Privacy Policy

Introduction

My-Story is a trading name of Group Hugs Inc Limited. We are a company registered in England and Wales (registration number 14476547), whose registered office is Dejan Business Park, Second Avenue, Chatham, Kent, ME4 5AU. We are registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner's Office (registration number ZB494876).

Group Hugs is committed to respecting the privacy rights of individuals who purchase our products. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, store and use personal data about you when you buy Products from us or otherwise provide your personal data to us. It provides you with details about the types of personal data that we collect from you, how we use your personal data and the rights you have to control our use of your personal data. Words used in this Privacy Notice have the same meaning as is attributed to them in the Terms of Use.

What personal information do we collect about you?

When you purchase a Product from My-Story, we will collect all of the following personal data about you, this is required in order to produce and deliver the purchased product:

• name;
• billing and delivery addresses, email address and phone number(s);
• Payment Method (typically credit card or debit card) details;
• your User Content (images and text) which gets uploaded to our site, will be added into our templates and on completion of a successful order printed and bound into a book;
• correspondence with and from Group Hugs;
• your preferences about receiving communications from Group Hugs;

In order to take advantage of some of our Services, you may need to supply us with the personal details of a third party (for example, their name and address if you wish to send a Product to them as a gift). We will not use this information for anything other than providing the Services for which the information was supplied.

How do we use your personal information?

Your personal data will be collected, processed, stored and used by us, and passed to and processed by our subsidiary and/or affiliated companies and other data processors acting under contract with us.

When you sign up to Group Hugs and agree to our terms and conditions, we need to process certain data that allows us:

• to provide the service to you in accordance with our agreement;
• to create personalised Products;
• to associate your Product purchases, with you, and to verify your identity;
• to process payments you make for Products;
• to pass your Product order for delivery by third party deliverers engaged by us;
• to provide customer support and improve your customer experience;
• to contact you by email and mobile communication (such as text (SMS) and "push" notification) in relation to the products or services you have purchased.

For legitimate business reasons we may process your data for customer satisfaction and customer experience improvement purposes, such as by analysing data we hold about you. We would also use this data in connection with the prevention and detection of fraud and other crime.

Please note when you provide a phone number when ordering a Product, that the phone number will be provided to the deliverer of your order and may appear on your order's packaging to assist with the delivery process.

We automatically collect anonymous information about your use of Group Hugs. For example, we may automatically log which parts of Group Hugs you access, which web browser you deploy and the website from which you linked to Group Hugs. You cannot be identified from any of this information. It enables us to compile statistics about the use of Group Hugs, and to help target aspects of Group Hugs and advertising to you more accurately.

Disclosing your personal data

We will share the personal data we collect about you with our subsidiary and/or affiliated companies and data processors (data storers, printers, deliverers, and payment service providers) under contract with us. That includes organisations in the following categories:

• information technology (hardware and software) companies;
• payment processing companies;
• manufacturers;
• delivery and courier services;
• fraud prevention companies;

We do this in order to provide our service to you (printing and delivering the book) and so they can keep a record of who has purchased products from them.

We will not share your data with any other categories of organisation without your permission unless:

• we are legally entitled to do so (for example, pursuant to a court order or for the purposes of prevention or detection of crime or fraud);
• we are in negotiations with a third party for the sale or purchase of any of Group Hugs's business or assets, in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets;
• Group Hugs, or substantially all of its assets, is acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by Group Hugs about its customers will be one of the transferred assets; or
• we wish to enforce or apply our Terms of Use and other agreements to which you are party, or to protect our rights, property, safety, customers, or others.

Marketing preferences

We will send you service messages relating directly to your orders and purchases from Group Hugs (such as order and dispatch confirmation emails), and emails which notify you of changes to our Terms of Use, or to policies we apply under our Terms of Use. We may also send market research emails to ensure you're happy with our service.

We will automatically include you in marketing communications that relate to your purchase unless you choose to opt out. We won't bombard you and we'll never share your data with anyone for their marketing purposes.

You can unsubscribe from all marketing from a link in the footer of any marketing email received from us.

International transfers

Data will only be transferred internationally for orders that are to be shipped outside of the UK. We will only transfer personal data that we collect from you to third party deliverers in countries that are outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) for the purpose of delivering an ordered product. Please be aware that countries outside the EEA may not offer the same level of data protection as the United Kingdom; however, we always require that third party data processors deal with your personal data in accordance with this privacy notice. Any transfers are done in accordance with the standards laid down by the EU Commission and/or decisions of the European Court of Justice.

Data retention

The information uploaded will be held for 45 days, 45 days after storage payments stop or 90 days from when a successful order is placed. We will retain other minimal data for 6 years for tax, anti-fraud and other purposes.

Your rights

You have the right to request:

• Access to the personal data we hold about you, free of charge in most cases. Note that we reserve the right to charge a fee for any requests which are considered (at our sole discretion) to be complex or require gathering, redaction, and/or transmission of large amounts of data.
• The correction of your personal data when incorrect, out of date or incomplete.
• The deletion of the data we hold about you, in specific circumstances; for example, when you withdraw consent or object, and we have no legitimate overriding interest, or once the purpose for which we hold the data has come to an end.
• Restriction of the use of your personal data, in specific circumstances, generally while we are deciding on an objection you have made.
• That we stop processing your personal data, in specific circumstances; for example, when you have withdrawn consent, or object for reasons related to your individual circumstances.
• That we stop using your personal data for direct marketing (either through specific channels, or all channels).
• That we stop any consent-based processing of your personal data after you withdraw that consent.
• You can contact us to request to exercise these rights at any time by email at [email protected]
• If we choose not to action your request, we will explain the reasons for our refusal.

Your right to withdraw consent

• Whenever you have given us your consent to use your personal data, you have the right to change your mind at any time and withdraw that consent.
• In cases where we are processing your personal data on the basis of our legitimate interest, you can ask us to stop for reasons connected to your individual situation. We must then do so unless we believe we have a legitimate overriding reason to continue processing your personal data.

Checking your identity

To protect the confidentiality of your information, we will ask you to verify your identity before proceeding with any request you make under this Privacy Notice.

If you have authorised a third party to submit a request on your behalf, we will ask them to prove they have your permission to act.

To discuss any of these rights, please contact [email protected]

Additionally, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection regulator. In our case, this is the Information Commissioner's Office in the UK. Details of how to contact them can be found at ICO.org.uk.

Security

We employ significant technical and organisational measures to guard against unauthorised or unlawful processing of your personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, your personal data. We believe the measures implemented by our site reduce the likelihood of security problems to a level appropriate to the type of data involved.

We have security measures in place to protect our database of Users and access to this database is restricted internally.

Deceptive emails

We will never ask you to confirm the details of your Account or Payment Method by email or mobile communication. If you receive such contact, please do not respond to it directly. You are encouraged to report any suspicious emails purporting to have been sent by Group Hugs by emailing us at [email protected]

Updates to this notice

This Privacy Notice was last updated on 22nd September 2026. Please check back regularly to keep informed of changes to this notice.

Cookies

What cookies are

A cookie is a small text file that a website stores in your browser. Cookies let a website remember things — for example, that you are signed in, or what is in your basket — and help us understand how the site is used so we can improve it. Some features work in a similar way using your browser’s local storage, and we treat these in the same way as cookies.

How we use cookies

We use a small number of strictly necessary cookies that the website needs in order to work — to keep you signed in, keep your account secure and let you pay for your order. These cannot be switched off, because the site would not work without them.

We would also like to use analytics cookies, and in future possibly advertising cookies, to understand how people use the site and how well our advertising works. We will only set these if you agree to them, and you can change your mind at any time.

When you first visit the site we ask which optional cookies you are happy for us to use. You can change your choices at any time using Cookie settings at the bottom of each page, or with the button below.

Change my cookie settings

Strictly necessary cookies

Preferences stored in your browser

The storybook editor uses your browser’s local storage to remember simple display preferences, such as whether the help panel is shown. This information stays on your device, is never sent to us and contains no personal details. You can clear it at any time by clearing your browser’s site data.

Analytics cookies (only with your consent)

Google Analytics tells us how the site is used overall. It does not tell us who you are. You can also opt out of Google Analytics on every website by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

Advertising cookies (only with your consent)

We do not currently use advertising cookies. If we advertise with Google Ads in future, we may use the cookie below, but only if you have agreed to advertising cookies. We will update this table before we do.

You can control the adverts Google shows you in My Ad Center.

Managing cookies in your browser

As well as choosing which optional cookies we use, you can block or delete cookies in your browser’s settings. If you block all cookies, including strictly necessary ones, you will not be able to sign in, create your storybook or place an order.

Browser menus change from time to time, so each browser’s own help page is linked below for the latest steps.

Google Chrome (computer)

1. Click the ⋮ menu at the top right and choose Settings.
2. Choose Privacy and security, then Third-party cookies to choose which cookies to allow.
3. To delete cookies already stored, choose Privacy and security, then Delete browsing data, and tick Cookies and other site data.

Google Chrome help: manage cookies

Microsoft Edge

1. Click the … menu at the top right and choose Settings.
2. Choose Privacy, search, and services, then Cookies (in some versions, Cookies and site permissions).
3. Choose whether to allow or block cookies, or choose See all cookies and site data to delete them.

Microsoft Edge help: manage cookies

Mozilla Firefox

1. Click the ☰ menu at the top right and choose Settings.
2. Choose Privacy & Security.
3. Under Cookies and Site Data, choose Manage Data… to delete cookies, or change Enhanced Tracking Protection to Custom to block them.

Firefox help: clear cookies and site data

Safari (Mac)

1. Open Safari, then choose Safari > Settings from the menu bar.
2. Choose the Privacy tab.
3. Tick Block all cookies, or choose Manage Website Data… to delete cookies for particular websites.

Safari help: manage cookies on Mac

Safari (iPhone and iPad)

1. Open the Settings app and choose Apps, then Safari (on older versions, Safari is in the main Settings list).
2. Turn on Block All Cookies under Privacy & Security, or choose Clear History and Website Data to delete them.

Apple help: delete Safari cookies on iPhone

Chrome (Android phone or tablet)

1. Open Chrome, tap the ⋮ menu and choose Settings.
2. Tap Site settings, then Third-party cookies or On-device site data to choose which cookies to allow.
3. To delete cookies, tap Privacy and security, then Delete browsing data.

Other browsers

For other browsers, please look in the browser’s settings or help pages. The Information Commissioner’s Office also has general guidance about cookies.

Contact us

If you would like to contact us about any aspect of this Privacy Notice please contact us at [email protected]

The data controller responsible for your personal information is:

Group Hugs Inc Limited trading as My-Story
Company number: 14476547
ICO registration number: ZB494876
Dejan Business Park, Second Avenue, Chatham, Kent, ME4 5AU, United Kingdom

For privacy enquiries or to exercise your data-protection rights, please contact us using the privacy contact by email at [email protected] or by post at the above address.