Terms, content policy & privacy

1. Who we are

Aether Observer (aetherobserver.com and its app) is an independent project based in Australia. “We” and “us” means the people who run it. For anything in this page, email contact@aetherobserver.com.

By making an account, starting a story or buying anything, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use Aether Observer.

2. Who can use it

You need to be 13 or older to have an account (16 in the European Union and the UK, unless a parent or guardian agrees). If you're under 18, a parent or guardian must agree to these terms for you and handle any payments.

Younger children can use Aether Observer only through a parent's account, with kid mode on and the parent in charge. See Children and kid mode.

3. Your account

Sign-in is handled by Clerk. Keep your sign-in details to yourself; you're responsible for what happens on your account. Tell us straight away if you think someone else has used it. You can delete your account at any time (see Delete your account).

4. Your stories

You own your stories: what you write (events, notes, names) and, as far as the law allows, the chapters, pictures and other content the AI makes for you. In some countries AI-made content may not be protected by copyright at all, so we can't promise anyone else can't make something similar.

So that we can run the service, you give us permission to store, copy, process and show your stories to you and the people you share them with, and to send them to the AI providers that write and draw them. If you make a story public (Discover, or a shared link), you also let us show it to anyone, including search engines, until you make it private or delete it. This permission ends when you delete the story, apart from copies in backups that roll over within a few weeks.

We don't sell your stories, use them for advertising, or let AI companies train on them.

5. AI-generated content

Most of what you read in a story is written or drawn by AI (Google Gemini, with OpenAI for narration and as a backup; see How we use AI). Nobody reads it before you do. It can be wrong, inconsistent, or occasionally unsuitable despite our safeguards, and it isn't our opinion or advice. Don't rely on it for anything important.

6. Content policy

You must not use Aether Observer to make, ask for or upload anything that:

• sexualises children in any way, fictional or not. There are no exceptions, and we may report credible attempts to the authorities;
• is illegal where you live or in Australia;
• harasses, threatens or exposes a real person, or shares their private details;
• closely copies someone else's book, film, song or other work;
• breaks Google's Generative AI Prohibited Use Policy, which applies to everything sent to the AI.

Dark themes such as war, crime, horror and villains are a normal part of storytelling and are fine on their own. We check what's sent to the AI, and the AI providers have their own safety blocks; blocked attempts are logged.

Don't try to break, overload or get around the service's limits, scrape it, or get into accounts that aren't yours.

Reporting. Use “Report content” at the bottom of any page, or email contact@aetherobserver.com. Copyright owners can send a takedown request to the same address with the page link and proof the work is theirs. We may remove content that breaks these rules.

7. Plans and payments

The free plan costs nothing. Paid plans are monthly subscriptions, billed through Clerk and Stripe in US dollars; Stripe handles your card and we never see it. Prices and what each plan includes are on the Pricing page.

• Renewal. A plan renews automatically each month until you cancel.
• Cancelling. Cancel any time under Billing in your account menu. Your plan keeps working until the end of the month you've paid for, then you're on the free plan. Your stories stay.
• Refunds. We don't refund part-used months or tokens you've spent, except where the law says we must (for example under the Australian Consumer Law) or where something we did went wrong. If something isn't right, email us and we'll sort it out fairly.
• Tokens and pictures. A plan's monthly pictures reset each month and don't carry over. Tokens you buy never expire, have no cash value and can't be transferred to someone else. If a picture fails, its token is returned.
• Price changes. We'll tell you at least 14 days before a price change affects your plan, so you can cancel first.
• Donations made on the Support page go through PayPal and are gifts, not payment for anything.

8. Suspending or ending accounts

We may suspend or close an account that seriously or repeatedly breaks these terms, or to protect other people or the service. Where it's safe to, we'll tell you why first and give you a chance to download your stories. If we close a paid account through no fault of yours, we'll refund the unused part of the month. We may also stop offering Aether Observer altogether; if so we'll give at least 30 days' notice so you can download your stories.

9. Our responsibility to you

Nothing in these terms takes away rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law or the consumer laws of your country that can't be excluded.

Apart from those rights, Aether Observer is provided as it is, while it's still growing. We work hard to keep it running and your stories safe, but we can't promise it will always be available or free of mistakes. Keep your own copy of anything precious (each story's Settings has a download button).

As far as the law allows, we aren't responsible for indirect losses, and our total responsibility for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before it, or to supplying the service again.

10. Changes to these terms

We'll update this page as Aether Observer grows and change the date at the top. For important changes we'll tell you by email or on the site before they apply. If you keep using Aether Observer after that, the new terms apply; if you don't agree, you can delete your account.

11. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of Western Australia, and its courts can hear any dispute. If you live in the European Union or the UK, you also keep the protection of your own country's consumer law and can bring a claim there.

12. What we collect

• Your account: your email address, the name you choose, and how you signed in (email, Google or Discord), through Clerk.
• Your stories: everything you write or upload (events, session notes, photos of notes, chat messages in shared stories) and everything the AI makes from it.
• Payments: your plan, payment history and token balance. Card details stay with Stripe.
• Settings: notification choices, kid-mode settings (the PIN is stored scrambled, never as typed), and your Discover profile.
• Usage: what you do in the app (for example chapters written and pictures made), so limits and tokens work.
• Visit counts: which page someone arrived on and the site or link that sent them, without names or IP addresses.
• Technical logs: our hosting provider's server logs record IP addresses and browser details for a short time, for security and fixing problems.
• Messages to us: feedback, reports and emails.

13. How we use it

To run Aether Observer (your account, stories, sharing, payments and notifications), to keep it safe (limits, abuse checks, reports), to fix problems, to see what's working and improve it, and to answer you. We send news emails only if you've left them switched on; every email has an unsubscribe link, and you can change notifications in your account settings.

We don't sell personal information, show ads, or use it for advertising.

14. Who we share it with

Only the services that run Aether Observer for us, and only what each one needs:

• Clerk: sign-in and subscriptions.
• Stripe: card payments.
• Google (Gemini): writes chapters, draws pictures, reads photos of notes. OpenAI: narration, and a backup when Google is unavailable.
• Render: hosts the website, server and database.
• Cloudflare: security, speed and our email address.
• Resend: sends our emails.
• Your browser's push service, if you turn on push notifications.
• PayPal: donations, if you make one.

We also share information if the law requires it, to protect someone's safety (including reporting child exploitation), or with whoever takes over Aether Observer if that ever happens, under this same policy. People you share a story with see that story; public stories can be seen by anyone.

Staff access is kept to a minimum. Private stories' names and contents are hidden in our admin screens, and admin access is logged.

15. AI providers and training

Your stories are sent to Google and OpenAI through their paid business services. Under their terms they don't use it to train their AI, and they keep it only for a limited time to check for abuse. Our site also tells AI companies not to train on our pages.

16. Where it's stored

Our server and database are in the United States (Render, in Oregon), and the services above may handle information in other countries. They protect it under their own privacy commitments, and for European and UK users, under the standard contract terms those laws require.

17. Cookies and browser storage

We don't use advertising or tracking cookies, and there are no ads. What we do keep in your browser:

• Sign-in cookies from Clerk, so you stay signed in.
• Two cookies of our own: one remembers a guest story you're trying before signing up, and one remembers that a grown-up unlocked kid mode.
• Security cookies Cloudflare may set to block bots.
• Browser storage for things you choose or see: your theme, which chapters you've read, dismissed tips and banners, unsaved drafts, and, until you close the tab, the link that brought you here (so a sign-up can be counted against it).

These are needed for the site to work or remember your choices, so there's no cookie banner. Stripe sets its own cookies on the payment screen to prevent fraud. You can clear all of this in your browser settings; you'll be signed out.

18. How long we keep it

• Your account and stories: until you delete them.
• Guest stories (tried without signing up): 7 days.
• Group chat messages in shared stories: 90 days. Private messages stay until the story or account is deleted.
• Stories with no activity for 60 days may be removed; we email you a week before.
• Payment records: as long as tax law requires (Stripe keeps these).
• Server logs: a short time, then they're overwritten.
• Backups: replaced automatically within a few weeks.

19. Your choices and rights

• See and download: each story's Settings has a download button. For a copy of everything we hold about you, email us.
• Correct: change your name and details in your account menu, or ask us.
• Delete: delete a story in its Settings, or your whole account (see Delete your account).
• Emails and notifications: switch them off in your account settings or with the unsubscribe link.
• Object or complain: email contact@aetherobserver.com. We reply within 30 days.

20. Children and kid mode

Accounts belong to adults (or teens with a parent's agreement; see section 2). Kid mode lets a parent hand their own account to a child, locked with a PIN, showing only kids' stories. We don't ask children for personal information or let them contact other people through it.

Please don't put a child's full name, school, address or photo into a story; a first name or a made-up name is plenty. If you think a child has given us personal information without a parent, email us and we'll delete it.

21. Keeping it safe

Everything travels encrypted (HTTPS), the database isn't reachable from the internet, and only the people who run Aether Observer can get into the admin screens. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach ever puts your information at risk, we'll tell you and the regulators the law requires.

22. Where you live

Australia

We aim to handle personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles. If you're not happy with our answer to a complaint, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (oaic.gov.au). Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law are unaffected by anything here.

European Union, EEA and UK

We use your information to provide the service you signed up for (contract), to keep it safe and improve it (legitimate interests), to meet legal duties, and, for news emails and push notifications, with your consent, which you can withdraw any time. You can ask to access, correct, delete, restrict or move your information, or object to how we use it, by emailing us. You can also complain to your local data protection authority (in the UK, the ICO).

United States

We don't sell or share personal information for advertising, and don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (see section 20). Residents of states with privacy laws can ask to access or delete their information by emailing us.

Everywhere else

If your local law gives you more rights than this page, you have those too. Email us and we'll help.

23. Contact

Questions, requests or complaints about anything on this page: contact@aetherobserver.com.