Frequently Asked Questions

Trust Buddy is a child safety communication app that gives children a private, calm space to reach their trusted adults when something feels wrong, scary, or hard to explain. Because every child deserves a voice.

70% of children say they do not share hard things with the adults in their lives. This is exactly why we hear about what kids went through only after they become adults. Simply having Trust Buddy and exploring the topics within the app means every child already knows who to turn to before something happens or when it happens. Our goal is to reduce the number of children who go through hard things in silence. We hope you will be part of that journey.

Yes. Messages stay between the child and their individual trusted adults. No one outside the trusted circle can see any conversations. Trusted adults cannot see each other's private conversations with the child. Each trusted adult only sees the messages the child sends directly to them.

Parents, guardians, and trusted family members form a Trust Circle around each child, with tools to listen, respond, and stay connected. Every member of the circle is there because the child chose them.

Text messages are a great start but they have real limitations when it comes to child safety. With a regular text message a child has to know what to say, find the right words, and hope someone sees it in time. Trust Buddy solves all of that.

With Trust Buddy:

• A child who is scared or overwhelmed can use pre-written prompts to express something they cannot find words for on their own
• The Help Me Explain feature guides them step by step through describing what happened
• The Emergency button alerts every trusted adult simultaneously, not just one person who might not see a text right away
• All trusted adults in the circle are notified at once
• The app provides age appropriate safety education so children already know what to recognize and who to reach before something happens
• Messages stay within a private trusted circle, not mixed in with a regular text thread full of distractions
• For emergencies location is automatically shared, no need to type an address while in crisis

Regular text messages put the burden on the child. Trust Buddy lifts that burden.

Trust Buddy is built around the child's sense of security and independence. Research shows children are more likely to reach out for help when they feel in control of who they share with. By allowing the child to choose their trusted adults they are more likely to actually use the app when they need it. The child knows who they feel most comfortable talking to about different things. For children 13 and under the primary trusted adult approves all additions to the circle and can see who is in it at all times, giving parents full visibility while still empowering the child.

No. This is very important. Each trusted adult can only see the messages the child sends directly to them. No trusted adult, including the primary trusted adult, can read conversations between the child and another trusted adult. Every conversation is completely private between the child and that individual trusted adult. This privacy is intentional and by design.

Trusted adults have access to a What Kids See section in the app which shows the same educational content your child can access, including You Matter, Safety Guide, Questions, and Stuff Kids Go Through. This helps you understand what your child is learning and have conversations about these topics together. However trusted adults cannot see which specific pages or topics your child has personally viewed or read. You will only see messages your child sends directly to you.

All trusted adults in the child's circle receive an immediate alert simultaneously. The app opens a live chat so you can communicate with your child in real time. The child's location is automatically shared at the moment of the emergency. If you have more than one child on the app the alert will clearly show which child triggered the emergency.

The primary trusted adult is typically the parent or legal guardian who set up the child's account. The primary has additional responsibilities including approving new trusted adults for children 13 and under and managing the subscription. All trusted adults can communicate with the child and receive emergency alerts.

If a push notification goes unacknowledged Trust Buddy sends an SMS backup alert to your phone number to make sure you never miss an emergency.

Only the child has the ability to remove a trusted adult from their circle. This is intentional. In situations where a trusted adult may be causing harm that adult cannot remove other trusted adults from the circle or prevent the child from reaching someone safe. The child is always in control of their own circle.

No problem. If a primary trusted adult cancels their subscription the child simply returns to the free tier and keeps all of their trusted adults in their circle. If the primary trusted adult deletes their account they are removed from the circle but the child keeps everything else. All other trusted adults in the circle will receive a notification letting them know and giving them the option to become the new primary trusted adult and subscribe. The child never loses their account or their circle.

Yes. Trust Buddy will never show advertisements to children or trusted adults. Your child's safety and attention should never be interrupted by ads.

Bark monitors your child's messages and alerts you to potential dangers. Life360 tracks your child's location. Trust Buddy does something different, it gives your child a voice. It empowers children to reach out when something feels wrong rather than waiting for a parent to detect it. Trust Buddy combines safety education, guided communication tools, and emergency alerts in one child-friendly app.

Geofencing lets families set boundaries around important places like home or school. When a child enters or leaves a zone, trusted adults can receive a gentle alert. In Trust Buddy, geofencing is an optional Plus feature. Children always know when location tools are in use, it is not hidden tracking.

Trust Buddy is first and foremost a communication app, but communication alone is not always enough in a crisis. When a child hits the Emergency button, knowing where they are is just as important as hearing from them. Location and geofencing give trusted adults the full picture, not just that something is wrong, but where to go. A child who is lost, being followed, or in an unsafe place needs their trusted adults to be able to find them, not just hear from them. Location is not about surveillance, it is about safety when it matters most.

Location tracking alone tells you where your child is. Trust Buddy tells you when something is wrong. Other apps track, Trust Buddy listens. The subscription tiers exist because some families want the added peace of mind of location sharing directly connected to their child's trusted circle, so that when their child reaches out, their location comes with the message automatically. No switching apps. No calling. One tap and their trusted adults know both what is happening and where they are. Everything is in one place.

With Trust Buddy Plus your child's location is continuously tracked and shared with their trusted adults. You can see exactly where your child is at any time directly in the app. When your child sends a message or reaches out for help their current location is automatically included as well, so you always have the full picture.

Geofencing lets you create safe zones around the places your child goes regularly, like home, school, or a friend's house. Once you set up a zone Trust Buddy monitors when your child enters or leaves it automatically.

• Blue circle, your child is inside their safe zone
• Red circle, your child has left their safe zone

When the circle turns red you will receive an instant alert so you can check in right away. Trust Buddy Premium includes everything in Plus, continuous location tracking, geofencing zones, and instant alerts, so you always know where your child is and when something changes.