Privacy Policy

The short version

Stories Book is made for children and their families, so we built it to work without collecting personal information. There are no accounts or sign-in, no chat, no camera, microphone, contacts or location access, and no analytics tools. Reading progress stays on your device. Ads, where shown, are non-personalised, rated for all ages, and never use your child's personal data or the device's advertising ID.

Who we are

Stories Book is provided by Tsegazeab Hailu Tedla, trading as Nku App Services, established in Finland (EU). We are the data controller for the limited processing described below. Contact us at support@nku-services.com.

Information that stays on your device

Information	Why	Where it is kept
Reading status you choose for each story (Not started, Started, Reading, Completed), favourites and stars	So your child can see their progress and continue stories	Only on the device, in the app's private storage
Last page read, whether a story was read or listened to	"Continue where you left off"	Only on the device
Story language, second language, app language, text size, bedtime mode, voice speed and sleep timer	Show the app the way you set it	Only on the device

We cannot see or access this information. It is never uploaded to us or to anyone else. You can delete it at any time (see Account & Data Deletion).

Information sent over the internet

Advertising (only in versions that show ads). To help keep Stories Book free, the app may show small banner ads on the story shelf and progress screens. Ads never appear while a story is being read or listened to, in the Parent Zone, or in bedtime mode. To deliver an ad, the ad network receives the technical information any internet request contains, such as IP address, device type, operating system and version, app version and language. It uses this only to show an ad that fits the screen and the app's content (contextual advertising), limit how often it appears, and prevent fraud.

Every ad request is marked as coming from a service directed to children and from a user under the age of consent. That means:

• no personalised or interest-based advertising, and no remarketing;
• the device's advertising identifier (Android Advertising ID / Apple IDFA) is not collected or sent, and Stories Book does not ask for App Tracking Transparency permission;
• ad content is limited to material rated suitable for general audiences.

On Android the ad network is Google AdMob, used in the configuration Google requires for apps in its Families programme. On iOS, the current version shows no third-party ads. If we add a kid-safe advertising partner in future, we will name it here and update this policy before it is switched on.

Reading aloud. In most languages, stories are read aloud by the text-to-speech voice built into your phone. The text is processed by your device's speech engine; we do not receive it. For Amharic, Tigrinya and Afaan Oromoo, narration is played from audio files included in the app.

Links for grown-ups. Links to our website (this policy, support and terms) are behind a parental gate and open in your browser.

Emails you send us. If you contact support, we receive your email address and whatever you write. Please don't include a child's personal information. We use it only to answer you.

Children's privacy

Stories Book is directed to children, including those under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children as defined by the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR / UK GDPR) or similar laws.

• No accounts, profiles or free-text fields, so children cannot type or share personal details.
• No profiling: ad requests use only the technical information needed to serve a contextual ad, which COPPA permits for the support of an app's internal operations.
• Parental gate: links out of the app, settings and data reset require an adult to solve a question.
• High privacy by default, in line with the UK Age Appropriate Design Code: no geolocation, no nudges to share, no streaks or pressure mechanics.

If you believe a child has sent us personal information (for example, in a support email), contact us and we will delete it.

Legal bases (EU/UK)

On-device storage is necessary to provide the app you asked for. Processing of technical data to deliver contextual, non-personalised ads is based on our legitimate interest in funding free access, balanced against children's rights by the safeguards above. Support emails are processed to respond to your request. We do not rely on children's consent for any processing.

Who we share data with

• Google (AdMob), only in versions showing ads, to serve contextual ads as described above. See how Google uses information from apps that use its services: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
• Our email provider, to receive and answer support emails.

We do not sell personal data and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.

International transfers

Some providers (such as Google) may process data outside the European Economic Area. Where that happens, transfers rely on appropriate safeguards such as EU adequacy decisions or Standard Contractual Clauses.

How long we keep data

On-device data stays until you reset progress in the Parent Zone or delete the app. Support emails are deleted within 12 months of resolving the request, unless the law requires us to keep them longer. Ad networks retain technical request data according to their own policies.

Your rights

Under GDPR you can ask for access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability and object to processing. Parents and guardians can exercise these rights for their child. Because the app does not send us reading data, most requests will concern support emails. Contact support@nku-services.com; we respond within one month (extendable by two months for complex requests, with notice). You can also complain to Finland's supervisory authority, the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman (Tietosuojavaltuutetun toimisto), or to your local authority.

Security

Data sent over the internet is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS). On-device data is stored in the app's private storage, protected by your device's security.

Changes to this policy

We will update the version and dates above and, for material changes, show a notice in the Parent Zone. We will not begin collecting personal information from children without first updating this policy and obtaining verifiable parental consent where the law requires it.