Effective Date: July 1, 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how CYOA.APP ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and discloses information when you use our web application (the "Service").

1. Information We Collect

We collect and store the following types of information:

• Account Information: When you register, we collect your username and a hashed version of your password. We do not store your password in plain text.
• Novel Content: The text, choices, and generated image URLs for the visual novels you create are stored in per-user files on our server.
• Generated Images: Images generated by the AI based on your prompts are stored as PNG files on our server, associated with your novel data.
• Share Links: If you generate a share link, a short code is created and mapped to your novel. Anyone with the link can view and play your novel, including your username as author.
• Login Attempts: We log failed login attempts (including IP address and timestamp) for security and brute-force protection.
• IP Address: Collected for security purposes, specifically for login protection and abuse prevention.
• reCAPTCHA Tokens: We collect tokens from Google reCAPTCHA to verify that you are not a bot during login and registration.
• Session Cookies: Used for authentication and maintaining your login session.
• Image Prompts: Prompts you provide for image generation are sent to Google Gemini API for processing.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for the following purposes:

• To provide and maintain the Service, including storing and retrieving your novels and user account.
• To authenticate users and manage user sessions.
• To generate images for your novel pages using AI models based on your text prompts.
• To enable sharing of your novels via short links, which make your novel and author name publicly accessible to anyone with the link.
• To protect our Service from abuse, such as brute-force attacks, using IP address and reCAPTCHA data.
• To improve and optimize the Service (e.g., by analyzing usage patterns, though no personal data is used for this without explicit consent).

3. How We Share Your Information

We do not share your personal account information (username, password hash) with third parties. Your novel content and generated images are stored on our server and are accessible only to you through your authenticated account, except when you generate a share link. Anyone with the share link can view and play your novel, including your username as author.

We use Google reCAPTCHA, which may collect information according to Google's Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Image generation is performed using the Google Gemini API. Your image prompts are sent to Google for processing. Google's use of this data is governed by their API terms and policies.

4. Data Storage and Security

Your data (user accounts, novel content, images, share links, login attempts) is stored on our self-hosted server in JSON and PNG files. We implement reasonable security measures to protect your data, including password hashing and brute-force protection. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure.

5. Your Choices

• Account Information: You can update your novel content through the application. Account deletion is not currently offered directly through the UI, but you can contact us to request data deletion.
• Cookies: Our application uses session cookies for authentication. You can configure your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, some features of the Service may not function properly without cookies.

6. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

7. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at: