Child Safety Standards

1) Our principles

We do not tolerate any content, actions or contact attempts that sexually abuse, exploit or endanger children. Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) is strictly forbidden on DOTOG. Violations lead to immediate suspension of the account involved and, where there are indications of criminal conduct, to a report to the responsible authorities. This principle is not an add-on but the starting point for how the app is built: a child cannot register themselves, there are no public profiles, no publicly visible posts and no contact with unknown users. Children are only in the groups of the admin who invited them with the child code. Where a feature cannot meet this principle, it does not exist for child accounts. The following sections describe how this is implemented technically, how you report abuse and how we handle a report. A child account is created solely through an invite code that the admin generates in their confirmed account after confirming by ticking a box that they are a parent and give their consent.

2) How the app's structure protects children

DOTOG is deliberately built so that typical risk paths for children never arise in the first place:

• No self-registration: A child cannot register themselves. Access only comes through an invite code that the admin generates in their authenticated account, after confirming by ticking a box that they are a parent and give their consent.
• Closed groups, no contact with strangers: Children are only in the groups of the admin who invited them with the child code. There are no public profiles, no public posting of content and no contact with unfamiliar users. Profiles are private and visible only to members of the same group.
• No contact import: The app does not import contacts from your phone or address book and never sends invitations on its own.
• Data minimisation for children: We do not collect an email address, phone number, location, real name or postal address from children. We store a freely chosen nickname, an avatar and what is created in the app: group, tasks, stars, streak and rewards. From BuddyChat we store only a check value, and the exact wording only if something is reported.
• No advertising and no purchases for children: Child accounts receive no promotional notifications and cannot trigger payments or in-app purchases.
• No advertising tracking, safeguarded third-country processing: We do not use advertising IDs for children and do not share data with third parties for advertising purposes. There is no usage analysis, only pseudonymous crash reports. Data is processed on servers in the European Union; where individual service providers process data in the USA, we base the transfer on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses pursuant to Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR.
• No manipulative mechanics: DOTOG has no loot boxes, no purchase incentives aimed at children and no manipulative designs (known as dark patterns). Stars are a purely motivational mechanic within the group and cannot be topped up with real money.

3) Protection in the AI assistant "BuddyChat"

The optional AI assistant answers questions about the household and everyday life, such as cleaning, cooking or gardening. For children, a narrower range of topics applies, with the strictest filters. Input outside these topics goes unanswered. Safety-relevant topics, in particular sexual content, violence and self-endangerment, are additionally blocked by the system. The managing admin can fully switch off the AI chat for a child at any time. For privacy reasons, we do not store the plain text of a child's input during routine operation, only a pseudonymised check value (SHA-256 hash) for abuse prevention. The sole exception is a report: when a response is reported, we store the question and response concerned in plain text in the EU region until the review is complete, for no longer than 90 days.

4) How you can report abuse

We take every report seriously. There are two ways:

• In the app: Responses from the AI assistant can be reported directly via the "Report" button on that response. The report is logged and reviewed by us.
• By email: Suspicion of sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of children, of related content, or of inappropriate behaviour can be reported to our contact address at any time: mail@dotog.app. Please describe the incident as precisely as possible (group affected, time, type of content).

5) How we handle reports

• We review every incoming report without delay.
• If a violation is confirmed, we remove the content in question and suspend the responsible account.
• If we become aware of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), we report it without delay to the responsible German law enforcement authorities (police, Federal Criminal Police Office) and cooperate with recognised reporting bodies, in Germany in particular jugendschutz.net and the eco complaints office, and internationally with the NCMEC and INHOPE hotlines where relevant.
• In incidents involving children's data, we additionally proactively inform the parents or guardians affected.

6) Legal framework

We align our approach with the relevant German and European rules on protecting children, in particular:

• Sections 176, 176a, 176b and 184b of the German Criminal Code (protection from child sexual abuse, prohibition of child sexual abuse material),
• the German Youth Protection Act (JuSchG) and the Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media (JMStV), protecting children and young people in media and services,
• the principles of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act) on protecting minors, which we voluntarily use as a guide,
• Art. 8 GDPR, consent of the parent or guardian for processing children's data.

You can find more on how we process children's data in our Privacy Policy for the app, sections 6 and 10.

7) Responsible contact point

Responsible for child safety and contact for reports:
Frank Reuter, trading as "Minntera"
Döhlener Hang 3, 01705 Freital, Germany
Email: mail@dotog.app (child-safety reports and general inquiries, see Imprint)