These Terms of Use (the "Terms") govern your use of the StoryBox apps and services (the "Service"). Please read them together with the Privacy Policy. By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
1. Who we are
The Service is operated by Evgeny Gortsev, a sole proprietor registered under Argentina's simplified tax regime (Monotributo), tax ID (CUIT) 27-96502694-6, address: Santo Domingo 2980, Planta Baja, Apt. 8, C1293, Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina ("StoryBox," "we," "us," "our"). Contact: hello@storybox.now.
2. Eligibility and accounts
The parent app is available only to adults 18 and older. By creating an account, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old and that you are the parent or legal guardian of each child you add. Creating an account requires passing an adult gate (confirming you are 18+, confirming your guardian status, and completing a simple task) and verifying your email address.
The child app can be accessed only through the parent app, using a one-time code that you generate. A child cannot register or sign in on their own. You are responsible for supervising your child's use of the Service and for keeping your account credentials secure.
3. The Service and the nature of Yarny
StoryBox creates interactive AI stories featuring a character named Yarny. Yarny is an artificial intelligence system — a computer program, not a real person — and it does not have real feelings. The stories are fictional and are generated automatically; they may be imperfect or unexpected. The Service is intended for entertainment and is not a substitute for professional, educational, medical, or psychological care.
The Service may include a shared story library: stories are shown to other users under a pseudonym and an illustrated avatar. While a child's profile is active, a story appears there only if a parent has turned publishing on (it is off by default; it can be turned on during profile setup or in Parent Controls). After a child's profile is deleted — by the parent, or by StoryBox after 12 months without use — stories are de-identified and StoryBox may keep and publish them as its own content, including stories that were never published while the profile was active. Every story is screened automatically before publication, and a story that contains personal details is not published. See the Privacy Policy for details.
4. Parental consent
Before a child is given full access to the Service, we obtain verifiable parental consent as described in the Privacy Policy: before the first child profile is created, the parent reviews a direct notice, confirms that they are an adult and the child's parent or legal guardian, and completes adult verification through our verification provider, Kids Web Services, using a link sent by email. Verification uses the adult-verification methods our provider offers for the United States — currently a payment card (a $0.05 charge that is refunded) or the last four digits of an SSN; the methods currently available are shown on the verification page itself.
No personal information is collected from a child until consent is complete. The free preview mode requires no registration and is intended for parents and other adults (age-gated): it does not create a child profile and does not collect children's personal information. In the preview we process the adult user's voice input under our standard practices for adults and limited technical identifiers needed to operate and secure the Service (see the Privacy Policy for details). A paid subscription is a separate, optional service; it is neither a condition of consent nor a method of giving consent.
5. Subscriptions, payment, and cancellation
Paid features may be offered as an auto-renewing subscription purchased through Apple or Google In-App Purchase. The subscription renews automatically for the same period unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscription in your Apple or Google account settings; deleting the app does not cancel the subscription. Prices are shown before purchase. Refunds are handled by Apple or Google under their own policies.
6. License to use the Service
Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for your family's personal, non-commercial use. You may not copy, resell, reverse-engineer, or otherwise misuse the Service.
7. Intellectual property: your Input and Output
As between you and StoryBox, you retain whatever rights you may have in the material you submit — prompts, voice (to the limited extent it is processed), text, names, and preferences ("Input"). All intellectual property rights in the generated output — stories, images, audio, titles, and descriptions ("Output") — belong to StoryBox, to the extent such rights arise at all. To the extent any rights in the Output would otherwise arise in you or your child, you (on your own behalf and on behalf of your child) hereby assign them to StoryBox free of charge. You are granted a non-exclusive, personal, non-commercial license to use the Output within your family. You understand that purely AI-generated Output may not be protected by copyright at all (neither for you nor for us); this affects neither StoryBox's rights nor the license granted to you.
De-identification and retention of Output. StoryBox may de-identify Output — separate it from the child's profile and remove personal details — and then store, use, publish, and make such de-identified Output available to other users indefinitely as StoryBox content, including after an account is closed or deleted. De-identified Output is not a child's personal information. We apply reasonable measures (including an automated check of the text for personal data and, before publication in the public library, sample human review) to keep a child's personal details from becoming publicly available. We do not attempt to re-identify de-identified Output, and a parent may ask us to remove a particular story at any time.
8. Acceptable use
You agree not to use the Service in violation of the law; not to attempt to extract personal information from children; not to disrupt the operation of the Service; and not to use it for anything other than its intended purpose of family storytelling. We may suspend or terminate access in the event of misuse.
9. Voice
Voice input is processed as described in the Privacy Policy (Section 4): it is used solely to respond to the child's request, is processed by our provider under a zero data retention agreement, and is deleted immediately. We do not use voice for biometric identification or voice cloning.
10. Third-party services
The Service relies on third-party providers (including Apple, Google, our infrastructure providers, and AI processors) and is distributed through the Apple App Store and Google Play. Your use is also subject to those platforms' terms. We are not responsible for third-party services that we do not control.
11. Disclaimer of warranties
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. AI-generated content may be inaccurate, fictional, or unexpected. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free. Nothing in these Terms limits rights that cannot be limited under applicable consumer protection law.
12. Limitation of liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, StoryBox is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, and our aggregate liability for any claim relating to the Service will not exceed the amount you paid for the Service in the twelve months before the claim arose. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of them may not apply to you.
13. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless StoryBox from claims arising out of your improper use of the Service or your breach of these Terms, to the extent permitted by law.
14. AI companion safety (California SB 243)
Yarny is an AI companion. On first use we disclose that Yarny is AI and not a real person; for minors we show a reminder at least every three hours to take a break and that Yarny is AI; we note that AI companion features may not be suitable for all minors; and we maintain a crisis protocol that, at signs of self-harm, pauses the story and directs the user to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
15. Changes
We may change the Service or these Terms. If a change is material, we will notify you and, where required by law, obtain renewed parental consent. Continued use after a change means you accept the updated Terms.
16. Termination
You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate access if you breach these Terms or if we need to protect the Service or its users. Upon termination, the deletion and data retention rules in the Privacy Policy apply.
17. Dispute resolution and arbitration
Most disputes can be resolved informally — please contact us first. Except where prohibited by law, disputes that cannot be resolved informally will be settled by binding individual arbitration, and both you and StoryBox waive the right to a jury trial and to participate in a class action. Exceptions: this arbitration provision does not apply to (a) matters in small-claims court; (b) claims that cannot be arbitrated under applicable law; or (c) rights under non-waivable consumer protection or children's privacy laws. Nothing here prevents you from reporting a problem to a government regulator.
18. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of Argentina, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, except where non-waivable U.S. federal and state consumer protection and children's privacy laws apply and cannot be waived by agreement. Nothing in this section limits your non-waivable rights in your place of residence.
19. Miscellaneous
If any provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions stay in effect. These Terms and the Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement between you and StoryBox with respect to the Service. You may not assign these Terms. We may assign these Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and our obligations under both, in connection with a merger, acquisition, corporate reorganization, or a sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Service, to a successor operator who assumes them; we will notify you of any such assignment in advance by email. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it.
20. Contact
Evgeny Gortsev (StoryBox) · Santo Domingo 2980, Planta Baja, Apt. 8, C1293, Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina · hello@storybox.now · +54 9 11 5021-0052