Backstory
Français
Privacy policy
Updated October 23, 2026
In short: Backstory works without an account, without a server and without analytics. Your exports are read and analyzed on your device, and are never sent anywhere. We collect no data about you: we never see your messages, your photos, or how you use the app.
What stays on your device
Everything you open in Backstory stays on your device:
- your Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp exports, and everything the app draws from them: conversations, statistics, gallery, maps;
- what you add: the names you give, your albums, your settings;
- “Your story”, the story of a conversation: it is written by an artificial intelligence that runs on your device, either Apple's, built into the iPhone, or a downloaded model. Your messages are never sent anywhere for it.
To erase everything, remove an export from the app (“Remove this export”), or delete the app. What you uploaded to your cloud drive stays there, for you to delete if you wish.
The little that goes online
Only three things are loaded from the internet:
- map backgrounds, requested from OpenStreetMap;
- in Instagram conversations, previews of shared reels, posts and GIFs, requested from Instagram and Giphy;
- if you ask for “Your story” with the downloadable model, that model, downloaded once from Hugging Face.
As with any web page, these services then receive your IP address and the map area, link or file requested. They get access to nothing else.
Your exports on a cloud drive
If you keep your exports on Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive, Backstory reads them directly from your device, with your permission, and uploads yours there if you ask it to, into a “Backstory” folder. Nothing goes through any other server, and nothing else on your drive is changed. Sign-in tokens stay in your device's keychain; you can sign out at any time from the archive page.
Backstory's use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Purchases
Premium is bought through the App Store, Google Play or, on computers, our online store (Lemon Squeezy). They process the payment: we never see your payment details. The app only checks the purchase; for a license, it sends the key and the computer's name to Lemon Squeezy, at most once a week. Your exports are never involved.
If you buy a license from our store, Lemon Squeezy, which sells on our behalf, passes on your name, email address and order to us, so we can deliver your license and help you if needed. Purchases made on the App Store or Google Play do not tell us who made them.
When you write to us
If you contact support, we use your email address and message to answer you, and for nothing else. They are kept for the conversation, then at most three years after our last message. Never send us your exports: we don't need them to help you.
Your rights
Since we keep nothing about you, apart from an email conversation or a license order, there is little to ask for. You can still write to us to access, correct or erase this information, or object to its use. You can also lodge a complaint with the CNIL, the French data protection authority, or the one in your country.
Who publishes Backstory
Backstory is published by Thomas Bensemhoun, the controller of this processing. For any question:
If this page changes
We update it here, with its date. If Backstory ever started sending anything else, the app would tell you first.