Privacy Policy
Nyxtale is an interactive-story platform. The operator is Tessermind LTD. Below: what we collect, why, how long we keep it, and how you control it.
01Who we are and what this policy covers
Nyxtale is a single account platform for interactive stories. One account opens every application on the platform: the dark-story reader “Nightfall Stories” and future applications in other genres. The operator of the platform and the data controller is Tessermind LTD.
This policy describes how we handle personal data across all Nyxtale products — the reader application, the authoring tool Nyxtale Studio (web and desktop) and the website nyxtale.com. By using Nyxtale you accept the practices described here.
Nyxtale can be read in guest mode — without registering and without creating an account. In that case your progress and settings stay on your device only and are never sent to our servers.
02What data we collect
We collect the minimum needed to run the service. What we hold depends on whether you are signed in or reading as a guest.
- Account data
- Signing in to Nyxtale is passwordless. When you sign in with Google we request the standard
openid email profilescopes; from Google's response we store your Google account identifier and your email address (plus whether that address is verified). Your display name and avatar inside Nyxtale are set by you — we do not copy them from Google automatically. When you sign in with a one-time link (magic link) we store only the email address. We never store or ask for passwords — there are none. - Reading progress and cloud saves
- Where you are in a story, the choices you made, the branches and endings you reached, in-story state. For signed-in users this is stored on our servers so you can continue on another device; in guest mode it stays on the device.
- Author stories and drafts
- If you are an author, your stories and drafts are saved in the cloud under your account — so work is not lost and opens on any of your devices. A draft is visible to you (and to anyone you grant access); a published story becomes available to readers.
- Author media
- Images, audio and other files you upload in Studio are stored in Cloudflare R2 object storage and delivered to readers from there. Draft files are private and served through time-limited links; files belonging to a published story are served publicly as part of that story.
- Comfort and safety settings
- Your content warnings, effect-intensity level, reduce motion, font size and other accessibility settings — so the app stays comfortable for you specifically.
- Analytics events consent
- De-identified usage events (which screens are opened, where errors occur, which stories are read) — only if you consented to analytics. We do not build advertising profiles and we do not sell this data.
- Consent records
- Which consents you gave or withdrew and when — this is the evidence that our processing was lawful, and part of what the GDPR requires.
- Technical data
- The minimum needed to deliver and protect the service: device and browser type, language, approximate region from your IP address, security logs and an audit trail of account actions.
03Why we do this, and on what legal basis
We process data for the purposes below. For users in the EU/EEA and the UK the legal basis under the GDPR / UK GDPR is stated next to each. Strictly necessary purposes always apply; everything else runs only on your explicit consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
- Necessary to run the service essential
- Sign-in and accounts, storing and syncing progress, storing drafts and stories, delivering stories and media, applying your safety settings, protection against abuse. The service does not work without this, so no consent is requested and it cannot be declined. Basis: performance of a contract and legitimate interest.
- Analytics analytics
- Understanding how the app is used, finding and fixing errors, improving the product. Basis: consent (opt-in).
- Personalization personalization
- Suggesting stories based on your interests and reading history. Basis: consent (opt-in).
- Marketing marketing
- Messages about new releases and offers — if you subscribed to them. Basis: consent (opt-in), with unsubscribe at any time.
- Sharing with partners third_party_share
- Passing data to third-party recipients beyond our sub-processors — only with a separate consent. Off by default. Basis: consent (opt-in). We do not sell data.
You control your consents (analytics, personalization, marketing, sharing with partners) in your privacy settings. No explicit consent means not permitted: only the essential purposes are on by default.
04How long we keep data
Every category of data has a retention period, after which it is deleted automatically. The periods in force:
- Account data, reading progress, drafts and settings
- For as long as your account exists. After the account is deleted they are erased; for a short technical period they remain in backups, which are then overwritten.
- Analytics events
- 25 months. This is the documented ceiling for audience-measurement data published by the French regulator CNIL; we sit at that upper bound rather than inventing our own.
- Financial records
- 10 years from the end of the year of the transaction — the period tax law requires for records of digital-service sales (EU VAT OSS, Art. 63c of Implementing Regulation (EU) 282/2011; the UK requirements are shorter and are covered by this period).
- Consent records
- 10 years, alongside the financial records: a consent record must outlive the processing whose lawfulness it evidences.
- Security and audit logs
- A limited period, as needed to protect the service, investigate incidents and meet our obligations.
- Media and published stories
- While the story is published and the author's account exists; once taken down or deleted they are withdrawn from delivery and erased.
Where the law requires data to be preserved (a legal hold — for example on a request from law enforcement), it is kept until that requirement is lifted, even if the retention period has expired or deletion was requested. In that case a deletion request is refused with an explanation rather than silently ignored.
05Your rights and account deletion
You are in control of your data. On your request we will:
- Access. Tell you what data about you we hold.
- Export (portability). Provide your data in a machine-readable form so you can take it with you.
- Rectification. Correct inaccurate or outdated data.
- Erasure. Delete your account and the data attached to it (except what we are legally required to keep — see legal hold above).
- Withdraw consent. Any optional consent can be switched off in your privacy settings; this does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
How to delete your account
Deletion is available to you directly, without contacting support: in your account settings, “Delete account”. Technically this is a single request to our API (DELETE /v1/me/account) that only the account owner can make: account data, progress, drafts and related records are erased. The action is irreversible and runs once; if a legal hold is in force the request is refused with the reason stated. If you prefer to request it in writing, email privacy@nyxtale.com.
We handle access, export and rectification requests within the period set by the GDPR — normally within one month. Before acting we may verify your identity in order to protect the account. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the data-protection supervisory authority in your country.
07Third parties and sub-processors
To run the service we rely on a limited set of providers that process data on our instructions and under contract:
- Sign-in via Google OAuth. We receive your account identifier and email address (the
openid email profilescopes) and use them only to sign you in, to identify your Nyxtale account and for the service email that goes with it. - Cloudflare
- Storage and delivery of media files (R2 object storage), plus protection and delivery of web traffic.
- Email delivery provider
- Delivery of sign-in links (magic links) and service email.
- Hosting provider
- The servers that run our backend and database.
Data obtained through Google APIs
Nyxtale's use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. We use your Google account data only to sign you in and operate your Nyxtale account; we do not use it for advertising, do not sell it and do not transfer it to third parties except as strictly necessary to operate the service or as required by law. You can revoke Nyxtale's access to your Google account at any time on the Google Account permissions page.
We do not sell your personal data. Sharing with partners beyond these sub-processors happens only with your separate consent (see section 03).
08Children and age limits
Nyxtale publishes dark fiction, including horror and 18+ material. The service is not intended for children below the permitted age.
We apply age assurance for access to adult and sensitive content, and stories carry content warnings that you control in your safety settings. If you believe a child has given us data without a parent's consent, contact us and we will delete it.
09International data transfers
Our providers may process data in other countries, including outside your region. When data leaves the EEA, the UK or another protected jurisdiction, we rely on recognised safeguards (for example, standard contractual clauses) and require an adequate level of protection from our providers.
10Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the service develops. For material changes we will update the effective date at the top and, where appropriate, notify you in the app or by email. The current version is always available at nyxtale.com/privacy.
11Contact
For privacy questions and requests about your data, contact the platform operator, Tessermind LTD: