Last updated: 19 August 2026
This covers the Parts of Me app. The website has its own, shorter notice on the privacy page.
The app is built for young people, so this is written to be read by one. If you are a parent, teacher or therapist, the same words apply — there isn't a separate version with the awkward parts taken out.
The short version. Everything you write lives on your own device, encrypted. Nothing is uploaded unless you turn it on yourself. There are two separate switches — Backup and Research — both off until you say so, and both reversible. We never sell anything, and there is no advertising anywhere in the app.
Your parts and what you've written about them, your check-ins, your journal, your self-care plan, your drawings, and your Bigger Picture quiz results. All of it is kept on your device in storage encrypted with AES-256. If someone picks up your phone and doesn't know the passcode, they cannot read any of it.
There is no account and no password. We don't ask for your name, your email, your school or your phone number, and there is nowhere in the app to enter them.
If you turn on Backup in Settings, a copy of your parts, check-ins, journal entries and self-care plan is kept on our server so you don't lose them if you lose your phone. That copy is tied to an anonymous ID created by the app, not to you by name.
This is the one place your own writing leaves the device, which is why it is a deliberate choice and not the default.
Turning Backup off stops new backups. The copy already made is kept, so you can turn it back on and get your things back — we would rather not delete something you might want. When you do want it gone, there is a separate Delete my cloud backup button in Settings that removes it from our server for good.
Your Bigger Picture quiz answers are never backed up, even with Backup on. Those stay on your device always.
Almost nothing is known about whether apps like this actually help young people. If you opt in, the app contributes to finding out.
What gets sent is attached to a random research ID — a string of characters with no connection to your name, your device or your backup. We cannot look at a research record and work out whose it is.
What research sends:
| Sent | Why |
|---|---|
| Your Bigger Picture quiz answers | The outcome being measured |
| How many parts, check-ins and journal entries you have | Whether using the app more relates to things going better |
| Your age and gender, if you gave them | Whether it helps some groups more than others, and whether it works differently at eleven than at fourteen |
| The short feeling and body words from check-ins | To build a picture of how young people describe what they feel |
What research never sends, and never will:
The line being drawn is between a label and a story. "Wobbly" is a word we can count. A paragraph about your week is you, and it stays yours. Before any word is sent it is checked automatically: anything long enough to be a sentence, anything with numbers in it, and anything that sounds like a crisis is dropped rather than uploaded.
Word clouds are only ever built from words used by at least ten different people, so nothing unusual you typed can single you out.
Separately from both switches, the app counts things like how many people finished a check-in today. These are running totals only — a number going up by one. No ID of any kind is attached, so these counts cannot be traced to anyone, which is why there is no switch for them.
One honest caveat: like any internet request, this reaches our server from your device's IP address. We don't store it, but it is visible in transit. We'd rather say so than imply otherwise.
If the app breaks, it sends us a report saying what went wrong and where in the code — through a company called Sentry, who process it on our behalf. It never includes a screenshot, anything you have written, or anything identifying you.
If you write something suggesting you might be in danger, the app shows you helplines you can contact. That happens entirely on your device. Nobody is alerted, and no message is sent to anyone.
The app asks you to name a trusted adult during setup. That name is stored on your device so you can remember it. We never contact them, and it is never uploaded.
The app is not therapy and not an emergency service. If you are in danger now, call 999. Childline is free on 0800 1111, day or night.
Withdrawing from research deletes your research records. Because they aren't linked to you by name, the app does this using your research ID from your own device — so withdraw before you delete the app, or email us and we'll help.
Under UK GDPR you can ask what we hold about you, get a copy, have it corrected or deleted, and withdraw consent at any time. For research data we rely on your consent, and for the anonymous counts there is no personal data to have rights over.
Email hello@partsofme.co.uk. If you think we've got it wrong, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
Parts of Me is run by Calandra Balfour. Data is held in the European Union. Contact: hello@partsofme.co.uk.