Terms of use

1. Purpose

These terms of use govern access to and use of the Kizuna service, published by The Happiness Institute ("we"), on the kizunastories.com website and in the kizunastories.app app. They apply to anyone who visits the website, creates an account, tells their life story to Emma or reads a shared story ("you"). Purchases are governed by the terms of sale.

2. The service

Kizuna helps you tell your life story and pass it on to your loved ones. The service includes:

• spoken interviews with Emma, a voice companion that is an artificial intelligence (AI), from your web browser;
• a written transcription of these interviews;
• the writing of your life story by an AI, from what you said;
• reading and listening to your story online, in your space;
• once your story is finished and validated, sharing it with the loved ones you choose, who can read it, comment on it and order books, depending on the features available;
• Léo, a help assistant that answers your questions about the service when it is available. Léo is also an AI.

On the kizunastories.com website, demos of Emma let you discover Kizuna before signing up. Their use is limited in length and number of tries per day and per visitor.

3. Free trial and paid offers

Each new account can talk to Emma for free during a trial period, the length of which is shown on the website when you sign up. To continue afterwards and have your story written, you choose a paid offer, under the terms of sale. What you said during the trial is kept.

4. Who can use Kizuna

• Creating an account and leaving comments are reserved for adults; children may read a shared story under their parents' responsibility.
• A relative, often a son or daughter, may create the account for the person telling their life story. They do so on that person's behalf and with their consent: they declare that they have told the person that the interviews are with an AI, that they are recorded and transcribed, and that a story will be written from them.
• Before their first interview, the storyteller gives their own consent to Emma. They can stop at any time.
• If the storyteller is under a legal protection measure (guardianship, curatorship or family authorisation), it is the storyteller who decides to tell their life story and gives their consent to Emma, as far as their condition allows (Article 459 of the French Civil Code). The person in charge of the measure supports them and places orders within the limits of their role.
• The rights to the story belong to the storyteller (section 10), even when a relative created the account or paid for an offer.

5. Account and sign-in

• To sign in, you enter an email address. We send you a 6-digit code there, valid for 10 minutes and usable only once. You have no login details to remember.
• Anyone who reads that mailbox can receive the code. Keep access to it for yourself and for the storyteller, and never pass the code on. We will never ask you for it by phone or by message.
• By creating your account, you accept these terms. We record the version you accepted and its date.
• You are responsible for the use of your account. Tell us about any unauthorised use at contact@happiness-institute.com.

6. You are talking to an artificial intelligence

In accordance with Article 50 of the European regulation on artificial intelligence, we clearly inform you that:

• Emma is not a person: she is a voice AI. Her voice is produced by our provider ElevenLabs. You are told this before your first interview.
• Your story is a text generated by an AI from your words. You reread and validate it yourself before any sharing or printing.
• Léo, the help assistant, is also an AI.

7. The limits of AI

AI can make mistakes: a date, a name, a place, the order of events, or the interpretation of a memory. It may also misunderstand something you said, or phrase a sentence in a way that does not sound like you. Reread your story carefully and ask for any corrections needed before validating it. Emma's and Léo's answers are not medical, legal or financial advice.

8. Sensitive topics and bereavement

Telling your life story can bring back painful memories: a bereavement, an illness, a separation. You are free not to talk about a topic, to take a break or to stop an interview at any time. You can ask us to remove a passage from your story.

Emma is not a doctor, a psychologist or a helpline. If you are going through a difficult time, talk to someone close to you or to a professional. If you are in distress or having suicidal thoughts, call 3114 (French national suicide prevention line, free, 24/7). In an emergency, call 15 or 112.

9. Your story: finishing and validating

• You decide when your story is finished. Once your story is finished, you can no longer talk to Emma for that story.
• You then reread and validate your story. It can only be shared with your loved ones once you have finished, reread and validated it.
• Printed books reproduce the validated version.

10. Your content belongs to you

The storyteller remains the owner of their words, memories, photos and the story made from them. They grant us only a limited, free, non-exclusive permission to use them to provide the service: recording and transcribing the interviews, writing, laying out, reading aloud, printing and delivering the story, and showing it to the people they choose. This permission lasts as long as the account exists and ends when it is deleted, subject to books already ordered.

Improving Emma, only if you want to. Your interviews are used to improve Emma only if you ticked the optional "improve Emma" box. It is never ticked by default. You can withdraw your agreement at any time in your preferences. No person listens to or reads your conversations to improve Emma: artificial intelligence systems analyse their written transcript, which remains confidential. When a relative created the account, this box only counts if the storyteller ticked it themselves, or if Emma asked for their consent.

We do not sell your content, do not use it for advertising and never publish it without your consent. A member of our team reads your story only in these cases: help you ask us for, for example if your story doesn't feel right, preparing a book you ordered, or examining content reported to us.

Your story mentions other people. Respect their privacy and honour, especially if you share it: avoid defamatory or insulting remarks about identifiable people. Only provide photos and documents you have the right to use.

11. Loved ones: reading, comments and orders

• You choose who you share your story with. When you share it via a link, anyone with the link can read it, so only pass it on to people you trust. You can withdraw a share at any time.
• Loved ones cannot edit the story.
• A loved one who leaves a comment remains its author and is responsible for it. They allow us to show it to the storyteller and to the other loved ones who have access to the story. The storyteller can ask us to remove a comment. We may remove a comment that breaches these terms.
• A loved one who orders a book is a buyer subject to the terms of sale.

12. What is not allowed

You may not:

• use the service on behalf of someone without their consent, or impersonate someone else;
• make or publish unlawful statements: defamation, insults, harassment, incitement to hatred or violence, invasion of privacy;
• provide content that infringes the rights of others, including copyright;
• try to bypass the service's protections, usage limits or free trial, for example by creating several accounts;
• extract data automatically, or try to make Emma or Léo do anything other than what they are made for;
• resell or commercially exploit the service.

13. Reporting content

To report unlawful content, for example a comment, write to contact@happiness-institute.com stating: the content and exactly where it is (link, story, chapter); why you consider it unlawful; your name and email address; and a sentence confirming that your report is made in good faith. We acknowledge receipt, look into it promptly and inform you of our decision and the available remedies. If we remove content or suspend an account, we explain our reasons to the person concerned and tell them how to challenge the decision.

14. Availability

We do our best to keep the service available at all times, without being able to guarantee it. Interruptions may occur for maintenance or because of our providers. An interrupted interview can be resumed: what has already been said is kept in writing.

15. Suspension and deletion of the account

You can delete your account at any time by writing to contact@happiness-institute.com. Your account, interviews and story are then erased within 30 days, including the recordings of your voice if you had taken the voice replay option. Remember to download them first.

We may suspend or delete an account in the event of a serious breach of these terms, after warning you and inviting you to explain, except in an emergency or for manifestly unlawful content. We tell you the reasons for our decision and how to challenge it. An offer already paid for and not supplied is then refunded, less any loss we can prove.

16. Keeping and exporting your data

• The written transcript of your interviews and your story are kept for as long as your account exists.
• By default, the recording of your voice is kept for 60 days after each session, then erased. The written transcript is kept, to write your story. With the paid voice replay option, and with the consent the storyteller gives themselves on screen, your recordings are kept for as long as your account exists, from the moment the option is added: the recordings still kept, those of the last 60 days, and the following ones; those already erased cannot be recovered. You have two months to decide to keep them. You find your recordings session by session, one MP3 file per session, to download at any time. You can also ask at any time for them to be deleted.
• An account with no sign-in for 3 years is deleted, after we have warned you.
• After the storyteller's death, their account and story are kept, and the loved ones the story is shared with keep their access. Deletion for inactivity does not apply without first warning those loved ones.
• You can ask us at any time for a copy of your transcripts, your story and, if you have taken the voice replay option, your recordings, at contact@happiness-institute.com. We send it to you in a common format within one month. Remember to do so before deleting your account.
• You can name a relative who will be able to manage your story after your death, by writing to us. Otherwise, your heirs may contact us.

17. Liability

We are responsible for properly providing the service. We are not liable for content that you or your loved ones provide or publish, nor for use of the service contrary to these terms. The story is written by an AI and may contain mistakes; you can have them corrected free of charge before validating it. The book faithfully reproduces the validated version. Nothing in these terms limits your legal guarantees.

18. Personal data

How we process your data, our providers and retention periods are described in the privacy policy.

19. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms to follow changes in the service, the law or our providers. These changes never alter the price or content of an offer already paid for. We notify you by email at least 30 days before they take effect. If a change reduces what you paid for or significantly inconveniences you, you can end the contract at no cost within 30 days: we refund the part not supplied and let you retrieve your story.

20. Governing law and contact

These terms are governed by French law. In the event of a dispute, an amicable solution is sought first, including through a consumer mediator (see the terms of sale). Failing that, the courts with jurisdiction are those provided for by law. For any question: contact@happiness-institute.com.