1. Who we are
CORE MDM is an Android device management service made up of the CORE MDM app, the web installer and the web console (together, "the Service"). It is operated by CORE MDM USA, based in the United States ("CORE MDM", "we", "us"). We are responsible for the personal information about account holders described in this policy.
If you manage phones used by other people, such as employees, students or your children, you decide which phones are managed and which rules apply. For information about those phones, you are in control of how it's used (the "controller"), and we process it on your behalf (as "processor"). You are responsible for telling the people who use those phones that they are managed, and for having a lawful reason to manage them.
2. What we collect
| Information | What it includes | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Email address, a user ID, and your password (stored in encrypted form by our sign-in provider; we can't see it). | You, when you create an account or sign in. |
| Device details | Manufacturer and model, Android version, IMEI, serial number, Android ID, a hardware ID made from one of these, the device name you give it, and the CORE MDM version installed. | The CORE MDM app on the phone, and you. |
| Device status | Online or offline, the time the phone was last seen, battery level and whether it's charging, network type and Wi-Fi signal strength, whether the screen guard and usage access are switched on, when it last applied your rules, and the result of app updates. | The app, about once a minute while it runs. |
| Location (only if switched on) | The phone's latest GPS position and its accuracy. Only the most recent position is kept, it's visible only to the account that manages the phone, and it's deleted when tracking is switched off. The geofence area you set is stored with the phone's other settings. | The app, every few minutes while location tracking is on for that phone. (A geofence is checked on the phone and doesn't report its position.) |
| App usage | For each app: how long it was used in the last 24 hours. For apps with a daily time limit: the minutes used since midnight. | The app, using Android's usage statistics, once usage access is allowed on the phone. |
| Messages you send | The title and text of messages you send to a phone from the console. | You, in the web console. |
| Installed apps | The name and package name of each app installed on the phone, whether it's a system app, and whether it's hidden or blocked. | The app, when apps are installed or removed and about every 30 minutes. |
| Push token | A token that lets us send instant commands to the phone. | The app, through Firebase Cloud Messaging. |
| Rules and commands | The settings you turn on (for example, "block app installs" or "only chosen apps can install apps"), blocked, hidden and time-limited apps, blocked parts of apps, which apps may show web pages, the content filter's settings (site groups, sites you block or always allow, its DNS server and any blocklist link you add), private DNS, the kiosk list, and commands you send (lock, alarm, reboot, lockdown, wipe). | You, in the web console or the app. |
| Organizations | For organizations: the name, logo and lock-screen message, the owner's and admins' email addresses, the join code and the organization's rules. For phones: which organization they've joined. | Organization owners and admins, and you when a phone joins. |
| Activity log | Each action taken in the console: what it was, which device, the time, your email and user ID, and your browser's user-agent string. | The web console, automatically. |
| Pre-registered devices | IMEI, a group name and a one-time enrollment code, for devices registered before they're set up. | Platform administrators. |
3. What we don't collect
CORE MDM controls what a phone can do. It does not read what's on it. We do not collect:
- location or GPS data, unless you switch on location tracking for that phone — and even then only you can see it;
- contacts, messages, emails, photos, files or call logs;
- what's shown on the screen, or anything typed;
- the websites visited (see Content filter);
- what you do inside apps — only how long each app was used (see above);
- anything for advertising. There are no ads, analytics or tracking tools in the app or the console.
4. What stays on the phone
Some features need the app to look at things on the phone. They do this on the phone itself and don't send what they see to us:
- Screen guard (Android accessibility service). When you block parts of apps (for example WhatsApp Status or YouTube Shorts) or limit web pages inside apps, the screen guard recognises those screens and closes them. It doesn't record, store or upload screen contents or anything typed. It only runs when it has been switched on in Android's settings.
- Usage access. Used to enforce daily time limits and to show app usage in the console. Only per-app usage time is reported (see above).
- Install source. When "only chosen apps can install apps" is on, the phone checks which app installed each new app, so it can remove ones that weren't allowed.
- Battery, storage and network details shown on the phone's own screen.
5. How we use it
- To run the Service: to link a phone to your account, show it in your console, and deliver your rules and commands to it.
- To keep it secure: to sign you in, keep the activity log, prevent misuse, and investigate problems.
- To support you: to answer your questions and fix problems with your devices.
- To meet legal obligations: where the law requires it.
We rely on these legal bases: providing the Service you asked for (contract); keeping the Service secure and working (legitimate interests); and complying with the law. We never sell or share personal information for advertising, and we don't use it to train AI models.
6. Who can see it
- You. A phone is linked to the account that signed in on it. That account can see and manage it in the console and in the app.
- Organization admins, if the phone has joined an organization (see below) — but not the phone's location.
- Our platform administrators. They can view all devices and the activity log, and send commands, to provide support, keep the Service secure and prevent abuse. Every action is recorded in the activity log. They cannot see a phone's location: our database rules allow only the account that manages the phone to read it.
- Service providers who run parts of the Service for us (see below).
- Authorities, if the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety or our legal rights.
- A buyer or successor, if our business is sold or merged, under the same protections.
7. Organizations
A phone can join an organization (for example a school, charity or company) with a join code, or automatically when it's signed in on the organization owner's account. Once it has joined, the organization's owner and admins can see the phone's details, status and app list, change its settings and remove it from the organization. An organization can lock some settings so the phone's own admin can't change them, and its name, logo and message appear on the phone's lock screen. Organization admins are responsible for how they use this information.
8. Service providers
- Google Firebase (Google LLC): sign-in, database, and push messages to the phone.
- Google Firebase Hosting (Google LLC): hosts this website.
- Cloudflare Turnstile (Cloudflare, Inc.): the human check on our sign-in and password-reset forms. When those forms load, your browser contacts Cloudflare, which receives your IP address and browser signals to tell people from bots.
- OpenStreetMap supplies the map in the console's Location tab. Your browser loads map images from it when you open that tab.
- GitHub (GitHub Inc., owned by Microsoft): stores CORE MDM's app releases. Phones download CORE MDM and its updates from GitHub, so GitHub receives the phone's IP address.
- Google Fonts supplies the website's font, and jsDelivr supplies code libraries the website uses. Your browser contacts them to load these.
- DNS providers, if you use the content filter (see below).
These providers process information only to provide their service and under their own privacy terms.
9. Content filter and DNS
The content filter runs on the phone. When an app or website looks up an address, the filter checks it on the phone and passes allowed lookups to a DNS server: Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) by default, another server you choose, or the phone's own network's DNS server if that one can't be reached. If you turn on "Private DNS" in the console, the phone uses the DNS provider you entered.
Those DNS providers receive the addresses the phone looks up, under their own privacy policies. CORE MDM does not record or upload the sites visited. If you add a blocklist link, the phone downloads that list from the address you entered, so that website receives the phone's IP address.
10. Installing the app
The USB installer runs entirely in your browser. It sends the CORE MDM app to the phone directly over the USB cable and does not upload anything about the phone to us. To connect, your browser creates a security key and saves it on this computer, so the phone can recognise it next time. The key stays in your browser; you can remove it by clearing this site's data in your browser settings.
The QR setup code is made in your browser. When a phone scans it, the phone downloads CORE MDM from GitHub.
11. How long we keep it
- Account and device records: for as long as your account and devices are active. When a device is removed or you ask us to delete your account, we delete the records promptly.
- Installed-app list, app usage, device status and location: replaced each time the phone reports; only the latest copy is kept.
- Activity log: kept as a tamper-proof security record for as long as it's needed for security and preventing abuse, then deleted.
- Backups and legal holds: copies may remain in backups for a short time, or longer if the law requires it.
12. Security
Information is encrypted in transit. Access to the database is restricted by rules that let each account reach only its own devices, and organization admins only their organization's phones. Only a small number of verified administrators have wider access, and their actions are logged. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a strong, unique password and keep it private: anyone with your password can control your phones.
13. Your choices and rights
Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR in the EU and UK, or state laws such as the CCPA in California), you may have the right to:
- know what personal information we hold about you, and get a copy;
- correct information that's wrong;
- have your information deleted;
- object to or restrict how we use it, or take it elsewhere;
- not be treated differently for using these rights;
- complain to your local data protection authority.
We don't sell personal information or share it for targeted advertising. To use any of these rights, contact us (see below). We'll respond within the time the law requires, and may need to confirm your identity first. If you use a phone managed by someone else, such as your employer, school or parent, contact them first: they control that phone's information.
To stop a phone sending information, remove it from your account in the console or the app and uninstall CORE MDM, or factory reset it.
14. Children
CORE MDM accounts are for adults. Parents and guardians may use CORE MDM to manage a child's phone; the parent or guardian is responsible for that choice and for the phone's settings. We collect only the device information described above, not the child's own personal content. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we'll delete it.
15. International transfers
Our service providers may store and process information in the United States and other countries. Where the law requires it, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses or adequacy decisions, for these transfers.
16. Changes to this policy
If we make significant changes, we'll update the date above and let account holders know before the changes take effect.
17. Contact
Questions about privacy, or want to use your rights? Email us at support@coremdm.org.
CORE MDM USA, United States.