Privacy notice

Fern (“we”, “us”) is building an app that helps parents find and book trusted local classes, support and meetups. You can reach us at any time at hello@joinfern.app.

We are the “data controller” for the personal information described in this notice. That means we decide how and why your information is used, and we are responsible for looking after it under UK data protection law (UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018).

When you sign up through our website, we collect the details you choose to give us: your name, email address, postcode or neighbourhood, your child's date of birth or due date, how many children you have, what kinds of activities and support you're interested in, how many classes you currently do each week, and any answers you give to optional questions (such as whether you'd like to help with research or be a founding tester).

We also collect basic technical information, such as when emails we send you are opened, and how you found us (for example, which link or ad you clicked) so we can understand what's working.

We use your information to keep you updated about Fern's launch, personalise what we tell you (for example, activities suited to your child's age or your area), invite you to shape the product through research or early testing if you've said you'd like to, and improve our website and sign-up experience.

Our legal basis: we rely on your consent, which you give when you submit the sign-up form. You can withdraw it at any time by emailing hello@joinfern.app. Where you ask us a question by email, we also rely on our legitimate interest in replying to you.

We use a small number of trusted service providers to run Fern — for example, the companies that host our sign-up form and deliver our emails. We only share what they need to do their job, they handle your information on our instructions, and they are required to keep it secure.

We never sell your personal information, and we don't share it with advertisers. If we ever share it with a local provider (for example, to reserve a place for you), we'll ask first.

Your information may be processed outside the UK by our service providers, in which case they use recognised safeguards (such as UK adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses) to keep it protected.

We keep your sign-up details while you remain on our list and for a short period afterwards. If you ask us to delete your information, or you don't hear from us for a long time, we'll remove it.

You can ask us at any time for a copy of the information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, object to how we use it, or ask us to stop emailing you. Just email hello@joinfern.app — we read every message and we'll always reply.

You can also click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email we send. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk), though we'd appreciate the chance to put things right first.

Fern is for parents and carers. We only collect a child's age or due date so we can recommend age-appropriate activities — never their name or any other identifying details.

As Fern grows, this notice may change. If we make a significant change, we'll tell you by email before it takes effect. This version was last updated in October 2026.