steller
- The policy allows AI training; it does not describe an opt-out.
- Your data is used for personalized ads, including by third-party ad companies.
- Data is shared with partners and affiliates; you can opt out.
- The documents do not say who can read your content.
Your photos and stories can train AI vendors, ads follow you, and you them with a $50 cap.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
- Uses your content for AI training with no opt-out
Collected
Account info, photos and videos, device IDs, browsing on the app, and location if you allow it.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“To upload your photos and videos to your stories, we will request access to your phone's or device's camera or photo library.”
Training
They use your stuff for the app, ads, marketing, analytics, and AI vendors may train on your content.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“your Content may be used by Steller’s service providers to provide, maintain, develop and improve their services, including by using Content to train their models.”
Sharing
Public users can see your posts unless you go private; ads, affiliates, and travel partners also get data.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“Your user name and any information that you post to our Site or App, including, without limitation, content, photos, reviews, comments, and text will be available to, and searchable by, all users of the Site and App.”
Kept
They keep data as long as they say they need it; deleted posts can stay on servers and in AI mash-ups.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We apply a general rule of keeping personal information only for as long as required to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected.”
Controls
You can edit your profile, turn off location, opt out of promo emails, and use ad-industry opt-out sites.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“You may modify personal information that you have submitted by logging into your account and updating your profile information or sending us an email at support@steller.co.”
Fine print
You them; capped at $50.
No exact line could be verified.
Expand “Read the exact line” to see the source alongside the explanation.
What you can turn off
The controls and opt-outs their own documents describe, and where they say to find them.
Opt out of targeted ads
aboutads.info/choices, DAA AppChoices, optout.networkadvertising.org, or youronlinechoices.eu for EU users
Turn off precise location
Location settings on your device
Update or request changes to your info
Log into your account profile or email support@steller.co
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
Photos and stories you upload can be used to train other companies’ AI, and the terms do not give you a switch to stop that.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“your Content may be used by Steller’s service providers to provide, maintain, develop and improve their services, including by using Content to train their models.”
For example, a vacation video you post could be used to improve an AI vendor’s models even after you leave the app.
You still own your photos, but they get a broad license to copy, change, , and even monetize them.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“you hereby grant Steller a worldwide, non-exclusive, , and transferable license to use (including to reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, modify, adapt, monetize, publish, transmit, display, and perform) that Content”
For example, they could put ads on your story or let partners reuse it without paying you.
If someone sues them over your posts or how you used the app, you may have to pay their legal bills.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“you (and also any third party for whom you operate an account on the Service) agree to defend Steller, its officers, directors, employees and agents”
For example, if a photo you posted leads to a lawsuit, you could be on the hook for their lawyers.
Ad networks can get your personal information to show targeted ads on Steller and elsewhere.
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Privacy policy
“We may provide these Advertisers with information, including personal information, about you.”
For example, after you look at a city story, you might see hotel ads on other sites.
They can delete your posts or shut your account without warning.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“Steller may at any time, without prior notice and in its sole discretion, remove such Content and/or terminate a user's account”
For example, you could lose access to your trip stories overnight with no email first.
Even if you delete a photo, mash-ups and AI models may keep using it.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“Content mash-ups (such as stories, trips, collections and the like) and artificial intelligence and machine learning models may continue to make use of your Content”
For example, a collage that already used your picture could stay up after you remove the original.
If you allow it, they collect exact location from your phone and from photos you import.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“With your permission (such as through your browser settings), we will collect precise location information from your device”
For example, a photo’s GPS tag could show exactly where you were on a map.
They say they will not hand your data to unrelated companies to email you their own ads.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“Please note that we do not share information with unaffiliated third parties for their own direct marketing purposes.”
For example, a random retailer should not get your email from Steller for that company’s newsletter.
Kids under 13 are not supposed to use it; they say they will delete data if they find out.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“Our Services are not designed for children under 13. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete such information from our systems.”
For example, if a 12-year-old signs up, they claim they will wipe that account’s info.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- service providers
- Outside companies that handle your data on the app's instructions, such as a cloud host or an email sender. For example, the company that stores the app's files in the cloud sees your data but only does what the app tells it.
- personal data
- Any information that is about you or can be linked to you, from your name to your phone's ID. For example, your email, your IP address and the list of apps on your phone are all personal data.
- royalty-free
- The company can use your content without ever paying you for it. For example, your photo can appear in the app's ads and you get nothing.
- sublicensable
- The company can pass its rights over your content on to other companies without asking you. For example, an app can let an advertiser or a partner reuse your video under the licence you gave.
- third parties
- Any company or person other than you and the app, such as advertisers, partners or analytics firms. For example, an analytics company that receives a record of every screen you tap is a third party.
- model training
- Using your content and conversations as examples to teach an AI system, which can then echo them in future answers. For example, a story you write in a chatbot may be studied by the company to make the next version of the bot.
- precise geolocation
- Your exact position, usually from GPS, often accurate to within a few metres. For example, an app can tell not just your city but which building you are in right now.
How we got here · grade F · score 32/100 · 15 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 3 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect account details, photos and videos, photo-library access, device IDs, site activity, social-login data including Facebook friends if allowed, and precise location with permission.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
Not stated in the documents.
Are your chats and uploads used to train AI models, and is that off by default?
Terms say AI service providers may use your content to train their models, and no opt-out is described.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
Not stated in the documents.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
They use ad networks, Google Analytics, cross-device tracking, and Facebook Custom Audiences, and may give advertisers personal information.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They share with service providers, affiliates, and travel partners, and with advertisers; they say they do not share with unaffiliated parties for those parties’ own direct marketing. Ad opt-outs are offered.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
You keep ownership, but you grant a worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable license to use and monetize your content, including after mash-ups and AI use.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
You can edit profile info in the account or email them. They keep data as long as needed, including legal periods; deleted content may stay on servers and in AI mash-ups.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
Not stated in the documents.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They say they use reasonable precautions but that no security is guaranteed. No audit or leak history is described.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
The service is not for under 13; terms say you must be 18, emancipated, or have parental consent, and over 13. No age-check method is described.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
Policies are dated. They will post changes and try to give advance notice of material privacy changes; terms are shown at login for account holders.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
They may remove content or terminate an account at any time without prior notice, in their sole discretion.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
The service is as-is, liability is capped at fees in 12 months or $50, and you must indemnify them for claims tied to your use or content.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
The California consumer notice says Steller imposes no charges on consumers for use of the Service. No subscription terms are described.
The privacy policy is 6,068 words at a college graduate level (Flesch reading ease 38.8); the terms are 7,985 words at a college graduate level.
