Privacy Policy

1. What This Policy Covers

This Privacy Policy describes how Ember Legacy, Inc. (“Ember,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, and protects information when you use the Ember Legacy mobile application and the emberlegacy.ai website (together, the “Service”).

This policy applies to account holders, recipients of shared stories and messages, and visitors to our website.

Our core commitment: Your stories, recordings, photos, and messages belong to you. We store them securely so your family can access them for years to come. We never sell your data, never train AI models on your content, and never show you ads.

2. Information We Collect

2a. Account Information

When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, password, and optional profile photo. If you subscribe to a paid plan, payment information is collected and processed by our payment processor—Ember never stores your full card number. We also collect family relationship data when you link accounts within a Family Group.

Categories of personal information collected (for California residents): Under the CCPA/CPRA, the categories of personal information we collect include: identifiers (name, email); commercial information (subscription history); internet or electronic network activity (app usage analytics); audio, electronic, and visual information (voice recordings, photos, videos); and inferences drawn from the above to provide the Service. We do not collect sensitive personal information as defined by the CPRA, including precise geolocation, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, genetic data, biometric information for identification, health information, or information about sex life or sexual orientation.

2b. Content You Create

The Service is designed to preserve your family’s stories. This includes:

• Voice recordings and AI-generated transcriptions
• Photos and videos (metadata is stripped on upload)
• Handwritten note scans
• Written stories and messages
• AI-assisted message drafts that you initiate, review, and approve before sending

2c. Content About Others

Your stories may mention or include photos of family members who do not have Ember accounts. We do not create profiles for non-users. Content about non-users is controlled entirely by the account holder who created it.

2d. Usage and Technical Data

We collect limited technical data to keep the Service running smoothly:

• App usage analytics (you can opt out in Settings)
• Device type, operating system version, and app version
• Error and crash logs (no story content is included in error reports)

We do not collect your location data, contacts, browsing history, or data from third-party sources.

2e. Information We Do Not Collect

We do not collect: precise geolocation data, contact lists or address books, browsing history or search history, data from third-party sources or data brokers, biometric identifiers, or financial information beyond what our payment processor handles for transactions.

3. How We Use Your Information

3a. To Provide the Service

• Store and deliver your stories, recordings, photos, and messages to family members you choose
• Automatically transcribe voice recordings and audio from videos using AI
• Generate message suggestions using AI when you request them—AI uses transcriptions and any text you provide to compose a draft; you always review, edit, and approve before sending
• Analyze photos and videos using AI to recognize content and generate descriptions, for use in message suggestions and search
• Extract metadata from your content to enable semantic search across your stories and media
• Provide personalized prompt inspiration and suggestions based on your content and usage patterns
• Assist with photo, audio, and video editing and compilation when you use creative tools within the Service
• Process payments securely through our payment processor
• Send transactional communications (account confirmations, sharing notifications)

3b. To Maintain and Improve the Service

• Monitor errors and fix crashes
• Analyze app performance with anonymized analytics (opt-out available)
• Protect against security threats and unauthorized access

3c. What We Never Do With Your Data

• We never sell or share your personal information or content with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising
• We never use your content to train AI models
• We never show you advertisements
• We never create behavioral profiles for marketing purposes
• We never share your content with anyone you haven’t chosen to share it with
• AI assists with transcription and message suggestions only—it never generates voices or images of people
• We never make automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you

4. How We Share Your Information

4a. With Your Family (Your Choice)

Stories and messages are shared only with family members you designate. You control who sees what through access controls. Stories received by a family member belong to that recipient permanently.

4b. Service Providers

We work with a small number of service providers to operate Ember. Each provider accesses only the data necessary for their specific function:

• Cloud infrastructure — Stores your content and account data securely
• AI processing — Handles transcription and message suggestions. Our agreements prohibit these providers from using your content to train their models.
• Payment processing — Handles payment details only; payment providers never access your story content
• Error monitoring — Receives error logs and device information only; no story content is included
• App distribution — Handles app delivery and updates only; no user content is accessed

All service providers are contractually required to protect your data and use it only for the purposes described above. A current list of our sub-processors is available upon request by contacting support@emberlegacy.ai.

4c. Legal Requirements

We may disclose information if required by law, subpoena, or court order, or if we have a good-faith belief that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Ember, our users, or the public. We will notify you of such requests if legally permitted to do so.

4d. Business Transfers

If Ember Legacy is acquired, merged, or sells substantially all of its assets, your data may transfer as part of that transaction. We will notify you and provide an opportunity to delete your account before any transfer takes effect.

5. Family Sharing and Access Controls

Access controls restrict each account to its own data by default. You choose which family members can view specific stories or messages.

When you share a story or message with a family member, the received copy belongs to them permanently—even if your account is later deleted. Revoking access removes future visibility but does not delete copies already received.

Parents or guardians manage accounts for users aged 13–17.

6. How Ember Uses Artificial Intelligence

Transcription: Voice recordings and audio from videos are automatically processed by a third-party AI service to generate text versions. Transcription happens automatically when you upload audio or video content. Our AI providers do not retain your content for training purposes under our data processing agreements.

Message suggestions: When you request help composing a message, AI uses your content’s transcription and any text you provide to generate a draft message. You review, edit, and approve any suggestion before it is shared. AI-assisted message composition is always optional.

Content recognition: AI may analyze photos and videos to recognize objects, scenes, and context (but not to identify individuals) to assist with message suggestions, search, and content organization.

Search and discovery: AI extracts metadata from your content to enable semantic search, allowing you to find stories and media by meaning rather than only by title or date.

Personalization: AI may suggest prompts, story ideas, or creative inspiration based on your content and usage patterns to help you capture and share more stories.

Creative tools: AI may assist with editing, compiling, and combining your photos, audio recordings, and videos when you use creative tools within the Service. All AI-generated edits require your review and approval.

What AI never does:

• AI never generates voice recordings that sound like a person
• AI never creates images of people
• AI never sends messages or shares content on your behalf without your explicit approval
• AI never makes decisions about who can access your content
• Your content is never used to train general-purpose AI models

7. Data Security

We take the security of your family’s stories seriously:

• Access controls restrict each account to its own data
• Metadata is stripped from photos on upload
• Data is encrypted in transit and at rest
• We conduct regular security reviews

No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a security breach affecting your personal data, we will notify affected users and relevant regulatory authorities as required by applicable law, generally within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach.

8. Data Retention and Deletion

While your account is active: All content is retained for as long as your account exists. Ember is designed for long-term preservation—we do not delete content due to inactivity without notice.

Retention by data type:

• User Content (stories, recordings, photos, messages): Retained for the life of your account
• Account information (name, email, profile): Retained for the life of your account, then deleted per the schedule below
• Payment records: Transaction history retained for 7 years after the transaction date as required by tax and financial regulations
• Error and crash logs: Automatically purged after 90 days
• Usage analytics: Anonymized and aggregated within 30 days of collection; raw analytics data is not retained

Account deletion: You can request full account deletion at any time through Settings or by contacting support@emberlegacy.ai. After you request deletion:

• Your account enters a 60-day grace period during which it is deactivated but recoverable
• After 60 days, all personal data and content is permanently deleted from active systems
• Backup copies are purged within 90 days of final deletion (up to 150 days total from your initial request)
• Content you previously shared with family members that they received remains with the recipient—it belongs to them

Data export: You can export all of your data at any time, at no cost, in standard formats. Your data is yours and you are never locked in.

9. Your Rights

All users have the right to:

• Access — Request a copy of all data we hold about you
• Export — Download all your content in standard formats at any time
• Deletion — Request complete account and data deletion
• Correction — Update or correct your personal information
• Opt out — Disable usage analytics in app Settings

California residents (CCPA/CPRA): You have the right to know what personal information is collected, the categories of sources, the business purpose for collecting it, and the categories of third parties with whom it is shared. You have the right to delete your personal information, the right to correct inaccurate information, and the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. Ember never sells or shares personal information as defined by the CPRA. We do not use sensitive personal information for purposes beyond what is necessary to provide the Service. We do not discriminate against users who exercise their privacy rights.

Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, and other US state privacy laws: Residents of states with comprehensive privacy laws have similar rights to access, delete, correct, and port their data. You also have the right to opt out of targeted advertising (which Ember does not engage in), the sale of personal data (which Ember does not do), and profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects (which Ember does not do). You may appeal any denial of a privacy request by contacting us at support@emberlegacy.ai.

EU/UK residents (GDPR): Our legal bases for processing your personal data are:

• Contract performance — Storing and delivering your content, processing account registration, managing Family Groups, and processing payments (necessary to provide the Service you signed up for)
• Legitimate interest — Security monitoring, error logging, and fraud prevention (our interest in maintaining a secure, reliable service, balanced against your privacy rights)
• Consent — Optional usage analytics (you can withdraw consent at any time via app Settings; withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of prior processing)

You have the right to data portability, restriction of processing, objection to processing based on legitimate interest, and the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. Data transfers to the US are covered by Standard Contractual Clauses. You may withdraw consent for analytics processing at any time without affecting your access to the Service.

Authorized agents: You may designate an authorized agent to submit privacy requests on your behalf. Authorized agents must provide signed written authorization from the account holder. We may contact the account holder directly to verify the request.

Identity verification: To protect your privacy, we verify your identity before processing access, deletion, or correction requests. We will ask you to confirm information associated with your account. We will not require you to create a new account to submit a request.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@emberlegacy.ai. We respond to all privacy requests within the timeframes required by applicable law (generally 30–45 days, with extensions as permitted).

10. Children’s Privacy

Ember is available to users aged 13 and older. Users between 13 and 17 must have the consent of a parent or guardian. Parents and guardians can manage, review, and delete a minor’s account at any time.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected data from a child under 13, we will delete it promptly. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, please contact us at support@emberlegacy.ai.

11. Third-Party Links

The Service may contain links to third-party websites or services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any third-party services you visit. This Privacy Policy applies only to information collected by Ember Legacy.

12. Cookies and Tracking

The Ember mobile app does not use cookies. Our website (emberlegacy.ai) uses minimal, functional cookies necessary for site operation. We use anonymized analytics to understand usage patterns—you can opt out of analytics data collection in your app Settings.

We do not use tracking pixels, third-party advertising cookies, or cross-site tracking of any kind.

Do Not Track: We honor Do Not Track (DNT) browser signals. Because we do not engage in cross-site tracking, the Service functions the same whether or not DNT is enabled.

Global Privacy Control: We recognize and honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals as a valid opt-out of any sharing of personal information, as required by applicable law.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. For material changes, we will notify you via email and/or in-app notification at least 30 days before they take effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Previous versions of this policy are available upon request.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Ember Legacy, Inc.
Email: support@emberlegacy.ai

We respond to all privacy inquiries within 30 days.