PRIVACY POLICY
Last updated May 30, 2026
This Privacy Notice for Small Machines AI LLC (doing business as Small Machines Creative Studio) ("we," "us," or "our"), describes how and why we might access, collect, store, use, and/or share ("process") your personal information when you use our services ("Services"), including when you:
- Download and use our mobile application (Authored By), or any other application of ours that links to this Privacy Notice
- Use Authored By. Authored By is an AI-guided storytelling platform that helps founders and creators document their work journey one chapter at a time. Users create projects, plan and track chapters through a Kanban-style board, and work with an AI story guide (Cass) to capture milestones, reflections, and narrative moments across their work. The platform includes voice capture, chapter kickoffs, retrospectives, and collaborative features that allow multiple authors and contributors to build a shared story. Authored By is a subscription-based web application with plans billed monthly or annually.
- Engage with us in other related ways, including any marketing or events
Questions or concerns? Reading this Privacy Notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. We are responsible for making decisions about how your personal information is processed. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Services. If you still have any questions or concerns, please contact us at support@authoredby.app.
SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS
This summary provides key points from our Privacy Notice, but you can find out more details about any of these topics by using our table of contents below.
What personal information do we process? When you visit, use, or navigate our Services, we may process personal information depending on how you interact with us and the Services, the choices you make, and the products and features you use.
Do we process any sensitive personal information? We do not process sensitive personal information.
Do we collect any information from third parties? We may collect information from Google, Apple, and Stripe when you use our Services.
How do we process your information? We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law.
How do we keep your information safe? We have adequate organizational and technical processes and procedures in place to protect your personal information. However, no electronic transmission over the internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.
What are your rights? Depending on where you are located geographically, the applicable privacy law may mean you have certain rights regarding your personal information.
How do you exercise your rights? The easiest way to exercise your rights is by visiting https://authoredby.app/privacy, or by contacting us. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?
Personal information you disclose to us
We collect personal information that you provide to us.
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you register on the Services, express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the Services, or otherwise when you contact us.
Personal Information Provided by You. The personal information we collect may include the following:
- names
- email addresses
- contact or authentication data
- billing addresses
Sensitive Information. We do not process sensitive information.
Payment Data. We may collect data necessary to process your payment if you choose to make purchases. All payment data is handled and stored by Stripe. You may find their privacy notice at https://stripe.com/privacy.
Social Media Login Data. We may provide you with the option to register with us using your existing social media account details, like your Google or Apple account. If you choose to register in this way, we will collect certain profile information about you from the social media provider, as described in the section HOW DO WE HANDLE YOUR SOCIAL LOGINS? below.
Application Data. If you use our application(s), we also may collect the following information if you choose to provide us with access or permission:
- Mobile Device Access. We may request access or permission to certain features from your mobile device, including your mobile device's microphone, and other features. If you wish to change our access or permissions, you may do so in your device's settings.
- Push Notifications. We may request to send you push notifications regarding your account or certain features of the application(s). If you wish to opt out from receiving these types of communications, you may turn them off in your device's settings.
All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete, and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.
Information automatically collected
Some information — such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or browser and device characteristics — is collected automatically when you visit our Services.
We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use, or navigate the Services. This information does not reveal your specific identity but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our Services, and other technical information.
Like many businesses, we also collect information through cookies and similar technologies. You can find out more about this in our Cookie Notice: https://authoredby.app/cookie-policy.
The information we collect includes:
- Log and Usage Data. Log and usage data is service-related, diagnostic, usage, and performance information our servers automatically collect when you access or use our Services.
- Device Data. We collect device data such as information about your computer, phone, tablet, or other device you use to access the Services.
Information collected from other sources
We may collect limited data from Google, Apple, and Stripe when you authenticate or make payments through our Services.
2. HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?
We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law.
We process your personal information for a variety of reasons, including:
- To facilitate account creation and authentication. We may process your information so you can create and log in to your account.
- To deliver and facilitate delivery of services to the user. We may process your information to provide you with the requested service.
- To respond to user inquiries/offer support to users.
- To send administrative information to you. We may process your information to send you details about our products and services, changes to our terms and policies, and other similar information.
- To fulfill and manage your orders. We may process your information to fulfill and manage your orders, payments, and subscriptions.
- To enable user-to-user communications. We may process your information if you choose to use any of our offerings that allow for communication with another user.
- To request feedback. We may process your information when necessary to request feedback and to contact you about your use of our Services.
- To protect our Services. We may process your information as part of our efforts to keep our Services safe and secure, including fraud monitoring and prevention.
- To provide AI-assisted storytelling features personalized to the user's project and chapter history.
3. WHAT LEGAL BASES DO WE RELY ON TO PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?
We only process your personal information when we believe it is necessary and we have a valid legal reason to do so under applicable law.
The GDPR and UK GDPR require us to explain the valid legal bases we rely on in order to process your personal information. We may rely on the following legal bases:
- Consent. We may process your information if you have given us permission to use your personal information for a specific purpose. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
- Performance of a Contract. We may process your personal information when we believe it is necessary to fulfill our contractual obligations to you.
- Legitimate Interests. We may process your information when we believe it is reasonably necessary to achieve our legitimate business interests.
- Legal Obligations. We may process your information where we believe it is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations.
- Vital Interests. We may process your information where we believe it is necessary to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of a third party.
4. WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?
We may share information in specific situations and with the following categories of third parties.
The categories of third parties we may share personal information with are as follows:
- AI Platforms (Anthropic)
- Cloud Computing Services (Vercel)
- Data Storage Service Providers (Supabase)
- Finance & Accounting Tools (Stripe)
- Payment Processors (Stripe)
- User Account Registration & Authentication Services (Google, Apple, Supabase Auth)
- Website Hosting Service Providers (Vercel)
We also may need to share your personal information in the following situations:
- Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.
- Other Users. When you share personal information or otherwise interact with other users within shared projects, those users may see your name and profile information.
5. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?
We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and store your information.
We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies to gather information when you interact with our Services. Some online tracking technologies help us maintain the security of our Services and your account, prevent crashes, fix bugs, save your preferences, and assist with basic site functions.
6. DO WE OFFER ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-BASED PRODUCTS?
We offer products, features, or tools powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, or similar technologies.
As part of our Services, we offer products, features, or tools powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, or similar technologies (collectively, "AI Products"). These tools are designed to enhance your experience and provide you with innovative solutions.
Use of AI Technologies
We provide the AI Products through third-party service providers ("AI Service Providers"), including Anthropic. Your input, output, and personal information will be shared with and processed by these AI Service Providers to enable your use of our AI Products. You must not use the AI Products in any way that violates the terms or policies of any AI Service Provider.
Our AI Products are designed for the following functions:
- Content generation
- Natural language processing
- Personalization
7. HOW DO WE HANDLE YOUR SOCIAL LOGINS?
If you choose to register or log in to our Services using a social media account, we may have access to certain information about you.
Our Services offer you the ability to register and log in using your Google or Apple account details. Where you choose to do this, we will receive certain profile information about you from your social media provider, including your name, email address, and profile picture.
We will use the information we receive only for the purposes that are described in this Privacy Notice. Please note that we do not control, and are not responsible for, other uses of your personal information by your third-party social media provider. We recommend that you review their privacy notice to understand how they collect, use, and share your personal information.
8. IS YOUR INFORMATION TRANSFERRED INTERNATIONALLY?
We may transfer, store, and process your information in countries other than your own.
Our servers are located in the United States. If you are accessing our Services from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored by, and processed by us in the United States and in the facilities of the third parties with whom we share your personal information.
If you are a resident in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom (UK), or Switzerland, we have implemented measures to protect your personal information, including by using the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses for transfers of personal information. Our Standard Contractual Clauses can be provided upon request.
9. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?
We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Notice unless otherwise required by law.
We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. No purpose in this notice will require us keeping your personal information for longer than the period of time in which users have an account with us.
When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize such information.
10. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?
We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organizational and technical security measures.
We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. You should only access the Services within a secure environment.
11. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?
We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 18 years of age.
We do not knowingly collect, solicit data from, or market to children under 18 years of age. By using the Services, you represent that you are at least 18 years old. If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we may have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at support@authoredby.app.
12. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?
Depending on your state of residence in the US or in some regions, such as the EEA, UK, Switzerland, and Canada, you have rights that allow you greater access to and control over your personal information. You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time.
In some regions you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws, including the right to request access, rectification, or erasure of your personal information; to restrict processing; and to data portability.
Withdrawing your consent: If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us using the contact details provided in the section HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE? below.
Account Information
If you would at any time like to review or change the information in your account or terminate your account, you can log in to your account settings and update your user account. Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases.
Cookies and similar technologies: Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. For further information, please see our Cookie Notice: https://authoredby.app/cookie-policy.
13. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES
Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track ("DNT") feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage, no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this Privacy Notice.
14. DO UNITED STATES RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?
If you are a resident of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, or Virginia, you may have the right to request access to and receive details about the personal information we maintain about you and how we have processed it, correct inaccuracies, get a copy of, or delete your personal information.
Your Rights
You have rights under certain US state data protection laws, including:
- Right to know whether or not we are processing your personal data
- Right to access your personal data
- Right to correct inaccuracies in your personal data
- Right to request the deletion of your personal data
- Right to obtain a copy of the personal data you previously shared with us
- Right to non-discrimination for exercising your rights
California "Shine The Light" Law
California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the "Shine The Light" law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us by using the contact details provided in the section HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?
15. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?
Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.
We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated "Revised" date at the top of this Privacy Notice. If we make material changes to this Privacy Notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this Privacy Notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.
Small Machines AI LLC
625 Kenmoor Ave SE Ste 350 445922
Grand Rapids, MI 49546
United States
17. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?
Based on the applicable laws of your country or state of residence in the US, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, details about how we have processed it, correct inaccuracies, or delete your personal information. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please visit: https://authoredby.app/privacy or email us at support@authoredby.app.
7. HOW DO WE HANDLE YOUR SOCIAL LOGINS?
If you choose to register or log in to our Services using a social media account, we may have access to certain information about you.