Safety & privacy
How we keep kids safe
My Story is made for children, so grown-ups stay in charge. Here is how we handle accounts, sharing, Magic tools and your family's data, in plain language, with links to the full policies.
The short version
Six things to know
No ads
We don't show third-party advertising, and we don't let companies advertise to your child. We never sell personal information.
Grown-ups hold the account
On the web, only an adult can create a My Story account. Children use it under your account and supervision.
Buying asks for a grown-up first
Story Sparks checkout asks for your parent PIN, or a grown-up puzzle if you haven't set one.
Private unless you choose
Books stay in your account. A share link or the Community Library only happens when a grown-up decides.
A moderated community
Every story published to the Community Library is reviewed by our team first, and shown under a made-up pen name.
Take it all with you
A grown-up can export every book, or delete the account and everything in it, from Settings.
Grown-up controls
You set the rules. They get on with the story.
A few simple controls keep the grown-up parts of My Story with grown-ups.
- A clear consent stepWhen you create an account you confirm you are 18 or older and a parent, guardian or teacher, then agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy. We record the date and the version you agreed to.
- A parent PINSet a 4-digit PIN to protect author management and Settings. Each author profile can have its own PIN too, so a child's library stays theirs.
- A grown-up check before buyingStory Sparks checkout asks for your parent PIN, or a grown-up puzzle if you haven't set one. Starting a printed-book order from the library does the same.
- Content and Magic controlsIn Settings, choose whether your authors see the Community Library, share to it or comment, add outside photos, videos, GIFs and 3D models, and which Magic tools they can use. Switching something on needs a grown-up.
Where your stories live
Two ways to use My Story, two privacy models
On the web, a grown-up's account holds your books. On iPad and iPhone, an account is optional: the app works offline from the start, and a grown-up can sign in to keep books in sync.
On the web
A grown-up creates the account. Books, drawings and voice recordings are saved securely in My Story's own cloud storage, which runs on Google Cloud, so they're there whenever you sign in.
Author profiles need a name, and we suggest a first name, initials or a nickname. A real name is never required.
On iPad & iPhone
Account optional. The app works offline from the first tap, and stories stay on the device. A grown-up can create a free My Story account to sync books with the web and other devices. A child never needs an email address, phone number or real name.
Nothing leaves it unless a grown-up chooses a feature that has to send something: Magic tools, the Community Library, a share link or a printed book. Those sit behind a grown-up gate.
The Community Library
Sharing is a choice, and it's moderated
The Community Library lets families publish a finished story for others to read. Nothing is published by default.
A grown-up chooses
Publishing is a deliberate choice for each story, and it asks for a grown-up first.
Checked automatically
On the web, the story's text is first checked for anything unsafe.
Reviewed by our team
Every submitted story is reviewed by a member of our team before it appears in the Library.
Shown under a pen name
Authors appear under a made-up pen name, never the name on their profile.
Comments and reports. Readers can like and comment on published stories. Comments pass a word filter, and automated moderation hides any that break our rules. Anyone can report a story or a comment, and our team reviews every report. Grown-ups can switch comments, or the whole Community Library, off in Settings.
Good to know. A published story can be read and downloaded by other My Story users, so please keep real names, faces and addresses out of it. If you'd like a published story taken down, email support@mystory.co and we'll remove it, though we can't recall copies that were downloaded before it came down.
Magic tools
AI tools, with guardrails
A few tools use AI to make pictures, voices or ideas. The child is still the author, and a grown-up decides which tools are on.
- Ideas are checked firstWhat a child types into tools such as Magic Stickers, Magic Pages and Magic Animate is checked before anything is made. Anything inappropriate is turned away.
- Filters, and honesty about themResults use content filtering meant to keep them age-appropriate. No filter is perfect, so if anything inappropriate ever appears, please report it and we'll tighten the filters.
- We don't train AI on kids' workWe never use children's stories, drawings, photos or voice recordings to train AI models. A Magic tool sends an AI service only what it needs to do its job.
- Costs are shown up frontEach Magic tool shows its Story Sparks cost before you use it, and a grown-up check stands in front of the checkout.
Your family's data
Your data, your call
Kids aren't asked for personal details
Children are never asked for an email address, phone number, postal address or full name. We only use what a feature needs, and we never use it for advertising.
Never sold, never profiled
We don't sell, rent or trade personal information, and we don't build advertising or behavioral profiles of children.
Cookie choices you control
In the EU, UK and Switzerland, optional analytics and the support widget stay off until you accept. Anywhere, you can change your choice at any time. In the parts of My Story children use, analytics only count things like how many pages a story has. They never include what a child writes, draws or records, or anyone's name or contact details.
Export or delete, any time
In Settings, under Account, a grown-up can download a copy of everything or permanently delete the account. Deleting removes books, recordings, share links and anything published to the Community Library. Records we must keep for tax, like print orders and Sparks purchases, stay on file with your name and email removed.
In the classroom. Student work is never used for advertising, never sold, and we never use it to train AI. A school can ask us to review or delete the student information we hold by writing to support@mystory.co. See My Story for schools.
Hero Books. The photo you upload is only used to draw your child's character, and it's deleted within an hour.
Questions
What parents ask us
Does My Story follow COPPA?
We operate My Story in line with the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and our privacy policy sets out how: parents consent at sign-up, children's information is used only to run the features, nothing is sold, and parents can review, delete and stop collection at any time. We don't claim any third-party certification. The details are in the privacy policy.
Can other people message my child?
There are no direct messages, friend lists or public profiles. The only way people interact is by liking and commenting on stories published to the Community Library, under pen names. Comments are filtered and moderated, and a grown-up can turn them off, or turn off the Community Library altogether, in Settings.
Can my child publish or share a book without me?
Publishing to the Community Library asks for a grown-up first. A public share link is a separate, deliberate action: it is off until someone creates it, and it can be turned off again at any time. Anyone who has the link can read that book without signing in, so share links with care.
Where are our books stored?
On the web, books are saved securely in My Story's own cloud storage, which runs on Google Cloud, so they're there each time you sign in. They are not stored in your personal Google or Apple account. On iPad and iPhone, stories stay on the device unless a grown-up signs in to a free My Story account, which keeps them in sync with the web. You can export or delete your books at any time.
Who do I contact about my child's information?
Email support@mystory.co. Tell us enough to find the information, such as your account email, and we will help you review, export or delete it. On the web you can also do it yourself in Settings.
Questions about privacy?
Talk to a human
Parental requests, school questions, or anything in our policies you'd like explained.
- Emailsupport@mystory.co
- PoliciesPrivacy Policy · Terms of Service
- Everything elseHelp center
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