Policies & Terms

Living Lore is built on a simple principle: your stories are yours, and we don't want to see them.

We've intentionally designed our system so that we cannot read your private story content. This isn't just a policy—it's how our software is built. We believe fiction is fiction, and we're not here to police your imagination.

The only exception: our AI will not generate content that sexualizes minors. This boundary exists at the AI level, not through us monitoring what you write.

Acceptance

By using Living Lore, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use our service. These terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Living Lore.

Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use Living Lore. If you are between 13 and 17, you must have parental or guardian consent.

Your Responsibilities

You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and for all activities that occur under your account. You agree not to share your login credentials with others.

Modifications

We may update these terms from time to time. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the new terms. We'll notify users of significant changes via email or prominent notice in the app.

What We Collect

Account Information

• Email address
• Authentication data (managed via Clerk)
• Account preferences and settings

Game Metadata

• Session timestamps and duration
• Feature usage patterns (which modes you use, not what you create)
• Technical diagnostics and error logs

Aggregated Analytics

• General usage statistics to help us improve the service
• This data is anonymized and cannot be traced back to individual stories

What We Don't Collect

We do not log, store, or have access to:

• The content of your stories
• Your prompts or inputs to the AI
• The AI's responses in your games
• Any narrative content you create

This isn't just a policy choice—our system is architected so that story content passes through to our AI provider but is not logged or stored by us.

How Your Stories Stay Private

Technical Architecture

• Story content is processed by our AI provider but not logged by Living Lore
• We do not have an admin interface to view user stories
• Our application logs contain metadata only, never story content
• Saved games are encrypted at rest

What This Means: Your private stories are between you and the AI. We've designed our system so that we don't need to—and genuinely can't—read your content.

What We Don't Do

• We don't sell your personal data to anyone
• We don't track you across other websites
• We don't use your data for targeted advertising
• We don't share your stories with anyone
• We never train AI models on your stories.
• We don't read your stories. Period.

Your Family's Recordings

We keep the actual recording of every answer for as long as your archive exists, so you can hear your loved one tell it in their own voice.

• Keeping a recording is not training on it — we never use these recordings to train AI.
• There is no expiry clock: a recording is deleted only when you delete the archive itself.
• You can download or permanently delete every recording at any time.

How We Use Your Data

The data we do collect (account info and metadata) is used to:

• Provide and maintain the service
• Save your progress and preferences
• Communicate with you about your account
• Improve the application based on usage patterns
• Comply with legal obligations

How Safety Works

We use what the industry calls the “Walls Approach”—safety boundaries exist at the AI output level, not through monitoring your input.

Output Filtering, Not Input Monitoring

• The AI has boundaries on what it can generate
• We do not monitor or analyze what you write
• Your prompts and inputs are not reviewed by anyone

No Human Review of Private Content

• Your unpublished stories are never seen by our team
• We don't flag, queue, or review private story content
• No Living Lore employee will ever read your private stories

No Consequences for Private Play

• There are no bans, suspensions, or penalties for anything in private, single-player stories
• If the AI hits a safety boundary, you'll see a message—that's it
• We don't track or record when boundaries are hit

Seamless Response Handling

• When you send a prompt, the AI generates multiple possible responses
• If one option hits a boundary, an alternative is served instead
• In rare cases where no response passes the boundary, you'll see a clear message explaining what happened

What the AI Won't Generate

The AI will not generate:

• Sexual content involving minors (including fictional depictions)
• Content that sexualizes, grooms, or depicts abuse of children

These are hard boundaries. They exist because this content causes real-world harm, and we won't be a tool for creating it.

What This Doesn't Restrict

Everything else is between you and the AI. We're not here to limit:

• Adult content between consenting adult characters
• Violence, horror, or dark themes
• Morally complex scenarios
• Controversial topics
• Anything else legal adults might want to explore in fiction

Published/Shared Content

If you choose to publish stories or share them with other users through any future community features, that content becomes subject to community guidelines. Community guidelines apply only to content you actively choose to make public.

How Your Data Flows

When you play Living Lore:

1. Your prompt goes from your device to our servers
2. We pass it to our AI provider (OpenRouter) for processing
3. The AI generates a response
4. The response comes back through our servers to you
5. We do not log the content at steps 1-4

AI Provider Policies

We use OpenRouter to route AI requests. Per their policies:

• We never train AI models on your stories.
• Content is not retained beyond what's necessary to process your request

For full details, see OpenRouter's Privacy Policy.

Third-Party Services

Living Lore uses the following services:

Clerk (Authentication)

Handles user authentication and account management. Clerk Privacy Policy

Convex (Backend/Database)

Provides our real-time backend infrastructure and data storage. Stores account data and game metadata—not story content. Convex Privacy Policy

OpenRouter (AI Inference)

Routes AI requests to language model providers. OpenRouter Privacy Policy

These services have their own privacy policies. By using Living Lore, you also agree to their terms as they apply to data processed on their platforms.

What Could Trigger Disclosure

We may be legally compelled to cooperate with authorities in cases of:

• Known or suspected child exploitation material
• Credible, specific threats of imminent violence against identified individuals
• Valid legal process (subpoenas, court orders)

What This Means in Practice

Because we don't log or store story content, we typically have nothing to disclose. If we receive a legal demand, we can only provide:

• Account information (email, IP addresses used for login)
• Metadata (login times, session timestamps)
• Any content you've chosen to publish publicly

We cannot provide content from private stories because we don't have it.

Transparency Commitment

If legally permitted, we will notify you of any requests for your data before complying. We will resist overbroad requests and will only provide data specifically required by valid legal process.

A Note on Fiction vs. Reality

Writing fiction about crimes is not committing crimes. Our policy is clear: we don't monitor your stories, we don't analyze them for concerning content, and we don't report fictional scenarios to anyone.

The only exception is if you directly contact us (via support, etc.) with information suggesting actual harm to real children, at which point we may have legal reporting obligations.

Your Content

You retain ownership of the original content you submit to Living Lore—your prompts, character concepts, world-building, and creative input. By using the service, you grant us only the technical license necessary to provide the service (transmitting your prompts to the AI, etc.).

AI-Generated Content

Content generated by AI in response to your prompts is provided for your use. The intellectual property status of AI-generated content varies by jurisdiction. We make no claims of exclusive ownership over AI-generated story content.

Our Property

The Living Lore name, logo, branding, and underlying software are our intellectual property. You may not use our branding without permission.

Minimum age: 13 years old. This is required for COPPA compliance.

If you are between 13 and 17 years old, you must have consent from a parent or legal guardian to use Living Lore.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we discover that a user is under 13, we will terminate their account and delete their data.

Account Deletion

You can delete your account at any time through your account settings. When you delete your account:

• Your personal data will be removed within 30 days
• Your saved games and preferences will be deleted
• Anonymized analytics data may persist (it's not tied to you)

When We May Terminate Your Account

• Violation of our Content Policy (for published/shared content only)
• Violation of these Terms of Service
• Fraudulent or illegal activity
• Extended inactivity (with prior notice)

For serious violations of community guidelines regarding published content, we may terminate accounts without prior warning.

We will never terminate an account based on private story content, because we don't see it.

Data Retention

After account deletion, personal data is removed within 30 days.

We use cookies sparingly and only for essential purposes.

Essential Cookies Only

• Authentication: To keep you logged in
• Preferences: To remember your settings
• Security: To protect against cross-site request forgery

What We Don't Use

• Third-party advertising cookies
• Cross-site tracking cookies
• Social media tracking pixels
• Analytics cookies that track individual behavior

Because we only use essential cookies required for the service to function, no cookie consent banner is required under most privacy regulations.

If you're in the European Union, European Economic Area, UK, or California, you have additional rights regarding your personal data.

Your Rights

• Access: Request a copy of your personal data
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate data
• Deletion: Request deletion of your data (“right to be forgotten”)
• Portability: Receive your data in a portable format
• Objection: Object to certain types of processing

How to Exercise Your Rights

You can exercise most of these rights directly through your account settings. For requests that require additional verification or aren't available in settings, contact us directly.

California-Specific Disclosures

Under the CCPA, California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect and how it's used. We do not sell personal information. We are not a data broker.

We are committed to making Living Lore accessible to all users and strive to follow WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines.

Current Features

• Keyboard navigation support
• Screen reader compatibility
• Sufficient color contrast
• Resizable text

Report an Issue

If you encounter accessibility barriers, please let us know. We take accessibility feedback seriously and will work to address issues promptly.

Here's what we promise: