Privacy Notice

Pencil Otter makes personalized activity books for children, for parents and guardians. We ask for as little as we can, use it only to make and deliver your book, and delete it on a fixed schedule. We never sell personal information or use it for advertising.

Who is responsible: Digital Solutions, Macedonia street, Skopje. Contact: contact@pencilotter.com.

What your child’s book needs

To make a book we ask for the child’s age, one to three interests (and an optional interest of your own), and, depending on the book, a trip destination and length or a special day, plus the kind of pages you’d like more of and the book size. Everything else is optional: the child’s first name; a pet (its kind and name); a favorite color, food and animal chosen from a list; up to three first names of friends or brothers and sisters; and your home town; and, for the biggest book, up to two photos of a pet, a place or a thing. We never ask for a surname, birthday or gender, and we never accept photos of people.

• These answers are used only to make that book. They are not used for marketing or analytics, not shared for advertising, and not used to train AI.
• A preview that isn’t bought is deleted after 14 days.
• When you buy, the child’s answers are also saved as a profile in your account (their name, age, interests and the optional extras), with a list of which of our puzzles and prompts they already had, so their next book never repeats a page. You can delete a profile at any time in your account, and we delete it 24 months after the child’s last book.
• A bought book (its PDFs and pages, the child’s name, the pet’s and friends’ names and the home town) is deleted 90 days after purchase. After that we keep only the age, interests, favorites, book size and page mix, without any name, for statistics, and a list of which of our own puzzles and prompts the book used (it contains nothing about your family).

When you buy

Paddle.com, our Merchant of Record, handles checkout and payment under Paddle’s privacy notice; we never see your card details. From Paddle we receive your email address and the order details, which we use to deliver the book, answer questions and handle refunds. Order records are kept for as long as tax and accounting law requires.

Emails

We send the delivery email, any download links and sign-in links you ask for. If you ask us to, we also email you now and then: when it’s a good time for a new book, and about new free printables and books. These emails never include your child’s name, and every one has an unsubscribe link (you can also turn them off in your account).

If you ask us to email you a free printable, we store your email address, which printable you asked for, when, and the campaign link that brought you (if any). We use it to send that printable. Only if you tick the box do we also email you now and then about new free printables and books; every such email has an unsubscribe link. An address that only asked for a printable is deleted after 30 days; one that asked for more is kept until you unsubscribe, then deleted after 30 days.

If you joined the waitlist, we store your email address, when you agreed, and which campaign link brought you (if any), and we write only about the launch; unsubscribe or ask us to delete it at any time. Feedback you send through the link in the delivery email is stored with your order.

Analytics and cookies

We count visits and steps (for example “started a book”, “saw a preview”) with our own first-party analytics. Each is linked only to a scrambled session code, plus: the campaign link or the name of the site that sent you (for example “google” or “pinterest”, never the page), whether you use a phone, tablet or computer, and the region of your browser’s language (for example “US” from en-US). We don’t store your IP address or browser details for this. There are no advertising pixels and no cross-site tracking.

The site needs two cookies to work: a session cookie and a security cookie.

Partner links. If a blog that recommends us sent you here through its partner link, we note which partner it was for that visit (in the session, no extra cookie) and keep that note with any book you start then, so we can pay the partner a share if you buy. Partners never learn anything about you or your child; they see only totals.

Google Analytics, only if you accept. If you say yes in the cookie banner (“Sure”), we also use Google Analytics (Google LLC / Google Ireland) to see which of our public pages are useful. It sets cookies (_ga) and sends Google the pages you view, your approximate location and your device type. We switch off Google’s advertising and cross-device features, and Google Analytics never runs on pages with your child’s details: the book builder, the preview, downloads and your account. If you say “No thanks”, nothing is sent to Google. You can change your mind at any time with “Cookie settings” at the bottom of any page; declining removes the Google Analytics cookies. Your choice is stored only in your browser.

Service providers

• Paddle (payments and tax, as Merchant of Record)
• Our email delivery provider (sending delivery and link emails)
• Our hosting provider (running the site and storing books)
• Sentry (error reports; children’s details, answers and download links are removed before any report is sent)
• Google (Google Analytics, only if you accept it in the cookie banner; never on pages with your child’s details)
• Anthropic (Claude) and OpenAI, for the bigger books only, after purchase: to write the book’s story and draw coloring pages

Photos

If you add a photo, we first remove all its hidden information (such as the camera, the date and the location) and delete the file you uploaded, usually within minutes. Anthropic’s Claude then checks that it shows no person, face or readable writing (if it does, or if it’s unclear, we don’t use it), and OpenAI redraws it as a coloring page, which we turn into line art. We keep only that line art, as part of your book, and delete it with the book. OpenAI may keep what it receives for up to 30 days to watch for abuse; neither provider uses it to train its models. Please only add photos you have the right to use and that show no people.

Story and coloring pages made with AI

For the bigger book sizes, after you buy, we may ask Anthropic’s Claude to write the book’s short story and OpenAI to draw some coloring pages. They receive only the child’s age, interests, favorites and the kind of pet (for example “a cat”). Never a name: the story is written with placeholders and we fill in the names on our own server. Both providers process this under their business terms, which don’t allow it to be used to train their models. Every story and picture is checked before it is printed; if anything fails, the book uses our own pages instead.

Some providers process data outside your country, including in the United States, under safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

Children

Pencil Otter is for parents and guardians, not for children to use on their own. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us information, contact us and we will delete it.

Your rights

You can ask for a copy of your information, or ask us to correct or delete it, by emailing contact@pencilotter.com. If you are in the EU or UK you may also complain to your data protection authority. We do not sell or share personal information as defined by US state privacy laws.

Security

Books are stored privately and download links expire. Staff sign in with two-factor authentication.

Changes

We will update this notice if what we collect or why changes, and show the date at the top.