Effective May 11, 2026
Why is a voice app that answers kids' "why?" questions out loud, using an AI helper. This page explains exactly what Why does — and doesn't do — with your family's information. We wrote it to be readable. If anything here is unclear, please email us.
The short version. Why stores your child's first name, birthdate, ZIP code, and chosen interests on your device only. Nothing in your child's profile ever leaves the phone. When your child asks a question during a session, the spoken words are turned into text and sent to an AI service (xAI) so it can write a kid-friendly answer and read it back. Why does not save the audio, does not track you, does not show ads, and does not share data with anyone for marketing.
During the brief one-time setup, a parent enters:
During a session, when your child taps the big button and asks something, the app captures the spoken question, converts it to text in the device's browser, and sends just the question text (along with the child's age and interests, to keep answers age-appropriate) to our AI partner for a response.
Profile data stays on the device. The first name, birthdate, ZIP, interests, and voice choice are stored in the device's local browser storage (localStorage). They are never uploaded to Why's servers and we cannot see them. If you uninstall the app or clear browser data, the profile is gone.
Question text is processed by AI partners during the session. The transcript of what your child asked, plus the child's age and interests, are sent to xAI (Grok) so a response can be generated and spoken. The audio response is streamed back and played. Why does not save the question, the transcript, or the audio anywhere.
You are in control of everything Why stores. Tap the gear icon in the app and use "Reset profile & conversation" to permanently erase the on-device profile and any local session history. Because Why has no accounts and no server-side database of your child, there is nothing else to delete — clearing the device clears everything.
If you want written confirmation, or if you have any other request related to your child's information, email merekjones@gmail.com and we'll respond within 5 business days.
Why is designed for children ages 3–12. Under the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), we obtain verifiable parental consent before any information is collected. We do this through the onboarding flow: a parent confirms they are the parent or guardian, reads a short notice about what's stored and where it goes, and only then is any data entered. The child never enters profile data themselves.
We do not knowingly collect more information from children than what's needed to make the app work. We do not enable any feature — comments, friends, public profiles, in-app chat with strangers — that would let a child share information with anyone outside their household.
Answers in Why are written and spoken by an artificial intelligence (xAI's Grok model). They are not from a human. We've tuned the prompts to favor kid-friendly, accurate, age-appropriate explanations, but AI can occasionally be wrong, oversimplified, or off-tone. Please listen along when you can, and treat Why as a starting point for curiosity, not a substitute for a teacher, doctor, or parent.
Why uses a small number of trusted third parties to function. None of them receive your child's profile (name, birthdate, ZIP) — only the in-session question text and age/interests context needed to answer:
On-device profile data is kept until you reset it. There is no expiration — it lives on your device until you decide otherwise.
Question transcripts and audio responses are processed transiently. xAI may retain prompts briefly for safety and abuse-prevention purposes per their policy; Why does not store them anywhere. Once a session ends, there is nothing on our end to retain.
All connections to Why and to our AI partners use HTTPS. Because Why has no server-side database of children's information, there is no central store of profiles to breach. Profile data only exists on the device the parent set it up on.
We restate this clearly because it matters: Why does not behaviorally profile children, does not target ads to children (or anyone), does not include third-party advertising or analytics SDKs, and does not share children's data with anyone outside the service providers listed above strictly for the purpose of generating an answer to the question the child just asked.
If we ever change how Why handles information, we'll update this page and the "Effective" date at the top. Material changes (anything that expands what is collected or shared) will be surfaced in the app on next launch so a parent can review before continuing.
Questions, requests, or concerns: merekjones@gmail.com
Why is operated by Merek Jones, doing business as "Why," at arwrench.com.