Privacy policy

Paper Lantern Stories is run by Latitude Vntures LLC (“we”, “us”). Questions or requests: hello@paperlanternstories.com.

The short version

• A child's photo is used once, to draw their storybook character, and then permanently deleted.
• We never sell or share your information for advertising, and the site has no advertising or tracking cookies.
• We only share what's needed to make, print, ship and email you about your book.
• You can ask us to delete your book and information at any time.

What we collect

• About the child, from you: first name, boy or girl, age range, and either one photo or the features you pick (skin tone, hair, eyes, glasses, freckles), plus any dedication you write.
• About you: your email address, so we can send you the link to your book and your order emails.
• For a printed book: the shipping name, address and phone number you give at checkout.
• Payments: handled entirely by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number.

The site is for parents, grandparents and other adults buying a gift. It isn't meant for children to use, and we don't knowingly collect information directly from children.

Your child's photo

• The photo is used only to draw your child's paper-cut character. It is never shown on the site or used for anything else.
• It is permanently deleted the moment you approve the character. If you never approve one, it is deleted automatically after 7 days.
• The drawing is done by Google's AI image service on Google Cloud. Google's terms say it does not use our customers' data to train its AI models. Google may keep request records for up to 30 days to check for abuse, then deletes them.
• Every page of the book is drawn from the approved character, never from the photo.

How we use your information

• To draw, show and print your child's book.
• To email you the link to your book, your receipt and shipping updates.
• If you join the waitlist for a new book, to email you when it's ready.
• To answer you when you write to us.

Who helps us (and what they see)

• Google Cloud: hosts the site, stores books, and runs the AI that draws the pictures.
• Stripe: takes payments and works out sales tax.
• Lulu: prints and ships hardcovers. They receive the book files and the shipping details.
• Resend: sends our emails.
• Cloudflare: runs our domain name and passes emails you send us to our inbox.

We share information with others only if the law requires it.

How long we keep things

• Photos: deleted on approval, or after 7 days at most.
• Your book (the character drawing, pages, name and dedication): kept so you can come back to it, download it again, or order another copy. Ask and we'll delete it.
• Order records: kept as long as the law requires for tax and accounting.

Your choices

Email hello@paperlanternstories.com to see what we hold about you or your child, correct it, or delete it. Depending on where you live, you may have further rights under your state's privacy law, and we'll honor them. We don't sell personal information.

Keeping it safe

Everything is sent over encrypted connections and stored in private storage that isn't publicly listed. Each book can only be opened by someone with its private link, so please don't post that link publicly.

Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. Important changes will be emailed to customers.