austories
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Privacy

What we collect, why we collect it, and how your account is protected. The short version: we keep the minimum needed to run austories, we never sell your data, and we cannot see your password.

Effective 2026-08-19

We are not harvesting accounts. An account on austories exists for one reason: so you can save your place, follow creators, and keep a library that is yours. We do not sell or rent your details, we do not sign you up to anything, and deleting your account removes it. Signing in is free, and it stays that way.

How your login and password are protected

Sign-in on austories runs on a managed, industry-standard authentication system, the same kind of protected sign-in that most trusted apps use. Your password is hashed before it is stored, using a one-way function. That means nobody at austories can see or recover your password, not staff, not moderators, not us. We only ever receive a signal that a login succeeded or failed, never the password itself.

We also check new passwords against a public database of passwords known to have leaked in past breaches elsewhere, so you cannot unknowingly protect your account with one that attackers already have on a list. Password reset is done through a link we email to you, so a reset can only be completed by someone with access to your inbox.

Behind the scenes, who can read or change what is enforced by the database itself, not just by the app screens. A reader can only see their own reading history and library, a creator can only edit their own series, and so on. This is checked on every request, which is why a hidden screen is never the only thing standing between your data and someone else.

What we collect

We collect the following, and nothing beyond what the service needs:

  • Account basics. Your email address, a display name, and (if you set one) an avatar. Your email is used to sign you in, to send account mail such as password resets, and to reach you about your account.
  • Age confirmation. If you choose to read Mature-rated material, we record a date of birth so the 18+ gate can be applied. This is used for the age check and is not shown on your public profile.
  • What you post. If you publish as a creator, we store your series, episodes, panels, and profile so they can be shown to readers.
  • Reading and activity. Your reading progress, saved series, followed creators, likes, comments, and bookmarks, so the product can remember your place and your library. We also record aggregate, deduplicated events (for example that an episode was opened, or that a term was searched) to understand what is popular and to keep the service working. These power things like trending series and are counted, not tied to a public profile of you.
  • Basic technical logs. Standard request information such as an IP address and browser type, kept for security, abuse prevention, and debugging, the way any website keeps server logs.
  • Tip jars are off-platform. Creators may add their own external tip-jar link. If you choose to tip a creator, that happens entirely on the third party's site (for example Ko-fi or PayPal) under their privacy policy. austories does not process the payment and never receives your card or account details.

What we do not do

  • We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information.
  • We do not read your password, because we never have it in a readable form.
  • We do not run ads, and we do not use your reading history to build a profile that is sold or shared with anyone.
  • We do not post anything, follow anyone, or contact your friends on your behalf.

Service providers

austories runs on established, industry-standard infrastructure and a small number of trusted service providers that help us operate: hosting and content delivery, and email delivery for account mail such as password resets. We share only what each provider needs to do its job, and each is bound by its own data protection terms. There are no ads on austories and no on-platform payments.

Cookies

We use cookies that are necessary to keep you signed in and to remember basic settings. We do not run ads, and we do not use cookies to track you across other websites.

Your choices

  • See and edit your information. Your profile, library, and account settings are available while you are signed in.
  • Delete your account. You can delete your account at any time. This removes it, subject to copies kept briefly in backups and anything we must retain to comply with law or to document a moderation decision, as described in the Terms.
  • Keep your own copy of your work. Content can be removed after a valid report, so please do not let austories be the only place your work exists.
  • Ask us. If you want to know what we hold about you, or want it corrected, email us at the address below.

Children

austories is not for children under 13. If you are under the age of majority where you live, you may use austories only with a parent or guardian involved. Mature-rated material is gated to readers who are 18 or over. If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us and we will remove it.

How long we keep things

We keep your account information for as long as your account exists. Content and activity are kept while they are part of the service. When you delete your account, we remove your information within a reasonable period, other than backups that age out on their own and records we are required to keep.

Changes

We may update this policy as austories grows. For material changes we will give notice in the product before they take effect.

Contact

Questions about your privacy or your data: support@austories.com
Safety concerns: safety@austories.com