Privacy Policy

1. Who This Applies To

EI Signal Stories serves two primary audiences:

• I Learn (Student) — readers who browse our published Library and EI World seasons.
• I Create (Creator) — anyone who submits text, PDFs, URLs, or other source material so we can generate a creative retelling.

The same policy applies to both. Subscription details and what each plan includes are described on the Pricing page.

2. Information We Collect

We collect the following information to provide our services:

• Account Information: Email address and name from your Google or Microsoft account when you sign in.
• Content You Provide: Source material (text, PDFs, URLs, paper IDs, DOIs) that you submit so we can produce a creative retelling. We do not claim ownership of this input — see Section 4.
• Generated Story Assets: AI-written story text, scene illustrations, key-insight cards, and any narrated/animated outputs produced from your submission.
• Usage Data: Stories created, assets generated, preferences, and interaction with our service.
• Technical Data: Browser type, device information, and IP address for security purposes.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To generate a creative retelling from the source material you submit
• To authenticate and secure your account
• To process payments and manage subscriptions
• To improve our service and develop new features
• To communicate important updates about your account

4. Authorship & Creative Retelling

EI Signal Stories is a creative-retelling platform. To be explicit about authorship:

• We do not claim authorship of the original work that any story is based on — papers, books, articles, lecture notes, or any third-party source remain the property of their original authors and rights holders.
• We do not claim ownership of the source material you submit as input. It is yours; we process it only to produce the retelling you requested.
• Stories produced by the Service are AI-generated creative retellings designed to aid imagination and understanding. They are not reproductions, translations, summaries-of-record, or substitutes for the original source.
• Where a story is based on another author's work, the original source should be credited whenever the story is shared. See our Terms, Section 7, for attribution guidance.

5. AI Content Processing

EI Signal Stories uses AI to generate story text, illustrations, and other story assets from the source material you submit:

• Your content is processed by AI providers to generate the retelling and accompanying visuals or narration
• Generated stories and assets are stored in your account library so you can access them later
• Where higher-privacy plans are available, encrypted-content options are described on the Pricing page
• For narrated or animated outputs, your story text (not the original source) is sent to third-party AI video and audio providers
• Generated images and frames are stored on our servers and are accessible only to you and anyone you share the story link with
• Content processing is subject to our AI providers' privacy policies
• We use industry-standard encryption for all data in transit and at rest

6. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including:

• HTTPS encryption for all data transmission
• Secure OAuth 2.0 authentication via Google and Microsoft
• Rate limiting and brute force protection
• Regular security audits and monitoring

7. Data Sharing & AI Providers

We do not sell your personal information. To deliver the service we share data with the following named processors:

• Anthropic (Claude) — receives story text, profile fields (signal word, calm anchor, situation), and refinement instructions to generate or refine stories. US-based.
• Google (Gemini) — receives scene prompts and, only in “comic” visual mode for the Signal Stories feature, base64-encoded reference photos of the child and parent so the generated illustrations resemble them. US-based.
• OpenAI (DALL·E 3, GPT-4o, TTS) — receives scene prompts for image generation and short text passages for voice narration. US-based.
• ElevenLabs — receives short text passages for voice narration (primary TTS provider). US-based.
• Payment Processors (Razorpay for India, Stripe for international) — handle subscription and one-off purchases.
• Legal Requirements — when required by law or to protect rights.

International transfer notice: Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, ElevenLabs, and Stripe are based in the United States. By using the service you understand that the data described above is processed in the US, which has not been the subject of an adequacy decision under India’s DPDP Act or the EU GDPR. We do not retain data with these providers beyond the operational call; please review their respective privacy notices for their own retention practices.

8. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access your personal data
• Request deletion of your account and data
• Export your stories and content
• Opt out of marketing communications

9. Cookies & Browser Storage

We use two categories of cookies. For full details, see our Cookies Policy.

• Essential cookies — httpOnly, Secure, SameSite=Strict cookies for authentication (NextAuth session tokens) and PIN verification. These are required for the service to function and cannot be disabled.
• Analytics cookies — Google Tag Manager (GTM-N548RG8Z) loads Google Analytics 4 to collect anonymised usage data: page views, feature clicks, and story creation events. We do not collect the content of your research text or stories through analytics. You can opt out via the Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on.
• SessionStorage (not cookies) — browser memory cleared on tab close. Used to remember your PIN unlock status within a session and to preserve your filmstrip card selection across login redirects. This data never leaves your device.

We do not use advertising cookies, retargeting pixels, or third-party social media tracking.

10. Contact Us

For privacy-related questions or requests, contact us at: support@ei4aibooks.com

11. Signal Stories for Special Kids (Autism) — Children’s Data

The Signal Stories for Special Kids feature is designed for use by a parent or legal guardian on behalf of a child. Because this feature collects information about a minor, the following additional terms apply.

11.1 What we collect about your child

• Profile fields: first name (or nickname), age bracket, gender, and four short emotional-pattern phrases — signal word, fear signal, calm anchor, proud moment. These describe how the child experiences and self-regulates.
• Optional parent notes: a free-text field where you may add context.
• Optional photos: one of the child and one of a parent figure. Used to generate illustrations that resemble them in “comic” mode. Photos are stripped of EXIF metadata (GPS, camera details, timestamps) on upload.
• Reading history: the path taken through each branching story, the signal recorded at each scene, and a pre-story readiness check. This is what makes pattern recognition over re-reads possible.
• Optional daily journal entries: mood, activities, wins, triggers.

11.2 Parental consent

When you create a child profile, you confirm that you are the parent or legal guardian of that child and that you have authority to provide their information to the service. Consent is recorded with a timestamp. You can withdraw consent at any time by deleting the profile (see 11.5).

11.3 How your child’s data is used

• To generate stories tailored to your child’s profile.
• To show you pattern insights over time (e.g. which calm anchors helped, how your child responded to similar situations).
• To improve the underlying story-generation model — only in aggregate, never in a form that identifies your child.
• We do not use children’s data for advertising, profiling for targeted advertising, or any form of behavioural advertising.

11.4 Third-party AI processing

See Section 7 for the full list. Specifically for Signal Stories: profile fields and dialogue go to Anthropic Claude for story generation and refinement. Scene prompts go to Google Gemini for image generation, and in “comic” mode the child’s and parent’s photos are sent to Gemini as visual references. All three providers are based in the United States. If you do not want photos to be sent, choose “icon” or “illustrated” visual style instead of “comic” — those modes do not transmit photos.

11.5 Your rights as parent / guardian

• Access: view all data attached to a profile in your account dashboard.
• Correction: edit any profile field at any time.
• Erasure: deleting a child profile removes the profile row, all stories generated for that child, all uploaded photos, all scene images, and all journal entries linked to that profile from our database within minutes. A minimal record of the deletion (timestamp + counts, no child data) is retained for compliance audit.
• Portability: contact us at the address below to request an export of your child’s data.
• Grievance: for any complaint about how we handle your child’s data, write to the same address. We will respond within 30 days.

11.6 Retention

We retain your child’s profile, stories, photos, and reading history while your account is active. If your account is inactive for 24 months, we will email you before any deletion. Deleted data is removed from our primary database within minutes; encrypted database backups retain the data for up to 30 days before being overwritten.

11.7 Age restrictions

A child cannot use this service directly. Only a parent or legal guardian may create an account and a child profile. We do not knowingly let a child create an account in their own name.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy periodically. We will notify you of significant changes via email or through our service.