What is child mode?

In a family circle, a guardian can designate a member as a child. Their account stays a normal Fenzly account, with its own keys and its own data, but the app applies guardrails:

• the child communicates and shares only with the members of their family circles, plus the contacts a guardian explicitly allowed;
• they cannot create a circle, invite anyone, or add a contact;
• an invitation or a message from anyone else is blocked before it even reaches them, and the guardian sees those attempts;
• the guardian can require location sharing to stay on;
• the child keeps the SOS button, which alerts their guardians.

Designating a child requires parental consent: a code sent by SMS to the guardian’s verified number. Fenzly keeps only a receipt of that consent (identifiers, method, date) so it can be demonstrated, never the names or the composition of the family. The child’s positions stay end-to-end encrypted like everyone else’s.

Fenzly does not know the members’ ages: child mode ends when a guardian removes the designation, and not before. The guide Turning on child mode details the steps.