Privacy Policy

Tella creates personalized stories for children. We take your family's privacy seriously, especially when it comes to information about your child. This policy explains what we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what rights you have.

This policy applies to the Tella website (tella.kids) and our mobile applications. By using Tella you agree to this policy. If you are a parent or guardian of a child under 13, please also read our Children's Privacy Policy.

1. Who we are

Tella LLC is a Texas limited liability company. We are the controller of the personal information described in this policy. You can reach us at hello@tella.kids.

2. Information we collect

Account information

• Your name and email address, used to create and manage your account.
• Your relationship to the child (e.g., parent, guardian, caregiver).
• The account owner's birth year, asked once so that grown-up actions (purchases, deleting or sharing a story, leaving a child's profile) can be confirmed on a shared device. We keep only a one-way scrambled version to check against, never the year itself, and a year that is not an adult's is turned away and not saved. The 4-digit code some accounts chose before October 2026 is no longer used, and what was stored of it is erased when the birth year is entered.

Child profile information

• Your child's first name, age range, and gender, used to personalize story characters and themes.
• Physical appearance details (skin tone, hair color and style, eye color, general ethnicity), used to generate a visual character that looks like your child.
• A list of interests, used to tailor story content and lessons.
• Your child's favorite color and favorite animal.
• An optional written note about your child (e.g., their personality, a nickname, a current challenge, something coming up, or a detail you want reflected in stories). You may add to it while a story is being made, when we ask one question. When you save it, it and the interests are read into a few short labels (such as “shy” or “a move coming up”) that only decide which ready-made story ideas the create page shows first. You never see them and they are never shared.
• The people and pets you add to your child's stories, with any notes you write on how each one looks and what they are like.

Story and usage data

• Stories you generate, including the text, images, narration audio, and video scenes we create on your behalf.
• How the app is used: pages and stories opened, how far a story was read, taps and navigation, and screen recordings of app sessions.
• Story preferences you choose at generation time (tone, theme, duration, custom prompt), and which of our pages you read before signing up. The create page uses both to order its ready-made story ideas.
• If you answer while a story is being made: when you usually read together, how you heard about Tella, and how your child liked a recent story. We use these to understand how families find and use Tella. They are never shared.
• In kid mode: what your child taps to make a story, the way they pick when a story stops and asks what happens next, and the part they say they loved. These are stored with the story and shown to you in Settings. If you turn on Tella listening, your child can answer her out loud instead; the recording and its text are discarded once she has answered.

Device and technical data

• Browser type, operating system, device category, time zone, language and IP address, used to make the app work across devices and keep it secure.
• Cookies and similar identifiers, used to keep you signed in, for analytics and to measure our ads (see section 5).
• In our phone and tablet apps, only if you turn notifications on: a push address for that device (a code Apple or Google gives the app so a notification can reach it), the device's time zone, and when the app was last opened on it. We use these to send the notifications you chose, at a sensible hour where you are, and to stop when the app is gone.
• Error logs and diagnostic data, used to detect and fix problems.

Payment data

• Payments are processed by Stripe on the web and by Apple or Google in their apps. We receive a confirmation and subscription status but never see or store your full card number.

Gift cards

• From the person sending a gift card, who does not need an account: your name, email address and relationship to the child, a personal note if you write one, and when you want the gift delivered (with your time zone).
• If you choose to appear in the child's stories: your own description of how you look (with the skin tone you pick) and what you are like, and the character picture we draw from it. If you are signed in and already have a character on your own Tella account, you can bring that picture along instead.
• If you choose to record a hello: a voice recording of up to 30 seconds. This is an adult's recording, kept so the family can play it.
• About the family receiving the gift, given to us by the sender: the child's first name and a parent's email address. We use them only to deliver the gift and to send two reminders if it has not been opened.

Friend links

• When you add a friend or relative to your child's stories and send them the story they are in: the first name and description you typed, the character picture we drew from it, and which story the link opens. The page behind the link shows that character and your child's first name and picture to anyone who has the link, and the story becomes public: anyone can view it, and it can show up in search engines like Google.
• We do not collect the friend's phone number or email address. You send the link yourself, from your own phone.
• If their family joins through your link: a copy of your child's character (first name, picture and a description of how they look) is saved to their account, and we record that they joined so both families get their credits.

3. How we use your information

• Personalize stories. The child profile data (name, appearance, interests, your note about them) is passed to our AI providers when you save it and each time you generate a story. It is used solely to create content for your family.
• Maintain your account. We use your email to authenticate you, send transactional messages (account creation, password reset, subscription receipts), and communicate about service changes.
• Send notifications you opt into.We offer four optional email categories: story-ready alerts, weekly highlights, new features and tips, and news from Tella. In our phone and tablet apps we also offer push notifications, which are off until you say yes: bedtime ideas for your child's next story, and good news such as someone watching a story you shared. You control all of these in Settings → Notifications and can update them at any time.
• Improve the service.We use analytics and session recordings to understand which features work and what to fix, and we check stories for quality and safety. Unless you turn off “Help improve Tella” in Settings → Privacy & data, our team may also read stories made for your account when working on story quality.
• Measure our ads. We use the Meta Pixel to see which of our ads for parents lead to sign-ups and purchases. In our iPhone and iPad app, Apple tells us when an install came from one of our App Store search ads, and we follow what that install goes on to do in the app, such as making a story.
• Ensure safety and integrity. We monitor for misuse, fraud, and violations of our Terms of Service, and we use this information to enforce them.
• Comply with law. We may process data to meet legal obligations or respond to valid legal process.

4. AI processing of your data

Tella uses third-party AI services to generate story text, character images, narration audio, and short video scenes. When you request a story, a subset of your child's profile (appearance, name, interests, your note about them) is sent to these services as part of the generation request. If you add a photo of your child, it is sent to these services to draw your child's character and is not stored by us. The providers are named in our Children's Privacy Policy.

If a prompt or profile detail you provide references real-world material owned by someone else (such as a brand, character, or logo), the Service automatically reinterprets it as original content rather than reproducing it. You are responsible for the information you choose to submit.

AI-generated stories are creative content. We do not guarantee their accuracy or developmental suitability, and parents should always review stories before sharing them with children.

5. How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only as follows:

• Stories you share: Stories are private by default. A story a parent chooses to share becomes public: anyone can view it, and it can show up in search engines like Google, until the parent makes it private again.
• AI and cloud providers (Anthropic, Google, Fal.ai, OpenAI, ElevenLabs): to write, illustrate, narrate and animate stories and to run the platform. What each one receives is listed in our Children's Privacy Policy.
• Payments(Stripe, Apple, Google, RevenueCat): to process purchases. RevenueCat keeps the record of purchases made in our apps and receives your email address with them. For a gift card, Stripe receives the sender's email address and payment details.
• Push notifications(Apple, and Google through Firebase Cloud Messaging): to deliver the notifications you turn on in our apps. They receive your device's push address and the words of each notification, which can include your child's first name, a story title and the name of an animal friend from a story.
• Email(Brevo): to send our emails. It receives your email address, notification preferences, and the content of emails such as a story-ready email. For a gift card it sends the gift emails, so it receives the sender's and the parent's email addresses, the sender's name and note, the child's first name and the sender's character picture.
• Gift card extras: a sender's description of themselves goes to Anthropic (to check it and write it up) and to Google (to draw the character). A picture a signed-in sender brings from their own account goes to Anthropic, which reads it back as a description. A sender's voice recording goes to ElevenLabs, which turns it into text so we can check it before a family hears it.
• Analytics (PostHog): product analytics and session recordings, used only to run and improve Tella.
• Advertising measurement(Meta, Apple): the Meta Pixel receives page visits, sign-ups and purchases, with your IP address, a Meta cookie and the page title, while the parent's profile is active. It is turned off while a child profile is active. In our iPhone and iPad app, Apple matches an install to the App Store search ad that led to it, and RevenueCat receives that match along with the app's analytics ID, so the match can be joined to our own analytics. This uses no advertising identifier and does not follow you into other apps. Tella shows no ads.
• Team tools (Slack): internal alerts about feedback and errors.
• Legal requirements: we may disclose information if required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Tella, our users, or the public.
• Business transfer: if Tella is acquired or merged, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before your data is subject to a materially different privacy policy.

Sending a gift card does not put anyone on a mailing list. The sender gets Tella news only if they tick the box at checkout. The parent receiving a gift gets the gift email and up to two reminders, and nothing else unless they sign up themselves.

6. Children's privacy

Tella is made for children, and a parent or guardian sets up every account and child profile. A parent can make one first story before creating an account; how that story is kept is in our Children's Privacy Policy. Children also use Tella directly: in kid mode (the child's own profile) they make stories by tapping pictures, pick what happens next when a story stops and asks, and hear Tella's short spoken lines, which are voiced by ElevenLabs and can include the child's first name. With Tella listening turned on, they can also answer her out loud.

How we handle children's information, including parental consent, is described in our Children's Privacy Policy (COPPA Notice).

7. Data retention

We keep your account, child profiles and stories while your account is in use, and delete accounts with no sign-in and no active plan for 24 months, after two warning emails. Deleting your account in Settings takes effect right away; we keep only records we must keep for tax, accounting or legal reasons. The full schedule, including how long we keep deleted stories, unfinished sign-ups and error records, is in our Children's Privacy Policy.

Friend links: a link you made is erased when you delete your account. A copy of your child's character on another family's account stays with that family until they remove it or delete their account. Email us to have one removed.

Gift cards: a gift that was started but never paid for is erased after 24 hours. A paid gift's details are kept for the life of the gift, which never expires. Once a family opens it, the sender's character and voice recording stay with that family until they delete them or their account. A sender can ask us to remove their details at any time at hello@tella.kids.

8. Security

We keep a written information security program, and use encryption in transit (TLS) and at rest, limited access for our team, and routine monitoring to protect your information. Sensitive values (like admin codes) are stored as salted hashes and are never recoverable in plaintext. No system is completely immune to attack, so please use a strong, unique password and keep your device secured.

9. Your rights and choices

• Access. You may view and edit your account and child profile information inside the app at any time.
• Export.You may download a full JSON export of your account and child data in Settings → Account & privacy → Privacy & data.
• Correction. You may update any information in your profile directly in the app.
• Deletion.You may delete your account in Settings → Account & privacy, or email us at hello@tella.kids to request deletion of your data and any child data associated with your account.
• Notification preferences.You may opt out of any non-essential email category at any time in Settings → Notifications or via the unsubscribe link in any marketing email. Transactional emails (receipts, security alerts) are not optional while your account is active. Push notifications can be turned off in Settings → Notifications in the app, or in your device's own settings, and stop on a device when you sign out of it.

10. International transfers

Tella LLC is based in the United States. If you use Tella from outside the U.S., your information is transferred to and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country. By using Tella you consent to this transfer.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when we add features, change service providers, or when required by law. We will post the revised policy here. For material changes, we will notify you by email or through an in-app notice at least 14 days before the change takes effect, and ask for consent again where the law requires it.

12. Contact us

For privacy questions, data access requests, or account deletion, contact us at hello@tella.kids. We typically respond within 5 business days.