Privacy policy

1. Who we are

Koala Tales operates this service in Australia. In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Koala Tales. We provide stories for families and let adults create a cartoon character from their own photo for personalised stories.

For privacy questions and requests, email koalataleshelp@gmail.com. Our website is koalatales.com.

2. Information we collect

• Google account information: your account identifier, email address, email-verification status and basic profile information Google supplies, such as your name and profile picture. Google Identity Platform manages your Koala Tales sign-in. We do not receive your Google password or request access to your Gmail messages, Drive files or contacts. Your profile picture is not automatically turned into a story character.
• Character and story information: the photo you choose to upload, character name, country and language settings, adult and likeness-consent declarations, consent date and version, generated artwork, personalised videos, and creation, approval, deletion and processing records.
• Activity and technical information: information needed to deliver and protect the site, such as IP addresses, browser details, request times, and error or security records. For signed-in users, we record a limited set of product events, such as starting a story or creating and approving a character. These use a coded account-derived identifier instead of an email address, but are not completely anonymous.
• Support information: your contact details, messages and information you choose to send us. Please do not send photos or other personal information that is unnecessary for your enquiry.

3. How we use information

We use this information to create and secure your account, associate your private library with you, generate your requested cartoon likeness and stories, record consent and approvals, handle enquiries and deletion requests, diagnose problems, understand product usage, prevent misuse and meet applicable legal obligations.

You can watch public stories without signing in. An account is needed for private account features. Uploading your photo is optional, but is necessary if you choose to create a personalised character. The current website does not include third-party advertising pixels.

4. Adults and children

Our stories are for families. Accounts and character creation are intended for adults aged 18 or over. A parent or guardian should manage the account and supervise children’s viewing.

Character creation asks you to confirm that you are at least 18 and that the uploaded photo is of you. This is a declaration, not an identity-document or age-verification check. Do not upload photos of children or other people.

We do not offer child accounts or ask children to submit personal information. Ordinary technical information can still be processed when someone watches a public story. If you believe a child has submitted personal information, contact us so we can investigate and arrange appropriate removal.

5. Photos, AI and service providers

We send your uploaded adult reference photo to Google’s Gemini API, with instructions and a story-art reference, to generate a cartoon likeness. We then use that artwork to render personalised videos. The current feature does not collect or clone your voice, or use facial recognition to authenticate you or identify you against a database of people.

• Google provides sign-in, Identity Platform, Gemini image generation and Gmail for support enquiries.
• Cloudflare provides hosting, content delivery, security, application records and private media storage.

The Koala Tales operator may access relevant information to provide the service, investigate problems or handle requests. Personalised videos are rendered on an operator-managed computer in Australia. Customer information is handled by the operator and the Google and Cloudflare services described here, including their service infrastructure.

Uploaded photos, characters and personalised videos are not published in a public gallery. If you download and share a video yourself, that copy is outside our control. We may also disclose information where required or permitted by law, or reasonably necessary to address fraud, security incidents or threats to safety.

Google’s AI data handling

Google’s Gemini API terms distinguish paid and unpaid services. Paid-service inputs and outputs are not used to improve Google’s products, but may be logged for a limited period for safety and legal purposes. Unpaid services can use inputs and outputs for product improvement and human review.

We have not yet verified which data-use tier applies to the live image-generation connection. Until this is verified, do not assume that an uploaded photo or generated artwork is excluded from Google’s product improvement or human review. You can use Google sign-in and watch public stories without uploading a photo.

Read the Gemini API terms, Google Privacy Policy, Google authentication privacy information and Cloudflare Privacy Policy for provider details. These documents do not replace our responsibility to explain our own practices.

6. Where information is handled and security

Rendering takes place on an operator-managed computer in Australia. Google and Cloudflare operate international infrastructure, so other storage, processing and access are not restricted to Australia. Information may be handled in the United States, Europe and other countries where these providers or their service providers operate. We have not established a fixed country-by-country list for every processing step.

We use encrypted connections, protected sign-in sessions, private media storage and account-based access checks. No online service can guarantee absolute security. Protect your Google account and sign out on shared devices.

7. Retention and deletion today

• Original reference photos: approving a character removes its uploaded reference photo from active media storage. A photo left in an unapproved draft has no automatic expiry: it remains until you approve or delete that character.
• Saved characters and stories: these remain associated with your account until deletion. Deleting a character removes access to it, removes associated media from active storage and cancels related story jobs.
• Account, consent and activity records: deleting a character does not erase your Google-managed Koala Tales account or all database records. Records can retain your email, chosen character name, consent timestamps and related job or product-event details. There is currently no app-wide automatic expiry for these records or support correspondence; they can remain until manually removed.
• Rendering copies, logs and backups: website deletion does not automatically remove every local rendering copy, provider log or backup. Providers apply their own retention processes. We do not promise immediate removal of every copy.

There is no self-service full-account deletion function yet. Email us to request account or data deletion. We will verify the request, assess the records and copies involved, and explain the removal steps and any information that needs to remain, including applicable legal or security reasons. Signing out or disconnecting Google does not itself erase information already held by Koala Tales.

8. Cookies and browser storage

We use a secure sign-in cookie lasting up to five days and a login-security cookie lasting up to ten minutes. Signing out clears these Koala Tales cookies; it does not sign you out of Google or delete your account.

Browser session storage helps avoid repeatedly counting the same homepage experiment exposure during a session. Google and Cloudflare may use their own cookies or similar technologies for authentication and security. You can clear or block cookies in your browser, but blocking sign-in cookies prevents private account features from working.

9. Your choices and requests

You can choose not to sign in or upload a photo, and you can delete a character using the website. To request access, correction, withdrawal of likeness consent or deletion, email koalataleshelp@gmail.com. We may ask for information needed to verify that the account is yours.

You can manage Koala Tales’ connection in your Google account settings. Removing that connection does not automatically delete your Koala Tales records or media.

10. Questions and complaints

Send privacy questions or complaints to koalataleshelp@gmail.com, with enough detail for us to investigate. We will review your concern and respond using your contact details. If you are not satisfied, you can seek guidance about available complaint rights from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner or another relevant privacy regulator.

11. Policy changes

We will update this page and its effective date when our practices change. For significant changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify affected users, for example through a website notice or account email.