Last Updated: September 12, 2025
Effective Date: January 1, 2025
The following terms have specific meanings when used in this Privacy Policy:
Active Systems means our primary operational databases and servers that are actively used to provide Services, as distinguished from backup, archival, or disaster recovery systems.
Age Groups means the broad age categories we use for children: "Infant (0-12 months)", "Toddler (1-2 years)", "Preschooler (3-5 years)", "School Age (6-12 years)", and "Teen (13-18 years)".
Backup Systems means secondary storage systems used for data recovery, disaster preparedness, and business continuity, which may retain information for technical reasons even after deletion from Active Systems.
Basic Boolean Flags means simple yes/no data points about care needs, such as "has allergies: yes/no", "requires medication: yes/no", "has special dietary needs: yes/no", without storing detailed medical information.
Care Provider means either (1) individual babysitters aged 12 or older who provide childcare services through our platform, or (2) licensed daycare facilities and providers who offer professional childcare services through our platform.
Children's Initials means the first letter of a child's first name and first letter of their last name (e.g., "J.S." for John Smith), used instead of collecting full names to protect privacy.
COPPA means the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which regulates the collection of personal information from children under 13.
Enhanced Security Measures means additional data protection protocols for information about minors, including restricted access controls, enhanced encryption, automatic deletion policies, and additional monitoring for unauthorized access.
Families means parents, guardians, or authorized caregivers aged 18 or older who seek childcare services through our platform.
General City/State Level means location information limited to city and state only, without street addresses, ZIP codes, or other precise location identifiers, unless specifically provided for service delivery.
Legal Compliance Requirements means retention obligations under federal, state, and local laws, including but not limited to tax records retention, employment law requirements, background check documentation, and child protection reporting requirements.
Licensed Professional Care Providers means childcare providers who hold current, valid licenses from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services or other applicable state agencies.
Machine-Readable Format means structured data formats that can be processed by computer software, including JSON, CSV, XML, or other standardized formats that allow data portability.
Minor means any person under 19 years of age in Nebraska, with special protections applying to those under 18 for Care Provider accounts and under 13 for general privacy protections.
Personal Data or Personal Information means any information that identifies, relates to, describes, or is capable of being associated with a particular individual, including but not limited to names, contact information, identifiers, and usage information.
Services means our website, mobile application, platform features, customer support, and all related services provided by SpotOn Childcare Connect.
Spoton", "we", "us", or "our means SpotOn Childcare Connect, a business operating in Grand Island, Nebraska.
Third-Party Service Providers means external companies that process personal information on our behalf to provide services, including Cloudflare (infrastructure), SimpleTexting (SMS), and Stripe (payments).
User means any person who accesses or uses our Services, including both Families and Care Providers.
Verified Requests means privacy rights requests where we have confirmed the requestor's identity through methods such as account login, email verification from the account email address, or other identity verification procedures.
You means the individual whose personal information is being processed under this Privacy Policy.
SpotOn Childcare Connect ("SpotOn", "we", "us", or "our") operates as a referral and coordination service connecting families seeking childcare with independent childcare providers in Grand Island, Nebraska and surrounding areas. We are committed to protecting your privacy and the privacy of children who may benefit from our services. Our Core Principle: Every decision we make regarding data collection and use is guided by one fundamental question: Is this in the long-term best interest of children and families? This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, share, and protect personal information when you use our website, mobile application, and related services (collectively, the "Services"). We collect and use your personal data in order to provide the services described above to you. You can learn about how we collect and use your data in our Privacy Policy. You have controls over the types of ads and advertisers you see, and the types of information we use to determine which ads we show you.
We are committed to protecting children's privacy and comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent. Our Services are designed for:
SpotOn Childcare Connect operates as a referral and coordination service only. We facilitate connections between families seeking childcare and independent childcare providers. SpotOn does not:
All childcare arrangements are between families and providers directly.
Optional Service: Our website includes Google Translate functionality to help non-English speakers access our content.
Data Sharing with Google: When you use the translate feature:
Your Choice: Using the translation feature is completely optional. You can access our services without using this feature.
Recommendation: Do not translate any sensitive personal information including child details, personal addresses, or confidential communications.
When you use our translation feature, you are also subject to:
We use your information to:
We use contact information to:
All individual Care Providers must complete our basic safety verification process before their profiles become visible to families. This includes:
Important Limitations: Our current verification process, while thorough, has limitations. It may not capture all criminal history, particularly from other states or jurisdictions with different reporting systems. Records may have delays or inaccuracies. We strongly recommend this verification be used as one part of your hiring decision, not the sole factor.
Cost: This basic verification is provided at no cost to Care Providers as part of our commitment to family safety.
Future Enhancements: As we grow, we plan to expand to include comprehensive third-party background checks while maintaining our commitment to accessible, verified childcare connections.
Care Providers under 19 undergo additional verification steps:
You authorize SpotOn Childcare Connect, as provided in our Terms of Service, to utilize third-party verification providers to check your information on an ongoing basis against a variety of sources, which may include:
Licensed Professional Care Providers have completed comprehensive background checks and fingerprinting through their licensing agencies within the past five years as required by Nebraska state regulations. These background checks include federal and state criminal history, child abuse and neglect registry checks, and ongoing monitoring for any disqualifying events. SpotOn Childcare Connect verifies current license status but does not duplicate background check processes already completed by licensing authorities.
When families and care providers are matched through our platform, we share relevant information to facilitate the connection:
We only share your information in these specific circumstances:
We do NOT sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.
We do NOT share your information with affiliates for promotional purposes.
We do NOT sell consumer data or opt-in information to anyone.
We share information with trusted third parties who help us operate our platform:
We may disclose your information when we believe in good faith that such disclosure is appropriate to:
This may involve disclosure to law enforcement, government agencies, courts, and other organizations.
In the event of a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity, subject to the same privacy protections outlined in this policy.
We use the following service providers to deliver our services:
We use Cloudflare Inc. as our web infrastructure processor for hosting, security, and performance optimization. Cloudflare processes website data and user interactions solely to provide these technical services on our behalf.
Privacy Policy: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/
We use SimpleTexting LLC as our SMS service provider to send emergency care notifications. SimpleTexting processes phone numbers and message content solely to deliver SMS messages on our behalf and does not sell or share this data with third parties.
Privacy Policy: https://simpletexting.com/privacy-policy/
We use Stripe Inc. as our payment processor for subscription billing and payment services. Stripe processes payment information and subscription data according to their data processing agreement and does not use this data for their own marketing purposes.
Privacy Policy: https://stripe.com/privacy
Service Provider Protections: All service providers are contractually required to protect your data and assist with consumer rights requests under applicable privacy laws. You can review their individual privacy practices using the links above.
When you provide your phone number and consent, we will send you automated text messages including:
Message Frequency: Message frequency varies based on your service usage and emergency care requests.
Opt-Out: You can opt out at any time by replying STOP to any text message.
Help: Reply HELP to any message for customer support.
Costs: Message and data rates may apply per your carrier's plan.
For Care Providers aged 12-18:
We are committed to protecting children's privacy:
We do not collect, store, or process student educational records covered by FERPA. Any information we receive about children is collected directly from parents for childcare service purposes only. When working with educational institutions, we obtain information only through direct parent consent and do not access student educational records.
We implement industry-standard security measures including:
We retain your personal information only as long as necessary to provide our Services or as required by law:
You may request deletion of your account and personal information at any time. We will:
Note: Some information may be retained in backup systems for up to 90 days before final deletion.
You have the right to:
Parents of minor users (under 19) may:
For Nebraska residents, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
To exercise any of your rights under the NDPA, please submit a request through one of the following methods:
Only you, or someone legally authorized to act on your behalf, may make a privacy rights request. You may also make a request on behalf of your child.
You may only submit a request to know once every 12 months. Your consumer request must provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected personal information, or an authorized representative. You must describe your request with sufficient detail to allow us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.
We cannot respond to your request or provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request. We will only use the personal information provided in the request to verify your identity or authority to make the request.
We will respond to verified requests within 45 days. If you have an account with us, we will deliver our written response to that account. If you do not have an account with us, we will deliver our written response by mail or electronically, at your option. The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable. For data portability requests, we will select a format to provide your personal information that is readily useable and should allow you to transmit the information from one entity to another entity without hindrance.
We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.
We will respond to verified requests within 45 days.
Children's Data Protection: We comply with the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which satisfies Nebraska's parental consent requirements under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 87-1106.
We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. We will:
Your continued use of our Services after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
For questions about this Privacy Policy or your personal information:
This Privacy Policy is effective as of January 1, 2025 and applies to all information collected through our Services on or after this date. If you have questions about how this policy applies to information collected before this date, please contact us.
By using SpotOn Childcare Connect, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy.