Privacy policy

Privacy policy

Last updated 13 October 2026. This page explains what we do with your information. The person responsible for it (the "data controller") is Matthew Dowell, entrepreneur individuel, trading as Matt & Milly (SIREN 107 590 143), 9 bis ancien chemin de Lasserre, 31820 Pibrac, France. You can write to us at hello@mattandmilly.com.

What we collect

Your name, email address and delivery address. The words you write about your friend. The photos you send us. Your order and payment records. If you use our shop or write to us, we may also collect technical data such as your device type and the pages you visit. Card payments are handled by our payment provider, and we never see your full card number.

Why we use it, and our legal basis

To write and paint your book, to talk to you about your proof, to take payment, and to print and post your book: this is needed to carry out your order (contract). To keep accounting records and meet tax rules: this is a legal obligation. To keep the shop secure and working: this is our legitimate interest. To send you news or use non-essential cookies: only if you agree, and you can change your mind at any time. We do not sell your information, and we do not use your words, your photos or your book in our marketing without asking you first.

Your photos and your words

We use your photos and your words only to make your book. To write and paint it, we put them into AI services: an AI writing assistant (at present Anthropic's Claude) for the story, and AI image services (at present Higgsfield and the AI models it uses) for the pictures. These providers process them for us, and may keep copies for a short time under their own terms. We do not send them your delivery address or payment details. Within 30 days after your book has been delivered, we delete your photos and your original answers from our systems and from the accounts we control, and we remove your book files from the printer's system where it allows us to. We ask you not to send photos of children or of other people unless you have their permission.

We keep the finished book files (the text and the paintings) for up to three years after your last order, so that we can reprint your book if it is lost or damaged, or so you can order another copy. You can ask us to delete them sooner.

Who else sees it

To do the work, we use other services. They receive only what they need. They are: our shop and payment provider (Shopify), our form provider (Tally), the AI writing and image services described above, the printer that prints and posts your book (Lulu, which receives your name, delivery address and the finished book files), and our email providers (Hostinger, and Apple for forwarded mail). We may also share records with our accountant and with tax or other authorities where the law requires it.

Transfers outside your country

Some of these providers handle data in countries outside the European Economic Area or the UK, including the United States and Canada. Where that happens, they rely on safeguards the law recognises, such as the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or standard contractual clauses.

How long we keep it

Your photos and original answers: deleted within 30 days after your book has been delivered. Finished book files: up to three years after your last order (see above). Order, invoice and payment records: ten years, because French law requires it. Emails: up to three years after our last contact with you. Anything else is deleted when it is no longer needed.

Your rights

You can ask us to show you what we hold about you, to correct it, to delete it, to limit or stop how we use it, and to give you a copy you can move. You can withdraw any consent you gave. Write to hello@mattandmilly.com. We answer within one month. If you are not happy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the French data protection authority (CNIL, cnil.fr), or to the authority in the country where you live.

Cookies

Our shop uses cookies that are needed to make the site and the checkout work, and, if you agree, cookies that help us understand how the site is used. You can refuse non-essential cookies in the banner and change your choice at any time.

Children

Our shop is for adults. We do not knowingly collect information about children.

Changes

If we change this page in a way that matters, we will update the date at the top.