Privacy policy
The short version. Your family's voices are never recorded. Speech is turned into words on our own computer and the sound is thrown away. The words are used to tell your story. We keep your family's details and your stories so the story can carry on next time, until you ask us to delete them. We don't sell anything about you, we don't show ads, we don't track you, and nothing your family says is used to train an AI.
Who we are
Violet Whispers is made by ⟦OPERATOR NAME⟧. We are the only company that collects or keeps information through Violet Whispers. For any question about this policy or your family's information, including your child's, contact us:
- Email: ⟦PRIVACY EMAIL⟧
- Post: ⟦POSTAL ADDRESS⟧
- Phone: ⟦PHONE⟧
What Violet Whispers is
Violet Whispers is a storyteller for the whole family. A parent creates the family's account. The family then talks to the storyteller out loud, and it tells a story that is built from what they say and carries on from one session to the next.
What we collect
Your account
The email address and password a parent uses to create the family's account. The password is handled by our database provider's sign-in system; we never see it in plain text.
Your family
When a family sets up, it tells the storyteller (or types in) who is in the family. For each person we may keep:
- the name they want to be called,
- their age,
- how they are related (for example parent, child, grandparent),
- things they love and things to avoid in stories,
- a short free-text note,
- whether to draw them as a girl or woman, a boy or man, or an animal, filled in only when the family's own words make it plain,
- whether they are taking part or have stepped away.
Only the name is needed. Everything else is optional, and a family can leave it blank.
Your stories
- Each story's title and the family's own description of its world.
- The storyteller's words, beat by beat, so the story can be picked up again.
- The story's memory: the characters, places, objects and unfinished threads, and which family member plays which character.
- A cover picture for each story, drawn by our own computer from the story's description.
We do not save a record of what your family said, turn by turn, alongside the story. (See "What happens to what you say" for the one place it is kept today.)
On your phone or tablet
The app keeps your sign-in on the device so you don't have to sign in every time, along with your volume settings, a short list of your story titles and their cover pictures so the home screen opens quickly, and a note that the welcome has already played.
From the calling software
Violet Whispers talks to the storyteller over a voice call. When the call connects, the calling software tells our call server the device model and operating system version, for example "iPad, iOS 18".
What we never collect
- Recordings of voices. No sound from your family is ever saved, on the device or on our computers.
- Video or photos. The app never turns on the camera.
- Location, contacts, or advertising identifiers.
- Analytics, advertising or tracking of any kind. There is no third-party analytics or advertising software in the app.
The app reads the device's motion sensor to tilt its painted sky as you move the device. That reading stays on the device and is never sent anywhere.
What happens to what you say
While a story is playing, the microphone's sound travels over an encrypted call, through a server we rent, to a computer we run ourselves. That computer turns the sound into words. The sound is held only in memory while that happens, and then it is gone. It is never written to disk.
The words, and anything your family types into the story or picks from the storyteller's suggestions, are used to decide what happens next in the story, and are sent to the AI service that writes the storyteller's next lines (see "Who else handles your information").
While Violet Whispers is being tested, our own computer also keeps a written copy of what was said in its development logs: the words, never the sound. We use these logs only to find and fix problems, nobody outside the team can see them, and they are deleted automatically after 30 days. If you ask us to delete your account, we delete your family's lines from them too. These logs will be switched off before Violet Whispers opens to the public, and this policy will be updated when they are.
How we use it
- To tell your family's story, in your family's words, and to remember it for next time.
- To call each person by their name and keep the story right for their age and what they love or want to avoid.
- To sign you in, and to send the emails you ask for, such as a password reset.
- To keep the service working and fix problems.
We never sell your information, use it for advertising, or use anything your family says or makes to train an AI.
Who else handles your information
We use a small number of services to run Violet Whispers. Each handles only what it needs to do its job, and we only use services that commit to protecting your information at least as well as this policy does.
| Service | What it does | What it handles |
|---|---|---|
| Cerebras | The AI service that writes the storyteller's lines | What your family says, the family details above, and the story so far. Cerebras states it does not keep prompts or responses. |
| Supabase | Our database, sign-in, and picture storage | Your account, your family's details, your stories, and the cover pictures |
| Resend | Sends our emails | Your email address, when we send you a sign-in or password email |
| Hetzner | Rents us the server that connects calls | The call's encrypted sound passes through on its way to our computer. Nothing is saved there. |
Turning speech into words, the storyteller's voice and the pictures all run on our own computer, not on an outside service.
Cover pictures are stored at a web address that contains a long random code. Anyone who had that exact address could open the picture, but it is not listed or linked anywhere public. The pictures shown during a story are drawn on our own computer and are not saved.
Children
Violet Whispers is made for families, and children take part. A parent or guardian creates the account and sets up the family. A child's information reaches us in two ways: the details the family gives during setup (name, age, likes and so on), and what the child says out loud during a story.
A child's voice is used only to turn it into words for the story at that moment, and the sound is deleted straight away, as described above. We never ask a child for an email address, a location or a photo, and children cannot make anything public through Violet Whispers.
As a parent, you can:
- see the information we hold about your child,
- have it deleted,
- tell us to stop collecting or using it.
To do any of these, email ⟦PRIVACY EMAIL⟧ from the email address on your family's account. We will reply within ⟦N⟧ days. A family member can also be marked as stepped away at any time on the family page in the app, and the storyteller will stop including them in stories.
How long we keep it
We keep your account, your family's details and your stories for as long as your family has an account, so the story can carry on. When you ask us to delete your account, we delete it, with your family's details, stories and pictures, within 30 days.
To ask, email ⟦PRIVACY EMAIL⟧ from the email address on the account. ⟦When the in-app delete is live: "You can also delete your account yourself in the app's settings."⟧
Development logs, described in "What happens to what you say", are deleted automatically after 30 days.
Signing out removes the sign-in from your device. Deleting the app removes everything it kept on the device.
Keeping it safe
Everything travels between your device and our services encrypted. Only the people who build Violet Whispers can reach our computers and database.
Changes to this policy
If we change what we collect or how we use it, we will update this page and its date, and tell families by email before the change applies to information we already hold.
Contact
Questions, requests or worries: ⟦PRIVACY EMAIL⟧.