Privacy policy

Besties Privacy Policy

Last Updated: September 13, 2026

This Privacy Policy describes how Besties ("we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, and discloses personal information when you visit hibesties.com, purchase from our online store, use the Besties mobile application, set up and manage a connected Besties device, or otherwise communicate with us regarding our products and services.

This Privacy Policy applies to the hibesties.com website, our online store, the Besties mobile application, and connected Besties devices — including personal information relating to a child, collected through a child profile that is created, managed, and controlled by a parent or legal guardian.

By using our Site, app, or devices, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not access or use our Site, app, or devices.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will post the revised Privacy Policy here and update the "Last Updated" date above.

Information We Collect

The personal information we collect depends on how you interact with our website, app, and devices:

  • Information You Provide Directly: This includes basic contact details such as your name, address, phone number, and email address; order information such as billing and shipping addresses and payment confirmation; account information such as your username and password; and customer support communications — including photos, videos, tracking information, and other documentation submitted in connection with returns, shipping-damage claims, missing-package investigations, or manufacturing-defect claims.
  • Information Collected Automatically: When you visit our Site or use our app, we automatically collect certain information about your device and interaction with our Site and app, including usage data, IP address, device type, browser type, and unique device identifiers through cookies and similar tracking technologies.
  • Information from Third Parties: We may obtain information about you from third-party vendors and service providers, such as our e-commerce platform, payment processors, fulfillment providers, and shipping carriers that handle information on our behalf.
  • International Waitlist Signups: If you sign up for our international waitlist, we collect your email address and country of residence. We use this information solely to notify you when Besties becomes available for shipment to your region, and only send these emails if you have affirmatively opted in via the checkbox on the waitlist form. You may unsubscribe at any time using the link included in any email we send.

Information Collected Through the Besties App and Connected Device (Including Children's Information):

When a parent or guardian creates a child profile and links a Besties device, we collect the following in order to provide the Heartbeat and Whisper features:

  • The child's first name or nickname, as entered by the parent or guardian;
  • Voice recordings the child records and sends using the Whisper feature;
  • Personal story recordings that a parent or guardian records for their child through the My Stories feature;
  • Interaction and usage data associated with the child's profile, such as when a Heartbeat, Whisper, or My Stories recording is sent or played, and the associated timestamp.

We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from a child. All of the information above is enabled and controlled through the parent or guardian's account — a child cannot create an account, download or use the Besties app independently, or set up a connection on their own.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Like many websites, we use cookies on our Site to power our store, remember your cart, and optimize your browsing experience. Cookies help us understand how you interact with our Site so we can improve our services.

Managing Cookies: Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can choose to set your browser to remove or reject them. Please note that removing or blocking cookies can negatively impact your experience and may cause parts of our Site to stop functioning correctly.

How We Use Your Personal Information

We use your personal information to operate our Site and app, provide our products and services, and fulfill our commitments to you:

  • Providing Products and Services: Processing payments, fulfilling orders, calculating and arranging shipping, sending order confirmations and tracking information, and allowing you to manage your account.
  • Enabling Heartbeat, Whisper, and My Stories Features: Storing and delivering voice recordings and connection data between a linked Besties device and the parent or guardian's app, so that Heartbeats and Whispers can be sent, received, and replayed, and so that My Stories recordings can be recorded, stored, and played back.
  • Marketing and Advertising: Sending promotional updates and newsletters — including notifying international waitlist signups when Besties becomes available in their region — and, where permitted, providing advertising to parents and guardians based on their communication preferences and interactions with the Site. We do not use children's information for this purpose.
  • Customer Support: Responding to your questions, processing cancellations and returns, investigating missing or damaged shipments, verifying submitted claim documentation, and administering our 90-Day Manufacturing Defect Guarantee.
  • Security and Fraud Prevention: Monitoring for potential fraud, malicious activity, unauthorized transactions, policy abuse, or system errors to safeguard our customers, business, Site, app, and devices.
  • Legal and Operational Purposes: Maintaining business records, complying with applicable legal obligations, enforcing our policies, and protecting our legal rights.

Sharing Personal Information

We do not sell personal information, including children's information. We may share personal information with trusted third parties that help us operate our business and provide our services:

  • We use Shopify to power our online store, including our waitlist signup form. You can read more about how Shopify uses personal information here.
  • We use third-party service providers to help us operate, maintain, and improve the Besties app, including for analytics, crash and error reporting, and push notifications. These providers may process certain technical and usage information (such as device type, app version, and general usage patterns) on our behalf. We do not permit these providers to use information collected through the Besties app to advertise to children or to build advertising profiles of children.
  • We may share information with payment processors, fulfillment partners, shipping and logistics providers, fraud-prevention services, and customer service applications when necessary to process orders, arrange delivery, investigate shipping issues, process returns, and provide customer support.
  • We may share information with professional advisers, insurers, or service providers when reasonably necessary to operate and protect our business.
  • We may disclose information when required to comply with applicable laws or regulations, respond to a subpoena or lawful government request, enforce our policies, or protect our rights and the rights of others.

Children's Privacy

Besties products, including the Besties app and connected device, are designed to help a child connect with a single parent-approved loved one. Certain features — Heartbeat, Whisper, and My Stories — involve collecting a first name or nickname, voice recordings, and usage data associated with a child's profile.

We only collect this information after a parent or legal guardian creates and manages the child's profile, links the connected device, and enables these features. A child cannot create an account, use the Besties app, or set up or change a connection independently — all setup, linking, and approval is performed by the parent or guardian.

How Whisper and My Stories Content Reaches Your Child. When you approve a connection between your child's profile and another parent or guardian's account (for example, a grandparent), you are authorizing that connected adult to send Whisper voice messages and record My Stories content that will play on your child's Device without prior review by you or the child's account manager. This is consistent for both features: neither Whisper messages nor My Stories recordings are screened by us or by the child's account manager before your child hears them. You can review this content afterward in the App's Chat History.

My Stories works differently from a single Whisper message in two ways you should be aware of. First, a My Stories recording is made once by the connected adult and is then eligible to be played back to your child automatically and repeatedly, at times neither you nor the connected adult schedules or selects in advance — it is not a one-time message tied to a specific moment. Second, if the connected adult has more than one linked child (for example, multiple grandchildren), the same recording is automatically made available to each of those children; the connected adult does not record separately for each child, and you do not separately approve each individual recording beyond approving the connection itself.

You may unlink a connection at any time, which stops further delivery of that adult's Whisper messages and My Stories content to your child.

We use children's information solely to provide and improve the Heartbeat, Whisper, and My Stories features. We do not use children's information for advertising, we do not knowingly permit third parties to use it for advertising, and we do not sell it.

Whisper voice recordings are retained for up to 3 months from the date they are sent, after which they are automatically deleted. If a parent or guardian saves a Whisper recording within the app, or if a recording is created through the My Stories feature, that recording is retained until the parent or guardian deletes it. Parents and guardians can delete individual recordings, or delete their child's profile and associated information, at any time through the Besties app.

Parents and guardians may, at any time:

  • Review the information associated with their child's profile;
  • Delete individual voice recordings;
  • Delete their child's profile and associated information;
  • Revoke consent and unlink a device, which will stop further collection of information about that child.

To exercise any of these rights, or if you believe your child has provided personal information without appropriate parental authorization, contact us at support@hibesties.com so we can review and, where appropriate, delete it.

The Besties website and online store are intended to be used by parents, guardians, and other adults for browsing and purchasing products; we do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children through the website or online store.

Your Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information (and, as a parent or guardian, your child's information), including:

  • The right to request access to the personal information we hold about you or your child.
  • The right to request that inaccurate personal information be corrected or updated.
  • The right to request deletion of your personal information or your child's information, subject to applicable legal exceptions.
  • The right to opt out of promotional marketing emails at any time by clicking the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of our messages.
  • Other privacy rights that may be available under the laws applicable where you live.

To submit a privacy request, contact us at support@hibesties.com. We may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests.

Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide our services, fulfill orders, maintain business and transaction records, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, enforce our agreements, and comply with applicable legal obligations. Whisper voice recordings are retained for up to 3 months from the date sent and then automatically deleted, unless a parent or guardian deletes them sooner. Whisper recordings saved by a parent or guardian, and recordings created through the My Stories feature, are retained until deleted by the parent or guardian. The length of time we retain other information depends on the nature of the information and the purpose for which it was collected.

Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information, including children's information. However, no security system or method of transmitting information over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Contact Us

If you have questions about our privacy practices, wish to exercise a privacy right, or would like to submit a privacy-related request, please contact us at:

Besties Support Team
Email: support@hibesties.com