This is the plain-English version. It explains exactly what happens to a photo you send us, in the order people usually ask. Our full privacy policy is the formal document; nothing here contradicts it.
What we use the photo for
One thing: making the book you ordered. We use it to put the child's face into the illustrations, and for nothing else. We do not use it to build a profile of you, we do not use it for advertising, and we do not pass it to anyone who wants to sell you something.
How the face is actually made
We are straightforward about this, because some companies are not. The illustration is generated by AI from the photo you send. A specialist on our team then looks at every book before it goes to print, and if the face is not right, it goes back and is done again.
So: made by AI, checked by a person.
Who sees it
Our own team, and the systems we use to generate the illustration. We do not authorise any provider we work with to use your photo to train or improve their AI models. We do not sell photos, we do not share them for advertising, and we will never use a child's face in our own marketing — on the website, in an advert, or anywhere else — unless you have given us separate, specific permission for that particular image.
How long we keep it
Twenty-four hours. That is the whole life of your child's photo with us.
Those 24 hours are yours. It is the window in which you can change a name, a spelling or the dedication, free, and in which a real person on our team checks the book before it goes to print. When the window closes, the book is printed and the photo is deleted automatically — we do not have to remember, and you do not have to ask.
It works the same way whether you ordered a book or only made a free preview. If a book ever arrives damaged we reprint it from the finished illustration, not from your photo, so there is nothing we need it for afterwards — and we would rather not have it.
One honest caveat: deleted files can survive for a short time in our encrypted backups until those backups are overwritten in the normal cycle. They are not accessible to the team in day-to-day work, and they are overwritten within 30 days.
What we never do
- We never sell photos.
- We never share them for advertising or let anyone else target you with them.
- We do not authorise any provider we work with to use them to train their AI models.
- We never put a child's face in our own marketing without separate permission.
What if I am not the child's parent?
Grandparents order a lot of these books, and this is the question we are asked most often.
You can absolutely order a book for a grandchild, a niece, a nephew or a godchild. We only ask that the child's parent or guardian is happy for you to send us the photo. You do not need to prove it to us and we will not ask you for paperwork — we are asking you to be straight with us, because it is their child.
If a parent ever contacts us about a photo of their child, we will delete it and tell them we have, no questions asked.
How to delete everything
Email us and ask. We will delete the photo and confirm it the same working day. You do not need to give a reason, and it does not affect a book you have already received.
You can also ask us what we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask for a copy. Those are your rights under GDPR and we will not make you fight for them.
Questions
If anything here is unclear, or you want something deleted, write to us and a person will answer.