English translation of the French Privacy Policy ("Politique de confidentialité"). In case of discrepancy, the French version prevails.
Last updated: October 20, 2026
The essentials in a few lines
- We only collect what is needed to create your child's stories and to run Istorya.
- Information about your child (first name, age, appearance) is used only to write and illustrate their stories.
- Your child's photo is optional, is only added with your explicit consent, and is never made public.
- We never sell your data, and we do not use it for targeted advertising.
- To create the stories, some information is sent to our artificial intelligence providers, some of which are located outside Benin (section 6).
- You can access, correct or delete your data at any time, and delete your account yourself from your profile.
1. Who is responsible for your data
The data controller is the company Istorya, established in Benin (see the legal notice).
For any question about your data or your child's:
- by email: istorya229@gmail.com
- by phone: +229 91 70 85 97
This policy applies to the Istorya website and application, available at https://www.istorya.site. It completes our Terms of Service.
2. The data we collect
2.1 Your account
When you sign in with Google, we receive from Google your email address, your name and your Google profile picture. We never receive your password.
2.2 Your child's profile
To personalize the stories, you tell us:
- their first name;
- their age (3 to 10);
- their gender;
- their hair type and skin tone, so that the hero looks like them.
2.3 Your child's photo (optional)
If you wish, and only after giving your explicit consent, you can add a photo of your child. From it we derive:
- a short description of their appearance (hair color and shape, eye color, glasses…), without any information about their identity;
- an illustrated character (avatar), drawn from that description.
The photo itself is never shown to anyone else, nor used to draw the illustrations of the stories. It is kept in private storage, accessible only from your account through temporary links.
2.4 The stories
We keep the stories you create: the text, the illustrations, the chosen world, value and language, the quiz and the stars earned. The free-text fields you fill in (a custom world or value) are kept with the story.
2.5 Your country
When you visit, we record the country you connect from, as determined by our hosting provider. We do not keep your IP address. You can correct this country in your profile.
2.6 How you use the Service
We record certain actions to understand how Istorya is used and to improve it: one visit per day, creating, opening and finishing a story, completing the quiz, updating the profile, sending feedback, and technical generation errors. This information does not contain the content of the stories.
2.7 Your feedback
If you answer our feedback form, we keep your answers and any comment.
2.8 Audience measurement
We use Google Analytics to measure the website's audience (pages viewed, visit duration, country, type of device). Google Analytics sets cookies and processes your IP address. It is only enabled with your consent, which you can give or refuse in the banner shown on your first visit (section 9).
3. Why we use this data
| What we do | Data used | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Create and manage your account | Google account | Performance of the service you request |
| Write and illustrate the stories | Child's profile, world, value, language | Performance of the service |
| Create the character from the photo | Child's photo | Your explicit consent, which you can withdraw at any time |
| Show your library, the quiz and the stars | Stories, quiz, stars | Performance of the service |
| Understand usage and improve Istorya | Actions in the Service, country, feedback | Our legitimate interest in improving the Service |
| Fix generation errors | Error log | Our legitimate interest in running the Service |
| Measure the website's audience | Google Analytics cookies | Your consent |
We never use your data or your child's for targeted advertising, and we sell it to no one.
4. Your child's data
Children deserve special protection. That is why:
- the account is created and managed by the responsible adult, never by the child;
- we collect the minimum needed to personalize their stories: no last name, no address, no school;
- the photo is optional and requires your explicit consent;
- your child's stories are never published or used in our communication without your agreement;
- you can delete the photo, the profile or the whole account at any time.
5. Who has access to your data
5.1 At Istorya
Only the members of the Istorya team who need it (administrators of the Service) can access the data, for example to solve a reported problem or remove inappropriate content.
5.2 Our providers
To run Istorya, we rely on technical providers. They only use your data to provide this service to us:
| Provider | Role | Data concerned | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Database, sign-in, file storage | All the data described in section 2 | European Union (Ireland) |
| Vercel | Website hosting | Browsing requests, country of connection | United States and global network |
| Sign-in with a Google account; audience measurement (with your consent) | Google account; audience cookies | United States | |
| DeepSeek | Writing the text of the stories and the quiz | Child's first name, age, gender and appearance, world, value, language | China |
| OpenAI | Creating the illustrations; describing the photo for the avatar | Scene description with the child's first name, age and appearance; the photo, if you added one | United States |
We do not share your data with anyone else, unless the law requires it (for example at the request of a judicial authority).
6. Transfers outside Benin
Some of our providers are located outside Benin, in particular in the United States and China (section 5.2). The information about your child sent to them is used only to generate their stories and illustrations.
We frame these transfers as required by the Digital Code of Benin, relying on our providers' contractual commitments regarding data protection.
7. How long we keep it
| Data | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Account, child's profile, stories | As long as your account exists. They are deleted as soon as you delete your account. |
| Child's photo and character | Until you delete them, or delete your account |
| Actions in the Service and error log | As long as your account exists, then kept without any link to you for our statistics |
| Your feedback | Kept without any link to you after the account is deleted |
| The reason for deleting the account | Kept anonymously |
| Audience measurement cookies | 13 months at most |
8. Your rights
You have the following rights, for yourself and for your child:
- access your data and obtain a copy;
- correct it;
- delete it: you can delete the photo from the profile, and your whole account from "Delete my account" in the profile;
- object to certain uses, or ask for them to be restricted;
- withdraw your consent at any time (for the photo or audience measurement), without affecting what was done before.
To exercise these rights, write to us at istorya229@gmail.com. We answer within one month at most. We may ask you to confirm your identity.
If you believe your rights are not respected, you can lodge a complaint with the Personal Data Protection Authority (APDP) of Benin. If you live in the European Union, you can also contact the data protection authority of your country (in France, the CNIL).
9. Cookies and local storage
We use:
| Name | What it is for | Is your consent needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-in cookies (Supabase) | Keep you signed in | No, essential to the Service |
istorya-lang, NEXT_LOCALE and local storage | Remember the chosen language | No, essential to the Service |
| The app's local storage | Remember your reading preferences (day or night theme, sound) | No, essential to the Service |
Google Analytics cookies (_ga…) | Measure the website's audience | Yes |
Your choice is kept for 6 months, then we ask again. You can change your mind at any time with the "Manage cookies" link at the bottom of the page.
10. Security
We protect your data with appropriate measures:
- exchanges with the website are encrypted (HTTPS);
- each account can only access its own data, thanks to security rules applied directly in the database;
- the child's photo and avatar are stored in private storage, and only shown through temporary links;
- access to the administration tools is restricted to the Istorya team.
No system is infallible. In case of a data breach that puts you at risk, we notify you and inform the APDP, as the law requires.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy, for example when the Service changes or we add a provider. In case of a significant change, we notify you by email or in the app before it applies.
12. Contact
For any question: istorya229@gmail.com or +229 91 70 85 97.