How PlayMyTale handles your data
PlayMyTale makes storybook films for children aged 2 to 5, so we collect as little as we can. This page lists all of it. Last updated 12 October 2026.
The short version
- Playing a story needs nothing from you or your child. No sign-up, no name, no age, no photo, and your child never types anything.
- The story player sets no cookies and loads nothing from other companies: no Google Analytics, no ad pixels.
- We only keep an email address if a grown-up types it into the "Get the app" or "Sign up" box.
- On the information pages (the home page, this page and the terms) we use Google Analytics cookies to count visits and button taps. In the UK, the EU and Switzerland we only do that if you say yes.
- We don't sell your email or share it with advertisers. You can ask us to delete it at any time.
- The app and the new stories aren't out yet. Joining a list means we'll email you when they are.
Who we are
PlayMyTale runs playmytale.com and decides how the data on this page is used (in privacy law, we're the "controller"). For anything about your data, email hello@playmytale.com.
If you join the app list or the sign-up list
We store six things: your email address, which list you joined (the app or the sign-up), which button you pressed, which phone you picked if you picked one (app list only), which stories were played on that device and how far each one got (for example "Bear Hunt, all the way"), and the date and time. Nothing else goes with your email: no name, no details about your child, no photo, no IP address and no ad click ids. The same email can be on both lists.
We use it to email you when the app or the new stories are ready, to give the first 500 families their free hero story (see the terms), and to send the odd update about PlayMyTale. We haven't sent any emails yet. Every email will have an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing takes you off the list for good.
Why we're allowed to (UK and EU law): you agree to it when you join, and you can change your mind at any time.
On the story player
The story pages (the ones that play a film) load only our own code. No cookies, no Google Analytics, no Meta Pixel, nothing from another company. We count anonymous events so we can see whether the stories work: a film started, a scene was reached, how far it got, the end. Each event carries the page, the time, the kind of device (phone or tablet, iOS or Android, and whether you're inside the Facebook, Instagram or TikTok app), the screen direction and a random visit code that's replaced after 30 minutes without use. Our server adds your country (two letters) and keeps no IP address. None of this is linked to an email or to a child.
The buttons at the end of a story ("Get the app", "Sign up") open an email box only after a grown-up check.
On the information pages: Google Analytics cookies
The home page, this page and the terms count the same anonymous events, plus the campaign tags and the website you came from (the site name only). These pages also load Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics, which set cookies named _ga and _ga_ followed by an id, to count visits and taps on our buttons. They last up to 2 years in your browser.
If you're in the UK, the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, Google Analytics sets no cookies until you tap "That's fine" on the cookie notice. Until then Google only gets a cookieless signal that a page was viewed or a button tapped, with nothing that identifies your browser. Everywhere else it's on, and you can turn it off. Either way, "Cookie settings" at the bottom of these pages changes your choice. We've turned off Google signals in Google Analytics, we don't link it to any ad account, and we don't share its data with Google for other products. Google Analytics keeps it for 14 months. Google's own policy: policies.google.com/privacy.
Meta Pixel: not in use. If we add it to the information pages later (never the story player), we'll update this page first, and visitors in the UK, the EU and Switzerland will be asked before it loads.
What stays on your device
Your browser's storage for this site (sessionStorage and localStorage, not cookies) keeps: the random visit code (until you close the tab), the campaign tags from your first visit (30 days), which stories were played and how far, the date of your first visit and how many visits, the read-along setting, your cookie choice, and a note that you joined a list. It stays on your device. Clearing your browser data removes all of it.
Who handles it for us
- Vercel Inc. hosts the site, handles your IP address to deliver the pages (it may keep it briefly in its logs) and stores the list emails and the anonymous events for us.
- Google LLC runs Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics (information pages only), and Google Sheets, where we keep a private copy of the lists that only we can open.
Both work on our instructions and store data in the United States. For visitors in the UK and the EU, these transfers rely on the safeguards in their data processing terms (the EU Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK addendum). We don't sell or rent your data, and we don't share your email with advertisers.
How long we keep it
- List emails: until 12 months after the app or the new stories launch, then we delete them, unless you've become a customer or stayed subscribed to our emails. If we decide not to launch, we delete the lists within 3 months of that decision. If you ask us to delete yours sooner, we do it within 30 days.
- Anonymous events: 14 months.
- Google Analytics data: 14 months.
Children
The stories are made for children aged 2 to 5, but the lists are for grown-ups. You need to be 18 or over to leave an email. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children: a child never types anything, the story player loads nothing from other companies, and its email box sits behind a grown-up check. If you think a child has given us an email, write to us and we'll delete it.
The hero story will need something about your child, such as a name and a photo. We collect nothing for it now. Before we ask, we'll explain exactly what we need and how we use it, and we'll only go ahead with your permission as their parent.
Your rights and how to delete your data
You can ask us for a copy of your data, to correct it, to delete it, or to stop using it, and you can take back your consent at any time. Email hello@playmytale.com from the address you signed up with (write "Delete" in the subject if that's what you want). We'll reply within 30 days. Clearing your browser data removes everything kept on your device.
If you're not happy with our answer, you can complain to your data protection regulator: the ICO in the UK, your national authority in the EU, the National Privacy Commission in the Philippines, or the OAIC in Australia. In the US, you can contact the FTC.
Keeping it safe
Everything travels over HTTPS. Each sign-up is saved as its own file, named with a code that can't be worked out from the email address, and only our secret key can list or change the files. Only the people who run PlayMyTale can open the list.
Changes
If we change what we collect, we'll update this page and the date at the top first. If the change affects people on our lists, we'll email them before it applies.