Privacy and cookies

1. Who we are

Starring Tales is operated by Elite Digital Services LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company (USA), 30 N Gould St Ste R, Sheridan, WY 82801, USA (“we”, “us”). We are responsible for your personal information (the “controller”, in the terms of the GDPR). For any privacy question or request, write to hello@starringtales.com or call us at +1 (786) 607-0437.

This policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with and your rights, including under the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), US state privacy laws and, for people in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom, the GDPR and UK GDPR.

2. Children’s privacy

Starring Tales creates stories for children, but it is used by adults: accounts, the story form and purchases are only for people aged 18 or older. Before the first story or purchase, the account holder confirms that they are 18 or older and the parent or legal guardian of the children in their stories, or that they have their parent’s or guardian’s permission.

• We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children. Children don’t sign in, fill in forms or buy anything. The details about a child (first name, age and, optionally, appearance) are provided by their parent or guardian, and used only to create that family’s stories.
• We collect as little as possible: a first name or nickname, whether the child is a boy or a girl (for grammar), their age from 2 to 12 (to adapt the language) and, only if you choose to, what they look like from a closed list of options. We never ask for photos, surnames, birth dates, schools or addresses.
• No advertising, no tracking, no profiles. We don’t show ads, use analytics or tracking tools, or build profiles of children or adults. Children reading a book don’t give us any information; the website only uses the technical cookies described in section 11.
• Parents and guardians are in control: you can review your children’s details in each story, delete any story or your whole account in “My account”, and ask us at hello@starringtales.com to review or delete any information or to stop using it. Deleting the details means we can no longer create stories with them.
• If we learn that a child has given us personal information, or that someone entered a child’s details without the family’s permission, we will delete it. If you believe this has happened, write to hello@starringtales.com.

3. What information we collect

Your account. Your email address (there is no password), your stories, your star balance and its history, your purchases (product, amount, taxes, date and Stripe payment identifiers) and club membership, the date and version of the terms you accept and your confirmation that you are 18 or older and a parent or guardian, the website language you use and the time zone of your browser (to show dates and choose the PDF paper size), and your sign-in links and sessions (stored only as encrypted codes). To prevent abuse we also keep, irreversibly encrypted, your IP address for one day and a fingerprint of your email address that stops the free story from being claimed twice.

To create a story, what you enter in the form:

• the cast: one to three children as main characters, with their first name or nickname, whether they are a boy or a girl and their age (2 to 12);
• up to five companions if you add them: relatives, friends or other people (name or what you call them, he or she, their relationship to the children and age group) and pets (animal, name and color);
• the setting or a place you write in (for example, “Grandma’s backyard”; we ask you not to enter exact addresses), the value or special moment (or one you write), the length, the language of the story and any optional details;
• if you want, what each character looks like: hair color, length, type and style, eye color, skin tone, glasses, freckles, favorite color and a short distinguishing feature. All optional.

We use appearance details only to illustrate and write the story, so the characters are recognizable. We don’t use skin tone or any other feature to infer anyone’s origin or anything else about them, and skin tone is sent only to the illustration service, not to the service that writes the text.

Each story is stored with its text, language, the details above, its illustrations and its PDF. If you leave the form halfway while we send you a sign-in link, we keep it with that link so you can continue on any device; it is deleted the day after the link expires.

My characters. If you leave the box “Save these characters for future stories” checked when you create a story, we save in your account the details of each named character (name, boy or girl, age and the date you gave it to us so it goes up on its own every year, their relationship or animal and, if you gave them, their appearance and what they love), so you don’t have to type them again and they look the same from one book to the next. We only use them to create your stories: they aren’t sent to anyone until you create a story with them, and then only as part of that story, just as if you typed them. You can see, change or delete them in “My account › My characters”; if you uncheck the box, nothing is saved.

Payments are handled by Stripe on its own page, where you enter your card and billing address. We never receive or store your full card details. Stripe shares with us the payment status, the amount and taxes, and your country and postal code for tax purposes.

Technical data. Our hosting provider receives your IP address and browser information when you visit, and keeps technical logs so the service works and stays secure.

4. How we use it

We use personal information only for the purposes below. For people in the EEA and the UK, the table also shows our legal basis under the GDPR and UK GDPR.

We don’t send marketing emails, and we don’t make automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects on you.

5. Who we share it with

We share personal information only with service providers that process it on our behalf, under contracts that allow them to use it only to provide their service to us:

According to their business terms, the AI providers may not use what we send them to train their models. Stripe also processes some information as an independent controller, for example to prevent fraud and comply with financial laws (see Stripe’s privacy policy). We may disclose information when the law requires it, to protect rights and safety, or to a successor if our business is transferred, always under this policy.

6. No selling, no advertising

We do not sell personal information and do not share it for cross-context behavioral or targeted advertising, as those terms are used in California and other US state privacy laws, and we have not done so in the past 12 months. We don’t use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about anyone. Because we don’t sell or share, there is nothing to opt out of; we still respect Global Privacy Control signals.

7. Where your information is processed

Our servers and providers are in the United States (see the table in section 5), and Google’s image service uses a global endpoint. If you use Starring Tales from the EEA, the UK or another country, your information is processed in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those of your country. When our providers move information from the EEA or the UK to other countries, they rely on safeguards such as the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (and its UK extension) or the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses. You can ask us for more information at hello@starringtales.com.

8. How long we keep it

• Your account and stories: while you have the account. When you delete it in “My account”, your stories (text, illustrations and PDF), saved characters, stars, purchase history and sessions are deleted. Only the encrypted fingerprint of your email remains, to prevent the free story from being claimed again, and the purchase records described below.
• Your saved characters: until you delete them in “My account › My characters” (they’re deleted right away) or delete your account.
• Inactive accounts: if you don’t sign in for 3 years, we email you 30 days before deleting your account as described above; signing in once keeps it. We don’t delete accounts with an active club membership.
• A single story: you can ask us to delete any story at hello@starringtales.com; it disappears from your account and from our storage.
• Sign-in links and sessions: links expire after 30 minutes and are deleted the next day; sessions end after 180 days or when you sign out. The encrypted IP addresses we use against abuse are deleted after one day.
• Unfinished payments: stories whose payment was never completed, and the details entered for them, are deleted 30 days after their last activity.
• Purchase records: even after deleting a book or your account, we keep the record of each paid purchase (amount, taxes, date, email and acceptance of the terms, without the story or the children’s details) for 7 years, as tax, accounting and consumer laws require, only to meet those obligations and handle claims.
• Technical logs: for the short period our hosting provider keeps them for security.

9. Your book’s link and security

Each book has its own address (/book/… or /es/libro/…) with a long random code. It doesn’t appear in search engines, but anyone who has the link can view the book and download its PDF. Share it only with people you want to see it. If it was shared by mistake, write to us and we will delete it.

We protect your information with encrypted connections (HTTPS), private storage for the books, encrypted codes instead of sign-in links and limited access for our providers. No system is completely secure, but we work to keep your information safe and will notify you and the authorities of any breach as the law requires.

10. Your rights and choices

Everyone can see their stories, stars and purchases in “My account” and delete the whole account there. You can also ask us at hello@starringtales.com, from your account’s email address, to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your information. We will reply within 30 days (45 days where US state law allows), and may ask you to confirm your identity. We won’t treat you differently for using your rights.

US residents. Depending on your state (for example, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia or Texas), you may have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it, to access, correct and delete it, to get a copy, and to opt out of its sale, sharing for targeted advertising or profiling, which we don’t do. You can use an authorized agent. If we deny your request, you can appeal by replying to our answer; if you disagree with the result, you can contact your state Attorney General.

EEA and UK residents. You have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection and portability, and you can withdraw any consent at any time. You can also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office). We’d be grateful if you contacted us first so we can try to help.

11. Cookies and local storage

Starring Tales only uses three cookies, all first-party and strictly necessary: one keeps you signed in, another remembers your language and, on the Spanish pages, the third remembers which Spanish you read. We don’t use analytics, advertising or third-party cookies, and the fonts are served from our own server. That’s why there is no cookie banner.

You can delete them in your browser settings (if you delete the session cookie, you’ll need to sign in again). When you pay, Stripe’s payment page uses its own cookies to process the payment and prevent fraud (see its cookie policy). If we ever add cookies that need your consent, we will ask for it first.

12. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the date above and, if the change is significant, let you know by email or on the website before it applies. If a change affects how we use children’s details, we will ask for your consent where the law requires it. See also our Terms of Service and company information.