Privacy

Peak Software Pty Ltd is the responsible party for the information on this site and in the builder, as that term is used in the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

Anything at all about your information: hallo@mnrdebeer.com. A person reads it.

Our Information Officer is the head of Peak Software Pty Ltd. Email: privacy@mnrdebeer.com.

If you join the list: your name, your email address, which language you want your books in, which language you were reading the page in, and the date and time you sent the form. That is the whole list.

We use it for one thing. We send you one email when the builder opens, and one if the plush bear comes back in stock. Not a newsletter. Not a reminder. Not an offer. If we ever want to send you something else, we ask you first, in a separate and obvious way.

We do not sell your address, we do not rent it, and we do not upload it to an advertising platform as an audience.

On mnrdebeer.com/start you can type one line and see a story plan and a painted cover before you sign in. There is no account, and it is words only: you cannot add a photo there.

What we keep: the line you typed, the plan and the cover. They stay on our servers, where nobody else can open them, so you can keep the book if you sign in. If you sign in, they move into your new book. If you do not, we keep them for up to 48 hours, and then they are deleted.

To write and paint, the words go to Google's Gemini, the same as in the builder, on servers outside South Africa.

To stop abuse and keep our costs known, we limit how many previews can be made in a day. To count them we use a scrambled code made from your internet (IP) address with a secret key. We never keep the address itself. Google's reCAPTCHA Enterprise also runs on that page, through App Check, to check you are not a bot (see Who else sees it).

You sign in with Google or Apple. We keep the name and email address they give us, a random account id, the language you picked, and your credit balance. There is no password for us to hold.

If you buy credits, a voice or a print, we keep a record of what you bought and when. Your card details never come to us.

Who takes the money depends on where you buy. In the iPhone app, you pay Apple with your Apple ID. In the Android app, you pay Google Play with your Google account. On the web, and for a printed book on any device, you pay PayFast in South Africa, and Stripe for some payments from outside South Africa. Apple and Google tell us what you bought, not how you paid. PayFast and Stripe tell us whether the payment went through. We never see your card number.

Everything you put into a book is stored so you can come back to it: the hero's name, age and three words, what the story is about, the words on each page, and the pictures. A book belongs to you. Nobody else can open it, and we do not use it to advertise or to train anything.

Most pictures are painted from words. You can also make a character from a picture you give us: a photo of your child, a photo of a thing, or your child's own drawing. That is always your choice, and words are always enough. The next section says what happens to that picture.

To write and paint, the builder sends the words you gave and the story so far to Google's Gemini models. That happens on our servers, not on your device, and the app never holds a key to the AI. Google processes that text on servers outside South Africa, which POPIA requires us to tell you. We do not send your name or email address with it.

If you ask for a book to be read aloud, the words on each page go to ElevenLabs (elevenlabs.io), which turns them into speech. That also happens on our servers, and ElevenLabs works on servers outside South Africa. We do not send your name or email address with it.

If you order a print, we keep the name, the delivery address and the phone number (if you give one) you type in, for as long as it takes to make and send the book, plus what tax law requires us to keep of the invoice.

In the app you can make a character card from a picture: a photo of your child, a photo of a thing (a toy, a pet), or your child's own drawing. You never have to. Words are always enough.

First you say yes. For a photo of your child you tick two boxes: that you are the child's parent or legal guardian, and that the photo may go to Google, outside South Africa, to be painted. For a drawing or a thing you tick the boxes the app shows you. Nothing is sent until every box is ticked.

What we keep: the picture you gave us, made smaller (at most 1024 pixels on the long side) and with its hidden details taken out, such as where and when it was taken. We also keep the pictures painted from it.

Why we keep it: to paint that one card, and nothing else. We use it for the first painting, to paint the card again in another art style without asking you for the picture again, and to paint it in more detail for a printed book so it still looks like your child.

Where we keep it: in a private place in our Google Cloud storage, in the United States (us-central1). The app cannot open it. Only our own server code can, and only to paint that card.

Who works with it: to paint, our server sends the picture to Google's Gemini service, which works on servers outside South Africa. We do not send your name or your email address with it. We never share the picture, sell it or show it to anyone else, and we do not use it to train AI.

A film of the book: if you make a film of a book with a card painted from a photo of your child, you tick one more box first. The film uses only the pictures we painted, never the photo you gave us. Google's Gemini paints the film's pictures and Google's Veo makes them move, on servers outside South Africa, only to make the film you asked for. We never share the film, sell it or use it to train AI. It stays in your account until you delete it, the book or your account.

How long we keep it: until you remove it. It is deleted when you delete that card, when you give the card a new picture, when you take back your yes, or when you delete your account. Nothing else keeps a copy.

To take back your yes, open the Account screen in the app and tap Withdraw consent. The pictures you gave us are deleted, and we do not paint from them again. You can also email us and we do it for you.

We keep a record of each yes: what kind of picture it was for, which boxes you ticked, which words you saw, and when. The record holds no picture and no name. If you delete your account, we keep these records with your account id taken out, so we can still show that a parent said yes.

In Google Cloud, in the United States: the list, the free preview, your account, your books, their pictures and their narration, and any photo or drawing you give us. This means your information leaves South Africa. Google protects it under its data processing terms, which is the safeguard POPIA section 72 asks for.

Access is limited to the people running this project.

Google, for two jobs: hosting the data above, and running the Gemini models that write and paint, including painting from a photo or drawing you give us. ElevenLabs (elevenlabs.io), for reading a book aloud: it gets the words on the page and nothing else. Resend (resend.com) delivers our email, and processes your name and email address on our instruction and for nothing else. Their servers are outside South Africa.

Stability AI (stability.ai), for My world, where a thing or a character becomes a 3D toy. First Gemini paints the toy as a picture. Then our server sends that painted picture to Stability AI, which turns it into a 3D model. Stability AI gets our painted picture and nothing else: never a photo or drawing you gave us, and never your words, your name or your email address. A card painted from a photo of your child is never sent: it stays flat. Stability AI's servers are outside South Africa.

OpenRouter (openrouter.ai), to find a ready-made picture. When a page needs a common thing or place, such as a red kite, our server may send a few words that describe that one picture to OpenRouter. It runs a small AI model (Jev, by TypeSafe) that says if one of our ready-made pictures fits. It never gets a name, a story, a picture or your email address, and our server checks the words for anything personal before they go. OpenRouter's servers are outside South Africa.

Apple, Google and RevenueCat, when you buy in the app. In the iPhone app, Apple takes the payment. In the Android app, Google Play takes it, and Google gets the purchase and the Google account you pay with. RevenueCat (revenuecat.com) keeps the record of App Store and Google Play purchases for us, so your credits and your plan show up in the app. It gets a random account id and the purchase record from Apple or Google. It does not get your name, your email address or your card. Their servers are outside South Africa.

PayFast (payfast.io), when you pay on the web app or for a printed book. PayFast takes the payment on its own page, and gets your payment details, such as your card, and the name and email address you give it there. We never see your card number. We send PayFast what you are buying, the price and a random account id. PayFast sends us a confirmation that the payment went through, which we check and keep with your purchase. PayFast is in South Africa.

A printing company in South Africa, when you order a print. We choose a local printer for each order. We send it your book's print file and the delivery name, address and phone number, and nothing else. It prints and delivers your order, and may use those details only to do that. You can ask us which printer handled your order.

Stripe (stripe.com), for some payments on the web from outside South Africa, and for a printed book sent outside South Africa. Stripe takes the payment on its own page and gets your card details there. We never see your card number. We send Stripe what you are buying, the price and a random account id. For a printed book paid through Stripe, we also save the delivery name, address and phone number (if you give one) on a customer record at Stripe, so the tax is worked out for where the book goes. Stripe keeps these under its own terms and what tax law asks. Stripe's servers are outside South Africa.

Google's App Check with reCAPTCHA Enterprise, on the free preview page (mnrdebeer.com/start). It checks that a request comes from our real site and not from a bot. To do that, reCAPTCHA looks at technical details of your browser and device, and how it is used, and sends them to Google. Google uses them under its own privacy policy and terms, on servers outside South Africa.

Meta (Facebook and Instagram), only if you say yes to measuring our adverts. The section on that below says what it gets. If you say no, Meta gets nothing from us.

Nobody else. No other advertising platform, no analytics company, no mailing-list provider, and no other business gets your details. We never sell them.

We count which screens are opened and which buttons are tapped, so we can make the app better. We also count the steps of making a book: which step of a new book you are on, that words were written, that a cover was liked, and that the print screen was seen. Our server counts a few steps too: a free preview, a sign-in, pages painted, and a payment started or finished, with what kind it was and roughly how much, as a price band, never the amount.

We don't record what you write or draw, and we don't link any count to your name, your email or your account. It stays with us; no analytics company or ad network gets it. We delete it after 180 days.

Each count in the app holds the screen, the button or the step, the kind of phone (iPhone, Android or the web), the app's version, its language, and a random number made on your phone the first time the app opens. That number is not your account, and it is never sent with your account.

The site counts a visit too: which kind of page it was, its language, and the two words an advert link may carry (utm_source and utm_campaign, such as meta and christmas). It uses a random number made for that visit only, kept in the browser tab and gone when you close it. It sets no cookie.

All counts are kept with the rest of our data on Google's servers, outside South Africa.

We pay Meta (Facebook and Instagram) to show adverts for Mr de Beer. To know which adverts lead to sign-ups and sales, our server can tell Meta when some steps happen. It only does this if you say yes. If you say nothing, the answer is no.

Where you say yes: on the website, a small banner asks, with Yes and No thanks. Your choice is kept in your browser's own storage, not in a cookie. In the web app, a switch on the Account screen does the same. The iPhone and Android apps send nothing to Meta.

What we tell Meta: that a cover was shown in the free preview, that you signed in, that your first book was painted, that you started to pay, and that you paid. For a payment we say what kind of thing it was (a printed book, credits, the full book or a membership), and the amount and the currency.

What goes with it: your email address and your account id, scrambled one way (SHA-256) so Meta can match them to an account it already knows, but cannot read them back as text. Your internet (IP) address and the kind of browser you use. The Meta click id from the advert link (fbclid), and Meta's browser id (_fbp) if there is one. The time, and a random id for the event.

What never goes: anything in a book (the words, the title, a name, a picture), anything you typed, anything about a child, and no photo.

What we keep: each event waits in a private queue on our servers until it is sent, and we delete it within 7 days. The last browser details (IP address, kind of browser, click id and _fbp) are kept with your yes for at most 30 days, so a later payment can be matched to the advert. Meta keeps what it gets under its own terms, on servers outside South Africa.

To say no: tap No thanks on the banner, turn the switch off on the Account screen, or email hallo@mnrdebeer.com. It stops from then on.

This site can run the Meta (Facebook) advertising pixel, but only after you tap Yes on the banner that asks about measuring our adverts. Until then it does not load. Once it loads, it sets cookies and tells Meta that a browser visited a page, and — if you join the list — that a sign-up happened. It does not send Meta your name, your email address or anything you typed. Meta may match that visit to a Facebook or Instagram account it already knows about, and its servers are outside South Africa.

It is here for one reason: we pay to advertise Mr de Beer, and without it we cannot tell which adverts are worth paying for. That is the whole purpose, and it is the only thing the data is used for.

To say no, tap No thanks on the banner. If you said yes before, clear this site's data in your browser and choose again, or use a tracker blocker. The site works exactly the same.

There is no session recording and no heatmap. On the free preview page, Google's reCAPTCHA runs to stop bots (see Who else sees it), and it may set its own cookie to do that.

The list: until the emails it was collected for have gone out, and no longer than 12 months after that. Then it is deleted.

Your account and your books: for as long as you have an account. Delete a book and it is gone. Delete your account and everything in it goes with it, except the invoice records tax law makes us keep and the consent records above. Those are kept apart from your account id, so they no longer point back to you.

A photo or drawing you give us: until you delete its card, give the card a new picture, take back your yes, or delete your account.

The free preview: up to 48 hours, unless you sign in and keep the book.

What we count: 180 days. Then it is deleted.

Advert measuring: each event is deleted from our queue within 7 days. The last browser details kept with your yes: at most 30 days.

To delete your account, open the Account screen in the app and tap Delete account. It takes a minute and it cannot be undone.

If you ask us to delete something sooner, we do it and we do not keep a copy.

Under POPIA you may ask us what we hold about you, ask us to correct it, ask us to delete it, or object to us holding it at all. Email hallo@mnrdebeer.com and we will do it — there is no form and no process.

You may take back your yes to a photo or drawing at any time. That stops what we do from then on. It does not undo a painting already made while you had said yes, but you can delete that too.

You may say no to measuring our adverts at any time: tap No thanks on the banner, turn the switch off on the Account screen in the web app, or email us. That stops it from then on.

Every email we send has a one-click unsubscribe, and it works.

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your information you may complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa at inforegulator.org.za.

The builder is for the adult making the book. A child does not sign in. We hold only what you choose to give us about a child: the words you write into a story, and a photo or drawing if you add one. A hero's first name and age are part of the story, and they stay inside your book.

A photo of a child is only used when the child's parent or legal guardian has ticked the box that says so. It is kept and used as the section on photos and drawings says, and for nothing else.

Mr de Beer, the helper on the screen, cannot see or hear anyone. He works with the words you type and the pictures you choose to give.