Privacy policy
Last updated 31 October 2026
A life story is personal. This page explains, in plain words, what we collect, why, who helps us, how long we keep it and what you can ask us to do. It applies to this website and to every book we make.
Who we are
Email: hello@mylegacychapters.com
We are the "controller" of your personal data under the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and, for customers in the European Union, the EU GDPR. Questions or requests about your data: email us at the address above.
What we collect
- Account and order details: name, email address, the books you order, delivery address for printed books, and order history. Payment card details go straight to Stripe; we never see or store your full card number.
- Your story: interview answers (typed or spoken), voice recordings you upload, the written chapters, comments and changes you ask for, story notes (names, places, dates), and photos with captions.
- Gift details: the storyteller's name and email address, your personal message and the date you want the invitation sent.
- Free samples: your answers to the five sample questions and, if you give it, your email address.
- Messages: what you send us by email or the contact form.
- Technical data: IP address (kept only as a one-way code for security limits), browser type and the pages you visit, in server logs that we keep for a short time.
Sensitive details and other people in the story
Life stories often include health, religion, beliefs, family relationships and details about other people, some of whom may have died. We use these only to write and make your book. Before the interview starts we ask for your explicit consent to process any such sensitive details you choose to share; you can withdraw it by asking us to delete the book. If you write about other living people, please share only what you are comfortable putting in a family book.
Why we use it, and our legal basis
| What we do | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Run the interview, write, review and lay out your book, print and deliver it, and email you about each step | Contract (to provide what you ordered); explicit consent for sensitive details in the story |
| Take payments, give refunds, keep accounts | Contract; legal obligation (tax and accounting records) |
| Reminder emails when your book is waiting for you (you can turn them off in every email) | Legitimate interests (helping you finish the book you paid for) |
| Keep the site secure, stop abuse and fraud | Legitimate interests |
| Statistics and advertising cookies | Consent (only if you accept them in the cookie banner) |
We do not sell your data, we do not publish your stories, and we do not use them for advertising.
How your book is written
Chapters are drafted by our smart writing process: automated language technology turns your answers into text in the style you chose, following your story notes. The follow-up interview questions are made the same way. You read every chapter, ask for changes and approve it before it goes in the book. This technology is provided by Anthropic (see below). It does not make decisions about you that have legal or similar effects.
Who helps us (processors)
These companies handle data for us under written contracts, only to provide their service to us:
| Company | What for | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Hetzner Online GmbH | Hosting our servers, database and files | Finland / Germany (EU) |
| Anthropic, PBC | Language technology that drafts chapters, follow-up questions and story notes from your answers | United States |
| Deepgram, Inc. | Turning voice recordings into text | United States |
| Stripe | Card and other payments | Ireland, United States |
| Brevo (Sendinblue SAS) | Sending our emails | France (EU) |
| Lulu Press, Inc. | Printing and shipping printed books (book files, name and delivery address) | United States, with print sites in the UK and EU |
| Statistics and advertising, only if you accept those cookies | United States, EU |
Where data goes outside the UK or EU, it is protected by the UK and EU approved safeguards: the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK extension where the company is certified, or the standard contractual clauses (with the UK addendum). Under their business terms, Anthropic and Deepgram may not use your content to train their models.
Who else sees your book
Only the people on the book: the buyer, the storyteller once they accept the invitation, and our small team when needed to help you or fix a problem. We may share data if the law requires it.
How long we keep it
| Data | How long |
|---|---|
| Audio recordings | Deleted 30 days after you check the typed-out text (the text stays with your book) |
| Free samples that did not become an order | 90 days |
| Your book: answers, chapters, notes, photos and files | 24 months after delivery, so you can download it again. We email you a month before deleting it. You can ask us to delete it sooner. |
| Books that were cancelled | 30 days after cancelling |
| Orders, payments and invoices | 6 years, as tax law requires (without the story content) |
| Login links | A few days (each link works once, for 30 minutes) |
Cookies
Essential cookies keep you logged in, protect forms and remember your basket, currency and cookie choice (the mlc_consent cookie, 6 months). They are always on. With your permission we also use statistics and advertising cookies (for example Google Analytics and Google Ads); these load only after you choose "Accept all cookies". Change your choice any time with "Cookie settings" at the bottom of every page.
Your rights
You can ask us to: give you a copy of your data; correct it; delete it; limit how we use it; send it to you or another service in a common format; and you can object to uses based on legitimate interests. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. Email hello@mylegacychapters.com; we answer within one month. If you are unhappy with our answer you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk) in the UK, or to the data protection authority in your EU country.
Security
All pages use encrypted connections (HTTPS). Your book, photos and files are stored privately and can only be opened by people logged in to that book. Logins use one-time email links instead of passwords; our admin area uses two-step verification.
Children
Our service is for adults. Stories may mention children in the family; please share only what you would be happy to see in a family book.
Changes
If we change this policy we update the date at the top, and we email customers with an open book about important changes.