Once Upon Us Privacy Policy
Once Upon Us (the “App”) creates personalized, read-aloud stories starring your family. It is operated by Code Terra Solutions (“we”, “us”). This policy explains what information the App collects, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. If you have questions, email i.jasonbaker@gmail.com.
The short version
- The App is for parents and guardians. An adult creates and controls the account; children use it with a parent.
- We collect only what’s needed to make your stories: your sign-in details and the family details, optional photos and story choices you enter.
- No ads, no ad tracking, no third-party analytics SDKs, no public profiles or social sharing, and we never sell or rent your data.
- We use AI service providers (OpenAI and Anthropic) to write stories, draw pictures, narrate and check content for safety. They process data on our behalf to provide the service.
- You can delete stories, characters and photos at any time, download your data, and ask us to delete your whole account.
1. Who the App is for
The App is intended to be set up and managed by parents and legal guardians who are 18 or older. Accounts must be created by an adult. Children may enjoy stories with a parent, but we do not knowingly allow children to create accounts or provide personal information to us directly. If you believe a child has created an account or given us information without a parent, contact us and we will delete it.
2. Information we collect
Information you give us
- Account information: the parent’s email address, name and password. Passwords are handled by our sign-in provider (Amazon Cognito) or stored only as a secure hash. We never store them in readable form.
- Family and character profiles: information a parent chooses to enter about the people and pets in their stories, such as a first name or nickname, role (for example child, sibling, parent, pet or fictional friend), optional age in years, optional gender, interests, personality traits, a short description and illustration notes. We do not ask for birthdays, addresses, schools or contact details for children.
- Photos (optional): if you choose to add photos of a character, we store them and use them to create a storybook-style illustration and a short written description of the character’s appearance for consistent covers. Photos are never shown publicly or used to identify anyone.
- Family memories and story choices: optional memories you add, and the choices you make when creating stories (characters, tone, theme, length and any prompt text).
Information created when you use the App
- Your stories: story text, outlines, covers, series continuity notes, discussion questions, choose-your-own-adventure choices, narration audio, favorites, ratings and read status.
- Usage and service records: counts of stories, images and narrations used each period (to apply plan limits), the AI model and processing cost of each request, and a small number of first-party in-app events (for example “account created” or “narration generated”) linked to your family account. These are stored in our own database. We do not use third-party analytics or advertising SDKs, and we do not track you across other apps or websites.
- Technical logs: our servers keep short-lived operational logs (for example errors and request timing) to keep the service secure and working.
- Settings: preferences such as your chosen app theme.
Purchases
In-app purchases and subscriptions are processed by Apple. We do not receive or store your payment card details. We may receive confirmation of what you purchased so we can apply your plan.
3. How we use information
- To create and store your family’s stories, illustrations, covers and narration.
- To keep characters and story series consistent over time.
- To check story requests and finished stories with automated safety filters so content stays appropriate for children.
- To run your account: sign-in, plan limits, purchases, support and security.
- To understand overall use and costs so we can fix problems and improve the App.
We do not use your information for advertising, we do not build advertising profiles, and we do not sell, rent or trade personal information.
4. Service providers we share information with
We share information only with service providers that process it on our behalf to run the App, and only as needed for that purpose:
| Provider | What they do | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | Story illustrations and covers, character descriptions, read-aloud narration (text-to-speech), content safety checks, and in some cases parts of story writing | Story prompts and text, character details, and optional character photos when you request an illustration |
| Anthropic (Claude) | Writing, outlining and reviewing stories | Story choices, character details (names, ages, interests and traits) and story text |
| Amazon Web Services (AWS) | Hosting, sign-in (Amazon Cognito), file storage for photos, images and audio, and in some configurations AI story writing (Amazon Bedrock) | All App data, stored and processed in the United States |
| Neon | Managed PostgreSQL database hosting | Account, family, character and story records |
| Apple | App distribution and in-app purchases | Purchase information, handled under Apple’s privacy policy |
Under their API terms, our AI providers do not use data submitted through their APIs to train their models, and they may keep it only for a limited time for abuse monitoring. We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect the safety of our users or the public, or as part of a merger or sale of the business, in which case this policy will continue to apply to your information.
5. Children’s privacy
We take children’s privacy seriously and designed the App around parental control, consistent with the principles of the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA):
- Only a parent or guardian creates the account and decides what information about their child, if any, to enter.
- We collect only the minimum needed to personalize stories. A nickname and an age in years are enough; photos are optional.
- No ads, no in-app chat, no public profiles, no social features and no sharing of children’s information with advertisers or data brokers.
- A parent can review, download or delete their child’s information at any time (see below).
6. Data retention
We keep your family’s information for as long as your account is active, so your library and characters are there when you return. When you delete a story, character, photo or memory, it is removed from your account right away. Copies left in backups or storage are removed within 30 days. When an account is deleted, we delete the account and all associated family data, including photos, illustrations, covers and narration audio, within 30 days, except for limited records we must keep for legal, tax, fraud-prevention or security reasons. Operational logs are kept for up to 30 days and then deleted automatically.
7. Your choices and rights
- Access and download: you can download a copy of your family’s data (in JSON format) from the account screen in the App.
- Correct: you can edit account details, characters and memories in the App.
- Delete: you can delete individual stories, characters, photos and memories in the App. To delete your entire account and all family data, use Delete family data in the App’s account settings where available, or email i.jasonbaker@gmail.com from the email address on your account. We will confirm and complete the deletion within 30 days.
- Photos: you can choose not to add photos, and you can turn off photo or camera access in your device settings at any time.
Depending on where you live (for example the EU/UK or certain U.S. states), you may have additional rights, such as objecting to or restricting processing. Contact us to exercise them; we will not discriminate against you for doing so.
8. Security
We protect your information with encryption in transit (HTTPS) and at rest, private storage that is not publicly accessible, media that is served only to your signed-in account, and access limited to the people and systems that need it. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your family’s information and will notify you as required by law if a breach affects it.
9. International users
The App is operated from the United States, and information is stored and processed in the United States. By using the App, you understand that your information will be processed there.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. We will change the effective date above and, for material changes, notify you in the App or by email before they take effect.
11. Contact us
Code Terra Solutions
Email: i.jasonbaker@gmail.com
Support: codeterrasolutions.com/once-upon-us/support