Terms of Service

1.Acceptance of terms

By creating an account or using Stories Echoed in any way, you're agreeing to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use the service.

These terms apply to everyone who uses Stories Echoed — account holders, family members invited to contribute, and anyone accessing a vault.

2.The service

Stories Echoed is a family storytelling service. We help you capture the life story of someone you love — through recorded conversations, uploaded materials, and a guided interview process — and transform those conversations into a beautifully written memoir.

Specifically, that means:

• Story capture — recording sessions conducted by phone or uploaded directly by you.
• Transcription — automated conversion of audio recordings into readable transcripts.
• Story synthesis — AI-assisted writing that turns your transcripts and materials into organized chapter drafts.
• A private family vault — a secure space where your recordings, transcripts, drafts, and memories are stored and organized.
• A finished book — a hardcover memoir produced from your family's story, available for order once your narrative is complete.

We reserve the right to update, improve, or discontinue features of the service over time. When we make significant changes, we'll let you know.

3.Your account

When you create a Stories Echoed account, you become the Keeper — the person responsible for the vault and everyone in it. That means:

• You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure. Don't share your password.
• You are responsible for any activity that happens under your account, whether or not you authorized it.
• If you suspect your account has been compromised, contact us immediately at legal@storiesechoed.com.
• You must be 18 or older to create an account.
• One account per vault. If your family needs multiple vaults, they each require their own account.

You can invite family members to contribute to your vault. As the Keeper, you control their access level and can remove them at any time.

4.Your content

Everything you bring to Stories Echoed belongs to you. Full stop.

• Your recordings, photos, documents, stories, and memories are yours — before, during, and after your relationship with us.
• The finished chapter drafts and memoir we help create from your content are yours as well.
• We claim no ownership, license, or rights over your family's stories or any content you upload.

By uploading content, you confirm that you have the right to share it with us — for example, that recordings were made with the knowledge and consent of the people in them.

5.AI processing

Stories Echoed uses two AI providers to power the core of our service:

• Deepgram — for transcription of your audio recordings. Deepgram converts speech to text and does not retain your audio beyond the transcription process.
• Claude by Anthropic — for story synthesis. Your transcripts are sent to Claude to generate chapter drafts. Anthropic's API terms explicitly prohibit using API inputs and outputs to train AI models.

Neither provider trains their AI on your content. This is a contractual commitment from both Deepgram and Anthropic — not just a policy preference on our end.

AI-generated chapter drafts are starting points. You should review them, and you're welcome to edit, correct, or rewrite anything that doesn't sound right. The final story is yours to shape.

6.Payment and billing

Stories Echoed is offered on a subscription basis. Your plan tier determines your storage limits, the number of sessions included, and access to additional features.

• Billing — subscriptions are billed monthly or annually, depending on your plan. Payments are processed securely by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number.
• Renewal — your subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing period. We'll remind you before renewal for annual plans.
• Cancellation — you can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period. Your vault remains accessible until then.
• Refunds — if you cancel within 30 days of a charge and haven't used the service in that period, we'll issue a pro-rated refund. Beyond 30 days, we don't offer refunds on subscription fees. If something went wrong on our end, reach out and we'll make it right.

Book printing and shipping are charged separately, at the time of order. Those charges are not refundable once production has begun.

7.Storage and deletion

Your content is stored securely according to your plan tier. Different plans include different amounts of vault storage. If you approach your limit, we'll notify you before anything is affected.

You can request full deletion of your vault at any time:

• Email legal@storiesechoed.com with a deletion request.
• We'll confirm and complete the deletion within 30 days.
• Once deleted, your stories, recordings, and account data cannot be recovered. Please export anything you want to keep before requesting deletion.

If your account lapses due to non-payment, we'll hold your vault for 60 days and notify you before any content is removed. We don't want anyone to lose irreplaceable memories because of a lapsed credit card.

8.Acceptable use

Stories Echoed is built for one purpose: preserving real family stories with care. Please use it that way.

You agree not to:

• Upload illegal content — including anything that violates copyright, depicts illegal activity, or constitutes harassment or abuse.
• Impersonate anyone — don't create an account under someone else's name or identity, or upload content falsely attributed to another person.
• Abuse the service — don't attempt to circumvent storage limits, manipulate the AI, reverse-engineer our systems, or use the service in ways that harm other users or our infrastructure.
• Use the service commercially without permission — Stories Echoed is for personal family use. If you'd like to use it for a business purpose, contact us first.

If we discover a violation of these terms, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account. We'll always reach out first unless the situation requires immediate action.

9.Limitation of liability

We work hard to keep Stories Echoed reliable and your vault safe. But like any software service, things can sometimes go wrong.

To the extent permitted by law, Stories Echoed's total liability to you for any claim arising from your use of the service is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages — including lost data, lost profits, or loss of access.

This doesn't limit your rights under applicable consumer protection laws, and it doesn't mean we won't do our best to make things right if something goes wrong on our end.

10.Changes to these terms

If we need to make material changes to these terms — changes that meaningfully affect your rights or how the service works — we'll notify you by email at least 30 days before those changes take effect.

You'll always have the option to cancel before any new terms apply to you. Continuing to use Stories Echoed after that notice period means you've accepted the updated terms.

Minor updates — like clarifications, corrections, or updated contact details — may be made without advance notice. The date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision.

11.Contact

Legal questions, billing disputes, and account concerns go here: