Teen online safety
Signals-based detection, in-moment teen coaching, and playbooks for trusted adults — without surveillance.
Signals-based, not surveillance-first. Built for families. Grounded in trust.
The moment that matters
When a teen is panicked and ashamed, rules and monitoring do not help in time. Families need a product that supports disclosure instead of replacing it.
The problem
Watching everything erodes trust and teaches teens to hide. Real safety comes from detecting genuine risk, coaching in the moment, and giving adults something to actually do.
The false tradeoff
Neither produces durable safety. Nudge is designed for trust, disclosure, and privacy constraints from the start.
“The best way to keep teens safe is to empower them with the tools, language and support to keep themselves safe.”
Jes Daigle, Founder
Nudge's approach
Three things working together — detection, coaching, and guidance.
Detection layer
Nudge reads behavioral patterns — not contacts, photos, or location. It looks for manipulation, threats, grooming behaviors, and pressure — not flagged words.
Teen layer
When a concerning pattern fires, Nudge gives the teen a calm pause — safety education and guided options — before anything is sent to a parent.
Parent layer
When a trusted adult needs to step in, Nudge tells them what to do next — concrete steps that protect the relationship, not just the moment.
Detection
Abuse follows repeatable patterns across every platform. That makes a signals-based model more durable — and far less invasive — than filtering content.
Only message content is analyzed. All other device data remains private.
Detection, continued
A single line rarely tells the whole story. When tone shifts and requests escalate across several messages, Nudge groups and tracks that pattern as one escalating thread — so both the teen and the trusted adult get guidance scaled to the fuller picture.
Risky chats rarely start scary — they begin friendly and slowly shift. Nudge shows how a conversation changed over time so spotting it early becomes a skill.
The trusted adult sees the escalation as one alert, with severity and concrete next steps — the same clear playbook as any other alert.
Data retention
Retention scales with risk, nothing more. Low-risk moments leave no trace; higher-risk signals are held just long enough for a trusted adult to act — then deleted automatically.
| Risk level | Retention | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Low risk | 0 days | No retention. Nothing is stored — the moment passes and leaves no record. |
| Medium risk | 30 days | Held briefly so a trusted adult can review context and follow up, then deleted. |
| High risk | 90 days | Kept long enough to support a sustained response and any needed reporting. |
| Imminent danger | 120 days | The longest window, reserved for the most serious situations where safety outcomes may still be unfolding. |
Retention applies only to the signal and its context — never your contacts, location, photos, or passwords. When a window ends, the data is deleted automatically.
Teen layer
When a signal fires, Nudge reaches the teen first.
“When something feels off, your brain races. Nudge gives you that important pause to think clearly and make safer choices.”
When a teen is struggling
Nudge meets the teen with warmth — not an alarm — and surfaces free, confidential crisis resources right away: the Crisis Text Line and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, alongside the option to reach a trusted adult.
A gentle heads-up
Most moments aren't a crisis — they're a chance to learn. Nudge opens with reassurance, then explains what caught its attention in plain language: an age gap, a request to keep secrets, pressure to share, or a money ask. No lecture, no blame.
Parent layer
Every alert arrives with context and a clear response path.
“Someone online is harassing me and I'm scared.”
What to do now
The complete system
Behavioral risk markers, not content filters, catch what matters without invading everyday privacy.
Privacy-preservingSafety education in the moment. Medium and high-risk signals auto-alert a trusted adult.
Teen-firstNot a surveillance dump. Concrete steps that support the teen and preserve the relationship.
Relationship-preservingWhat makes Nudge different
| Capability | Typical monitoring apps | Nudge |
|---|---|---|
| What it watches | Every message, photo, and search | Behavioral patterns — manipulation, threats, grooming |
| Who hears about it first | Parent, via a raw activity feed | The teen — a calm pause and guided options |
| What the adult gets | An alert, with no guidance | A playbook — concrete next steps |
| Conversation context | Each message flagged in isolation | Escalation across messages tracked as one thread |
| What it never touches | Varies — often broad device access | Contacts, location, photos, passwords |
Why it matters
Every tool that watches without coaching teaches teens to hide more carefully. Nudge is built on the opposite premise: a teen who feels supported is safer than one who feels surveilled.
For teens
“I get support in the moment — and I know what's happening when it matters.”
For parents
“I know what's happening and I know how to respond without making it worse.”
Built for families
Manage protections and trusted adults for each child in one place — without turning the teen experience into a punishment flow. And because Nudge is pattern-based, short lessons build instincts that carry across platforms, online and off.
Pre-launch
Built
Core product is functional. Not vaporware.
Different
No other product combines detection, coaching, and parent playbooks in one system.
Nudge waitlist
Android pilots are opening now. Join the first wave shaping the product — you'll get pilot invites, safety playbooks, and a direct line for feature requests and partnership ideas.