Penny: parent agreement
Penny is a talking companion for young children, made with artificial intelligence. Please read this before your child plays for the first time. It takes about two minutes.
1. A grown-up stays close by
- Penny is for children aged about 4 to 12, with a parent or carer nearby who can hear what is happening.
- Penny is not a babysitter, teacher or carer, and doesn't replace one.
- If anything seems wrong, or your child is upset, stop the session (the ■ button) and talk with them.
2. Penny can make mistakes
- Penny's voice and answers come from artificial intelligence (Microsoft Azure OpenAI). She can mishear, misunderstand, or say something wrong, odd or unsuitable, even though she is designed to be gentle and child-friendly.
- What Penny says isn't professional advice of any kind (medical, safety, learning or otherwise). Check anything important yourself.
3. Microphone and camera
- While your child plays, the microphone is on. What your child says is sent to Microsoft Azure so Penny can understand and answer. Penny doesn't keep audio recordings.
- If you allow the camera, Penny sometimes sends a single still picture (not video) to an Azure vision model: for a hello about your child's clothes, and for gentle check-ins on how they seem. Video isn't recorded.
- Some games take a souvenir photo, for example a selfie on a postcard. These photos stay in this browser on this computer.
- You can turn the camera off in Setup Penny, or with the 📷 button while playing.
4. What Penny remembers
- Penny remembers your child's first name, age and progress (games played, the Treasure Book, where they stopped). This is kept on this computer, or in your own Azure database if you set one up.
- She keeps a written log of each session (what was said, as text) so you can look back and problems can be put right. The logs stay on this computer, or in your own Azure account if you set that up.
- The parent dashboard shows what your child did. You can clear everything Penny remembers about a child in Setup Penny, under Penny's memory.
5. Where information goes
- Penny runs on this computer and uses your own Microsoft Azure services. What is sent to Azure is handled under Microsoft's terms for those services.
- Nothing is sold, and nothing is used for advertising.
- If you use Penny's improvement tools, they only send counts and a fixed list of words about play, never your child's name or what they said.
6. Healthy play
- Keep sessions short and take breaks. Penny has a break button, and says goodbye when it's time to stop.
- Penny isn't meant for children to use alone, or for long stretches.
7. Your agreement
By signing, you confirm that:
- you are the child's parent or legal guardian, or have their permission;
- you have checked the sound, microphone and camera on this computer;
- you have read this agreement and agree to it.
Penny is provided as it is, without guarantees. As far as the law allows, its makers aren't responsible for loss or harm that comes from using it. You can stop using Penny at any time.