Privacy Policy

1. What data we process

What we collect depends on how you use the Service:

a) Account data

• email address and password (stored only as a salted hash, never in plain text),
• optionally, a display name,
• your preferred interface language,
• account creation date.

b) The reference photo

To generate a character, you upload a photo of a person (often a child) who will star in the book. That photo travels from your browser to our server, and from there directly onward to our third-party AI provider (Google's Gemini models) for the sole purpose of generating a stylized illustration from it. When the character is created, the same provider also reads a short list of visible distinguishing marks from the photo once (e.g. tattoos and where they are, piercings, jewelry, outfit colours), so the illustrations reproduce them faithfully.

The reference photo is never written to disk or to a database at any point in this process - it exists only in server memory for the duration of the request (typically a few seconds) and is discarded immediately after the result is returned. Only the resulting generated illustration (a stylized drawing) and the list of distinguishing marks described above are stored - not the original photograph.

c) Character and book data

• the character's name, their relation to you (e.g. "my daughter"), an outfit description, and any free-text description of distinguishing traits you choose to enter (which may include appearance details such as tattoos, piercings, or glasses - exactly whatever you decide to type),
• a short list of distinguishing marks read automatically from the photo (or from the character illustration) - e.g. tattoos and where they are, piercings, jewelry, outfit colours - used only when generating that character's illustrations,
• the generated character illustrations in the styles you chose,
• the occasion, title, generated story content and structure, page and cover illustrations, and any text edits you make,
• the book's status (draft / ordered / finished) and related timestamps.

This data is kept for as long as your account exists or until you delete that character/book. Parts of the character description and occasion are sent to our AI providers (Google Gemini for images; Anthropic Claude for story text) as part of each generation request.

d) Technical data and session identifiers

• IP address,
• a session identifier stored in a cookie (see the Cookies section),
• basic request metadata (e.g. generation duration, error codes if any occurred).

e) Product analytics (funnel data)

We log events describing how you move through the book-creation wizard (e.g. entering a given step, starting/finishing/ordering a book, reaching the daily free generation limit), together with a session identifier, IP address, account identifier if applicable, and basic parameters (occasion, style, page count, language). These events are, by design, never allowed to contain photos or generated content - it's a separate, technical event stream used for product improvement and abuse detection.

f) Orders, payments and shipping

Payments are handled by Stripe (Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd., Ireland) in a payment window shown on our site. You enter card, BLIK or bank login details directly with Stripe - they never reach our servers. From Stripe we receive and keep: the payment's id and status, amount, date, the payer's e-mail and - for a printed book - the recipient's name, delivery address and phone number (for the courier). We also record the moment you confirm immediate delivery of the digital edition.

Shipping details are shared only with the CEWE print shop, which prints and ships the book, and the courier delivering it - only as far as needed to make and deliver the order.

g) Book feedback

After finishing a book you can - if you choose to - rate it from 1 to 5 stars and leave a comment on how making it went. We store the rating, the comment, the date and the link to your account and that book. We use them only to improve the Service and to get in touch if something went wrong; we never publish them without your separate consent. Feedback is deleted together with the book or your account.

2. Purposes and legal basis

• Creating and running your account, generating and saving a character/book at your request, letting you reopen and edit it later - Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of a contract, or steps taken at your request prior to entering one).
• Keeping the Service secure, preventing abuse (daily free generation limits tied to your account, session and IP), internal AI cost/usage analytics, product analytics, reviewing illustrations from free previews made without an account the descriptions typed in the creator and the stories written from them, to check and improve generation quality (see section 6), and voluntary book feedback used to improve the Service - Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (our legitimate interest).
• Your representation, made when uploading a photo, that you have the right to use it as described (including a guardian's consent where the photo shows a child) - Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR to the extent this constitutes a separate consent.
• Fulfilling an order: taking payment, providing the digital edition, printing and shipping the book - Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of a contract).
• Keeping sales records and other accounting and tax obligations - Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR (legal obligation).
• Handling complaints and establishing, exercising or defending legal claims - Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.
• Understanding how the site is used with Microsoft Clarity (heatmaps, session recordings) - only after you consent in the cookie banner, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR; you can withdraw at any time under "Cookie settings" in the site footer.
• Measuring how well our Facebook and Instagram ads work (Meta Pixel and Meta Conversions API) - only after you consent in the cookie banner, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR; you can withdraw at any time under "Cookie settings" in the site footer.
• Sending StoryTime news, occasions and discounts by e-mail (newsletter) - only after you tick the consent when signing up, in your account or when ordering, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and Art. 398 of the Polish Electronic Communications Law. The consent is voluntary; it gives the subscriber discount described in the Terms. You can withdraw it at any time in your account or with the link in every e-mail - this does not affect the lawfulness of earlier mailings. As proof of the consent we keep its date, wording and IP address.

3. Photos and likeness - special rules

By uploading a photo, you represent that it shows you, or someone whose image you have the right or permission to use in the way described in the Terms of Service (AI processing to create an illustrated character and include it in a personalized book). If the photo shows a minor, by uploading it you represent that you are that child's parent or legal guardian, or have that guardian's explicit permission.

The photo is used only to generate the illustration and, as described above, is never stored by us. The resulting illustration is a derivative, newly-rendered artwork - not a copy or edit of the photo itself.

We do not use uploaded photos or character data to train AI models, or for any purpose beyond generating your book, unless you separately and explicitly opt in. The one exception: we may review illustrations generated in a free preview made without an account, and the descriptions typed in the creator (e.g. appearance, outfit, story idea, a correction request) together with the story written from them, to check and improve generation quality - for at most 7 days, after which they are deleted (section 6).

4. Who we share data with

We share data only to the extent necessary to run the Service:

• Google (Gemini API / Google Cloud) - generates illustrations from the photo and character description,
• Anthropic (Claude API) - generates story text from the occasion and character description,
• Microsoft (Microsoft Clarity) - only with your consent: analysis of how the site is used (clicks, scrolling, session recordings); your photos, characters, stories and books are masked from it and never sent to it,
• Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (Facebook, Instagram) - only with your consent: measuring how well our ads work. We share which pages of the Service you visit, that you started a preview and opened the payment window, and on a purchase the order value, the product type, and your e-mail address and account id as an irreversible hash (SHA-256), together with your IP address, browser details and Meta's cookie identifiers. We never share photos, characters, book content, names or addresses with Meta. We and Meta are joint controllers for collecting and transmitting this data; Meta then processes it as a separate controller under its own privacy policy (facebook.com/privacy/policy),
• Stripe (Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd.) - payment processing,
• CEWE (print shop, CEWE Fotoświat) and the courier delivering the parcel - for a printed book: the book's content for printing and the recipient details needed for shipping,
• our hosting provider - the server running the Service and its database, located in the European Union,
• home.pl S.A. - the e-mail service we send the Service's messages through (e.g. password resets, order confirmations),
• public authorities, where we are legally required to disclose data.

We do not sell personal data. The only data shared for advertising goes to Meta, only with your consent and only as described above.

5. International data transfers

Our AI providers (Google, Anthropic), Stripe, and Microsoft and Meta (Clarity and the Meta Pixel, if you consent to them), may process data on servers outside the European Economic Area, including in the United States. Where that happens, the transfer relies on a GDPR-compliant safeguard - in particular the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46 GDPR) or another lawful transfer mechanism. You can request a copy of the relevant safeguard by writing to the contact address below.

6. How long we keep data

• Original reference photo: never stored at all (see section 1b).
• Illustrations generated in a free preview without signing in: up to 7 days, then permanently deleted from our servers (unless you save the character or book to an account in that time - then the next point applies). During that time we may review them to check and improve generation quality; we don't link them to your identity or share them with anyone.
• Descriptions typed in the creator (appearance, outfit, relation, story idea, correction requests - not the name), saved with each generation, and the story written from them (title and page text): up to 7 days, during which we may review them to improve quality; then they are deleted. The descriptions of a saved character or book are kept with it (next point).
• Account data: for as long as your account exists; once deleted, we erase it, except where we must keep certain records longer for legal (e.g. accounting) obligations or to defend against claims.
• Characters and books: kept until you delete them. Deleting one immediately and permanently removes the generated image files from our servers. Some non-image descriptive data (e.g. occasion name, chosen style, aggregated cost figures tied to your account) may be retained in de-identified or partially de-identified form for accounting and statistical purposes until the whole account is deleted.
• Analytics and technical event logs (IP address, session id): up to 12 months from the event, unless anonymized sooner.
• The newsletter consent and its history (date, wording, IP address): for as long as the account exists and, after you withdraw it, until any related claims are time-barred - as proof of when the consent applied.
• Order and payment records (including the delivery address): for the period required by tax/accounting law (generally 5 years from the end of the relevant tax year) and for claims to expire, also after the account is deleted.

7. Cookies and similar technologies

The Service uses the following cookies:

• st_auth - login session cookie (httpOnly), required to keep you signed in; lasts 30 days,
• st_session - an anonymous session identifier, required to enforce the daily free generation limit and to link wizard steps taken before you had an account; lasts up to 12 months,
• locale - remembers your chosen interface language,
• a theme cookie - remembers your chosen light/dark appearance,
• st_admin - used only by our staff when logged into the internal admin panel; never set in a regular customer's browser,
• st_consent - remembers your choice in the cookie banner; lasts 12 months,
• __stripe_mid, __stripe_sid - set by Stripe only once the payment window opens, used to prevent payment fraud; last 12 months and 30 minutes.

The cookies above are strictly necessary/functional and need no consent.

Only if you click "Accept" in the cookie banner do we run Microsoft Clarity - an analytics tool that records things like clicks, scrolling and session recordings (with photos, characters, stories and books masked) so we can improve the Service. Clarity sets its own cookies (e.g. _clck, _clsk, CLID; up to 12 months). More: privacy.microsoft.com.

Clicking "Accept" also turns on the Meta Pixel - Meta's (Facebook, Instagram) advertising tool, which lets us see whether our ads lead to a preview or a purchase and show them to people likely to be interested. The Meta Pixel sets the _fbp and _fbc cookies (up to 90 days), and Meta may link this information to your Facebook or Instagram account. On a purchase we also send Meta the same information directly from our server (Conversions API) - again only with your consent (details in section 4).

Choosing "Only necessary" means neither Clarity nor the Meta Pixel runs, and we tell Meta nothing about your purchases. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time under "Cookie settings" in the site footer; withdrawing does not affect processing that took place before.

8. Security

Passwords are stored only as bcrypt hashes, traffic to the Service is encrypted over HTTPS, and the admin panel is protected by a separate, cryptographically signed authentication mechanism entirely independent from customer accounts - no customer account can ever be escalated into an admin one. Access to data is limited to those who need it to run the Service.

9. Automated decision-making

We use AI models to generate images and text at your request - this is the creative service you asked for, not automated decision-making producing legal or similarly significant effects on you under Art. 22 GDPR. We do not profile users to make such decisions (for example, we do not vary access to the Service or pricing based on a behavioral profile).

10. Your rights

You have the right to:

• access your data and get a copy of it,
• have inaccurate data corrected,
• have your data erased ("right to be forgotten"),
• restrict processing,
• receive your data in a portable format,
• object to processing based on our legitimate interest,
• withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal,
• lodge a complaint with the Polish supervisory authority (Prezes Urzędu Ochrony Danych Osobowych / UODO), ul. Stawki 2, 00-193 Warsaw, Poland - or your own country's supervisory authority.

To exercise any of these rights, write to us at kontakt@storytimebooks.pl. We respond without undue delay, and no later than one month after receiving your request.

11. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, in particular if the Service's scope changes, new features launch (e.g. paid print orders), or the law changes. We'll flag material changes in the Service or by email. The date at the top of this page shows the last update.

12. Contact

Email: kontakt@storytimebooks.pl.