terms & Conditions (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the ScreenBuddy mobile application, including any related content, subscriptions, features, updates, and support services.

By downloading, accessing, creating an account for, or using ScreenBuddy, you agree to be bound by these Terms.

If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use ScreenBuddy.

2. About ScreenBuddy

ScreenBuddy is a digital wellbeing and digital citizenship app designed to help children aged 6 to 17 build healthier habits, reflect on their digital experiences, and engage in supportive conversations with a parent or carer.

ScreenBuddy is intended to be used as a parent-managed tool. It is not a social media platform, messaging service, or online community.

3. Who May Use ScreenBuddy

Parent or Guardian Use

ScreenBuddy accounts may only be created by:

  • a parent

  • a legal guardian

  • another adult with lawful authority to manage the child’s use of the app

The adult who creates the account is responsible for:

  • providing accurate information

  • supervising child use of the app

  • maintaining the security of the account and parent PIN

  • ensuring that they have authority to consent to the child’s use of the app

Child Use

Children aged 6 to 17 may use the child-facing parts of ScreenBuddy only under a parent-managed account.

Children do not create standalone accounts.

4. Parental Responsibility and Consent

By creating a ScreenBuddy account and setting up a child profile, you confirm that:

  • you are at least 18 years old

  • you are the child’s parent, guardian, or authorised carer

  • you have authority to provide consent for the child’s use of the app

  • you understand that child data will be stored only after parental consent is completed

You are responsible for determining whether ScreenBuddy is appropriate for your child’s age, developmental stage, and personal needs.

5. Nature of the Service

ScreenBuddy is designed as a wellbeing, reflection, and educational support tool.

ScreenBuddy may include:

  • daily check-ins

  • mood reflections

  • screen time reflections

  • guided questions

  • quests or activities

  • parent dashboard summaries

  • digital wellbeing prompts

  • gamified pet progression

  • age-banded content

ScreenBuddy is intended to support conversation, reflection, and habit-building. It is not a replacement for:

  • medical advice

  • mental health treatment

  • counselling

  • crisis intervention

  • legal advice

  • school disciplinary processes

  • child protection reporting obligations

6. No Medical, Psychological or Crisis Service

ScreenBuddy does not provide:

  • medical diagnosis

  • mental health diagnosis

  • therapy

  • emergency response

  • crisis support

  • clinical treatment

Content in ScreenBuddy is for general educational and wellbeing purposes only.

If a child is in distress, at risk of harm, experiencing abuse, or in an emergency, you must seek appropriate professional or emergency support immediately.

For urgent assistance in Australia, contact appropriate emergency or crisis services, including 000 in an emergency.

7. Account Registration

To use ScreenBuddy, a parent or guardian may need to:

  • create an account using a valid email address

  • verify that email address

  • set up a secure password

  • provide parental consent

  • create one or more child profiles

  • set or use a parent PIN for parent-only areas

You agree to:

  • provide accurate and current information

  • keep your login credentials secure

  • keep your parent PIN confidential

  • notify us promptly if you believe your account has been accessed without permission

You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.

8. Family Plans and Child Profiles

Depending on your subscription tier, ScreenBuddy may allow multiple child profiles under one parent account.

You are responsible for ensuring that:

  • each child profile belongs to a child you are authorised to manage

  • profile information is accurate and minimal

  • the app is used appropriately for each child’s age group

We may place limits on the number of child profiles depending on the subscription plan.

9. Subscription Plans and Billing

ScreenBuddy may offer free and/or paid subscription plans, including monthly or annual options.

Subscriptions may be processed through:

  • Apple App Store

  • Google Play Store

We may use a subscription management service to manage entitlements.

Important Billing Terms

By purchasing a subscription, you agree that:

  • billing is handled by the relevant app store platform

  • subscriptions may renew automatically unless cancelled before renewal

  • pricing may vary by region, platform, promotion, or app store rules

  • taxes may apply where required

Managing Subscriptions

You must manage, cancel, or modify your subscription through:

  • your Apple App Store account settings, or

  • your Google Play account settings

We do not directly control app store billing systems.

10. Free Trials and Promotional Offers

From time to time, ScreenBuddy may offer:

  • free trials

  • introductory pricing

  • promotional discounts

  • bundled offers

Unless otherwise stated:

  • free trials automatically convert to paid subscriptions if not cancelled before the trial ends

  • promotional pricing may revert to standard pricing after the offer period

  • offers may be limited by account, platform, device, or region

We reserve the right to change or withdraw promotions at any time, subject to applicable law.

11. Refunds

Because ScreenBuddy subscriptions are generally purchased through third-party app stores:

  • Apple purchases are subject to Apple’s refund policies

  • Google Play purchases are subject to Google Play’s refund policies

Refunds are typically handled by the app store through which the purchase was made.

To request a refund, please contact the relevant app store directly.

Where Australian Consumer Law gives you rights that cannot be excluded, those rights still apply.

12. Australian Consumer Law

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any rights or remedies you may have under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) or other applicable laws that cannot legally be excluded.

If ScreenBuddy services are subject to statutory consumer guarantees under the ACL, you may be entitled to remedies including repair, replacement, refund, or compensation where required by law.

This clause exists because Australian law does not let businesses simply wave a wand and declare reality optional.

13. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use ScreenBuddy in a way that:

  • is unlawful

  • infringes another person’s rights

  • attempts to bypass parental controls or PIN protections

  • interferes with app security or infrastructure

  • attempts to reverse engineer, scrape, or exploit the app

  • introduces malware or harmful code

  • uses the app in a misleading, fraudulent, or abusive way

  • uploads or enters content that is threatening, defamatory, exploitative, or unlawful

  • uses the app for commercial resale, redistribution, or white-labelling without written permission

Because ScreenBuddy is not a social platform, users must not treat it as a channel to contact, target, or monitor other children.

14. Child Safety Expectations

ScreenBuddy is built around child-safe, family-supported use.

Parents and carers are expected to:

  • supervise child use appropriately

  • use the Parent Dashboard responsibly

  • avoid using the app as a surveillance or punishment tool

  • use the app to support conversation, reflection, and safety

  • seek external support if serious concerns arise (including bullying, grooming, self-harm risk, abuse, or coercion)

ScreenBuddy may provide helpful prompts, but it does not replace a parent’s judgement or legal safeguarding obligations.

15. Intellectual Property

Unless otherwise stated, all rights in ScreenBuddy are owned by or licensed to The Blended Citizens Project.

This includes:

  • app name and branding

  • logos

  • text

  • graphics

  • illustrations

  • character designs

  • pet systems

  • quests

  • activities

  • original educational frameworks

  • software code

  • app structure and design

  • downloadable or in-app content

You may use ScreenBuddy for personal, non-commercial family use only.

You must not, without written permission:

  • copy

  • reproduce

  • distribute

  • sell

  • sublicense

  • adapt

  • republish

  • reverse engineer

  • commercially exploit

any part of ScreenBuddy except as permitted by law.

16. The Blended Citizens Project Content

ScreenBuddy is part of the broader The Blended Citizens Project ecosystem.

Certain concepts, frameworks, and strategies within the app may be informed by:

  • original research by Dr Cathryn Horvat

  • educational practice

  • digital citizenship frameworks

  • wellbeing and reflective learning approaches

All original branded content remains the intellectual property of The Blended Citizens Project unless otherwise stated.

17. User Content and Reflections

Parents and children may enter limited content into the app, such as:

  • mood responses

  • reflection notes

  • optional written answers

  • preferences or settings

You retain ownership of the content you enter.

However, by using ScreenBuddy, you grant us a limited licence to:

  • store that content

  • display it back to you within the app

  • process it as needed to provide app functionality

  • use de-identified or aggregated patterns (where lawful and appropriate) to improve product performance or safety, provided such use does not identify your child personally

We do not use child reflection content for advertising.

18. Privacy

Your use of ScreenBuddy is also governed by our ScreenBuddy Privacy Policy.

Please read that policy carefully, as it explains:

  • what information we collect

  • how we use it

  • how we store it

  • parental consent requirements

  • deletion rights

  • child privacy protections

Privacy Policy:
https://www.blendedcitizensproject.com.au/screenbuddy-privacy-policy

19. Service Availability

We aim to keep ScreenBuddy available and functioning well, but we do not guarantee that the app will always be:

  • uninterrupted

  • error-free

  • compatible with every device

  • available in every region

  • free from bugs or outages

We may:

  • update the app

  • patch bugs

  • change features

  • improve content

  • remove deprecated functionality

  • suspend access for maintenance

  • restrict access where misuse or security concerns arise

We may also release new features, plans, or content over time.

20. Updates and Changes to Features

ScreenBuddy may evolve over time.

We reserve the right to:

  • add or remove features

  • change subscription inclusions

  • update age-banded content

  • revise app flows

  • modify design, prompts, or gamified systems

  • improve security and compliance

Where a change materially affects your use of the app, we will take reasonable steps to notify users through the app, website, or app store update notes where appropriate.

21. Suspension or Termination

We may suspend, restrict, or terminate access to ScreenBuddy if:

  • you breach these Terms

  • you misuse the app

  • we reasonably suspect fraud or unauthorised access

  • your use creates legal, security, or safety risks

  • required payments are not completed

  • the app is discontinued

You may stop using ScreenBuddy at any time.

Deleting the app from your device does not automatically cancel your subscription or delete your data. Those actions may require:

  • cancellation via Apple or Google Play, and/or

  • deletion through in-app settings or support

22. Deleting Your Account

Parents may request deletion of their ScreenBuddy account and associated child data through the app settings or by contacting support.

Deleting your account may remove:

  • parent account data

  • child profiles

  • progress history

  • reflections

  • quests

  • pet progression

  • settings and related records

Some limited records may remain where required for:

  • legal compliance

  • fraud prevention

  • app store transaction records

  • technical backups for a limited period

For details, see our Privacy Policy.

23. Third-Party Services

ScreenBuddy may rely on third-party providers to operate key functionality, such as:

  • authentication

  • cloud data storage

  • subscriptions

  • app distribution

  • diagnostics

  • crash reporting

  • support systems

These services may be provided by companies such as:

  • Apple

  • Google Play

  • Firebase / Google Cloud

  • RevenueCat

We are not responsible for third-party services, policies, outages, or terms outside our control.

Your use of third-party services may also be subject to their own terms and privacy policies.

24. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

  • ScreenBuddy is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis

  • we do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation

  • we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential loss arising from your use of the app

This includes, to the extent permitted by law, loss relating to:

  • device issues

  • data loss caused by user action or third-party platform issues

  • missed notifications

  • incorrect user-entered information

  • subscription platform errors

  • reliance on general educational content as if it were professional advice

However, nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including rights under the Australian Consumer Law.

25. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Blended Citizens Project and its officers, contractors, and service providers from claims, losses, or liabilities arising from:

  • your breach of these Terms

  • your unlawful use of the app

  • your misuse of child profiles or unauthorised setup of child data

  • your infringement of another person’s rights

This clause does not apply where the loss is caused by our own negligence, fraud, or breach of non-excludable legal obligations.

26. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia.

Any disputes arising in connection with these Terms or your use of ScreenBuddy will be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales, Australia.

27. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect:

  • legal changes

  • app store requirements

  • feature changes

  • subscription changes

  • security improvements

  • operational updates

If we make material changes, we will update the Last updated date and may notify users through:

  • the app

  • the website

  • app store release notes

  • email (where appropriate)

Your continued use of ScreenBuddy after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

28. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms or need support, please contact:

ScreenBuddy Support
The Blended Citizens Project
Email: info@blendedcitizensproject.com.au
Support page: https://www.blendedcitizensproject.com.au/screenbuddy-support
Website: https://www.blendedcitizensproject.com.au

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