Last updated September 14, 2026
Hearthside is a family storytelling app. Because families may use Hearthside with children, privacy matters especially here. This page explains what information Hearthside handles in its current beta, why it is used, and which outside services help operate the app.
Hearthside accounts are intended to be created and managed by an adult, such as a parent, guardian, or teacher. An adult can create optional profiles to make Hearthside easier to use for a child, family, or classroom. Hearthside is not designed to require a child to create their own account.
Parents, guardians, and teachers should avoid entering unnecessary personal information about a child. Hearthside only needs enough profile information to adapt the storytelling experience.
Hearthside relies on a small number of service providers to operate the product. Depending on which features you use, information may be processed by:
These providers operate under their own terms and privacy practices. Hearthside does not sell personal information or children's information.
Hearthside is designed around adult-managed family or classroom use. We want personalization to remain understandable and controllable by families. As Hearthside adds deeper memory or personalization features, those features should include clear parental controls and appropriate ways to review or remove stored information.
Hearthside is still in beta. We are not claiming that this draft policy or the current product has completed every legal or compliance review that may be required for a broad child-directed commercial launch. Additional legal review will be completed before Hearthside expands beyond the current testing stage or begins accepting payments.
Beta analytics are intended to answer product questions such as whether families can generate stories successfully, which broad features are used, whether people return, and where bugs occur. Hearthside should collect only what is useful for improving the product.
Hearthside does not use a child's story interests to target advertising. If Hearthside's analytics approach changes materially, this policy will be updated.
Hearthside does not currently require payment for the Founding Families beta. If paid plans are introduced later, payment is expected to be handled by a third-party payment processor. Hearthside does not intend to store full payment-card numbers itself. This policy will be updated before paid plans launch to identify the payment provider and describe the applicable data flow.
You can choose whether to create optional profiles, whether to use Ember narration, what story details to provide, and whether to submit feedback. Saved stories stored locally can be removed by deleting them in Hearthside or by clearing Hearthside's browser/site data.
If you want help with account or profile information, or have a privacy question, contact us using the address below.
Hearthside is evolving during beta. This policy will be updated when data practices or features materially change. The date at the top of this page shows the most recent revision.
Questions about privacy on Hearthside? Reach us at hearthsidestory@gmail.com.
This page is a working beta privacy-policy draft and has not yet been reviewed by an attorney. It is intended to describe Hearthside's current product behavior as accurately as possible, not to substitute for professional legal advice.