Privacy Policy

Here is the heart of it, in plain language:

• Your photos are analyzed on your device. Grouping the people who turn up again and again, sorting your photos into trips, and choosing layouts all happen on your iPhone. That work is never uploaded to us.
• Only the photos you choose ever leave your phone. When you order a book, the specific photos in it are sent securely so our print partner can produce it. Nothing else is uploaded.
• We never sell your data, and never train AI on your photos. We do not sell your photos or personal information, and we do not use your photos to train AI models.
• You stay in control. Tidbit needs access to your photo library to build your book, and you can turn that access off in iOS Settings or delete your account and its data whenever you want.

Photos are the center of Tidbit, so this is the most important section.

When you set up Tidbit, iOS asks for access to your photo library. Tidbit needs access to your full library, because the whole point is that it looks across your photos for you and finds the trips, people, and moments worth printing, instead of leaving you to hunt for them. That access is not permanent: you can change or remove it at any time in iOS Settings.

Once you grant access, Tidbit looks through your photos to help you build a book. Almost all of this happens on your device, and none of it is uploaded to us:

• Grouping the people in your photos. Tidbit notices when the same person turns up in more than one photo, so you can build a book around the people who matter most to you. This happens on your iPhone and stays on your iPhone. We never receive it, and it is only ever used to sort your own photos into your own book.
• Understanding your photos. It reads basic details like the date a photo was taken, the location saved in the photo if there is one, and simple scene information, to suggest which photos belong together and which to feature.
• Designing the book. It arranges your chosen photos into layouts and previews, all rendered on your device.

The only time photo content leaves your phone is when you place an order. At that point, the specific photos you selected are combined into a single print-ready file on your device and uploaded over a secure, private link so our print partner can produce and ship your physical book. We keep that file only as long as we need it to fulfill and support your order.

We do not sell your photos, we do not use your photos to train AI models, and we do not upload the rest of your library. Only the photos in a book you actually order are sent for printing.

If you choose to save a finished book or organized memory back to your photo library, iOS will ask for permission to add to your library, and Tidbit only adds the items you ask it to.

Some books let you add a short spoken story to a page. If you record one, the audio is captured on your device. If you ask Tidbit to turn it into written text, the recording is sent securely to OpenAI, which transcribes it and sends back text you can edit. It is sent for that transcription only, and it is not used to train AI models.

We use voice recordings and their transcripts only to create the story text for your book, and you can delete a recording or its text at any time.

Tidbit does not track your live location and does not use background location. The only location it uses comes from the photos you already took, when your camera saved where a photo was shot.

To turn those coordinates into friendly place names like a city or region for your book, Tidbit looks them up through a mapping service over a secure connection. It uses Apple's location service first, and if that is temporarily unavailable it falls back to OpenStreetMap, sending coordinates rounded to roughly a kilometer. Either way, only a coordinate is sent. Your photos are not, your name and account are not, and the place name that comes back is stored on your device.

To save your books and use them across sessions and devices, Tidbit needs an account. You create one by signing in with Apple or with Google, so there is no Tidbit password to set or remember. Apple or Google confirms it is you and passes us your email address and, if you have one on file with them, your name. We never see your Apple or Google password.

If you use Sign in with Apple, you can choose to hide your real email address, and Apple will give us a private relay address instead. Tidbit works exactly the same either way.

We use your email to sign you in, send you order updates, and provide support. You can add or change the name you would like used in the app or printed in a book.

When you order a book, we collect what we need to make and deliver it: your order contents, shipping name and address, and contact details.

Payments are handled by our payment provider, Stripe. Your full card number is entered with Stripe and is never seen or stored by Tidbit. We receive only what we need to confirm the payment and support your order.

To deliver your book, we share your shipping details and the print file with the production and shipping partner who makes and sends it.

Tidbit can suggest captions, titles, and short stories to go with your photos. To do this, it sends text descriptions derived from your photos, such as the date, place, and scene, along with any voice story you chose to transcribe, to OpenAI, which drafts suggested wording.

It does not send your actual photos to generate this text. The suggestions are a starting point that you review and edit before ordering, and they are not used to train public AI models.

To fix bugs and understand which features genuinely help, we collect basic, privacy-minded usage analytics through our analytics provider, PostHog. This includes things like which screens you visit and whether a step succeeded or failed, along with general device and app version information.

This data is linked to your account so we can support you, and it never includes the content of your photos, the people in them, or anything Tidbit works out about them on your device. These usage analytics are not used to follow you around other companies' apps or websites. Advertising is a separate thing, and the next section covers it.

We run ads for Tidbit on Google and Meta. To know whether an ad actually led to anything, we tell Google and Meta when someone installs the app, starts checkout, or completes an order, along with the order total.

Before any of that can be tied to you personally, iOS asks your permission. If you say no, nothing in the app changes and nothing stops working. We simply receive a rough, anonymous count of how an ad performed instead of anything connected to you. You can change your answer at any time in iOS Settings.

We never send your photos, who is in them, what your book is about, or anything Tidbit worked out about them on your device.

If you allow notifications, we use our messaging provider, OneSignal, to send order updates such as when your book ships, and, if you opt in, occasional product news. You can turn notifications off at any time in iOS Settings.

We use the information described above to:

• Provide the app and let you design, preview, and save books.
• Make, print, and deliver the books you order, and handle reprints or returns.
• Process payments and prevent fraud.
• Provide support and send order and account updates.
• Keep Tidbit secure and reliable, and improve how it works.
• Meet legal, tax, and accounting obligations.

We do not sell your personal information. We share only what is needed, and only with partners who help us run Tidbit and are required to protect your information and use it solely for the services they provide to us. These include:

• Printing and shipping. Our production partner receives your print file and shipping details to make and deliver your book.
• Payments (Stripe). Processes your payment securely.
• Sign-in (Apple and Google). Whichever one you sign in with confirms it is you and passes us your email address. They do not receive your photos or your books.
• Cloud, accounts, and storage (Supabase). Hosts your account and securely stores order files.
• Analytics (PostHog). Helps us understand usage and fix problems.
• Advertising (Google and Meta). Receive the fact that an install, a checkout, or an order happened, and the order total, so we can tell whether our ads are working. Only tied to you if you allow tracking when iOS asks. They never receive your photos or anything about what is in them.
• Notifications (OneSignal). Delivers order updates and optional product news.
• Email (Resend). Sends order confirmations and account emails.
• Transcription and AI text (OpenAI). Transcribes any voice story you record, and drafts captions and stories from photo-derived text. It never receives your photos.
• Place names (Apple and OpenStreetMap). Turn a photo coordinate into a city or region name for your book. They receive a coordinate and nothing else.

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect the rights, safety, and property of our users and of Tidbit. If Tidbit is ever part of a merger or acquisition, we will continue to protect your information and tell you about any change.

We keep your account information for as long as your account is active. We keep order details and print files only as long as we need them to fulfill and support your order and to meet legal and tax requirements, after which they are deleted.

Information that lives on your device, such as your trips, how your photos are grouped by the people in them, and the rest of the work Tidbit does on your photos, stays on your device. It is removed when you delete that content or remove the app.

You are in control of your information:

• Revoke permissions. Turn off photo, microphone, or notification access in iOS Settings whenever you want. Tidbit needs photo access to build a book, so turning it off stops it from making new ones, and it never stops you from removing it.
• Access and correct your data. View and update your account details in the app, or email us for help.
• Delete your account. You can delete your account and its associated data from within the app, or by emailing us, and we will remove it.
• Opt out of marketing. Unsubscribe from product emails and turn off notifications at any time. We may still send essential order and account messages.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights over your personal information, such as the right to access, correct, delete, or port it, or to object to certain processing. We extend these choices to all of our users and do not sell personal information. Email us and we will help you exercise your rights.

Tidbit is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with information, email us and we will delete it.

We protect your information with encryption in transit, secure and time-limited upload links for print files, encrypted storage, and access controls that limit who can see your data. No service can promise perfect security, but we work hard to keep your information safe and to use as little of it as possible.

Tidbit is operated from the United States, and the partners who help us run it may process and store information in the United States and other countries. Wherever your information is handled, we take steps to protect it as described in this policy.

We may update this policy as Tidbit grows or as laws change. When we do, we will revise the date at the top, and for meaningful changes we will let you know in the app or by email before they take effect.

Tidbit operates the app and is responsible for the information described here. If you have any question or request about your privacy, email us at support@tidbitbooks.com and a real person will get back to you.