Privacy Policy

Privacy at a glance

These are the same categories Apple uses for App Store privacy labels.

This policy covers the Ballad app for iPhone and iPad and the website at ballad.live. Ballad is made by Red Abstract (“we,” “us,” “our”).

1. What we collect

From Sign in with Apple

You sign in to Ballad with your Apple Account. Apple gives us a unique identifier that only works for Ballad, and the email address you choose to share. If you pick Hide My Email, that address is a private relay from Apple that forwards to your real inbox. Ballad doesn’t ask Apple for your name, and we never see your Apple Account password.

Your profile

• Handle. The name other bards know you by, such as @inkwell.
• Bio. An optional line about yourself.
• Birthday. Used to confirm you’re at least 13 and to hide Mature 17+ ballads until you’re 17. It’s stored on your device, and it’s never shown to anyone.

What you write

We store the ballads you create (title, genre, form, rating, turn settings, and who’s in the queue), the verses you write, and verses waiting for a creator’s approval.

Safety information

We keep a record of the bards you block and the verses you report. A report includes the reported verse and your account identifier so our moderators can review it and follow up.

Purchases

Ballad+ is sold through the App Store, so Apple takes the payment, and Apple’s privacy policy covers the payment details you give Apple. When you subscribe, renew, cancel, or get a refund, Apple sends Ballad a record of the transaction. We use it to unlock Ballad+ and keep it working on your devices. The record includes:

• which subscription you bought, and the price and currency you paid
• when you bought it, when it renews or expires, and whether it will renew
• whether it was a free trial or special offer, and whether it was refunded
• a transaction ID, and the country or region of your App Store account

This purchase history is linked to your Ballad account. We never receive your card number, bank details, billing address, or the name on your Apple Account. We don’t use purchase history for advertising, and we don’t share it with anyone.

Notifications

If you allow notifications, for example to hear when it’s your turn, Apple gives Ballad a token so it can deliver them. You can turn notifications off at any time in Settings.

Beta testing

If you test Ballad through TestFlight, Apple shares certain information with us under the TestFlight terms. This includes the name and email you were invited with, your device model and iOS version, crash reports, and any feedback or screenshots you choose to send.

Support

If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you include in your message.

What we don’t collect

Ballad doesn’t access your location, contacts, photos, camera, microphone, or health data, and it doesn’t use the advertising identifier. When you invite a friend, you send the link yourself through the iOS share sheet. Ballad never reads your contacts or your messages. Ballad contains no third-party advertising, analytics, or tracking software.

2. How we use it

• To run Ballad: signing you in, keeping turn order, delivering verses to the right bards, and showing ballads to the readers they’re shared with.
• To keep people safe: enforcing age limits, reviewing reports, and acting on violations of our Community Guidelines.
• To support you: answering your questions and fixing problems you or other testers report.
• To provide Ballad+: verifying purchases, unlocking Ballad+, and handling renewals, cancellations, and refunds.
• To follow the law: responding to valid legal requests and protecting the rights and safety of our users.

We don’t sell your personal information. We don’t share it for targeted advertising, and we don’t use it to build advertising profiles. If you’re in the EU or UK, we rely on these legal bases: performing our contract with you (running the service), our legitimate interest in keeping Ballad safe, your consent (for notifications), and legal obligations.

3. Who can see what

Keep in mind that anyone who can read a ballad could copy or screenshot it. Only share things in a verse that you’re comfortable with the other bards seeing.

4. Where it’s stored and who helps us

Ballad keeps your data on your device. Ballads you share with other bards are synced through Apple’s iCloud (CloudKit), which encrypts data in transit and at rest. The only service providers we use are:

• Apple: Sign in with Apple, iCloud and CloudKit, App Store purchases, TestFlight, and push notifications.
• Cloudflare and DigitalOcean: they host and protect this website, and they route email sent to our support address.

We’re based in the United States, and our providers may process information in the US and other countries where they operate. When we transfer personal information out of the EU or UK, we rely on the safeguards the law requires.

5. How long we keep it

• Account and profile: until you delete your account.
• Verses in shared ballads: a ballad belongs to all of its bards. If you delete your account, verses you’ve already contributed stay in the ballad so the story still makes sense, but they’re no longer linked to your handle. If you want specific verses removed, email us.
• Purchase history: as long as your account exists, and afterward only if the law requires us to keep it.
• Reports and moderation records: as long as we need them to enforce our guidelines, prevent repeat abuse, and meet legal obligations.
• Support emails: as long as we need them to help you, then deleted.

6. Your choices and rights

• Delete your account: in the app, go to Profile → Delete account. This erases your profile and your data on the device.
• Stop using Sign in with Apple with Ballad: go to Settings → [your name] → Sign-In & Security → Sign in with Apple.
• Notifications: turn them on or off in Settings → Notifications → Ballad.
• Block bards: from their profile. Unblock them any time in Profile → Blocked bards.
• Access, correct, export, or delete your data: email [email protected]. We’ll respond within 30 days.

Depending on where you live, including the EU, the UK, and US states such as California, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or port your personal information, and to object to or restrict how it’s used. You can exercise any of these rights by contacting us, and we won’t treat you differently for doing so. If you’re in the EU or UK, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.

7. Children and teens

Ballad isn’t for children under 13, and the app won’t let anyone under 13 create a profile. If we learn that a child under 13 has given us personal information, we’ll delete it. If you’re under 18, or under the age of digital consent where you live, you need permission from a parent or guardian to use Ballad. Mature 17+ ballads are hidden from bards under 17.

8. This website

ballad.live sets no cookies of its own. It has no analytics or ads, and it loads no third-party scripts or fonts. It’s served through Cloudflare and hosted on DigitalOcean. Like any web server, they process technical information such as your IP address and browser type to deliver and protect the site, and Cloudflare may set a strictly necessary security cookie to filter out malicious traffic.

Security

We protect your information with encryption in transit and at rest, and we limit who can access it. No system is perfectly secure. If we learn of a breach that affects you, we’ll notify you as the law requires.

9. Changes to this policy

When we update this policy, we’ll change the date at the top of this page. If a change is significant, we’ll also tell you in the app before it takes effect.

10. Contact us

Questions, requests, or concerns about privacy: [email protected].
Red Abstract, the maker of Ballad.