GuestSpy is a parental and family monitoring service. It exists so a parent can keep a child safer on an Android phone, in the open, with the child’s knowledge. This policy explains what data we collect, why we hold it, who can see it, and how you stay in control of it.
Last updated: 2 September 2026
We take the view that the family owns its own data. GuestSpy is a tool a parent points at their own child’s device, and the information that flows back is there to help that family, not to be traded. Please read this alongside our Terms of Use, our Acceptable Use Policy and our Cookie Policy.
Who we are
GuestSpy (“we”, “us”, “the service”) provides a web panel that a parent opens in any browser, paired to a companion app on a child’s Android phone using a 6-digit code. The parent is the account holder and, in data-protection terms, the person who decides what is collected from the child’s device and why. We provide the tools and store the data on the parent’s behalf. If you have a question about this policy, write to [email protected].
What we collect, and why
There are two kinds of data: the parent’s account data, and the child-device data the parent chooses to turn on.
Parent account data
When you create a free account we collect your email address, a password (stored hashed, never in plain text), and basic settings such as your children’s display names and the rules you set. We also keep ordinary service records: sign-in times, the browser and device you used to reach the panel, and support messages you send us. We use this to run your account, keep it secure, and answer you when you get in touch.
Child-device data
Nothing is monitored until you set it up. After you pair a phone, the app collects only the categories you switch on. Depending on your choices, that can include:
- Location: live position, location history, and events at the Places you save (home, school, a grandparent’s).
- Screen time and app usage: how long the phone is used and which apps, against the daily budget you set.
- Calls: the call log — numbers, matched contact names, times and duration.
- Messages and social: SMS and social-app message headers and notification lines. Message bodies are collected only if you turn on the explicit consent switch.
- Contacts, Wi-Fi networks the phone joined, and email subject and sender lines.
- Keyword flags: words or phrases you choose, spotted in notifications.
- Keystrokes (the keylogger), media (photos, flagged photos, videos), short ambient audio, and best-effort call recording — each of these is off by default and gated behind its own consent switch.
The more sensitive a category is, the more deliberately we make you turn it on. The child can see the app is installed and can open a Transparency screen on the phone that shows what is being shared. We built it that way on purpose.
The lawful basis for holding this data
For a parent monitoring their own minor child, we rely on your parental responsibility and your role as the child’s guardian. For any other situation — an adult family member, a device you own and lend out — the lawful basis is the informed consent of the person using the device. You must have that consent before you monitor. GuestSpy is not a tool for watching another adult in secret, and using it that way breaks our terms and may break the law where you live. You are responsible for having a proper basis for every category you enable.
We do not sell your data
Family data belongs to the family. We do not sell it, rent it, or share it with advertisers or data brokers. We do not build advertising profiles from what your child’s phone reports. We use trusted service providers to run the service — hosting, email delivery, error monitoring — and they act only on our instructions, under contract, and only to the extent needed to keep GuestSpy working.
Who can access the data
The person who can see a child’s data is you, the account holder, signed in to your panel. Our staff do not browse family data for interest. A small number of trained staff can access account information where it is genuinely needed — to fix a fault you have reported, to investigate suspected abuse of the service, or where the law requires us to. Where we can help you without looking at content, we will. We keep internal records of such access.
We may disclose information if we are legally compelled to, for example by a valid court order, or where we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to protect a child from harm. If that ever happens and we are permitted to tell you, we will.
How long we keep it, and deletion
Monitored data is not kept forever. Activity records age out on a rolling basis, so your panel shows recent history rather than an unlimited archive. When you delete a child from your account, the data tied to that child is removed. When you close your account, your account and the data under it are removed. Backups cycle out shortly after. If you want something gone sooner, ask us at [email protected] and we will deal with it.
Children’s data and safeguarding
GuestSpy is used by adults to look after children; it is not a service children sign up to themselves. Because a child’s data is sensitive, we ask you to collect only what you need, to talk to your child about what is on and why, and to review your settings as they grow. Younger children may need more; an older teenager usually needs far less. Treat the most invasive features — keylogger, message bodies, recordings — as the exception, used openly and for a reason, not the default.
Security
We protect data in transit and at rest, restrict who on our side can reach it, hash passwords, and monitor for unusual activity. No system is perfect, so please help by choosing a strong, unique password and keeping your sign-in details private. If we ever discover a breach that affects you, we will act quickly and tell you and the relevant authorities where the rules require it.
Cookies
The site uses cookies to keep you signed in to the panel, remember your preferences, and — where enabled — for analytics and advertising. You can control cookies in your browser. Our Cookie Policy explains each type and how to manage them.
Advertising on this website
The public pages of this website (not the panel) may show advertisements served by Google AdSense. Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads based on a visitor’s prior visits to this website or to other websites. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the Internet. You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings, or opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies for personalised advertising at www.aboutads.info. Advertising never appears inside the parent panel or the child app, and nothing a child’s phone reports to your account is ever shared with an advertising network.
International transfers
We may process and store data on servers in countries other than your own. Where data crosses a border, we take steps to see that it stays protected to a standard consistent with this policy and with applicable law, using appropriate safeguards with the providers involved.
Your rights
You can ask us to show you the data we hold for your account, to correct it, to export it, or to delete it. Much of this you can do yourself from the panel — you can view a child’s activity, change what is collected, and delete a child or your whole account. For anything you cannot do from the panel, email [email protected] and we will respond. Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to object to certain processing or to complain to your local data-protection regulator; we would rather you came to us first so we can put things right.
Your responsibility as the account holder
Because you decide what is collected, you carry real responsibility. Only monitor your own children, or a device you own where the person using it has agreed. Be honest with your family about what is on. Do not use GuestSpy to track, control or harm another adult. If you are ever unsure whether a use is fair or legal, the safest answer is to leave the feature off and ask.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the product and the law change. When we make a material change we will update the date above and, where it matters, tell you in the panel. Continuing to use GuestSpy after a change means you accept the updated policy.
Contact
Questions about your privacy or this policy: [email protected].