Privacy Policy

1. Information we collect

Information you give us

Information collected automatically

• Log and device data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URL, pages viewed, and timestamps. Used for security, abuse prevention, and debugging.
• Cookies and local storage: see Section 5.
• Basic usage counts: aggregate story views and reads, used to show authors their own stats.

Information we do not collect

We do not collect payment card details, dates of birth, precise geolocation, biometric data, or any special-category personal data. We do not run third-party advertising or cross-site tracking. Please don't put sensitive personal information in your public author profile.

2. How we use information

We use the information above to:

• create and maintain your account and authenticate logins;
• store, render, and publish your stories;
• display public author profiles and public story pages;
• apply content tags and filters, including age-appropriate handling of Mature content;
• send transactional emails (password resets, security alerts, important service changes);
• detect, investigate, and prevent abuse, spam, fraud, and violations of our Terms;
• comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms.

3. What we will never do with your content

We do not use your stories, images, or any other content you create to train, fine-tune, or evaluate machine-learning or artificial-intelligence models.

We do not sell, license, or otherwise provide your content or personal information to third parties for AI training, dataset construction, content licensing, or advertising.

The only third parties who touch your content are the infrastructure providers listed in Section 6, who process it solely to run the Service on our behalf and are contractually barred from using it for their own purposes.

If we ever intend to change this, we will notify affected authors in advance and give them the opportunity to delete their content and close their accounts before any change takes effect.

4. Public content

Anything you publish with a public URL — story text, images, title, cover art, tags, author display name, bio, and profile links — is visible to anyone with the link, and may be indexed by search engines, cached, or archived by third parties such as the Internet Archive. Removing content from the Service does not remove copies held elsewhere.

Your email address is never shown publicly.

5. Cookies and local storage

We use the minimum necessary:

• Essential cookies — to keep you signed in and to protect against cross-site request forgery. These can't be turned off without breaking login.
• Local storage (readers) — your progress through a story, including which passages you've visited and any story variables, is stored in your own browser. It is not sent to our servers and is not tied to an identity. You can clear it at any time using the in-app reset control or by clearing your browser's site data.
• Mature content preference — if you choose to show or hide mature content, that preference may be stored locally in your browser or on your account.

We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or cross-site trackers.

6. Who we share information with

We share personal data only with infrastructure providers who help us run the Service, under terms that limit their use of it to providing services to us:

We do not currently use a third-party analytics provider. If we add one, we'll update this policy and give notice before it takes effect.

We may also disclose information:

• to comply with law, legal process, or a valid government request;
• to enforce our Terms or investigate potential violations;
• to protect the rights, safety, or property of users, the public, or us;
• in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets — in which case we'll notify you before your data becomes subject to a different policy, and the commitments in Section 3 will bind any successor.

7. Data retention

• Account data: kept while your account is active.
• Story content: kept until you delete it or close your account.
• After account deletion: account data and stories are deleted or de-identified within 30 days. Backups containing residual copies are rotated out within 90 days.
• Log data: retained for approximately 30–90 days for security and debugging, then deleted or aggregated.
• Moderation records: where we've terminated an account for a serious violation, we may retain a minimal record (email hash and reason) to prevent re-registration.
• Records we're legally required to keep are retained for the required period.

8. Your rights and choices

Regardless of where you live, you can:

• Access and export — download your stories and account data using the export tools in your account settings, or by emailing us.
• Correct — edit your profile and content at any time.
• Delete — delete individual stories, or close your account entirely.
• Opt out of non-essential email — via the unsubscribe link. Transactional emails can't be opted out of while you have an account.

EEA/UK residents additionally have the right to object to or restrict processing, the right to data portability, and the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. We process your data on the basis of contract (providing the Service you signed up for), legitimate interests (security, abuse prevention, and service integrity), consent (where applicable, withdrawable at any time), and legal obligation.

California residents (CCPA/CPRA) have the right to know what personal information we collect and how it's used, to request deletion or correction, and not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under California law.

To make a request, email bark@zeph.dog. We'll verify your identity through your account email and respond within 30 days (45 for California requests, extendable where permitted).

9. Age and children's privacy

The Service is restricted to adults 18 and over. It is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. All account holders must confirm they are 18 or older at signup.

If we learn that someone under 18 has created an account, we will terminate it and delete the associated personal information. If you believe a minor has provided us information, contact bark@zeph.dog and we'll act promptly.

10. Security

We use encryption in transit (HTTPS), hashed passwords, row-level access controls in our database, and hosted infrastructure with its own security practices. No system is perfectly secure, and we can't guarantee absolute security. If a breach affects your personal data, we'll notify you and any required regulators as the law requires.

11. International transfers

We're based in the United States, and your information is processed there and in regions where our providers operate. If you're in the EEA or UK, transfers rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or another lawful transfer mechanism used by our providers.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. We'll change the "Last updated" date, and for material changes we'll give notice by email or in-product at least 14 days before they take effect.

13. Contact

What If Stories bark@zeph.dog