Safety & Safeguarding

Our commitment

Mustard Investments is committed to providing a safe learning environment for all users, with particular attention to the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. We design our platform with safety as a foundational principle, not an afterthought.

ICO Age Appropriate Design Code (AADC)

The ICO's Age Appropriate Design Code (Children's Code) sets 15 standards for services likely to be accessed by children. We have designed against them, and describe our current position against each below. This is a statement of how we build, not a certification — the Code has no certification scheme.

• Best interests of the child — Age-appropriate content routing (Junior 11–13, Teen 14–17, Adult 18+).
• Age-appropriate application — Age is self-declared at sign-up and date of birth is collected during onboarding; content, features, and safety controls adapt to the resulting age band. We do not currently use third-party age verification.
• Transparency — Clear, age-appropriate explanations of data use. No legal jargon for young users.
• Detrimental use of data — We never use children's data in ways that could cause harm. No profiling for advertising.
• Policies and community standards — Published, accessible, and enforced.
• Default settings — Privacy-protective by default. Younger users get stricter defaults.
• Data minimisation — We collect only what's necessary for the educational service.
• Data sharing — We do not sell personal data. Third-party sharing is limited to essential service providers.
• Geolocation — We do not track geolocation.
• Parental controls — Under-13s may not use the platform. Users aged 13–15 require parental consent before their account is activated. Parents can monitor and control their child's account.
• Profiling — No behavioural profiling of children for marketing or advertising.
• Nudge techniques — No dark patterns, shame-based mechanics, or manipulative engagement techniques for young users.
• Connected toys and devices — Not applicable.
• Online tools — Prominent, accessible tools for children to exercise their data rights.
• Data protection impact assessments — We maintain a DPIA covering the platform and update it as features affecting under-18 users change. Schools can request the current version, and we publish a DPIA template to support their own assessment.

Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE)

When deployed in school settings, Mustard operates in alignment with KCSIE guidance:

• No direct messaging between students.
• Community features are moderated and cohort-scoped.
• Leaderboards are class-private by default in school cohorts.
• Content is age-rated and reviewed quarterly.
• Schools can configure safeguarding controls per class/cohort.

FCA compliance

Mustard Investments provides financial education, not financial advice. We are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

• All content is educational and carries appropriate disclaimers.
• Paper trading uses simulated funds only — no real money is at risk.
• We do not recommend specific financial products or providers.
• Crypto content is gated behind knowledge checks and parental approval for minors.
• Content is sourced from GOV.UK, HMRC, MoneyHelper, and other authoritative sources.

Reporting concerns

If you have any safeguarding concerns or wish to report inappropriate content or behaviour, please contact us at safety@mustardinvestments.com.

For details on how we secure and protect your child's data, see How we protect your child's data.