DearlyStoryPrivacy Policy
Last updated: September 28, 2026
DearlyStory lets you create a voice from a short recording and have stories and books read aloud in it. This policy explains what we collect, why, who processes it, and how long we keep it. It applies to the DearlyStory app and to dearlystory.app.
DearlyStory is published by an individual developer ("we", "us"). Contact: [email protected].
Summary
- We collect only what the app needs to work: your account, the recordings you choose to upload, the stories and text you choose to hear, the audio made from them, and your purchases.
- Voice recordings and the text you choose to hear are processed by Qwen (Alibaba Cloud's speech model) to create voices and read text aloud. Story topics, and the title and opening lines of your stories and the books you import, are processed by Google to write stories and paint covers.
- We do not sell your data, show ads, or use third-party analytics or tracking.
- You can delete your voices, stories and account in the app at any time.
What we collect and why
| Data | Why we use it |
|---|---|
| Account. When you sign in with Apple or Google, we receive a stable identifier and your email address from them. With Apple you can choose to hide your email; we then receive a relay address that forwards to you. We do not ask for your name. | To keep your voices, stories and story balance with your account, to show which account you're signed in with, and to find your account if you contact us. We don't send marketing email. |
| Voice recordings you upload (recorded in the app or imported from a file), and the voices created from them. | To create a voice and read stories aloud in it. Recordings are processed on our server and by Qwen. |
| Story topics you type, and the stories written from them. | To write the story you asked for. Topics are sent to Google (Gemini). Stories are stored so you can edit and listen again. |
| Text you choose to hear (a story, or a part of a book or text you imported). | To read it aloud. Apart from the cover (next row), only the part you choose to hear leaves your phone. |
| The title and opening lines of a story or a book you import (about 1,200 characters), once you're signed in and have agreed to AI processing. | To paint a cover, free of charge. They are sent to Google (Gemini) through our server, and the picture is sent back to your phone. We don't keep the title, the text or the picture. |
| Audio generated for you. | So you can listen, and listen again, on this and other devices. |
| Purchases and story balance. Transaction identifiers and the product bought, from Apple. We never see your payment details. | To add stories to your balance and keep accurate records. |
| Reports you send, and an email address if you choose to give one. | To review misuse and reply to you. |
| App events (for example "a story was narrated"), with a random identifier for this installation. No advertising identifier, no location. | To understand whether features work and fix problems. |
| Technical logs (such as IP address and request times), kept briefly. | Security and troubleshooting. |
Books you import (photos, PDF, EPUB or text) stay on your phone. Text recognition happens on your phone. Only the text of a part you choose to have read aloud, and a book's title and opening lines for its cover, are sent to our server.
Who processes your data
| Provider | What they process | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Tencent Cloud | Hosts our server and database: all of the data above. | United States (Silicon Valley) |
| Qwen (Alibaba Cloud's speech model) | Voice recordings, to create voices; the text you choose to hear, to generate audio. | Alibaba Cloud data centers, depending on the service region we use (mainland China or the United States) |
| Google (Gemini API, Sign in with Google) | Story topics and the story settings you choose, to write stories; the title and opening lines of your stories and the books you import, to paint covers. If you sign in with Google, the sign-in. | United States and other Google locations |
| Cloudflare | Carries traffic between the app and our server. | Global network |
| Apple | Sign in with Apple, and payments through the App Store. | Apple's locations |
These providers act on our instructions to provide the service. When your data is processed outside your country, it is protected by the providers' contractual commitments. Before you use any AI feature for the first time, the app tells you about these transfers and asks for your agreement.
How long we keep data
| Data | Kept until |
|---|---|
| Voice recordings and voices | You delete the voice or your account. Deleted automatically if you haven't signed in for three years. |
| Stories | You delete them or your account. |
| Text sent to be read aloud | 30 days, then deleted. |
| Titles and opening lines sent for a cover, and the painted cover | Not kept on our server: passed to Google and the picture returned to your phone. The cover stays on your phone. |
| Generated audio on our server | One year after it was last downloaded, or until you delete your account. Audio saved on your phone stays until you delete it. |
| Purchase records | As long as needed for accounting and legal obligations. |
| Account deletion record | Three years after you delete your account: when you deleted it, the confirmation notice you saw, the unused stories that were forfeited and the purchase identifiers they came from, the app version and IP address. We keep it to handle refund and other disputes. It contains none of your voices, stories or audio. |
| Backups | Up to 30 days. |
When you delete a voice, the recording and the voice are deleted from our server and from Qwen right away. You can choose to also delete the audio made with it.
Your choices and rights
- Delete your account: Me → Account settings → Delete account. This deletes your voices, recordings, stories and audio from our server. Unused stories are forfeited and can't be refunded; the app tells you how many before you confirm. We keep only an account deletion record (see above).
- Delete a voice or a story at any time in the app.
- Access, correction or a copy of your data: email [email protected]. Depending on where you live (for example the EU, the UK or California), you may have further rights, including to object to processing or to complain to a data protection authority.
Children
Accounts are for adults aged 18 or older. Stories can be written for children to listen to, but we do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will delete it.
Security
Data travels encrypted (HTTPS). Sign-in tokens are stored in the iPhone Keychain. Access to the server is restricted to the developer.
Changes
If we change this policy, we will update the date above and, for significant changes, tell you in the app.