Privacy Policy

Who we are

Starring Me is a bedtime-story app for children ages 3–8. Parents and guardians create accounts, add child profiles, upload photos, and generate personalized illustrated stories with narration.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, how AI partners process it, and the choices you have. If anything here is unclear, contact us at privacy@starring-me.com.

What we collect

We collect only what we need to run the service. Here is what that includes:

• Parent / account data — your email address, sign-in credentials (or sign-in via Google through our authentication provider), and basic account settings.
• Child profile data — for each child profile you create: name, age (3–8), pronouns, interests, topics to avoid, comfort notes, optional appearance notes, and story preferences such as theme and lesson.
• Photos you upload — images you provide so we can create a storybook-style character for your child. Photos are stored in a private storage bucket tied to your account.
• Generated content — character anchor images, scene illustrations, story text, and narration audio created for your family's stories. Scene images and narration are served via direct storage URLs (see “How we protect your data”).
• Usage and billing data — subscription status, story credits, and payment-related identifiers processed by Stripe (we do not store full payment card numbers on our servers).
• Technical data — standard web logs and session information needed to keep you signed in, deliver the app, and protect against abuse.

How we use your information

We use the information above to:

• Create and deliver personalized bedtime stories for your child
• Save stories to your library so you can replay them
• Run content safety checks on photos and story text
• Manage subscriptions and story credits
• Send account-related emails (such as sign-up confirmation or subscription notices)
• Improve the service only when you have opted in (see below)

We do not sell personal information. We do not share children's photos or profile data with advertisers or unrelated third parties for their own marketing.

AI providers and how they handle data

Starring Me uses third-party AI services to generate stories. When you create a story, relevant data (such as profile details, story prompts, photos, or generated text) is sent to these providers only to perform the service you requested.

We do not have enterprise zero-retention agreements with these providers. Data you send through our app may be retained by them for a limited period according to each provider's standard policies. We link to those policies below rather than guaranteeing specific terms on their behalf.

Depending on configuration, we may also use other image-generation providers (such as Replicate or OpenAI) for some illustration tasks. Those providers' own privacy and retention policies apply to data sent to them.

After AI providers process your request, copies of generated story assets are stored in our database and file storage (Supabase) so you can replay saved stories. Deleting content in Starring Me removes our copies; it does not automatically delete data already retained by an AI provider under their policies.

Other service providers

• Vercel — hosts our web application and server-side API routes.
• Supabase — hosts our database, authentication, and file storage.
• Stripe — processes subscription payments and billing. See Stripe's Privacy Policy.
• Resend — sends transactional emails (such as welcome or subscription confirmation messages).

These companies process data on our behalf to operate the service. They are not allowed to use your family's photos or child profile data for their own advertising.

Optional product-improvement setting

In Settings, you may turn on “Help improve Starring Me by letting us learn from my stories.” This is off by default. When enabled, anonymized story text (not photos) may be used to help us improve story quality. You can turn this off at any time in Settings.

Your controls and deletion

You stay in control of your family's data. From the app or Settings, you can:

• Delete an individual uploaded photo and its character illustration
• Delete an individual saved story and all of its scene images and narration audio
• Delete a child's entire profile (including their stories and assets)
• Delete your entire account and all associated data
• Change your product-improvement consent preference

When you delete content or an account, we remove the corresponding database records and delete the underlying files from our storage buckets — not just the link shown in the app. That deletion runs when you confirm it; we do not leave orphaned copies in our primary database or storage.

Removal from every layer is not instantaneous. Cached copies at a content-delivery network, edge cache, or rolling backup may take up to 24–72 hours to clear. We do not measure or guarantee exact timing for those downstream systems.

Deleting your Starring Me account removes billing identifiers we store locally (such as your Stripe customer ID) but does not call Stripe to delete your Stripe customer record. Stripe may retain payment, subscription, and fraud-prevention records under their own policies and legal obligations.

Deletion in Starring Me does not remove data already retained by AI or other subprocessors under their policies (see above).

You can also email privacy@starring-me.com to request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information associated with your account.

Children's privacy

Starring Me is designed for parents and guardians to use on behalf of their children. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account.

We collect children's photos and profile information only when a parent or guardian provides them through the parent's account. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13, and the app is not intended for children to use on their own.

Parents and guardians may review, delete, or object to processing of their child's information at any time using the in-app controls described above or by contacting privacy@starring-me.com.

Starring Me is not directed at children to sign up independently. If you believe we have received a child's information without appropriate parental involvement, please contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

How we protect your data

We use technical and organizational measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the data we handle, including:

• Encryption in transit — data is transmitted over HTTPS/TLS between your browser or app and our servers.
• Access controls — your account can access only your own profiles, stories, and files. Our database uses row-level security policies so one family's data is isolated from another's.
• Private photo storage — uploaded photos are stored in a private bucket with user-scoped access rules.
• Scene illustrations and narration — stored in scene-images and scene-audio buckets with user-scoped paths. These buckets allow public read access when someone has the direct URL. URLs are long and unguessable; we do not list them publicly, but anyone who obtains a link could access that file until you delete the story or account.
• Limited server access — automated server processes (not public users) perform generation, moderation, and deletion tasks using credentials stored securely on our infrastructure.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. If you believe your account has been compromised, contact us promptly.

How long we keep data

We keep your information while your account is active so you can use Starring Me, replay saved stories, and manage child profiles.

When you delete specific content, a child profile, or your full account, we delete the associated records and files from our systems as described above.

After account closure, we may retain limited information only where necessary for legal compliance, dispute resolution, or enforcement of our terms. We do not keep children's photos or story content after you delete them or close your account, except as required by law or briefly in operational backups that are cleared on a rolling basis (see deletion timing above).

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by posting the updated policy on this page with a new “Last updated” date and, where appropriate, by email or an in-app notice. Your continued use of Starring Me after the effective date of an update means you accept the revised policy.

Contact

For privacy questions, parental requests, or data deletion help:

privacy@starring-me.com