What we keep, and for how long
The short version: we collect the least we can, use it only to make and deliver your book, and delete it on a timer. There are no ad trackers and no analytics scripts on this site.
Who we are
Bad Therapist is run by Joey Xoto, sole trader, who is responsible for your data (the "data controller"). For anything about your data, email hello@badtherapist.com.
What we collect
| What | Why | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Your questionnaire answers | To write your book | Deleted 30 days after delivery. If you start but don't pay, deleted after 24 hours. If a book is held for a closer look or stopped for safety, deleted 30 days later. |
| Your email address | To send your download link, receipts and refunds | Kept with the order record (which holds no answers) so we can handle refunds and support. Ask us to delete it at any time. |
| Your 18+ confirmations (a time and a wording version) | To show we asked | Kept with the order record |
| Your book (PDF) and intake diagnosis card | So you can download them | Deleted when your download link expires, 30 days after delivery |
| A free session: the first name or nickname of the person you reported, the habits you picked, your one line, the name you reported them under, and the excuse of the person you reported if they give one | To show the session notes, let the person you reported respond and show you both the diagnosis | Deleted 30 days after it was started. When AI-written diagnoses are on, the report and excuse text (names included) are sent to our AI provider to write the diagnosis and are not used for training; when they're off, the diagnosis comes from fixed templates on our server and nothing goes to an AI provider. |
| A gift: the first name or nickname of the person it's for, your answers about them (habits, stories, catchphrases, excuses), what they look like for the drawings (hair, hair color, facial hair, glasses, skin tone, build, one item of clothing), anything you asked us to leave out, and their email address if we send them the book | To make their book and deliver it to them | Deleted 30 days after delivery |
| Appearance picks (hair, beard, glasses, skin tone, build), chosen from a list | So the illustrations look a bit like the person. No photos are uploaded or used | Deleted with the answers |
| The rest of the book details: the pronouns to use, how you know the person (for a gift), their age range and any head covering for the drawings, and up to three other people or pets you name to appear in the story, with a short detail about each | To write and illustrate the book the way you asked | Deleted with the answers |
| The order record: what you bought, the price, the currency, when you paid, Stripe's payment reference, any refund, and whether the book was delivered or held | To deliver the book, handle refunds and support, and keep our accounts | Kept after your answers are deleted. It holds no answers |
| A Wall submission: the name you post under, your story and the diagnosis you suggest | A person reads it first; only approved ones appear on the Wall | Until we remove it or you ask us to. Rejected ones can be deleted for good |
| Your email, only if you ask for session updates or for your diagnosis by email | To email you about that session and nothing else. Session updates come once, when the person you reported answers. Every email has a one-click stop | Until the session is deleted, 30 days after it was started, or until you stop them. If that leaves nothing else we hold about you, your email is deleted too |
| Your marketing choice, only if you tick the box: the exact wording, when, where on the site, and when you confirmed by email | To send occasional Bad Therapist emails, and to be able to show you asked. Ticking the box does nothing until you click the link in our confirmation email. Nobody is added just for reporting someone, being reported or buying a book | Until you unsubscribe. After that we keep your email and the unsubscribe on a do-not-email list, so you're never added again |
| Which kind of person you are to us (reported someone, got reported, reported someone back, bought a book, waiting for the printed edition), linked to your email | So one person isn't stored twice, and so any future email fits what you actually did | As long as we keep your email (above) |
| Counts of things people do on the site, such as "a session was shared", with no names, emails, IP addresses or session details | To see what works and whether asking for emails puts people off sharing | 13 months |
| A one-way scrambled version of your IP address (not the address itself), counted per hour | To stop anyone flooding the free tools | Deleted after 2 hours |
| Printed Edition interest: your email | To email you once when it goes on sale | Until then, or until you ask us to delete it |
Your sessions on this device
The links to sessions you start or answer are saved in your own browser, so the Your sessions page can list them. They stay on your device; clear your browser data to remove them. If you gave us your email for a session, "Lost a session?" emails you a link that works once and expires after 30 minutes. We give the same answer whether or not we know your email.
What we don't collect
- Card details. Payments are handled by Stripe on its own checkout page. We never see your card.
- Your date of birth, location, employer or photos. There is no photo upload.
- Real names of anyone else, unless you add someone to the story yourself (first names or nicknames). Everyone else in a book is made up.
- Anything from ad networks. No ad trackers, no tracking pixels, no analytics scripts.
Cookies
No tracking cookies. Older visits may also have an 18+ cookie, which expires by itself within 30 days.
The only other cookie is a sign-in cookie for our own staff page.
Who else handles your data
- Stripe processes your payment.
- Anthropic receives the book's answers, stripped of links, handles and anything that looks like code, to write your book, and the text of free reports and excuses to write diagnoses.
- xAI receives descriptions of the scenes and the appearance picks to draw the illustrations.
- Neither AI provider receives your email address. We don't use your answers or your book to train AI.
- Resend sends our emails, so it receives your email address and the email.
- Vercel hosts the website and Turso hosts its database. Books are put together on our own server and stored in that database until the download link expires.
Some of these companies process data in the US. They do it under their own data protection terms, which include the standard safeguards for transfers out of the UK and EU.
Why we're allowed to use it
Making and delivering the book you ordered, and handling refunds, is what you asked us to do. Stopping abuse of the free tools and keeping order records are in our legitimate interests. Marketing emails only go to people who ticked the box and confirmed by email, and you can stop them at any time.
Gifts
If you buy a gift, you're giving us personal details about someone else. Only tell us what you'd be happy for them to read, because it ends up in a book about them. They don't answer any questions, and they see the finished book, not your answers.
Your rights
You can ask to see, correct or delete what we hold about you at any time: hello@badtherapist.com.
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
We'll never publish your book or your answers without your explicit permission.
Last updated 27 October 2026.