Privacy Policy

Effective Date: October 2026

Our Core Privacy Promise

Your stories are YOUR stories. We never sell them. We never publish them or use them in marketing. They remain yours, always.

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Ethos (operating as Ethos OÜ, registry code 16657742, located at Kursi tn 3, 10415 Tallinn, Estonia) collects, uses, and protects your personal information through our website at ethosbook.co and our AI-powered life story preservation platform.

Contact: support@ethosbook.co

By using our service, you acknowledge that you have read and understand the practices outlined in this Privacy Policy.

2. What We Collect

Information You Provide

Account Information: Name, email address, mobile phone number
Payment Information: Billing details (processed securely by Stripe - we never see your full card number)
Shipping Information: Delivery address for physical books
Voice Recordings: Audio stories you record through our platform
Photographs: Images you or your family upload to include in the book
Profile Information: Details about the person whose story you're preserving
AI Features: What you say or type to our AI features (such as the interviewer), and what they write back

Information Collected Automatically

Technical Data: IP address, device type, browser information, operating system
Usage Data: Pages visited, features used, time spent on our platform
Analytics Data: Website behavior through Supabase, Meta Pixel, and PostHog
Affiliate Tracking: Referral source tracking via Rewardful cookies

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

Create your personalized AI-generated biography book
Process payments and fulfill orders
Send transactional emails (order confirmations, shipping updates)
Send service text messages to US mobile numbers (order confirmations, shipping updates, storyteller invitations, story prompts, support replies)
Provide customer support
Improve our service and develop new features, including our AI interviewer
Create de-identified data (see section 4)
Send marketing emails (in the US when you give us your email, elsewhere only with your consent; you can unsubscribe any time) and marketing text messages (only with your consent)
Detect and prevent fraud
Comply with legal obligations

4. Your Stories Are Sacred

This section covers everything you give us: your voice recordings, your written stories, and the photographs you upload.

We NEVER:

Sell your voice recordings, stories, or photographs
Publish them, or use them in marketing, advertising, samples, or examples
Share them with third parties for their own purposes

How We Process Your Stories:

Your voice recordings are transcribed by ElevenLabs
AI models from Anthropic and OpenAI write your interview questions and help write your book
These companies act as our data processors: they work only on our instructions and do not train their models on your content
Your stories remain in your private account, encrypted at rest

How We Improve Ethos:

When you ask us for help, our team looks at your stories to fix the problem
We also use your stories, and how you use our service, to keep your interviews working and to make Ethos better, including our AI interviewer. A small number of Ethos team members may review questions and answers to do this. Access is limited to the people doing that work

De-identified Data:

We may combine the information we collect and remove names, places, dates, and other details so it can no longer reasonably be linked to you or your family. We also remove sensitive details such as health information
We may use this de-identified data for any business purpose, including research and developing and training AI
We will not try to re-identify de-identified data, and anyone we share it with must agree to the same
We do not train AI on your identifiable stories, recordings, or photographs

Sensitive Information: Stories sometimes include sensitive details, such as health or religion. Where the law requires it (for example, the EU and UK GDPR, or US state laws that require opt-in consent), we ask for your explicit consent before processing them, and we use them only to create your interviews and your book.

Service Providers (Data Processors)

We share data with trusted partners who help us deliver our service:

Supabase: Hosts and stores all data securely (US and EU regions)
Stripe: Processes payments securely
Brevo: Sends transactional and marketing emails
Twilio: Delivers text messages (SMS) to US mobile numbers
ElevenLabs: Transcribes voice recordings
Anthropic and OpenAI: AI models that write interview questions and help write your book (they do not train on your content)
Render: Hosts our application servers
Lulu: Prints and ships physical books
Meta (Facebook/Instagram): Advertising and conversion tracking
Rewardful: Manages affiliate referral tracking
PostHog: Analytics and user experience tracking

All service providers are bound by strict data processing agreements and cannot use your data for their own purposes.

Legal Obligations

We may disclose information to:

Comply with laws, regulations, or court orders
Respond to lawful government requests
Protect our rights, property, or safety
Investigate fraud or security issues

Business Transfers

If we merge with or are acquired by another company, your information may transfer to the new owners under the same privacy protections.

6. International Data Transfers

Your data is processed primarily in the United States and Estonia. If you're located elsewhere, your information may be transferred internationally. We protect these transfers using:

Standard Contractual Clauses (EU Commission approved)
Appropriate technical and organizational security measures
Compliance with GDPR and other applicable frameworks

7. Data Security

We protect your information using:

End-to-end encryption for data in transit (TLS/SSL)
Encryption at rest for stored data
Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments
Access controls and multi-factor authentication
Secure backup systems
Incident response procedures

While we use industry-standard safeguards, no system is 100% secure. We will notify you of any data breaches as required by law.

8. Data Retention

We keep your data as long as needed to provide our service:

Your account: We keep your data while your account exists, with or without a plan
When a plan ends: The project is locked and kept, not deleted. Paying for a plan opens it again, exactly as it was
Deletion requests: Removed within 30 days
Legal requirements: Tax records retained for 7 years
De-identified data: May be kept indefinitely. It is no longer linked to you, so deleting your account does not remove it

9. Cookies and Tracking

Essential Cookies (Always Active)

Required for core functionality:

Session management and authentication
Shopping cart and checkout
Security and fraud prevention

Analytics and Advertising Cookies

Analytics:

PostHog - User behavior and experience tracking
Supabase - Performance monitoring

Marketing:

Meta Pixel - Facebook/Instagram advertising
Rewardful - Affiliate referral tracking

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, and turn off ad personalization in your Facebook or Instagram ad settings. You can also email support@ethosbook.co and we will stop using your data for advertising. Visit our GDPR Policy for more details about your rights.

10. Your Privacy Rights

You have the right to:

Access your personal data
Correct inaccurate information
Delete your data (subject to legal requirements)
Restrict processing in certain circumstances
Object to processing based on legitimate interests
Port your data to another service
Withdraw consent for marketing or optional tracking

To exercise these rights, contact support@ethosbook.co. We'll respond within 30 days.

For EU residents, see our GDPR Policy for additional rights and details.

For California residents, see our CCPA Policy for California-specific rights.

11. Children's Privacy

Our service is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If we discover we have such information, we will delete it immediately.

Users aged 13-17 need parental or guardian consent to use our service.

12. Marketing Communications

If you consent to marketing:

We'll send updates about Ethos, new features, and special offers
You can unsubscribe anytime via the link in emails
Service emails (receipts, shipping updates) will continue regardless

We never sell your email address to third parties.

Text Messages (SMS)

Ethos sends text messages to US mobile numbers only.

How we get your number. You give it to us yourself, on our checkout or signup form, or by texting us first. We never buy phone numbers and we never message a number we were not given directly by its owner.

What we send. Service messages (order confirmations, shipping updates, storyteller invitations, story prompts, reminders, support replies) and, separately, marketing messages if you ticked the SMS marketing box. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply.

Marketing texts are never required to buy anything. Agreeing to marketing texts is not a condition of any purchase.

How to stop. Reply STOP to any message, or email support@ethosbook.co. Reply HELP for help. Opting out of texts does not cancel your order and you will still receive email.

Who sees your number. We do not sell phone numbers, and we do not share them with third parties for their own marketing. Our SMS provider handles your number only to deliver our messages, under contract, and cannot use it for anything else.

The full SMS terms are in section 21 of our Terms of Service.

13. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to external sites. We're not responsible for their privacy practices. Review their privacy policies before providing them with information.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do:

We'll post the new policy on our website
We'll update the "Effective Date" at the top
We'll email you about material changes
We'll give you 30 days notice for significant changes

Continued use after changes means you accept the updated policy.

15. Contact Us

For privacy questions or to exercise your rights:

Email: support@ethosbook.co

Mail:

Ethos OÜ

Kursi tn 3, 10415 Tallinn, Estonia

Data Protection Officer: support@ethosbook.co

We'll respond to your inquiries within 7 business days.

Your privacy matters to us. We're committed to protecting your family's stories with the same care you put into preserving them.