This Privacy Policy explains how Unicorn Book Stories (the “app,” “we,” “us”) collects, uses, and protects information. Unicorn Book Stories is a creative app that lets children make their own picture books. We built it to be private by default. This policy applies to the iOS app and to unicornbookstories.com.
On your device What we collect What we don’t collect How we use it Children’s privacy (COPPA) Sharing Permissions Retention Security Where data is processed Your rights (GDPR & CCPA) Contact
1. What stays on your device
The books your child makes are stored locally on the iPad or iPhone. The following never leave the device and are never transmitted to us:
- Drawings, brush/ink strokes, stickers, text, and page layouts
- Book titles, author and illustrator names, and any text typed or dictated into a book
- Photos added from your photo library
- Voice narration and audiobook recordings
- Your shelf theme and app preferences
Deleting the app removes this content from the device. Exported PDFs and videos are created on the device and shared only when you choose to, through Apple’s standard share sheet.
2. Information we collect
To understand how the app is used and to find and fix problems, the app sends a small amount of anonymous, non-personal information to a server we operate. We collect only the following:
| Category | What it is | Why |
|---|---|---|
| App-generated identifiers | A random “device ID” the app creates on first launch (a UUID stored only in the app), and a separate random ID for each app launch (“session ID”). These are not your Apple ID, the device’s advertising identifier (IDFA), phone number, name, or email. | To count unique installs and group events from one session, for analytics only. |
| Usage events | Event names and screen names (e.g. that a book was created, a tool was used, the New Book screen was shown), an optional internal book identifier (a random UUID — never the book’s contents), and small non-personal flags (e.g. which paper was chosen, whether a title was entered). | To understand which features are used and how the app performs. |
| Crash & error diagnostics | The type and technical description of an error or hang, where in the app it happened, and whether it was fatal. | To find and fix bugs and improve stability. |
| Technical context | App version and build number, operating-system version, and device model (e.g. “iPhone15,2”). | To reproduce issues and ensure compatibility. |
| IP address | Your device’s IP address reaches our server with any internet request — this is unavoidable. For the app’s analytics and diagnostics we do not store it. We keep it only with messages you choose to send us through a website form (see “If you contact us” below), and never use it to build a profile or derive precise location. | Spam and abuse prevention only. |
All of the above is not linked to your identity. We have no way to connect it to a specific child or family.
If you contact us (website forms)
The app itself never asks for your identity. Separately, if you choose to message us through a form on unicornbookstories.com (for example the Contact or Bookstore forms), we collect the name, email address, and message you provide so we can reply, together with your IP address and browser user-agent for spam and abuse prevention. This is information you give us voluntarily; we use it only to respond to you and to keep a record of our correspondence, never for advertising. Our legal bases are your consent in submitting the form and our legitimate interest in responding and preventing abuse (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a) and (f)). To deliver the message to us we use Resend, an email service provider acting as our processor, and the message is also stored in our database. We keep this correspondence only as long as needed to handle your request and our records, and you can ask us to delete it at any time (see Section 11).
3. Information we do not collect
Apart from anything you choose to send us through a website form (see Section 2), we do not collect names, email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses, contacts, precise or GPS location, the advertising identifier (IDFA), biometric data, payment information, browsing history across other apps or sites, or the contents of your child’s books (text, drawings, photos, or audio). The app has no accounts, sign-in, in-app purchases, or social features, and never asks a child for personal information.
4. How we use information
- To operate, maintain, and improve the app
- To analyze which features are used and how the app performs (in aggregate)
- To detect, diagnose, and fix crashes, hangs, and errors
- To protect the security and integrity of the app and prevent abuse
We do not use any information for behavioral advertising, to build profiles of users, or to track users across other apps or websites.
Legal bases (EEA/UK users)
Where the EU or UK General Data Protection Regulation applies, we rely on our legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) in understanding usage, fixing bugs, and keeping the app secure. The data is pseudonymous, minimal, and not used to make decisions about individuals, so these interests are not overridden by users’ rights. Apple’s on-device speech recognition is used only with your consent via the iOS permission prompt.
5. Children’s privacy (COPPA & similar laws)
Unicorn Book Stories is intended for children and families, and we comply with the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and similar laws.
- We do not require or request any personal information from children — no name, email, photo of the child, location, or account.
- The book contents a child creates stay on the device and are never sent to us.
- The only information transmitted is the limited, anonymous analytics and diagnostic data described in Section 2. The app-generated “device ID” is a persistent identifier used solely to support the internal operations of the app (analytics, debugging, and security), which is permitted under COPPA without verifiable parental consent. We do not use it to contact a child, to serve targeted advertising, or for any other purpose.
- We do not knowingly collect personal information from children beyond this. If we learn we have inadvertently done so, we will delete it promptly.
Parents: you can contact us at any time to review or request deletion of the limited anonymous data associated with your device (see Section 11). Deleting the app stops all further collection.
6. How we share information
We do not sell or rent your information, and we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers. We share information only:
- With infrastructure providers that host our server, acting as our service providers/processors under contract and only to provide hosting.
- With Resend, our email-delivery provider, solely to send us the messages you submit through our website forms. Resend processes the name, email, and message you provide on our behalf as a processor under contract.
- With Apple, when you use voice dictation: iOS speech recognition may process audio per Apple’s Privacy Policy. We do not receive or store that audio. App distribution and any device analytics you enable in iOS Settings are also governed by Apple.
- If required by law, to comply with a valid legal request, or to protect rights, safety, and the security of the app.
We use no third-party advertising networks and no third-party analytics SDKs. Our analytics are first-party and run on our own server.
7. Device permissions the app may ask for
- Microphone — to dictate text and to record narration. Recordings are saved inside the book on your device.
- Speech Recognition — voice dictation uses Apple’s built-in speech recognition to turn speech into text; Apple may process that audio per Apple’s Privacy Policy. We do not receive or store the audio.
- Photo Library — when you choose to add a photo, iOS shows the system photo picker. Only photos you pick are placed into your book, and they stay on the device.
All permissions are optional; the app works without them, and you can change them anytime in iOS Settings.
8. Data retention
We keep anonymous analytics and diagnostic data only as long as needed for the purposes above, and in any case no longer than 24 months, after which it is deleted or aggregated into non-identifiable statistics. You can request earlier deletion as described in Section 11. Content on your device is kept until you delete the book or the app.
9. How we protect data
Data sent from the app travels over encrypted HTTPS connections and is stored on access-controlled servers we operate. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, but we keep what we collect to a minimum so there is little to expose.
10. Where data is processed
The anonymous data we collect is processed and stored on servers we operate in the United States. If you use the app from outside the U.S., your information will be transferred to and processed in the U.S. For EEA/UK users, such transfers are made on the basis of appropriate safeguards and the minimal, pseudonymous nature of the data.
11. Your rights and choices
You can:
- Stop all collection by deleting the app.
- Reset the identifier — deleting and reinstalling the app generates a new random device ID, disconnecting future data from prior data.
- Request access or deletion of the anonymous data tied to your device by emailing us. Because the data is not linked to your identity, we may ask for the approximate dates and device model to locate it; in some cases we may be unable to identify your specific records.
EEA/UK (GDPR): subject to its conditions, you have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, or object to processing of your personal data, and to data portability and to lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority. Because we hold only pseudonymous data, some requests may require the information above to act on.
California (CCPA/CPRA): we do not sell or share personal information (as those terms are defined), and we do not use sensitive personal information for inferring characteristics. California residents have the right to know, delete, and correct, and to not be discriminated against for exercising these rights. To exercise them, contact us below.
12. “Do Not Track” and advertising
We do not track users across third-party apps or websites and we serve no advertising, so there is no cross-site tracking to disable. The app does not show an App Tracking Transparency prompt because it does not track.
13. Changes to this policy
If we change how the app handles data, we’ll update this page and the “last updated” date. Material changes will be reflected here before they take effect.
14. Contact us
Unicorn Book Stories is operated by FriendPod LLC, the data controller for purposes of this policy. Questions or requests about privacy? Use the contact form or email hello@friendpod.co and we’ll help. EEA/UK users also have the right to lodge a complaint with their local data protection authority.