Clear
People should understand when Buddy is listening, connected or processing a request.
Privacy & trust
A companion should feel safe in your home.
Buddy is being designed around understandable privacy controls, family-aware personal spaces and clear choices about what the companion can hear, remember and share.
Currently in development
Product-design principles
Personal by design. Private by principle.
A companion can only become meaningful when people feel comfortable around it. Buddy’s privacy experience should be visible and understandable—not hidden behind complicated settings.
Controlled
People should decide what Buddy can remember and remove saved information when needed.
Personal
Different family members should have separate profiles, preferences and private histories.
These principles guide planned controls. The hardware, software and security systems still require development and testing.
Planned microphone awareness
Know when Buddy is listening.
The planned approach is to make listening and voice processing understandable. Physical or software microphone control is a design goal under consideration; a physical switch is not a confirmed hardware feature.
- Visible microphone status
- Clear listening indicator
- Physical or software microphone control
- No hidden recording behaviour
- Understandable voice-processing status
- Clear response when the microphone is disabled
Planned memory controls
You decide what Buddy remembers.
The intended controls would let people choose what is retained and distinguish a passing conversation from information they want saved.
- View approved remembered information
- Remove individual memories
- Clear conversation history
- Disable personalised memory
- Control how long information is retained
- Separate temporary conversation context from long-term memory
- Confirm before storing sensitive details
Buddy should not treat every conversation as something that must be remembered.
Planned family profiles
One home. Separate personal spaces.
These planned product behaviours aim to give family members their own experiences and protect against one person casually accessing another person’s information.
- Individual family profiles
- Separate preferences
- Private conversation histories
- Permission-based access
- Parent or guardian controls where appropriate
- Guest mode
- Clear profile switching
- Protection against casual access to another family member’s information
Planned companion-app controls
Control Buddy from the connected app.
The companion app is part of the product vision and has not been released. These controls are planned ways to manage the device and personal information.
- Review remembered information
- Manage family profiles
- Delete conversation history
- Control remote messages
- Check device connectivity
- View battery and device status
- Adjust microphone and notification preferences
- Sign out connected devices
- Request account and data deletion
Planned remote safeguards
Connection without losing control.
Buddy may eventually communicate with its owner through the internet and companion app. The following safeguards are design goals that require implementation, review and testing.
- Owner-approved accounts
- Secure authentication
- Permission-based remote messaging
- Ability to disable remote access
- Clear notification when Buddy is connected
- No public access to the robot
- Protection against unauthorised commands
Children and family use
Extra care for younger users.
Buddy’s intended audience includes people of different ages. For younger users, the design should provide additional guidance, controls and boundaries.
- Parent or guardian controls
- Age-appropriate experiences
- Restrictions on sensitive conversations
- Control over stored information
- Family-managed permissions
- Clear boundaries around remote communication
Final child-safety features will require specialist review, testing and compliance work before release.
Data and AI processing
Clear choices about how intelligence works.
Some features may require online AI services, while selected basic functions may eventually work locally. The final architecture has not been decided. The intended approach is to make these choices understandable.
- Explain when internet processing is required
- Minimise unnecessary data collection
- Send only information needed for the requested feature
- Avoid using private conversations for unrelated purposes
- Give users understandable privacy choices
- Evaluate local processing where practical
- Protect information during transmission and storage
Security work still to be developed and tested
Trust must be tested, not merely promised.
The security programme is planned work, not a completed architecture or certification. The following areas will need development, validation and ongoing review.
- Secure communication
- Authentication and account protection
- Software-update process
- Access controls
- Device testing
- Vulnerability reviews
- Data-deletion testing
- Incident-response preparation
Specific security measures, providers and certifications will be confirmed as Buddy’s hardware and software architecture develops.
Intended control model
Your Buddy. Your choices.
This checklist describes the controls we intend to develop, rather than functionality that is available today.
- Control the microphone
- Control personal memory
- Manage family profiles
- Delete stored information
- Disable remote communication
- Review connected devices
- Adjust notifications
- Request account deletion
Development transparency
We will explain what changes.
As Buddy moves through prototyping, Ankorforge intends to document important changes to privacy, connectivity and data handling in clear language.
This page describes current design principles and planned controls. It is not a final legal Privacy Policy or a guarantee of completed functionality.
Updates
Follow Buddy’s journey
Get occasional updates about Buddy’s development, prototype progress and early-access opportunities.
Contact
Let’s build what comes next.
For investment, technical partnerships, manufacturing, media or general enquiries, contact Ankorforge.
iamsoundharraj@gmail.com