Privacy Policy
Last updated: December 2024
MyKidStoryBook ("we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy of you and your children. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect personal information when you use our personalized storybook creation service.
🛡️ Our Privacy Commitment
- ✓ We comply with COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act)
- ✓ We comply with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
- ✓ We never sell, share, or transfer your data to third parties for marketing
- ✓ You can export or delete all your data at any time
1. Information We Collect
We only collect information you voluntarily provide to create personalized storybooks:
Account Information
- Email address (for account access and book delivery)
- Name (optional, for personalization)
- Password (securely hashed, never stored in plain text)
Character Information
- Child's first name only (no last names)
- Age range
- Gender
- Physical appearance (skin tone, hair color, eye color)
- Interests and favorite things
Photos (Optional)
⚠️ Important: You may optionally upload photos of your child to help our AI create more personalized illustrations. By uploading photos:
- You confirm you have legal authority to share images of the child
- Photos are processed by AI solely to generate character illustrations
- Photos are encrypted at rest and in transit
- Photos are never shared with third parties
- Photos can be deleted at any time through your account settings
Story Content
- Story themes and narratives you create
- AI-generated story text and images
- Custom edits and modifications you make
Technical Information
- Browser type and device information (for compatibility)
- IP address (for security and fraud prevention)
- Usage data (which features you use, for improving our service)
2. What We Do NOT Collect
- Last names of children
- Home addresses or phone numbers
- Social Security numbers or government IDs
- School names or locations
- Payment card details (handled securely by Shopify/Stripe)
- Third-party tracking cookies or advertising pixels
3. How We Use Your Information
- Create storybooks: Generate personalized stories and illustrations using AI
- Deliver your books: Send digital PDFs via email and fulfill print orders
- Maintain your account: Save your projects so you can continue editing
- Improve our service: Understand how customers use features to make improvements
- Provide support: Respond to your questions and resolve issues
- Prevent fraud: Protect against unauthorized access and misuse
4. AI Processing
We use artificial intelligence to generate personalized stories and illustrations:
- Story generation: AI creates age-appropriate narratives based on character details
- Image generation: AI creates illustrations based on character descriptions and/or uploaded photos
- No model training: Your data is NOT used to train AI models
- Processing partners: AI processing is performed by AWS (Amazon Web Services) with strict data protection agreements
5. Data Retention
We retain your data only as long as necessary to provide our services:
| Data Type | Retention Period |
|---|
| Account profile | Until you delete your account |
| Active projects | Until you delete or 2 years of inactivity |
| Uploaded photos | Until you delete or 90 days after project completion |
| Generated images | Until you delete your project |
| Rendered PDFs | 90 days after generation (re-downloadable) |
| Purchase records | 7 years (legal requirement) |
| Guest sessions (no account) | 30 days after creation |
Automatic deletion: Inactive accounts with no purchases are automatically deleted after 2 years. You will receive email notification 30 days before deletion.
6. Data Storage & Security
- Encryption: All data is encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.3)
- Cloud storage: Data is stored on secure AWS and Vercel servers in the United States
- Access controls: Only authorized personnel can access customer data
- Regular audits: We perform regular security assessments
- Breach notification: We will notify you within 72 hours of any data breach
7. Your Privacy Rights
You have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Access: View all data we have about you
- Export: Download a complete copy of your data as a ZIP file
- Correction: Update or correct your information
- Deletion: Permanently delete your account and all associated data
- Restriction: Request we limit how we process your data
- Objection: Object to specific types of processing
- Portability: Receive your data in a machine-readable format
To exercise these rights, visit your Account Settings or contact us at privacy@mykidstorybook.com.
8. Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)
MyKidStoryBook is designed for parents/guardians to create storybooks for their children. We take children's privacy seriously:
- Children under 13 cannot create accounts or use our service directly
- All information about children must be provided by a parent or legal guardian
- We collect the minimum information necessary (first name only, no last names)
- Parents can review, delete, or refuse further collection of their child's information
- We do not condition a child's participation on disclosing more information than necessary
- We do not share children's information with third parties except as needed to provide the service
Parental consent: By creating a storybook featuring your child, you consent to our collection and use of the information you provide about your child as described in this policy.
9. International Data Transfers (GDPR)
For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland:
- Your data may be transferred to and processed in the United States
- We use Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission
- Our cloud providers (AWS, Vercel) maintain appropriate safeguards
- You may contact our Data Protection representative at gdpr@mykidstorybook.com
10. Third-Party Services
We use trusted third parties to help provide our services:
- AWS (Amazon Web Services): Cloud hosting, AI processing, data storage
- Vercel: Website hosting and edge functions
- Shopify: E-commerce and order management
- Stripe: Payment processing (we never see your full card number)
- Lulu: Print-on-demand book fulfillment
- Resend: Email delivery
- Amazon Cognito: Secure authentication
Each provider is contractually bound to protect your data and only use it to provide their specific service.
11. Cookies & Tracking
We use minimal cookies necessary for the service to function:
- Authentication cookies: Keep you logged in (essential)
- Session cookies: Remember your current project (essential)
- Preference cookies: Remember your settings (functional)
We do NOT use:
- Third-party advertising cookies
- Social media tracking pixels
- Cross-site tracking
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by email and/or a prominent notice on our website at least 30 days before changes take effect. Continued use of our service after changes constitutes acceptance.
13. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices:
Thank you for trusting MyKidStoryBook with your child's magical story. ✨
Your privacy and your children's safety are our top priorities.