LifeStory ("we," "our," or "us") operates the LifeStory mobile application and the website at getyourlifestory.com. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our services.
1. Information We Collect
Personal Information You Provide
When you create an account and use LifeStory, we collect the following information that you voluntarily provide:
Name and email address (via account registration)
Birth year and birth place
Family member names (as shared during interviews)
Audio recordings of your life story interviews
Transcripts generated from your audio recordings
Photos you upload to include in your book
Payment information (processed by Apple App Store or Google Play Store)
Information Collected Automatically
When you use our app, we may automatically collect:
Device information (device type, operating system, unique device identifiers)
Usage data (features used, session duration, interaction patterns)
Log data (IP address, access times, app crashes and errors)
Analytics data to improve our service
Authentication Data
We use Firebase Authentication to manage user accounts. You may sign in via email and password, Apple Sign-In, or Google Sign-In. We receive basic profile information (name, email) from these providers as needed to create your account.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use your information for the following purposes:
Audio transcription: Your audio recordings are sent to OpenAI Whisper for transcription into text.
AI-powered writing: Your transcripts and personal details are processed by AI services (Anthropic Claude and OpenAI GPT) to generate polished narrative prose for your book chapters.
Book generation: We compile your stories, photos, and generated text into formatted books (PDF and print-ready formats).
Account management: To create and maintain your account, process subscriptions, and provide customer support.
Service improvement: To analyze usage patterns and improve app features and performance.
Communication: To send you important service updates and respond to your inquiries.
3. Third-Party Services
We share your data with the following third-party service providers, solely for the purpose of delivering our service:
OpenAI: Audio recordings are sent to OpenAI's Whisper service for transcription. Transcripts may also be processed by OpenAI GPT models for text generation. OpenAI's privacy policy applies to their processing of this data.
Anthropic: Transcripts and story content are processed by Anthropic's Claude models for narrative generation. Anthropic's privacy policy applies to their processing of this data.
Google Cloud Platform (GCP): All user data, including audio files and database records, is stored on GCP infrastructure. Audio files are stored in Google Cloud Storage. User profiles, stories, and books are stored in Cloud SQL (PostgreSQL).
Firebase (Google): Used for user authentication (email/password, Apple, and Google sign-in).
Third-party print service: If you order a printed book, your book content and shipping address are shared with our print fulfillment partner to produce and deliver your book.
We do not sell your personal information to any third party.
4. Data Storage and Security
Your data is stored in the United States, specifically in Google Cloud Platform's us-central1 region. We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including:
Encryption in transit (TLS/SSL) for all data transmitted between your device and our servers
Encryption at rest for stored data on Google Cloud Platform
Secure authentication via Firebase Authentication
Access controls limiting employee access to user data
While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
5. Data Retention
We retain your personal information, audio recordings, transcripts, and generated content for as long as your account is active. When you delete individual stories, the associated audio recordings and transcripts are permanently removed from our systems. If you delete your account, all of your data -- including your profile, stories, audio recordings, transcripts, and generated books -- will be permanently deleted from our servers within 30 days.
6. Children's Privacy
LifeStory is not intended for use by children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@getyourlifestory.com and we will promptly delete such information.
7. Your Rights
You have the following rights regarding your personal data:
Access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Correction: You can update or correct your personal information through the app or by contacting us.
Deletion: You can delete individual stories within the app or request complete account deletion, which removes all your data from our systems.
Data portability: You can export your stories as PDF files at any time.
Withdrawal of consent: You may stop using the service and delete your account at any time.
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):
Right to know: You may request that we disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources, the business purpose for collecting the information, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.
Right to delete: You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
Right to opt-out of sale: We do not sell your personal information. No opt-out is necessary.
Right to non-discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the updated policy within the app and updating the "Last updated" date. Your continued use of LifeStory after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
10. Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at: