Gula Stories Privacy Policy

1. Key Summary

• The App's basic story features can be used without signing in with an Apple or Google account.
• When the App starts, it may create an anonymous Firebase account and Firebase UID that do not contain an email address or name. This helps distinguish user data on the device and in the cloud.
• Sign in with Apple does not request the user's name, but Firebase Authentication may still receive and retain the email address and provider identity information supplied by Apple.
• Android Google Sign-In may provide Firebase Authentication with the user's Google account email address and profile information, including a display name.
• Firestore user records do not store email addresses, names, Apple provider IDs, or Apple email fields.
• Story narration is generated by online text-to-speech services. Only the story text is sent for narration, not account or child information.
• The App does not use third-party analytics SDKs, crash-reporting SDKs, or advertising SDKs, and it does not display third-party advertisements.
• We do not sell personal information or use children's information for targeted advertising, profiling, or cross-app tracking.
• Parents or guardians can request account deletion in the App or contact us by email.

2. Information We Process

2.1 Firebase Accounts and Sign-In Information

Anonymous Use

When the App starts, Firebase Authentication may create or restore an anonymous Firebase user. This account primarily contains a random Firebase UID, which helps distinguish the current user's data locally and in the cloud. Anonymous use does not require an email address, name, telephone number, or a child's social-media account.

Sign in with Apple

On iOS, users may choose to sign in with Apple. During this process, Apple and Firebase Authentication process the credentials and Apple provider identifier required to authenticate the user. The current App does not request the user's Apple name.

If Apple provides an email address, Firebase Authentication may retain it as part of the third-party sign-in account profile. We do not copy this email address to Firestore, and we do not use it for advertising, behavioural analytics, personalised marketing, or automatic cross-platform account merging.

Google Sign-In

On Android, users may choose to sign in with Google. Google and Firebase Authentication process the credentials required to authenticate the user. Google may provide the account email address and profile information, including a display name.

Firebase Authentication may retain the corresponding account profile information supplied by Google.

2.2 Firestore Cloud User Data

After a user has explicitly signed in, Firestore may store the following information associated with the Firebase UID:

• A child nickname or username entered in the App;
• Avatar selection or the local avatar file path (not the image itself);
• Reading counts;
• IDs of favourited stories;
• Per-story reading progress and the time a story was last read;
• Account-management information such as sign-in method, last sign-in time, and account creation time;
• Subscription status, subscription plan, and subscription expiry summary.

Firestore does not store:

• Apple or Google email addresses;
• Apple or Google display names;
• An additional copy of the Apple provider ID;
• The user's Apple name;
• The child's age group, onboarding choices, or voice, display, reminder, and notification settings, which stay on the device.

If the App was previously used with an older version, the App may send that older version's app-generated user ID and the current app version to our backend once, so existing reading data can be moved to the Firebase account.

2.3 Data Stored Locally on the Device

To support offline use and reduce unnecessary network transfers, the App may store the following information locally on the device:

• Child nickname, age group, avatar, and onboarding settings;
• Favourites, reading history, reading progress, and current page;
• Font, display, voice, reminder, and notification settings;
• Downloaded or generated narration audio cache files;
• Story images and other App cache files;
• Pending purchase-processing records.

If a user selects a custom avatar from the photo library, the image is copied to the App's private local storage. The App does not upload the image to Firebase Storage or any other service. Bedtime reminders are scheduled as local notifications on the device.

2.4 Story Narration

To read stories aloud, the App sends the text of the story page and the selected voice settings to an online text-to-speech service and plays back the returned audio:

• By default, the request goes to our Cloudflare Worker, which forwards the story text to Microsoft's online speech service to generate the audio;
• If that service is unavailable, the App automatically sends the story text directly from the device to Google Cloud Text-to-Speech instead.

These requests do not include the Firebase UID, the child's nickname, or other account information. As with any internet request, the service receiving it can see the device's IP address. Generated audio may be cached on the device.

2.5 Purchase and Subscription Information

To verify purchases, provide premium access, and restore purchases, the App and our subscription backend may process:

• Firebase UID;
• Platform information, such as iOS or Android;
• Product ID and subscription plan;
• Transaction ID and original transaction ID supplied by Apple or Google Play;
• Android purchase token or App Store receipt, where applicable;
• Subscription status, environment, start time, and expiry time;
• Necessary server-side purchase-verification results.

Payment methods and bank-card information are handled by the Apple App Store or Google Play. We do not receive or store users' bank-card information.

3. How We Use Information

We use the information described above to:

• Authenticate Apple, Google, and anonymous accounts;
• Provide cloud synchronisation for signed-in users;
• Save and restore reading progress, favourites, and reading history;
• Narrate stories aloud;
• Verify purchases, provide premium features, and restore subscriptions;
• Store necessary local cache files to improve offline use;
• Maintain account security and prevent fraud or abuse;
• Respond to support and privacy requests from parents, guardians, and users.

We do not use email addresses, names, child nicknames, reading records, or account identifiers for third-party advertising, sale, data brokerage, profiling, cross-app tracking, or marketing sharing with unrelated companies.

4. Storage Locations and Service Providers

To operate the App, we use the following service providers. They process information on our behalf to provide the features described in this policy:

• Apple: Sign in with Apple and Apple App Store purchases;
• Google Play: Android Google Sign-In and in-app purchases;
• Firebase by Google: Firebase Authentication, Firestore, and Cloud Functions for our subscription and account-deletion backend;
• Microsoft: The default online speech service that generates story narration;
• Google Cloud: Text-to-Speech, used automatically when the default narration service is unavailable;
• Cloudflare: The Worker that forwards narration requests, and delivery of story images and content.

These service providers may process information in countries outside the user's own country, including the United States and Australia, under their own privacy policies, terms of service, and applicable data-protection requirements.

Gula Stories does not share personal information with any other third party except where required by law.

5. Children's Privacy

Gula Stories is designed for families with children aged 3–8. Children can use the App's basic story features without providing an email address, telephone number, or social-media account.

The App may process a child's nickname, age group, avatar selection, reading activity, and usage preferences. This information is used only to provide story, reading, and personalisation features. We do not sell children's information, use it for targeted advertising or profiling, use it for cross-app tracking, or use mobile analytics or crash-reporting SDKs. We do not ask a child for more information than the App needs to work.

Signing in with Apple or Google, purchases, restoring purchases, managing subscriptions, and links that leave the App are placed behind a parental gate and are intended to be completed by a parent or guardian. Account deletion should also be carried out by a parent or guardian.

6. Notice to Parents in the United States (COPPA)

This section explains how we handle personal information of children under 13 under the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

• Operator: Gula Stories, contactable at gulastories@gmail.com.
• What is collected from children: Without a parent signing in, the App uses only a random Firebase UID and app-generated identifiers to support the internal operation of the App, such as keeping reading progress and verifying purchases. The child's nickname, avatar choice, favourites, and reading progress are stored in our cloud only after a parent or guardian signs in with their own Apple or Google account behind the parental gate. Otherwise they stay on the device.
• How it is used: Only to provide the App's story, reading, synchronisation, and subscription features. It is never used for behavioural advertising, profiling, or sold.
• Disclosure: We disclose it only to the service providers listed in section 4, who process it on our behalf to run the App, or where required by law.
• Parental rights: A parent or guardian may at any time ask us to review the personal information we hold about their child, have it deleted, and refuse further collection or use of it. Deleting the account in the App or uninstalling the App stops further collection. To make a request, email gulastories@gmail.com. We will take reasonable steps to confirm that the requester is the child's parent or guardian before acting on the request.
• Retention: We keep a child's personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes above, and then delete it as described in sections 7 and 8.

7. Users in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom (GDPR and UK GDPR)

Gula Stories is the controller of the personal information described in this policy. You can contact us at gulastories@gmail.com.

Legal bases. We process personal information:

• To provide the App and any subscription you choose (performance of a contract);
• To keep the App secure, prevent fraud, and verify purchases (our legitimate interests, balanced against the interests of children and families);
• To keep purchase records required for accounting, refunds, and tax (legal obligation);
• On the basis of consent where the law requires it. Where a child is below the age of digital consent in their country (between 13 and 16, depending on the country), consent must be given or authorised by a parent or guardian. Signing in and other account actions are therefore behind a parental gate and should be completed by a parent or guardian.

Children's data. We apply privacy-protective defaults for children, consistent with the UK Age Appropriate Design Code: no advertising, no profiling, no third-party analytics, no tracking, and no sharing beyond the service providers needed to run the App. We do not make decisions about children based solely on automated processing.

Your rights. Parents, guardians, and adult users may request access to, correction of, deletion of, restriction of, or a portable copy of personal information, object to processing based on legitimate interests, and withdraw consent at any time without affecting earlier processing. Email gulastories@gmail.com to make a request; we will respond within one month.

International transfers. Our service providers may process information outside the EEA or the UK. Where they do, they rely on safeguards recognised under the GDPR and UK GDPR, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.

Complaints. You have the right to complain to your local data-protection supervisory authority, or in the UK to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Users in Australia may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). We would appreciate the chance to address your concern first.

8. Data Retention

• Local data remains on the device until the user deletes App data, clears the App, uninstalls the App, or the App itself removes the data;
• Firebase Auth accounts and Firestore cloud data are retained while the account is active, or for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the service, maintain security, verify purchases, and meet legal obligations;
• Purchase and subscription records may be retained for a reasonable period for purchase verification, refunds, fraud prevention, accounting, and legal obligations;
• Narration services process story-text requests in accordance with the applicable service provider's policies.

9. Account Deletion

Users can request account deletion in the App under Settings → Delete Account.

For Apple or Google sign-in users, the App first requires recent re-authentication. Anonymous users do not need to re-authenticate. After successful verification, the backend uses the verified Firebase UID to delete the cloud account data under our control, associated user records, reading synchronisation records, subscription records, and the Firebase Auth account.

Deleting an account does not automatically cancel an active subscription in the Apple App Store or Google Play. Users must cancel subscriptions separately through the relevant store.

After account deletion, existing local cache files, reading history, favourites, or narration audio may remain on the device until the user clears App data or uninstalls the App. Local data that is not re-associated with a new sign-in will not be linked to a new cloud account using the deleted Firebase UID.

If a user cannot use the in-App deletion function, they may email gulastories@gmail.com with a deletion request. To protect accounts, we may need to verify the requester's identity and relationship to the child.

10. Security Measures

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect information, including:

• Firebase Authentication;
• Firebase UID-based access controls;
• Firestore security rules;
• HTTPS encryption in transit;
• Authentication-token verification for the server-side account-deletion endpoint;
• Limiting transfers to data needed to operate the relevant feature.

No method of transmission or electronic storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Users should protect their devices and Apple or Google accounts.

11. Choices for Users and Parents

Users or parents may:

• Use the App anonymously;
• Choose whether to sign in with Apple or Google;
• Manage local voice, display, reminder, and notification settings;
• Delete an account in the App;
• Contact us to request access to, correction of, or deletion of account data;
• Manage or cancel subscriptions through the Apple App Store or Google Play.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this policy if our data practices, service providers, or legal obligations change. The updated version will be posted on this page with a new “Last updated” date. Where appropriate, we will notify users of material changes through the App, the applicable service, or another reasonable method. If a change would materially affect how we handle children's personal information, we will seek a parent's consent where the law requires it.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about this policy, children's privacy, account deletion, or data processing, please contact us:

• Email: gulastories@gmail.com
• Website: https://www.gulastories.com/
• Privacy Policy: https://www.gulastories.com/privacy/