Privacy policy

Last updated: August 23, 2026

This Privacy Policy is issued by ComputerOnCloud BV, a company registered in Belgium under VAT number BE0773855409, with its registered address at Paasbloemstraat 14, 2170 Antwerpen, Belgium ("ComputerOnCloud BV," "we," "us," or "our"). ComputerOnCloud BV operates the GiftedTales website and is the data controller responsible for your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy.

GiftedTales operates this store and website, including all related information, content, features, tools, products, and services, in order to provide you with a curated shopping experience (the "Services"). GiftedTales is powered by Shopify. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, process, and disclose your personal information. If there is a conflict between our Terms of Service and this Privacy Policy, this Privacy Policy controls with respect to personal information.

1. Personal Information We Collect
Depending on how you interact with the Services, we may collect or process the following categories of personal information:

  • Contact & Account Details: Name, billing/shipping address, phone number, email address, and account settings.
  • Financial Information: Payment card information, transaction details, and payment confirmations (processed securely via our payment providers).
  • Transaction Information: Items viewed, added to cart, purchased, and past transaction history.
  • Photos & Personalization Images: Photographs and images you upload specifically for the creation of personalized storybooks and custom illustrations. These images are used only to render your personalized illustrations — not for identity verification or biometric matching.
  • Device & Usage Information: IP address, browser type, network connection, and interaction metrics with the Services.

2. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)
Under the GDPR, we must have a valid legal basis to process your data. We rely on the following bases:

  • Performance of a Contract: To fulfill your orders, process payments, and provide customer support.
  • Explicit Consent: To process your uploaded photos for AI-generated personalization (such as custom illustrations and avatars), and for sending marketing communications. You may withdraw this consent at any time.
  • Legitimate Interests: To prevent fraud, secure our platform, and improve our business operations, provided these interests are not overridden by your data protection rights.
  • Legal Obligation: To comply with applicable tax, accounting, and consumer protection laws.

3. How We Use Your Personal Information

  • Provide, Tailor, and Improve the Services: To fulfill your orders, manage your account, and arrange shipping.
  • AI Processing & Personalization: We utilize artificial intelligence systems to generate custom illustrations incorporating your uploaded photos into our storybooks. Image data provided by you is processed strictly for the generation of your specific order and is not used to train our base AI models. This process does not involve facial recognition or the creation of biometric identification templates.
  • Security and Fraud Prevention: To authenticate your account and protect against malicious activity.
  • Marketing and Advertising: To send promotional communications (only with your prior consent) and to tailor the shopping experience.

4. How We Disclose Personal Information
We do not sell your personal information. We may share it with:

  • Service Providers: Shopify, AI processing APIs, payment processors, cloud storage, and shipping partners bound by strict data processing agreements.
  • Legal Authorities: When required to comply with applicable law or respond to valid legal processes.

5. Data Retention
We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined above.

  • Standard Data: Order and account data are kept to comply with legal and tax obligations.
  • Photos & Personalization Images: Any uploaded photos and related image-processing outputs are retained only for the duration necessary to finalize, print, and deliver your personalized book, after which they are automatically deleted from our active servers.

6. AI Transparency (EU AI Act)

In compliance with the EU AI Act, we disclose that certain features of our Service rely on generative AI systems to manipulate image outputs and generate customized textual/visual content. We employ these systems strictly for creative, non-deceptive purposes.

7. Children's Data

Our Services are designed to be purchased and ordered by adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children, and we do not market or sell directly to children.

Where a child's photo or image data is uploaded for personalization, this data is provided to us by the adult purchaser, who confirms at checkout that they hold parental responsibility or explicit authorization from a parent or legal guardian to share that data with us. We rely on this confirmation and do not independently verify the family relationship.

Child image data is used solely to create the personalized book ordered and is deleted according to the retention terms in Section 5. We do not use child image data for marketing, profiling, or any purpose beyond fulfilling the order, and it is never published or shared publicly without separate, explicit consent from the purchasing adult.

8. Your Rights and Choices

If you reside in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK, you have the following rights:

Right to Access / Portability: Request a copy of your personal data.

Right to Rectification: Correct inaccurate data.

Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): Request deletion of your personal data.

Right to Restrict/Object: Ask us to stop processing your data for certain purposes.

Right to Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent for AI image processing or marketing at any time.

Automated Decision-Making: We do not use your personal information to make decisions, based solely on automated processing, that produce legal effects or similarly significantly affect you. Our AI personalization tools are used only to generate the artwork and story content you order - they do not make decisions about you as a person.

To exercise these rights, contact us at contact@giftedtales.eu. We will respond within 30 days. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority (e.g., the Belgian Data Protection Authority).

9. International Transfers

Your data may be processed outside the EEA (e.g., by Shopify or certain AI service providers). We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, relying on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and adequacy decisions.

10. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to operate our Services and, where applicable, to understand how visitors use our website.

Essential/Functional Cookies: These are automatically set by our e-commerce platform, Shopify, and are necessary for core site functionality such as maintaining your shopping cart, processing checkout, remembering your language and currency preferences, and preventing fraud. These cookies do not require your consent because they are strictly necessary for the Services to function.