Privacy Policy

Last updated: 10 April 2026

StoryCoPilot ("we", "us", "our") is a product of JOCH Ltd, registered in England and Wales. This policy explains what data we collect, why, and how we protect it.

We build tools for documentary filmmakers. The content you record and transcribe through our platform may include sensitive interview material. We treat that responsibility seriously.

1. Data We Collect

Account Information

Email address -- used for authentication (one-time login codes), account communication, and subscription management
Name -- displayed in your profile and used for personalisation
Profile photo URL -- if provided via Google OAuth

Recording and Transcript Data

Audio -- streamed in real time for transcription. Raw audio is never permanently stored on our servers. Temporary audio files (used for optional word-level timing) are held for a maximum of 30 minutes and then automatically deleted.
Transcripts -- generated from your audio and stored in our database. Transcript text, summaries, and notes are encrypted at rest using AES-256-GCM encryption with per-user keys.
AI-generated content -- titles, summaries, follow-up question suggestions, and editorial analysis generated from your transcripts

Production Management Data

Contributor information -- names, contact details, addresses, photos, and editorial notes for production contributors
Location data -- shoot locations with coordinates, geocoded via OpenStreetMap (Nominatim)
Calendar events -- synced from Google Calendar when connected by you
Google Docs and Sheets -- accessed when linked by you for project research and rushes data

Usage Data

Session usage -- transcription seconds used, AI calls made, and feature engagement (e.g. suggestion acceptance rates)
Suggestion events -- which AI suggestions were shown, adopted, or dismissed, and timing data. Used to improve suggestion quality.
IP addresses -- logged only for administrative actions (admin audit trail). Not logged for general user activity.

Payment Information

Payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe. We store your Stripe customer ID and subscription ID but never see or store your card details, bank information, or billing address.

2. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to deliver StoryCoPilot. Each receives only the data necessary for its function.

Service	Purpose	Data Shared	Location
Speechmatics	Real-time speech-to-text transcription	Audio stream (real-time, not stored)	UK (Cambridge)
Anthropic (Claude)	AI suggestions, summaries, editorial analysis	Transcript excerpts, interview context	US
OpenAI (Whisper)	Word-level transcription timing	Audio segments (temporary)	US
ElevenLabs	Text-to-speech (earpiece mode)	Short text phrases for voice synthesis	US/EU
Stripe	Payment processing	Email, name, payment details	US
Resend	Transactional email	Email addresses, login codes	US
Google	OAuth, Calendar, Sheets, Docs integration	OAuth tokens (encrypted), project data you choose to connect	US
Trint	Transcript import	Trint transcript IDs (your data stays on Trint)	UK
OpenStreetMap (Nominatim)	Location geocoding	Address text for coordinate lookup	EU

AI and Your Data

When we send transcript data to Anthropic's Claude API or OpenAI's Whisper API, we use their commercial API services. Under their published API terms, data submitted via the API is not used to train their models. Each request is processed independently and not retained beyond what is necessary to deliver the response.

3. How We Protect Your Data

Encryption at rest -- transcripts, summaries, and notes are encrypted with AES-256-GCM using per-user encryption keys
Encryption in transit -- all connections use HTTPS/TLS. WebSocket connections for real-time transcription are encrypted.
Google OAuth tokens -- stored encrypted (AES-256-GCM) in our database
Session security -- HTTP-only, secure, strict same-site cookies with 30-day expiry
Authentication -- passwordless email-based login with one-time codes that expire after 10 minutes, with brute-force protection
Rate limiting -- enforced on authentication, AI requests, and file uploads
Audio files -- temporary files are automatically deleted after 30 minutes

4. Data Retention

Account data -- retained for as long as your account is active
Recordings and transcripts -- retained until you delete them. You can delete individual recordings at any time.
Temporary audio -- automatically deleted after 30 minutes
Authentication tokens -- expire and are deleted after 10 minutes
Production data -- retained for the lifetime of the project. Deleted items can be permanently purged on request.
Session and usage data -- retained for billing and service improvement purposes

5. Your Rights

If you are in the United Kingdom, European Economic Area, or California, you have the following rights under UK GDPR, EU GDPR, and the CCPA respectively:

Access -- request a copy of all personal data we hold about you
Rectification -- ask us to correct inaccurate data
Deletion -- request that we delete your account and all associated data
Portability -- request your data in a machine-readable format
Objection -- object to processing based on legitimate interests
Restriction -- ask us to restrict processing of your data
Withdraw consent -- where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@storycopilot.io. We will respond within 30 days.

California Residents (CCPA)

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising. You have the right to know what data we collect, to request its deletion, and to opt out of any sale (though none occurs).

6. Lawful Basis for Processing (UK/EU GDPR)

Contract -- processing your audio and generating transcripts is necessary to provide the service you signed up for
Legitimate interest -- usage analytics, suggestion quality improvement, and security logging
Consent -- connecting third-party services (Google, Trint) and enabling optional AI-powered features (earpiece, StoryGrade)

7. International Transfers

Some of our third-party providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Stripe, Resend, ElevenLabs) process data in the United States. Where data is transferred outside the UK/EEA, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent safeguards provided by these services under their data processing agreements.

8. Children

StoryCoPilot is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us and we will delete it promptly.

9. Cookies

We use only essential cookies required for the service to function:

Session cookie (sid) -- authenticates your login session. HTTP-only, secure, strict same-site. Expires after 30 days.
OAuth state cookie -- temporary, used during Google OAuth flow and deleted immediately after.

We do not use analytics cookies, advertising cookies, or any third-party tracking cookies.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via email or an in-app notice. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision.

11. Contact

For any privacy-related questions or to exercise your data rights:

Email: privacy@storycopilot.io
Company: JOCH Ltd, registered in England and Wales
Website: storycopilot.io

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.