Privacy policy
Our Commitment to Privacy
At Hear Your Story, we understand that the stories you share are deeply personal. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring your data remains secure and under your control.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use the Hear Your Story platform.
Hear Your Story is operated by Hear Your Story, LLC (“Hear Your Story,” “we,” “us,” or “our”).
This privacy notice for EYP Publishing, LLC (doing business as Hear Your Story Books) ("Hear Your Story Books," "we," "us," or "our"), describes how and why we might collect, store, use, and/or share ("process") your information when you use our services ("Services"), such as when you:
- Visit our website at HearYourStoryBooks.Com or HearYourStory.Com or app.hearyourstory.com/https://www.hearyourstorybooks.com, or any website of ours that links to this privacy notice
- Engage with us in other related ways, including any sales, marketing, or events
- Log and Usage Data. Log and usage data is service-related, diagnostic, usage, and performance information our servers automatically collect when you access or use our Services and which we record in log files. Depending on how you interact with us, this log data may include your IP address, device information, browser type, and settings and information about your activity in the Services (such as the date/time stamps associated with your usage, pages and files viewed, searches, and other actions you take such as which features you use), device event information (such as system activity, error reports (sometimes called "crash dumps"), and hardware settings).
- Device Data. We collect device data such as information about your computer, phone, tablet, or other device you use to access the Services. Depending on the device used, this device data may include information such as your IP address (or proxy server), device and application identification numbers, location, browser type, hardware model, Internet service provider and/or mobile carrier, operating system, and system configuration information.
- Location Data. We collect location data such as information about your device's location, which can be either precise or imprecise. How much information we collect depends on the type and settings of the device you use to access the Services. For example, we may use GPS and other technologies to collect geolocation data that tells us your current location (based on your IP address). You can opt out of allowing us to collect this information either by refusing access to the information or by disabling the location setting on your device. However, if you choose to opt out, you may not be able to use certain aspects of the Services.
- To facilitate account creation and authentication and otherwise manage user accounts. We may process your information so you can create and log in to your account, as well as keep your account in working order.
- To request feedback. We may process your information when necessary to request feedback and to contact you about your use of our Services.
- To send you marketing and promotional communications. We may process the personal information you send to us for our marketing purposes, if this is in accordance with your marketing preferences. You can opt out of our marketing emails at any time. For more information, see "WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?" below.
- To deliver targeted advertising to you. We may process your information to develop and display personalized content and advertising tailored to your interests, location, and more.
- To protect our Services. We may process your information as part of our efforts to keep our Services safe and secure, including fraud monitoring and prevention.
- To identify usage trends. We may process information about how you use our Services to better understand how they are being used so we can improve them.
- To determine the effectiveness of our marketing and promotional campaigns. We may process your information to better understand how to provide marketing and promotional campaigns that are most relevant to you.
- To save or protect an individual's vital interest. We may process your information when necessary to save or protect an individual’s vital interest, such as to prevent harm.
- Consent. We may process your information if you have given us permission (i.e., consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose. You can withdraw your consent at any time. Learn more about withdrawing your consent.
- Legitimate Interests. We may process your information when we believe it is reasonably necessary to achieve our legitimate business interests and those interests do not outweigh your interests and fundamental rights and freedoms. For example, we may process your personal information for some of the purposes described in order to:
- Send users information about special offers and discounts on our products and services.
- Develop and display personalized and relevant advertising content for our users.
- Analyze how our Services are used so we can improve them to engage and retain users.
- Support our marketing activities.
- Diagnose problems and/or prevent fraudulent activities.
- Understand how our users use our products and services so we can improve user experience.
- Legal Obligations. We may process your information where we believe it is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations, such as to cooperate with a law enforcement body or regulatory agency, exercise or defend our legal rights, or disclose your information as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.
- Vital Interests. We may process your information where we believe it is necessary to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of a third party, such as situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person.
- If collection is clearly in the interests of an individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way.
- For investigations, fraud detection, and prevention.
- For business transactions, certain conditions are provided.
- If it is contained in a witness statement and the collection is necessary to assess, process, or settle an insurance claim.
- For identifying injured, ill, or deceased persons and communicating with next of kin.
- If we have reasonable grounds to believe an individual has been, is, or may be a victim of financial abuse.
- If it is reasonable to expect collection and use with consent would compromise the availability or the accuracy of the information, and the collection is reasonable for purposes related to investigating a breach of an agreement or a contravention of the laws of Canada or a province.
- If disclosure is required to comply with a subpoena, warrant, court order, or rules of the court relating to the production of records.
- If it was produced by an individual in the course of their employment, business, or profession, and the collection is consistent with the purposes for which the information was produced.
- If the collection is solely for journalistic, artistic, or literary purposes
- If the information is publicly available and is specified by the regulations
- Order Fulfillment Service Providers
- Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.
- When we use Google Maps Platform APIs, we may share your information with certain Google Maps Platform APIs (e.g., Google Maps API, Places API).
- Affiliates. We may share your information with our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this privacy notice. Affiliates include our parent company and any subsidiaries, joint venture partners, or other companies that we control or that are under common control with us.
- Business Partners. We may share your information with our business partners to offer you certain products, services, or promotions.
| Category | Examples | Collected |
|
A. Identifiers
|
Contact details, such as real name, alias, postal address, telephone or mobile contact number, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, and account name
|
YES
|
|
B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute
|
Name, contact information, education, employment, employment history, and financial information
|
YES
|
|
C. Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law
|
Gender and date of birth
|
YES
|
|
D. Commercial information
|
Transaction information, purchase history, financial details, and payment information
|
YES
|
|
E. Biometric information
|
Fingerprints and voiceprints
|
NO
|
|
F. Internet or other similar network activity
|
Browsing history, search history, online behavior, interest data, and interactions with our and other websites, applications, systems, and advertisements
|
NO
|
|
G. Geolocation data
|
Device location
|
YES
|
|
H. Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information
|
Images and audio, video or call recordings created in connection with our business activities
|
NO
|
|
I. Professional or employment-related information
|
Business contact details in order to provide you our Services at a business level, or job title, work history, and professional qualifications if you apply for a job with us
|
NO
|
|
J. Education Information
|
Student records and directory information
|
NO
|
|
K. Inferences drawn from other personal information
|
Inferences drawn from any of the collected personal information listed above to create a profile or summary about, for example, an individual’s preferences and characteristics
|
YES
|
| L. Sensitive Personal Information |
NO
|
- Category A - As long as the user has an account with us
- Category B - As long as the user has an account with us
- Category C - As long as the user has an account with us
- Category D - As long as the user has an account with us
- Category G - As long as the user has an account with us
- Category K - As long as the user has an account with us
- Receiving help through our customer support channels;
- Participation in customer surveys or contests; and
- Facilitate the delivery of our services and respond to your inquiries.
- Targeting cookies/Marketing cookies
- Social media cookies
- Beacons/Pixels/Tags
Category K. Inferences drawn from any of the personal information listed above to create a profile or summary about, for example, an individual's preferences and characteristics.
- Whether we collect and use your personal information;
- The categories of personal information that we collect;
- The purposes for which the collected personal information is used;
- Whether we sell or share personal information to third parties;
- The categories of personal information that we sold, shared, or disclosed for a business purpose;
- The categories of third parties to whom the personal information was sold, shared, or disclosed for a business purpose;
- The business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing personal information; and
- The specific pieces of personal information we collected about you.
- You may object to the processing of your personal information.
- You may request correction of your personal data if it is incorrect or no longer relevant, or ask to restrict the processing of the information.
- You can designate an authorized agent to make a request under the CCPA on your behalf. We may deny a request from an authorized agent that does not submit proof that they have been validly authorized to act on your behalf in accordance with the CCPA.
- You may request to opt out from future selling or sharing of your personal information to third parties. Upon receiving an opt-out request, we will act upon the request as soon as feasibly possible, but no later than fifteen (15) days from the date of the request submission.
- Right to be informed whether or not we are processing your personal data.
- Right to access your personal data.
- Right to correct inaccuracies in your personal data.
- Right to request deletion of your personal data.
- Right to obtain a copy of the personal data you previously shared with us.
- Right to opt out of the processing of your personal data if it is used for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects ("profiling").
This Privacy Policy describes how hearyourstorybooks.com (the “Site” or “we”) collects, uses, and discloses your Personal Information when you visit or make a purchase from the Site.
Contact
After reviewing this policy, if you have additional questions, want more information about our privacy practices, or would like to make a complaint, please contact us by e-mail at contact@hearyourstory.com or by mail using the details provided below:
legal@EypPublishing.Com
Collecting Personal Information
When you visit the Site, we collect certain information about your device, your interaction with the Site, and information necessary to process your purchases. We may also collect additional information if you contact us for customer support. In this Privacy Policy, we refer to any information about an identifiable individual (including the information below) as “Personal Information”. See the list below for more information about what Personal Information we collect and why.
- Device information
- Purpose of collection: to load the Site accurately for you, and to perform analytics on Site usage to optimize our Site.
- Source of collection: Collected automatically when you access our Site using cookies, log files, web beacons, tags, or pixels.
- Disclosure for a business purpose: shared with our processor Shopify and our fulfillment partner Acutrack.
- Personal Information collected: version of web browser, IP address, time zone, cookie information, what sites or products you view, search terms, and how you interact with the Site.
- Order information
- Purpose of collection: to provide products or services to you to fulfill our contract, to process your payment information, arrange for shipping, and provide you with invoices and/or order confirmations, communicate with you, screen our orders for potential risk or fraud, and when in line with the preferences you have shared with us, provide you with information or advertising relating to our products or services.
- Source of collection: collected from you.
- Disclosure for a business purpose: shared with our processor Shopify and our fulfillment partner Acutrack.
- Personal Information collected: name, billing address, shipping address, payment information (including credit card numbers, email address, and phone number.
- Customer support information
- Purpose of collection: to assist and resolve customer inquiries.
- Source of collection: from the customer.
- Disclosure for a business purpose: to assist and resolve customer inquiries.
- Personal Information collected: name, billing address, shipping address, payment information (including credit card numbers, email address, and phone number.
- Purpose of collection: to provide customer support.
- Source of collection: collected from you
Sharing Personal Information
We share your Personal Information with service providers to help us provide our services and fulfill our contracts with you, as described above. For example:
- We use Shopify to power our online store. You can read more about how Shopify uses your Personal Information here: https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy.
- We may share your Personal Information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, to respond to a subpoena, search warrant, or other lawful request for information we receive, or to otherwise protect our rights.
Behavioral Advertising
As described above, we use your Personal Information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you. For example:
- We use Google Analytics to help us understand how our customers use the Site. You can read more about how Google uses your Personal Information here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/. You can also opt-out of Google Analytics here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
- We share information about your use of the Site, your purchases, and your interaction with our ads on other websites with our advertising partners. We collect and share some of this information directly with our advertising partners, and in some cases through the use of cookies or other similar technologies (which you may consent to, depending on your location).
For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page at https://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work.
You can opt out of targeted advertising at the following links:
- FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads
- GOOGLE - https://www.google.com/settings/ads/anonymous
- BING - https://advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/policies/personalized-ads]
Additionally, you can opt out of some of these services by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out portal at: https://optout.aboutads.info/.
Using Personal Information
We use your personal information to provide our services to you, which includes: offering products for sale, processing payments, shipping and fulfillment of your order, and keeping you up to date on new products, services, and offers.
Lawful basis
Pursuant to the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), if you are a resident of the European Economic Area (“EEA”), we process your personal information under the following lawful bases:
- Your consent;
- The performance of the contract between you and the Site;
- Compliance with our legal obligations;
- To protect your vital interests;
- To perform a task carried out in the public interest;
- For our legitimate interests, which do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms.
Retention
When you place an order through the Site, we will retain your Personal Information for our records unless and until you ask us to erase this information. For more information on your right of erasure, please see the ‘Your rights’ section below.
Automatic decision-making
If you are a resident of the EEA, you have the right to object to processing based solely on automated decision-making (which includes profiling), when that decision-making has a legal effect on you or otherwise significantly affects you.
We DO NOT engage in fully automated decision-making that has a legal or otherwise significant effect using customer data.
Our processor Shopify uses limited automated decision-making to prevent fraud that does not have a legal or otherwise significant effect on you.
Services that include elements of automated decision-making include:
- Temporary blacklist of IP addresses associated with repeated failed transactions. This blacklist persists for a small number of hours.
- Temporary blacklist of credit cards associated with blacklisted IP addresses. This blacklist persists for a small number of days.
[Include the following section only if you sell personal information, as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act]
Selling Personal Information
Our Site sells Personal Information, as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”).
- categories of information sold;
- instructions on how to opt out of sale;
- Whether your business sells information of minors (under 16) and whether you obtain affirmative authorization;
- If you provide a financial incentive to sell information, provide information about what that incentive is.]
Your rights
GDPR
If you are a resident of the EEA, you have the right to access the Personal Information we hold about you, to port it to a new service, and to ask that your Personal Information be corrected, updated, or erased. If you would like to exercise these rights, please contact us through the contact information above. [OR INSERT ALTERNATIVE INSTRUCTIONS FOR SENDING ACCESS, ERASURE, CORRECTION, AND PORTABILITY REQUESTS]
Your Personal Information will be initially processed in Ireland and then will be transferred outside of Europe for storage and further processing, including to Canada and the United States. For more information on how data transfers comply with the GDPR, see Shopify’s GDPR Whitepaper: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/your-account/privacy/GDPR.
CCPA
If you are a resident of California, you have the right to access the Personal Information we hold about you (also known as the ‘Right to Know’), to port it to a new service, and to ask that your Personal Information be corrected, updated, or erased. If you would like to exercise these rights, please contact us through the contact information above.
If you would like to designate an authorized agent to submit these requests on your behalf, please contact us at the address above.
Cookies
A cookie is a small amount of information that’s downloaded to your computer or device when you visit our Site. We use a number of different cookies, including functional, performance, advertising, and social media or content cookies. Cookies make your browsing experience better by allowing the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login and region selection). This means you don’t have to re-enter this information each time you return to the site or browse from one page to another. Cookies also provide information on how people use the website, for instance whether it’s their first time visiting or if they are a frequent visitor.
We use the following cookies to optimize your experience on our Site and to provide our services.
Cookies Necessary for the Functioning of the Store
| Name | Function | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _ab | Used in connection with access to admin. | 2y |
| _secure_session_id | Used in connection with navigation through a storefront. | 24h |
| _shopify_country | Used in connection with checkout. | session |
| _shopify_m | Used for managing customer privacy settings. | 1y |
| _shopify_tm | Used for managing customer privacy settings. | 30min |
| _shopify_tw | Used for managing customer privacy settings. | 2w |
| _storefront_u | Used to facilitate updating customer account information. | 1min |
| _tracking_consent | Tracking preferences. | 1y |
| c | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| cart | Used in connection with shopping cart. | 2w |
| cart_currency | Used in connection with shopping cart. | 2w |
| cart_sig | Used in connection with checkout. | 2w |
| cart_ts | Used in connection with checkout. | 2w |
| cart_ver | Used in connection with shopping cart. | 2w |
| checkout | Used in connection with checkout. | 4w |
| checkout_token | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| dynamic_checkout_shown_on_cart | Used in connection with checkout. | 30min |
| hide_shopify_pay_for_checkout | Used in connection with checkout. | session |
| keep_alive | Used in connection with buyer localization. | 2w |
| master_device_id | Used in connection with merchant login. | 2y |
| previous_step | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| remember_me | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| secure_customer_sig | Used in connection with customer login. | 20y |
| shopify_pay | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| shopify_pay_redirect | Used in connection with checkout. | 30 minutes, 3w or 1y depending on value |
| storefront_digest | Used in connection with customer login. | 2y |
| tracked_start_checkout | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| checkout_one_experiment | Used in connection with checkout. | session |
| checkout_session_lookup | Used in connection with checkout. | 3w |
| checkout_session_token_<<token>> | Used in connection with checkout. | 3w |
| identity-state | Used in connection with customer authentication. | 24h |
| identity-state-<<token>> | Used in connection with customer authentication. | 24h |
| identity_customer_account_number | Used in connection with customer authentication. | 12w |
Reporting and Analytics
| Name | Function | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _landing_page | Track landing pages. | 2w |
| _orig_referrer | Track landing pages. | 2w |
| _s | Shopify analytics. | 30min |
| _shopify_d | Shopify analytics. | session |
| _shopify_s | Shopify analytics. | 30min |
| _shopify_sa_p | Shopify analytics relating to marketing & referrals. | 30min |
| _shopify_sa_t | Shopify analytics relating to marketing & referrals. | 30min |
| _shopify_y | Shopify analytics. | 1y |
| _y | Shopify analytics. | 1y |
| _shopify_evids | Shopify analytics. | session |
| _shopify_ga | Shopify and Google Analytics. | session |
| customer_auth_provider | Shopify analytics. | session |
| customer_auth_session_created_at | Shopify analytics. | session |
The length of time that a cookie remains on your computer or mobile device depends on whether it is a “persistent” or “session” cookie. Session cookies last until you stop browsing and persistent cookies last until they expire or are deleted. Most of the cookies we use are persistent and will expire between 30 minutes and two years from the date they are downloaded to your device.
You can control and manage cookies in various ways. Please keep in mind that removing or blocking cookies can negatively impact your user experience and parts of our website may no longer be fully accessible.
Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can choose whether or not to accept cookies through your browser controls, often found in your browser’s “Tools” or “Preferences” menu. For more information on how to modify your browser settings or how to block, manage or filter cookies can be found in your browser’s help file or through such sites as: www.allaboutcookies.org.
Additionally, please note that blocking cookies may not completely prevent how we share information with third parties such as our advertising partners. To exercise your rights or opt out of certain uses of your information by these parties, please follow the instructions in the “Behavioural Advertising” section above.
More on Cookie Policy
https://app.termly.io/document/cookie-policy/d59b2f5f-8618-4f03-a8bf-d5a8aaec261a
Do Not Track
Please note that because there is no consistent industry understanding of how to respond to “Do Not Track” signals, we do not alter our data collection and usage practices when we detect such a signal from your browser.
Changes
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons.
Complaints
As noted above, if you would like to make a complaint, please contact us by e-mail or by mail using the details provided under “Contact” above.
If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you have the right to lodge your complaint with the relevant data protection authority. You can contact your local data protection authority, or our supervisory authority here: [Add contact information or website for the data protection authority in your jurisdiction. For example: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/]
DSAR Form: https://app.termly.io/notify/9a5a25eb-e4a8-4ba1-8fcb-7e8d9793213a
After reviewing this policy, if you have additional questions, want more information about our privacy practices, or would like to make a complaint, please contact us by e-mail at contact@hearyourstory.com.
legal@EypPublishing.Com
How We Use Your Information
We use your information to:
- • Provide and maintain the journaling service
- • Store and display your journal content
- • Process payments and prevent fraud
- • Send service-related communications (such as sign-in codes and account notifications)
- • Respond to customer support requests
- • Improve the service using aggregated usage patterns
- • Generate personalized insights and reflections from your journal content to enhance your experience (not used for model training)
We do not sell personal information.
Third-Party Services
We use trusted third-party service providers to operate parts of the platform. Each provider receives only the minimum information necessary to perform its service.
Stripe (Payment Processing)
We use Stripe to process payments. Payment information is transmitted directly to Stripe and is never stored on our servers. Stripe is PCI DSS Level 1 certified. Stripe Privacy Policy
Supabase (Data Storage and Authentication)
We use Supabase to store account data, journal entries, and media files and to manage authentication. Data is stored using encryption both at rest and in transit. Supabase Privacy Policy
PostHog (Analytics and Error Tracking)
We use PostHog to collect usage data such as page views, feature usage, and error reports to improve the platform. PostHog may use cookies to distinguish users. You can control cookies through your browser settings. PostHog Privacy Policy
OpenAI Whisper (Audio Transcription)
Audio recordings may be sent to OpenAI's Whisper API for transcription. OpenAI processes audio solely to generate transcripts and does not use API data to train models. OpenAI Privacy Policy
Resend (Email Delivery)
We use Resend to deliver transactional emails such as sign-in codes and service notifications. Resend Privacy Policy
Cookies and Tracking Technologies
Hear Your Story uses limited cookies and similar technologies to operate the service and understand usage.
Cookies may be used for:
- • Authentication
- • Session management
- • Analytics and performance monitoring
You may disable cookies through your browser settings, though some features of the service may not function properly if cookies are disabled.
Your Data, Your Control
You Own Your Stories
All content you create remains your intellectual property. Hear Your Story claims no ownership over your stories.
Export Anytime
You may download your complete journal in multiple formats, including:
- • Text
- • CSV
- • JSON
Delete Your Data
You may request deletion of your account and all associated data at any time by contacting privacy@hearyourstory.com. All data will be permanently removed within 30 days of a confirmed deletion request.
Control Sharing
Your journal is private by default. You control if and when you share content with others. When you share content, it may be viewable by anyone with the link, including people who do not have a Hear Your Story account.
Data Retention
We retain user data only as long as necessary to provide the service.
Active Accounts
Your data is retained while your account remains active and your journal access period is valid.
Journal Access Period
Each journal includes 1 year of full access, followed by a 30-day grace period for viewing and exporting data.
Account Deletion
When an account deletion request is confirmed, associated data will be permanently removed within 30 days.
International Data Transfers
Hear Your Story operates in the United States. Your information may be stored and processed in the United States or other jurisdictions where our service providers operate.
By using the service, you consent to this transfer and processing of information.
California Privacy Rights
Residents of California may have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act. These rights may include:
- • The right to know what personal information we collect
- • The right to request access to your personal information
- • The right to request deletion of your personal information
- • The right to request a copy of your personal information
- • The right to opt out of the sale of personal information
Hear Your Story does not sell personal information.
To exercise your rights, contact privacy@hearyourstory.com.
Children's Privacy
Hear Your Story is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that such information has been collected, we will delete it promptly.
This policy is intended to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
Security Measures
We use industry-standard security practices to protect your information, including:
- • SSL/TLS encryption for all data transmission
- • Encrypted storage of sensitive data
- • Secure cloud infrastructure
- • Regular security updates and monitoring
While we take reasonable measures to protect your data, no internet service can guarantee absolute security.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes to our practices or legal requirements.
When we make significant updates, we will:
- • Update the “Last Updated” date at the top of the policy
- • Notify users through the service when appropriate
Continued use of the service after updates constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at privacy@hearyourstory.com