Privacy Policy

Hickory Books turns your photos into printed books. To do that we store your photos, use AI to understand and arrange them, charge you through a payment processor, and send your finished book to a print-and-ship partner. We do not sell your personal information, and we don't use your photos to train AI models. You can ask us to delete your account and photos at any time.

• Account information. When you sign up we (via our authentication provider) collect your name, email address, and login credentials.
• Your photos and the content you add. The photos you upload or select, plus captions, titles, and edits you make. We generate and store thumbnails, AI-written descriptions, and facial-grouping data derived from your photos so the app can organize them and build books.
• Order and shipping information. Recipient names and mailing addresses you enter to have a book delivered, and a record of your orders.
• Payment information. Payments are handled by our payment processor (Stripe). We receive a confirmation and limited billing details; we do not receive or store your full card number.
• Usage and device data. Basic logs and analytics (for example, error reports and feature usage) to keep the service working and improve it.

• To create, edit, preview, print, and ship your books.
• To analyze your photos with AI so we can describe, group, and curate them into books. We do not use your photos or content to train machine-learning models.
• To process payments, memberships, and orders.
• To maintain your digital library and provide member benefits.
• To communicate with you about your orders, account, and support requests.
• To secure the service and comply with the law.

We share only what each partner needs to perform its function, and we do not sell your personal information. Our key providers:

• Authentication — manages your sign-in and account credentials.
• Cloud storage & database — stores your photos, books, and account data.
• AI analysis — processes your photos to generate descriptions and groupings used to build books.
• Payments (Stripe) — processes your payments and subscriptions.
• Printing & fulfillment (Lulu) — receives your finished book file and the recipient's shipping address to print and mail your book.
• Google Photos (optional) — if you connect Google Photos, we access only the specific photos you choose to import.

You keep all rights to your photos. You grant us a limited license to store and process them only to provide the service — to build, print, and ship your books and to power features you use. We do not claim ownership of your content and do not use it to train AI models or for advertising.

We keep your photos, books, and account information for as long as your account is active so your digital library remains available. You can request deletion of your account and associated photos by emailing us; we will delete them within a reasonable period, except where we must retain limited records (for example, order and tax records) to comply with the law.

We use reputable infrastructure providers and access controls to protect your data. No method of storage or transmission is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable measures to safeguard your information.

Hickory Books is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. The photos you choose to include may contain images of children in your own family; you are responsible for the content you upload.

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, export, or delete your personal information. To exercise any of these, contact us at the address below and we'll help.

We may update this policy as the product evolves. We'll change the “last updated” date above and, for material changes, take reasonable steps to notify you.

Questions about privacy? Email support@hickorybooks.com.