StoryMe ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what personal data we collect, how we use it, and the rights you have under UK data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. For the purposes of this policy, StoryMe is the data controller.
1. What Data We Collect
We collect only the information we need to create your personalised story and fulfil your order:
- Your contact details — your email address, used to send your story and order confirmation.
- Child's details — the child's first name and age that you provide so the story can be personalised.
- Story details — the theme and any preferences you choose, and any photo you upload to guide illustrations.
- Payment information — handled directly by our payment provider, Stripe. We do not store your full card details.
2. How We Use Your Data
We use your data to:
- Generate your personalised story, illustrations and animation;
- Process your payment and deliver your order;
- Send you order confirmations and the link to access your story;
- Respond to your enquiries and provide customer support;
- Meet our legal and accounting obligations.
Our lawful bases for processing are the performance of our contract with you (to deliver your order), our legitimate interests (to operate and improve our service), and compliance with legal obligations.
3. Children's Data Protection
StoryMe is a service for parents, guardians and adults purchasing on a child's behalf. Our accounts and checkout are intended for use by adults aged 18 or over. Any information about a child (such as their name and age) is provided by the adult placing the order, and we use it solely to personalise that order. We do not knowingly collect data directly from children, and we do not use children's data for marketing or profiling. We treat all such information with particular care and retain it only as long as needed to fulfil the order.
4. Third-Party Services
To deliver our service, we share the minimum necessary data with trusted third-party providers, each of whom acts as a processor or independent controller for their part of the service:
- Stripe — secure payment processing.
- Resend — sending transactional emails such as your order confirmation.
- Anthropic — AI generation of your story text.
- ElevenLabs — AI narration / voice generation.
- fal.ai — AI illustration generation.
- Kling AI — AI animation generation.
Each provider processes data under its own privacy and security terms. Some of these providers may process data outside the UK; where that happens, appropriate safeguards (such as standard contractual clauses) are relied upon.
5. Data Retention
We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil your order, provide support and meet our legal and accounting obligations. Order and transaction records are typically retained for up to 6 years to comply with UK tax and accounting requirements. The personalised content and details associated with your order are retained only as long as needed to deliver and re-deliver your story, after which they are deleted or anonymised.
6. Your Rights Under UK GDPR
You have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you;
- Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data;
- Request erasure of your data ("right to be forgotten");
- Restrict or object to our processing of your data;
- Request portability of your data;
- Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at hello@mystoryme.co.uk. We will respond within one month.
7. Cookies
Our website uses a small number of cookies and similar technologies that are necessary for the site to function — for example, to keep your session secure during checkout. We do not use cookies for advertising. You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings, though disabling essential cookies may affect how the site works.
8. Complaints (ICO)
If you have a concern about how we handle your personal data, we would encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve it. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK's supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), at ico.org.uk or by calling their helpline.
9. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at hello@mystoryme.co.uk.
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