Effective October 24, 2026

Privacy Policy

livecomics.to (livecomics.to), operated by SMOOBY LLC, turns comic books into narrated, panel-by-panel reading experiences. This policy describes what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with and how, and how we protect it.

Information we collect

Account information. Your email address and a password (stored only as a secure hash. We never store your password in plain text.)
Content you upload. Comic archives you import are processed into page images, machine-generated transcripts, and generated narration/sound audio, which are stored in our cloud so your library works across devices.
Usage and billing records. Pages processed, features used, reading progress, app settings you sync, your credit balance, and a ledger of credit grants and charges.
Payment information. Payments are handled by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number. We keep only a Stripe customer reference and transaction metadata (amount, date, status).
Fraud and abuse prevention. Free credits and free trials are limited to one per person. To enforce that, we keep a one-way hash of your email address (we can't turn it back into the address), a shortened form of the network (IP) address you signed up from, your country and, if you start a card trial, the card fingerprint Stripe gives us. We use these only to stop repeat trials, fake accounts and payment fraud.
Technical logs. Standard server logs (such as IP address and browser type) used for security, debugging, and abuse prevention.
Product analytics. How the app is actually used: pages visited, features used, how far into a comic you read, whether narration played, and performance measurements such as load times and errors. This includes session recordings that capture how pages are interacted with (clicks, scrolling, taps, and navigation) so we can find broken or confusing parts of the interface. Recordings mask text entered into form fields, and we never use them to build advertising profiles.
Ad measurement. We advertise livecomics.to on Reddit and use the Reddit pixel on our website to measure those ads: it tells Reddit that a visitor came to our site or signed up, so we can see which ads work and show our ads to people who have visited. In the EU, the EEA, the UK and Switzerland it runs only if you accept it (see below). In South Korea too, it and the product analytics above run only if you agree, on a separate consent asked in Korean (see the Korean policy). Our iPhone and Android apps don't run it.
Catalog views. When you are signed in, we record which catalog series and comics you view or open, and on which days, so we can improve the catalog and help you with support. Visitors who are not signed in are counted only as anonymous totals per title.
On-device storage. The app caches pages, audio, and settings in your browser's local storage so playback is fast and works offline. We use cookies and local storage to keep you signed in, run the app, and for the product analytics and ad measurement described above. You can turn those two on or off at any time with Cookie settings, at the bottom of every page.

How we use it

To operate the service: decode your uploads, run transcription and narration, and stream the results back to you.
To manage your account, credits, subscriptions, and purchases.
To respond to support requests.
To keep the service secure and prevent fraud and abuse.
To improve the service using aggregate, de-identified usage patterns.
To send you occasional email about new comics and features, only if you agreed to it (see Email about new comics and features).

We do not sell your personal information. We do not give advertisers your email address, your library or your reading history; the only advertising data that leaves us is what the Reddit pixel described above sends from your browser.

Who we share it with, and how

We disclose information only to the service providers needed to run livecomics.to, always over encrypted (HTTPS/TLS) connections, and only the minimum required:

Cloudflare hosts our application and stores your library data (page images, audio, and metadata) in its cloud infrastructure, and provides cookieless traffic and page-performance analytics that do not identify individual visitors.
Microsoft: we use Microsoft Clarity for product analytics. Interaction data from your visit (clicks, scrolling, navigation, page performance, browser type, and approximate location) is processed by Microsoft under its own privacy statement, and is used only to improve the service.
OpenRouter: comic page images and their text are transmitted via secure API solely to generate the transcription and the narration read back to you. OpenRouter processes that content under its own terms.
Google (Gemini API): the text of the speech bubbles is transmitted via secure API solely to generate the narration read back to you. Google processes that content under its Gemini API terms.
fal.ai: short text descriptions of what a panel depicts are transmitted via secure API solely to generate that panel's sound effects. No page images or account information are sent. fal.ai processes that content under its own terms.
Resend (Plus Five Five, Inc.) sends our emails about new comics and features, only to people who agreed to them. It receives your email address and the email itself, under its own privacy policy.
Stripe processes payments and stores your payment details under its own privacy policy. Depending on where you live, Stripe (through its Link service) may sell to you as our reseller; it then handles that purchase, including any tax, under its own terms and privacy policy.
Reddit receives the ad measurement events described above from your browser, under its own privacy policy.
Google and Apple, if you sign in with Google or Apple, or buy a plan or credits through the App Store or Google Play: they handle that sign-in or purchase under their own terms and privacy policies.
Legal requirements: we may disclose information if required by law, subpoena, or to protect the rights and safety of users and the service.

Email about new comics and features

If you agree, when you create your account or later on your Account page, SMOOBY LLC (LiveComics), 1500 N Grant St #12228, Denver, CO 80203, USA sends you occasional email about new comics and features. In some countries the box on the sign-up form starts ticked; you can untick it before you create your account.

What we use: your email address, and a record of your choice: when you made it, how (the sign-up form, signing up with Google or Apple, your Account page, or an unsubscribe link), which wording you saw, and the country you were in.
How long: we send these emails until you stop them or close your account. We keep the record of your choice while your account exists and delete it with your account.
Where and how: by email, sent from the United States through Resend, our email delivery provider (listed above). We never sell your address or share it for other companies' marketing.
Your choice: these emails are optional. Saying no changes nothing else: you can use the whole service either way, and account emails (security, billing, changes to our terms) still arrive. Every one of these emails has a one-click unsubscribe link, and you can turn them off on your Account page at any time. You can also ask to see, correct or delete this information, as described under Your rights.

Security

All data in transit is encrypted with TLS (HTTPS).
API keys and credentials are held server-side and never exposed to your browser.
Passwords are stored only as salted hashes.
Card processing is handled entirely by Stripe, a PCI-DSS-compliant processor.
Shared, de-identified audio caching contains no personal information.

Retention and deletion

Your content stays in your library until you delete it or close your account. You can delete individual comics in the app at any time. To delete your account and associated personal data, choose Delete account on your Account page, or contact us via the support page. De-identified generated audio may persist in our shared cache; it contains no personal data and is not linked to you. Records of which catalog titles you viewed are deleted after 180 days. We keep backup copies to protect against data loss. When data is deleted from our live systems, for example when you delete your account, its backup copies are deleted within 90 days.

Your rights

You can request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information at any time via the support page. Depending on where you live (for example the EU/EEA, UK, or California), you may have additional rights under local law, and we will honor valid requests. If you live in the EU, the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, see the next section.

The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the UK GDPR and the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection apply to how we handle your personal data. This section adds what they ask us to tell you.

Who is responsible. The controller of your personal data is SMOOBY LLC, 1500 N Grant St #12228, Denver, CO 80203, USA, phone +1 720-515-7142, email [email protected]. We have not appointed a data protection officer; write to that address about anything in this policy.

Why we use your data, and on what legal basis (GDPR Article 6(1)):

Running your account and the service (your library, processing your uploads, transcription and narration, syncing, emails about your plan, support): to perform our contract with you (point b).
Payments, credits, free trials, refunds, and the records of your requests to start, withdraw from or cancel a plan: to perform the contract (point b), and to meet our legal obligations, such as tax, accounting and consumer law (point c).
Security, technical logs, checks of uploads against our content rules, and the fraud and abuse prevention described above: our legitimate interest in a safe service and in stopping fraud and repeat trials (point f).
Catalog views, cookieless traffic statistics, and improving the service from aggregate, de-identified usage: our legitimate interest in running and improving livecomics.to (point f).
Emails that help you get started or pick up a book you began, each with a one-click way to stop them: our legitimate interest in helping you use the service (point f).
Product analytics (Microsoft Clarity) and ad measurement (the Reddit pixel): your consent (point a). Both stay off until you choose Accept on the banner. You can withdraw your consent at any time, as easily as you gave it: choose Cookie settings at the bottom of any page or on your Account page, then No thanks. That turns both off straight away, deletes the cookies they set on our site, and keeps them off on your later visits in that browser. You can also write to us at [email protected]. Withdrawing doesn't affect what happened before you withdrew it.
Disclosures the law requires: to meet a legal obligation (point c).

Where we rely on legitimate interests, you can object at any time (see your rights below). You need to give us an email address (or sign in with Google or Apple) to create an account, and payment details to buy a plan or credits; without them we can't provide the account or the purchase. Everything else is up to you.

How long we keep it.

Your account, settings, library, uploads and reading progress: until you delete them or your account. On the free plan, hosted uploads may be reclaimed after twelve months without a sign-in, with notice first (Terms, section 9).
Payment, credit and consent records: as long as tax, accounting and consumer-protection rules require, generally up to 7 years, also after you delete your account.
The fraud and abuse prevention records described above: as long as we offer free credits or trials, also after you delete your account, so that a new account can't claim them again. They can't be turned back into your email address.
Records of which catalog titles you viewed: 180 days.
Backup copies: deleted within 90 days after the data is deleted from our live systems. Backups of the de-identified generated audio in our shared cache are kept, like the cache itself.
Technical logs and error reports: only as long as needed for security and debugging.
Support emails: as long as needed to answer you and keep a record of the request.
Analytics and ad measurement data: Microsoft and Reddit keep it for the periods their own terms set.

Where your data is processed. SMOOBY LLC is based in the United States. You give your data to us directly, and we and the service providers listed above store and process it in the United States and in the other countries where they run their systems. The GDPR applies to us all the same. Several of our providers (for example Cloudflare, Google, Microsoft and Stripe) take part in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, for which the European Commission adopted an adequacy decision on 10 July 2023; the others handle your data under their own data protection terms. Write to us for details of the safeguards that apply to a given provider.

Your rights. You have the right to access your personal data, to have it corrected, to have it erased, to restrict its use, to receive it in a portable format, and to object to its use where we rely on legitimate interests (GDPR Articles 15 to 18, 20 and 21). Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time. You can delete your account yourself on your Account page; for anything else, write to [email protected]. We answer within one month.

Complaints. You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, in particular in the country where you live or work or where you think the problem happened (GDPR Article 77). The European Data Protection Board lists the EU and EEA authorities (edpb.europa.eu); in the UK it is the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk), and in Switzerland the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (edoeb.admin.ch). We would like the chance to put things right first, so please write to us too.

Automated decisions. We don't make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects on you. When an automatic check flags an upload, a person reviews it.

If you live in Quebec

Privacy officer (responsable de la protection des renseignements personnels): SMOOBY LLC, 1500 N Grant St #12228, Denver, CO 80203, USA, [email protected]. Write to this address to reach the person in charge of protecting your personal information.
You can ask to access or correct your personal information, and you can withdraw your consent to our use of it at any time, by writing to the privacy officer. If you withdraw consent, we may no longer be able to provide some or all of the service.
Your information is stored and processed outside Quebec, mainly in the United States, by us and by the service providers listed above, and it is protected as this policy describes.
This policy is also available in French (version française). If the French and English versions differ, the interpretation most favourable to you applies.

Children

livecomics.to is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes, we will update this page and its effective date. Continued use of the service after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Reach us through the support page or at [email protected]. Our postal address is SMOOBY LLC, 1500 N Grant St #12228, Denver, CO 80203, USA.