Privacy Policy

Who we are

OnceUponaBookshelf is an iOS app made by Luke Welch, based in the United Kingdom. For anything in this policy, contact welchyuk@gmail.com.

Our approach

This is an app for children, so we collect as little as possible. It's built with no user accounts, no sign-up, no advertising, no analytics, and no tracking of any kind. We do not build profiles, and we do not sell or share data for marketing.

What the app handles

Information	Why	Where it is kept
Your child's first name and age	To write a story that is personal and pitched at the right reading age	On your device. Sent to Anthropic only if the story can't be written on-device and you've agreed to cloud fallback.
Story idea, interests and theme you choose	To decide what the story is about	On your device. Sent to Anthropic only under the same cloud-fallback conditions.
Stories, and any narration audio	So you can read and replay them	Only on your device.
A random, anonymous device identifier	To apply fair-use limits and prevent abuse of our service	Our service. It is a random number, not linked to you, your child, or your Apple ID.
Subscription status	To confirm with Apple that a subscription is active	Checked with Apple. We never see your payment details.

What we never ask for

We do not collect surnames, dates of birth, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, photographs, contacts, location, or health data. The app requests no device permissions beyond those needed for the features you turn on, such as narration audio playback.

On-device generation, and when the cloud is used instead

OnceUponaBookshelf tries to write every story on-device, using Apple's on-device model running locally on your iPhone — in that case, your child's details never leave the device. On a device that can't run the on-device model, the app asks your permission and then sends the story request to our cloud service instead. Either way, we keep nothing once the story is delivered back to your device.

Who your information is shared with

Writing a story in the cloud, and narrating a story aloud, both need services outside the app. The app shows you this and asks your explicit permission before anything is sent. You can withdraw that permission at any time in Settings → Privacy → AI story services.

Service	What it receives	What it does
Anthropic	Your child's first name, age, and the interests and story idea you choose — only when a story can't be written on-device	Writes the story text (Claude Haiku)
ElevenLabs	The finished story text, which contains your child's first name	Reads the story aloud
Cloudflare	Passes the above between the app and those services	Runs our cloud service
Apple	Purchase and subscription information; story requests handled on-device	Handles all payments, and powers on-device story generation

These companies process the information under their own privacy policies, linked above. We do not authorise them to use it for advertising. Some are based outside the UK, so information may be transferred internationally; where that happens it is covered by the safeguards in those providers' terms.

How long anything is kept

• We keep no stories and no personal details. Once a story is written and sent back to your device, we hold nothing.
• Anonymous fair-use counters expire automatically within about 26 hours.
• Stories and audio saved in the app stay on your device until you delete them or remove the app.

Children's privacy

The app is bought and set up by a parent or guardian, and is designed to be used together with a child. Any details about a child are entered by the adult, who gives permission before they are shared. A child's first name is optional — you can skip it during setup and the app works normally. If you believe a child has entered information you would like removed, delete the child's profile in Settings, or contact us.

Your rights and choices

Because we keep nothing on our side, you stay in control on your device:

• See and change anything about a child in Settings → Children.
• Delete a child's profile, and every story and audio file belonging to them, in Settings.
• Withdraw consent for sharing with AI services at any time in Settings → Privacy.
• Erase everything by deleting the app from your device.

Under UK data protection law you also have the right to access, correct, or erase personal data, and to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office. Email us and we will help.

Changes

If we change how information is handled, we will update this page and the app will ask for your permission again before sharing anything under the new terms.

Questions

Email welchyuk@gmail.com.