Transparency

How your data is used with AI

Exactly what gets sent to AI providers, when, what is stripped out first, and what happens if you never use an AI feature at all.

The principle

Nothing is sent to an AI provider unless you ask for an AI action, and when you ask, you see what is going first.

This is not a marketing line — it is how the app is built. Free projects make no third-party AI calls at all. The AI features are separate, explicit, priced actions with visible input controls before each request.

Optional Studio Plus cloud backup is a separate Firebase storage feature. It can run automatically after you opt in, but it does not submit backed-up content to Gemini, OpenAI, or another generative-AI provider. See backup and sync.

What is sent, for each action

When you ask forWhat is sentWhat is not sent
A suggested description of a sketch or photoA metadata-free copy of that one imageThe original file, your location, your other pictures
An illustrationYour edited description, the style and shape you chose, and the source image if you used oneYour name, your account email, other project content
An AI page planYour premise, working title, chosen theme and default layout, reader band, page count, and selected feelsYour Library images unless you separately choose previews for AI descriptions
NarrationThe text you reviewed, and the voice and style you choseYour images or other pages
A video clipYour prompt and the specific frames you selectedThe source video file — only the chosen frame is extracted and sent

What we strip before sending

Images prepared for AI processing have their metadata removed — GPS location, camera make and model, timestamps, and other EXIF fields. The copy that goes out is just the picture.

Rendered PDF and MP4 exports contain the page presentation rather than the source image files. A .ddstory archive is different: it intentionally includes the project’s original media so the project remains editable on another device.

The review step

AI actions follow the same input-first principle, although the exact controls vary:

  1. You choose a source.
  2. The app shows the relevant source picture, prompt, frames, narration text, or story settings. For the free suggested-description action, the selected image itself is the input and the editable description is the result.
  3. Where text is available before generation, you edit it until it says what you want.
  4. A credit-bearing confirmation button names the exact cost, for example Generate video · 1 credit.
  5. Only then does anything leave your device.

The input is visible and the action is deliberate. Standalone image and video generation also show the result before it is used. Planner artwork selected during plan review and generated narration can be attached to the working project when generation finishes; review the complete project before export or sharing.

Who processes what

We use established AI providers under their commercial API terms:

  • Image understanding and story text — Google (Gemini models)
  • Illustration generation — OpenAI (GPT Image models)
  • Video generation — Google (Veo models)
  • Narration — Google (Gemini text-to-speech)

Model choices change as better options appear. Provider and model names stay server-side rather than being wired into the app, so we can switch providers or disable a capability without shipping an app update.

Training

We do not use your content to train AI models. We use provider APIs under terms where submitted content is not used for training. Providers may retain content briefly for abuse monitoring under their own policies.

If this ever changes, we will say so prominently in the app before it takes effect — not in a quiet policy update.

Safety filtering

AI providers apply their own safety filters. Sometimes they refuse completely innocent family content, because the filters are blunt instruments. When that happens your credits are returned automatically and you can rewrite the description and try again. See generation errors.

What we will not build

Some things are off the table regardless of whether they are technically possible:

  • Face recognition or biometric matching
  • Likeness transfer that reproduces a specific real person’s face
  • Automatic inference of family relationships
  • Any public gallery, feed, or automatic sharing of what you make
  • Advertising, or any advertising SDK
  • Selling or renting your information

Turning it off entirely

Do not subscribe, or sign out. Without an active Studio Plus entitlement the AI actions are not available and no AI request can be made. The rest of the app — drawing, editing, layout, narration you record, music, export — keeps working exactly as before.

Questions

Email support@mcntech.com. If something here is unclear or reads as evasive, tell us and we will rewrite it.

AI and data questions

Do you train AI models on my pictures?
No. We do not use your content to train models and we ask our providers not to use content submitted through our API for training. If that ever changes we will say so prominently before it takes effect.
What if I never use an AI feature?
Then nothing is sent to a third-party AI provider. Projects stay on your device unless you separately opt in to private Studio Plus cloud backup or choose to export or share them. Local creation works in aeroplane mode.
Is my photo's location sent?
No. The app strips metadata — location, camera details, timestamps — from the copy it uploads. Your original photo on your phone is untouched.
Can I see what will be sent before it goes?
Yes. The app shows the relevant source, prompt, frames, narration text, or planning settings before you start the request. Credit-bearing actions show their cost; the free suggested-description action is labelled separately.
Do you keep the pictures I send for AI processing?
We do not retain your content after the request completes. Providers may hold it briefly for abuse monitoring under their own terms.

Start with one drawing

Download Doodle Dragon Studio, pick a sketch off the fridge, and see it as a finished page in a few minutes. The free tier is genuinely free — no trial clock, no credit card.