Your family stays yours
Privacy Policy
Plain-language summary of how Cúil Books looks after your family's photos and details.
Who we are (data controller)
Mac Cuill Labs Ltd (trading as Cuil Books; registered office Unit 5, O'Duffy Centre, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, Ireland) is the data controller for the personal information described here. Contact: maccuill@proton.me. Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) is our lead supervisory authority.
What we collect
Account: your email address and sign-in records. Book details: first names, a child's age in years, interests, family members, pets, memories, dedication text and any Halloween extras you type in. Photos you choose to upload. Voice guide: if you choose to use the microphone (only after your browser asks your permission), a short recording of your question; if you type instead, the text you type. Orders: your order history and receipts. If printed books become available, we will also need a delivery name and address for those orders only. We never ask for a child's date of birth or the child's home address.
Children's information
Accounts are for adults only. Parents and guardians provide information about their own children and confirm they have the right to do so. Children's details and photos are used only to create that family's book, never for advertising, profiling or training AI models.
Why we use it (legal basis)
To create, show and deliver your book and run your account — performance of our contract with you (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)). Photos of children and family are handled with extra care and only to make the book you asked for. Keeping the service secure and preventing misuse — legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)). Keeping order and tax records — legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)). Optional marketing emails, if ever offered — your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
Who processes it for us
We use trusted service providers bound by data processing agreements: our hosting, database, sign-in and file-storage provider (Lovable Cloud, running on Supabase infrastructure); an AI gateway (Lovable AI) that sends book text, photos and voice clips to AI model providers (such as Google and OpenAI) to tidy story text, paint illustrations, transcribe speech and read stories aloud; our card payment provider, which processes payments securely (we never see your card number); and, if printed books become available, a printing and delivery partner. These providers may not use your data for their own purposes.
International transfers
Some providers process data outside the European Economic Area, including in the United States. Where that happens, transfers rely on the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, with additional safeguards where required.
Creator links and codes
If you arrive through a creator's link (for example cuilbooks.com/?ref=name), we count an anonymous visit — no IP address or personal details — and your browser remembers the creator for 30 days. If you then sign in, the creator is noted on your account so they get credit for a book you order, even on another device. Creators never see your name, email or book; they only see the order date, product and their commission. Legal basis: legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) in running our creator programme.
How long we keep it
Original uploaded photos: our daily cleanup removes them once 30 days have passed after delivery, or after the last edit to a book that was never bought. This does not delete generated book illustrations. Print-shop and home-print PDFs, enlarged print pictures and narration are removed after 12 months; project/order records, story illustrations and the screen PDF are retained so the online reader can continue working. You can also request deletion of your information. Voice recordings: used only to understand your question and not stored by us afterwards. Order and invoice records: kept for 6 years to meet Irish tax law. Sign-in and security logs: up to 12 months.
How your photos are protected
Photos are prepared on your own device before upload: hidden camera, date and GPS location data is removed and the image is resized. They are stored in private storage, never publicly accessible, and shown only through temporary links that expire after 60 seconds. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, and account-level access rules keep each family's books separate from every other customer.
Who can see your information
Other customers can never see your books or photos. Access is limited to you, the service providers listed above (only as needed to provide their service), and a small number of authorised Cúil Books staff when needed for support, safety or legal reasons.
Your rights
You can ask to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your data, restrict or object to how we use it, and withdraw consent where we rely on it. Email maccuill@proton.me and we will respond within one month. You can also complain to the Data Protection Commission at dataprotection.ie.
What we never do
We never sell your information, never share your family's photos with other customers, never use your child's details for advertising, and never use your photos to train AI models.
Changes
If we change this policy in a meaningful way we will tell you by email or on the site before the change takes effect. Last updated: 22 October 2026.