Privacy and Safety for Parents
WakeDraw is an app children use, so we built it from the start around two rules: "children's drawings never leave the device" and "children can't buy or share things on their own." This page explains how that works in plainer language than a legal document. The legally binding documents are the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use.
At a glance
| Topic | WakeDraw |
|---|---|
| Accounts or sign-up | None |
| Personal data collected | None (App Store label "Data Not Collected") |
| Ads, analytics, or tracking tools | None |
| Where drawings are transformed | On this device (nothing is uploaded) |
| When the internet is used | Apple payments, downloading the Apple-hosted wake-up kit |
| Purchases, sharing, printing, settings, outside links | Only after a grown-up check |
| Result screening | On-device safety filter |
| Making pictures from typed text | Not possible (fixed looks and subjects only) |
| Chat or contact with other users | None |
Where do my child's drawings live?
| What | Where it's stored | Does it leave the device? |
|---|---|---|
| Canvas drawings and awake results | WakeDraw's storage on this device | No. If device backup is on, it may be included in iOS backups (see below) |
| Photos taken or chosen of paper drawings | Flattened and reduced to lines on the device, then placed on the canvas | No |
| Results and videos saved to Photos | The device's Photos app | If iCloud Photos is on, they sync to devices on the same Apple Account |
| App settings such as free-drawing count | This device | No |
| Purchase history | Apple | Processed by Apple. We don't receive payment details |
Device backups: If iCloud Backup or a computer backup is turned on, iOS may include drawings when it backs up the app's storage. Backups are stored in your Apple Account or on your computer, and we can't see them.
Deleting: You can delete drawings one by one in the Gallery, and deleting the app removes all drawings and settings inside it. Your child's drawings aren't on our servers, so there's nothing for us to delete on our end.
When the app uses the internet
WakeDraw connects to the internet in only two cases:
- Purchases and restores: It talks to the App Store through Apple's StoreKit. Purchases are verified on the device using Apple's signatures.
- Downloading the wake-up kit: The roughly 1.3 GB AI model is downloaded from servers hosted by Apple (Background Assets). These aren't servers we run, and no information reaches us during the download.
There are no network requests that send drawings, photos, or result images. Once the kit is downloaded, your child can draw and wake up drawings even in Airplane Mode.
Permissions the app asks for
| Permission | When | What it's used for |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | When you choose to take a photo in "Bring In a Paper Drawing" | Photographs a paper drawing so the lines can be picked out on the device |
| Add Photos | The first time you tap Save or Save Video | Adds results to Photos. It's add-only, so existing photos aren't read |
| (No permission) Choosing a photo | "Choose from Photos" | Uses the iOS photo picker; only the one photo you pick reaches the app |
The app doesn't ask for location, contacts, microphone, notifications, or tracking. Even if you decline permissions, drawing and waking up on the canvas work fully.
How we keep out scary or inappropriate results
AI-generated images can't be fully predicted, so we reduce the risk in layers.
- No free text. There's no way to type words to make a picture. The 4 looks (Plush, Clay, Storybook, Toy) and 11 subjects (Surprise Me, cat, dog, rabbit, bird, fish, dinosaur, person, house, car, flower) are all fixed lists we chose in advance.
- Child-friendly styles only. Each look is tuned to produce soft, cute results, and even drawings of people aren't turned into photo-like human faces.
- Every result passes a safety filter. An on-device safety filter checks for results that may be sexual or look scary, such as blood, weapons, skulls, or monsters. Caught results aren't shown and the app tries again; if that still doesn't work, it shows a gentle message so your child isn't startled.
- It stops if the filter breaks. If the safety filter isn't working properly, the app shows no results and asks you to download the kit again.
We want to be upfront about the limits, too. The safety filter may not catch every case, and it sometimes blocks results that were fine. If a result bothers your child, delete it from the Gallery and, if you can, email the original drawing to support@dawonlabs.com (without your child's face or name). We'll use it to improve the filter.
What the grown-up check does
Purchases, sharing, printing and PDFs, the grown-up menu (restore purchases, settings), outside links (terms, privacy, contact), and App Store ratings all open only after a grown-up check.
- A multiplication question written out in words appears (for example, "What is seven times sixteen?"), and you type the answer as a number.
- A wrong answer brings a new question, and three wrong answers in a row lock it for 30 seconds.
- Questions appear in the app's language.
Saving to Photos doesn't need a grown-up check, because it adds the image to the Photos app on the device rather than sending it anywhere. iOS asks for permission once, the first time you save.
The grown-up check is designed to keep young children from getting through by accident. An older child who can multiply may get past it, so if you want to be sure purchases are blocked, use the Apple features below as well.
Making purchases safer
Purchases in WakeDraw go through both the grown-up check and Apple's own confirmation (Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode). Apple's features add further peace of mind:
- Ask to Buy: If your child uses their own Apple Account (a Child Account) on the device, turn on Ask to Buy in Family Sharing. When your child tries to buy something, a request goes to your device for approval. Apple says this is on by default for children under 13. Apple's guide: Ask to Buy
- Block in-app purchases with Screen Time: In Screen Time's Content & Privacy Restrictions, you can set in-app purchases to not be allowed. Menu locations differ by iOS version. Apple's guide: Parental controls
- Guided Access: When you hand your own device to your child for a while, you can keep it locked to WakeDraw. Apple's guide: Guided Access
- Family Sharing: One purchase can be used on other devices in your family group. Apple's guide: Purchase Sharing
If there was an unwanted charge, you can request a refund from Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com (Apple's guide).
Tips for using it together
- Sit with your child for the first few tries. Choose "What did you draw?" together, and as the result appears, ask, "Which part looks just like your drawing?"
- Praise the original drawing too. Slide to compare on the result screen to see how your child's drawing came to life. You can explain that the awake drawing started from their drawing — it didn't "fix" it.
- Bring in paper drawings. Drawings on the fridge or brought home from school can wake up too.
- Check the background before sharing. Before posting a result to a family chat or social media, make sure your child's name, school, or face isn't in the picture.
- Agree on breaks together. Screen Time's time limits can keep the fun within the time your family has set.
Explaining AI to your child
If your child asks, "Who drew this?", you might say something like:
- "The computer looked at your drawing and imagined, 'If this were a plush toy, it might look like this.'"
- "Computers get things wrong sometimes — like putting a puppy's face in a funny place. That's why your original drawing matters most."
- "This computer lives only inside the phone, so it doesn't send your drawing to anyone."
It can be a natural chance to show that AI results aren't real photos or facts, and that machines make mistakes too.
The AI models we use and their use restrictions
WakeDraw is built on Stable Diffusion 1.5 (CreativeML OpenRAIL-M), LCM-LoRA (CreativeML OpenRAIL++-M), ControlNet v1.1 (OpenRAIL), Real-ESRGAN (BSD-3), CLIP (MIT), and Apple ml-stable-diffusion (MIT). Under the OpenRAIL licenses, the app and its models must not be used for purposes such as harming minors or harassing others. The full list is in section 3 of the Terms of Use, and the full text of each license is in the app under the grown-up menu > Open-Source Notices.
What we promise, and what we don't
What we promise
- We don't send your child's drawings or results to our servers.
- We don't add accounts, ads, or analytics and tracking tools.
- Purchases, sharing, and outside links open only after a grown-up check.
- If we ever need to change these principles, we'll update the Privacy Policy and tell you in the app and on this page before the change.
What we don't promise
- Not every result will look exactly like your child's drawing. The AI sometimes reads drawings differently.
- We don't guarantee the safety filter will catch 100% of inappropriate results. That's why it's designed in layers, and we keep improving it with the examples you send.
- WakeDraw is an app for play and creativity. It doesn't assess or guarantee any effect on your child's development or learning.
Questions and deletion requests
Send questions about privacy or safety, and requests to delete contact emails, to support@dawonlabs.com (privacy officer: the representative of Dawon Labs). We use contact emails only to reply, delete them one year after we finish answering, and delete them right away if you ask. Please don't include your child's name or photos of their face.
Still have questions? Email support@dawonlabs.com.