It's a fair question. You're about to upload photos of your child to a website you found recently, and the book is made using AI. In 2026, with everything in the news about how companies use personal data, pausing at the upload screen is the sensible thing to do.
This post gives you a straight answer. No legal boilerplate. Just what actually happens to your photos, step by step.
Why the photos are needed at all
Diffrun creates a book where your child is the illustrated hero on every page. To do that, the AI needs a reference. It looks at the photo you upload, understands what your child looks like, and uses that to generate illustrated versions of them throughout the story.
The photo is an input, not content that gets published anywhere. Nobody is posting your child's picture on a website. The photo goes in, the illustrations come out, and the book is what you end up with.
One photo is enough for this to work. If you upload more, the result tends to be better because the AI has more to work with, but one clear photo of your child's face is all that's required.
Where the photo actually goes
When you upload a photo, it is stored securely on our servers while your book is being generated. The generation process takes a few minutes. Once the preview is ready, the photo has done its job.
Nobody at Diffrun manually looks at your photos. The process is automated from upload to preview. A team member would only ever access an image if you contacted support and asked them to help fix something specific.
Your photos are never shared with any unauthorised third parties. They are never sold. They are never used in advertising.
The question everyone has: is Diffrun training AI on my child's photos?
No. Your photos are not used to train AI models.
This is the specific concern that has come up a lot since several large platforms quietly changed their terms to allow training on user-uploaded content. Diffrun does not do this. The photos you upload are used for one purpose: to generate the personalised book you ordered. That's it.
We understand why the question needs to be asked directly. So: your child's photos are not going into any training dataset, ours or anyone else's.
What happens to your photos after
This depends on where you are in the process.
If you do not save your preview: all uploaded photos are automatically deleted within 48 hours. You looked, decided not to continue, and everything is gone shortly after.
If you save a preview or place an order: your photos and the related images are securely stored for up to 30 days. This is so you can come back to access your book, download your digital copy if you ordered one, or request a reprint without having to start over. After 30 days, everything is permanently deleted.
There is no indefinite storage. There is no "we keep it just in case." The photos are there for the time it takes to get you your book, and then they are gone.
Who else can see your photos
The short answer is: almost nobody.
Your photos are stored on secure servers and accessed only by the automated system that generates your book. The only humans who would ever see your images are members of our support team, and only if you ask them to help you with something specific related to your order.
We do not use third-party advertising tools that have access to your uploaded content. We do not share images with print partners in a way that gives them independent access to your data. The print partner receives the final print-ready file for your book, not your original photos.
You are in control
If at any point you want your photos and personal data deleted immediately, you can email us at support@diffrun.com and ask for it. We will remove everything linked to your preview or order. You do not need to wait for the automatic deletion window.
This includes the original photos, the generated images, and any personal details associated with your session. You ask, we delete, and we confirm when it is done.
What about the free preview?
The free preview exists partly for this reason. You can see exactly what your child's personalised book looks like before you decide whether to order, pay for anything, or commit to storing anything on our end.
If you generate a preview and decide not to continue, your photos are deleted within 48 hours without you having to do anything. You have seen the product, you have made your decision, and nothing lingers.
A lot of parents find that generating the preview answers most of their questions. Not just about privacy, but about what the book actually looks like, how well the likeness works, and whether the story is right for their child's age.
The short version, if you want it
Your photos are used to create your book and nothing else. They are not shared, not sold, and not used for AI training. If you do not save your preview, they are deleted within 48 hours. If you order, they are deleted within 30 days. You can request immediate deletion at any time by emailing support@diffrun.com.
That is the complete picture. If you have a question that this post does not answer, email us and we will answer it directly.
We know you are trusting us with photos of your child. We do not take that lightly.
