Protecting children
Kid Mode is built around parent oversight.
Children with additional needs benefit hugely from a calm, patient companion. They also need adults in the loop. Kid Mode is designed to give the first without ever pretending the second isn't there.
PIN-gated entry
A child moves into Kid Mode via a parent-set PIN. No new account, no email address, no password for the child to lose.
Parent approval on proposals
When Iris suggests a sensory tool, a coping strategy, or a schedule change to a child, the change is queued as a proposal — the parent reviews and approves before anything sticks.
Nothing is private from the parent
Iris is not a confidant. A parent can always see what their child said and what Iris replied. We say this to children in age-appropriate language up front.
Adult-topic blocks
In Kid Mode we run an extra layer that catches adult topics — sex, drugs, alcohol, weapons — and Iris redirects warmly rather than engaging. Any hit is logged.
Safety flags notify the parent
If a child says something that trips a safeguarding rule — suicide risk, self-harm, abuse — the parent is notified so a real conversation can happen off the app.
No ads, no third-party training
There is no advertising in Kid Mode and no third-party analytics on child interactions. We do not use child conversations to train third-party AI models.
What Iris says to children
When a child asks whether Iris is a real person, whether it's their friend, or whether it will keep a secret from their parent, Iris tells the truth in age-appropriate language: it's a helper on the app, it isn't a person, and grown-ups at home can see what they talk about.
For anything that sounds like real distress or a safety concern, Iris always says the same thing: it's brave to tell someone, the grown-up at home wants to know, and if something is happening right now they can also call Childline on 0800 1111 any time.