Privacy Policy

1. Who this policy covers

This policy applies when you use the Seven Kin Stories website, family spaces (called a “Kin”), invitations, stories, archives and related features. “We”, “us” and “Seven Kin Stories” refer to the operator of this service.

2. Information we collect

Depending on how you use the service, we may collect:

• Account and profile details: your name, email address, optional profile photo, family role and date of birth when provided. Dates of birth are kept private and are not displayed on stories.
• Family content: stories, photos, videos, captions, dates, places, people tags, comments, reactions and monthly archive content.
• Invitation and membership details: the Kin you belong to, who invited you, your access status and whether you are a member or household administrator.
• Technical and support information: browser or device information, sign-in and security events, IP address and request logs made available by our service providers, plus messages you send us for help.

3. How we use information

We use information to:

• verify accounts, match accepted invitations and keep each Kin separate;
• display, organise, search and preserve family stories and media;
• create private timelines, archives and monthly family newsletters;
• send service, invitation, story and interaction notifications;
• provide support, prevent misuse, investigate safety concerns and improve reliability; and
• comply with applicable legal obligations.

We do not sell your personal information or use private family content for targeted advertising.

4. Who can see family content

Content shared to a Kin is available to authorised members of that Kin according to their access. Household administrators can manage invitations, roles and access. A person removed from a Kin should no longer be able to open that family space, although content they previously contributed may remain in the family archive until it is edited or removed.

You are responsible for choosing appropriate content and obtaining permission before sharing sensitive information or media about other people, particularly children.

5. Service providers and overseas processing

We use specialist providers to operate the service, including Clerk for authentication, OpenAI/ChatGPT Sites for application hosting, and Cloudflare for internet infrastructure, domain services and related delivery or storage functions. They process information only as needed to provide their services to us.

Information may be processed or stored outside Australia, including in the United States and other countries where these providers or their infrastructure operate. Privacy and data-protection laws may differ between countries.

We may also disclose information if reasonably necessary to comply with law, respond to a valid legal request, protect a person from serious harm, investigate illegal activity or defend the security and rights of the service and its users.

6. Storage, security and retention

We use access controls, verified sign-in and service-provider security measures intended to protect personal information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. No online service can promise absolute security, so please keep your sign-in details private and retain your own copies of irreplaceable media.

Routine detailed security evidence is normally retained for up to 90 days. If a specific incident reasonably requires investigation, legal compliance or protection from harm, authorised owner access must be opened as a reasoned incident case; sensitive evidence access, preservation, export and account-protection actions are recorded in an audit trail. Relevant evidence may be retained longer under a documented legal hold.

We generally retain account, membership and family content while the relevant account or Kin remains active, or while it is needed to provide the service, resolve disputes, prevent abuse or meet legal obligations. Security investigation tools do not automatically expose private story content. Deleted information may remain for a limited period in backups before being overwritten or de-identified.

For permanent account deletion, Clerk, our sign-in provider, may take up to 30 days to fully delete your account and sign-in information after SKS initiates deletion with Clerk. This includes copies held by Clerk’s supporting providers. This separate provider period does not extend SKS’s own recovery or deletion timeframes.

7. Your choices and rights

You may update your profile and story content through the service. You may also ask us to help you access, correct or delete personal information, change a compromised email address, remove your account access, or raise a privacy concern. Some requests may require identity verification and may be limited where retention is required by law or needed to protect other people’s rights.

8. Children’s information

Seven Kin Stories is intended to be set up and supervised by adults. A person who cannot legally consent on their own should only use the service with a parent or guardian’s permission and supervision. Adults who share a child’s information or images are responsible for having appropriate authority to do so.

9. Changes and contact

We may update this policy as the beta service develops. We will publish the revised policy here and update the effective date. Material changes may also be communicated inside the service.

For privacy questions or requests, email support@sevenkinstories.com.