Privacy Policy

1. Who operates The Darkroom

Dahlia Voss | The Darkroom operates The Darkroom and determines why the member data described below is processed. For privacy requests, contact the Patreon direct-message channel associated with your Dahlia Voss | The Darkroom membership.

If a dedicated legal identity or privacy email is later published, that information will replace the contact route above.

2. What this policy covers

This policy covers the web application known as Dahlia Voss | The Darkroom, including Patreon sign-in, character rooms, persistent relationship memory, XP/Frames, galleries, notices, reactions, optional character Voice playback and owner-side operational analytics.

Patreon, Google and Cloudflare operate their own services under their own privacy terms. Patreon also handles membership payments separately from The Darkroom.

3. Data received from Patreon

When you sign in with Patreon OAuth, The Darkroom receives only the membership information needed to identify you and decide which access level applies. This can include your Patreon user/member identifiers, display name, membership tier/entitlements, patron status and charge-status metadata.

The Darkroom does not receive your Patreon password or payment-card details.

4. Character conversations and persistent memory

When you send a message in a live room, the current message, a limited recent conversation context and relevant persistent memory are sent to the configured Google Gemini API so the character can generate a reply.

Discovery for guests and Foyer members sends the current message and a limited recent in-page conversation context to Gemini but does not write visitor messages, generated replies, Connection XP or character memory to the Darkroom database. Discovery threads remain only in the current browser page and are cleared when the daily Discovery date changes; reloading the page also starts the visible thread again from zero.

For authenticated characters with persistent memory enabled, the server keeps a limited rolling recent conversation context plus a small set of durable visitor-authored facts used for continuity. Individual recent stored user and character entries are truncated to approximately 600 characters. This memory exists so a relationship can continue when you return.

Important: choosing “New conversation” resets the visible/current thread in your browser, but it does not automatically erase the persistent server-side memory tied to that character.

Please do not submit passwords, financial information, government identifiers, medical records or other highly sensitive personal data. The Darkroom does not need that information to provide the service.

5. Google Gemini processing

Character replies are generated through the Google Gemini API. Google may process prompts, contextual information and generated outputs as part of providing and securing that API. Google currently documents abuse-monitoring retention that can last up to 55 days unless a project qualifies for and uses approved zero-data-retention handling. Google also states that prompts and responses submitted through Paid Services are not used to improve its products.

Provider-side handling can change with Google’s API terms and the project configuration, so users should also review Google’s current Gemini API privacy and data-use documentation.

5A. Character Voice processing

When Voice is enabled, the text of a generated character reply may be sent to the configured Google Gemini text-to-speech model so that Aiko, Reina, Luna, Freya, Vittoria or Lilith can play that reply automatically in her room.

Voice can be turned off at any time from the active room. Gemini API data-use and retention terms can differ depending on whether the API project is using free or paid services, so members should review Google’s current Gemini API privacy and data-use documentation.

5B. Microphone and voice input

If a member chooses the microphone button, the browser asks for microphone permission and listens only while the microphone control is active, up to 45 seconds. On supported browsers, The Darkroom uses the browser's live speech-recognition capability so words can appear progressively in the composer while the member is speaking. Depending on the browser and operating system, that recognition may be processed by the browser vendor's speech service. If live recognition is unavailable, The Darkroom can fall back to Google Gemini solely to create the text transcript.

The Darkroom does not save microphone audio in D1 or R2. By default, Auto Send is enabled: once a voice transcript is finalized, the transcript is sent through the normal chat flow automatically. Members can turn Auto Send off at any time from the active room; when it is off, the transcript remains in the message composer so it can be reviewed, edited or deleted before sending. Microphone input is optional, and members can deny or revoke microphone permission and continue using the keyboard normally.

6. Other data stored by The Darkroom

• Account and membership: Patreon identifiers, display name, tier/entitlement state and account timestamps.
• Progress: character XP, Frames balance, card eligibility/unlocks and related timestamps.
• Discovery quota controls: for guests, a hash of a random browser identifier; for Foyer members, the Patreon user identifier. The service stores the UTC date plus reply, voice-generation and transcription counters. Discovery message and reply text are not stored in this quota table.
• Preferences: selected interface/chat language.
• Usage metadata: daily successful reply counts, room entries, card views/downloads, notice interactions and similar operational events.
• Reactions: room and card like/unlike state.
• Temporary room-capacity leases: a short-lived record while a model reply is actively being generated.
• Sessions: a hashed session identifier with creation and expiry timestamps.

Owner analytics are designed to show operational metadata such as room activity, return rate, tier and recent events. They do not display private chat message text.

7. Browser storage and cookies

The Darkroom uses essential cookies for the anonymous Discovery identifier, Patreon OAuth state and authenticated sessions. The anonymous Discovery identifier may remain in the browser for up to 180 days so daily quotas are consistent on that browser; the authenticated session can last up to 30 days, and the OAuth state cookie lasts only a few minutes.

The browser also uses local storage for device-local interface state such as read notices, room comments, like state and some gallery counters. Room-comment text entered in the social panel is stored locally in that browser; the server may receive an event indicating that a comment action occurred, but not the comment text itself.

The Darkroom does not intentionally use third-party advertising cookies or third-party behavioral advertising trackers.

8. Why data is processed

Data is processed to authenticate Patreon membership, provide the requested interactive service, preserve relationship continuity and progress, deliver member-only cards/notices, protect the service from abuse, manage temporary room capacity, diagnose failures and understand aggregate product usage.

Depending on the processing activity and applicable law, the legal basis may include performance of the member service/contract, steps requested by the user, legitimate interests in security and reliable operation, and compliance with legal obligations.

9. Retention

• Discovery quota controls: daily counters contain no chat text and are retained as operational anti-abuse records until removed through service housekeeping or a valid deletion request.
• Authenticated sessions: normally up to 30 days, and removed earlier when you sign out; expired sessions are pruned.
• Room-capacity leases: normally removed as soon as generation ends and automatically expire after about two minutes if they become stale.
• Persistent relationship data: XP, Frames/progress, character memory, membership records, eligible cards, preferences and reactions are retained so a returning member does not lose continuity. At launch these records do not have an automatic expiry solely because a membership is downgraded or cancelled. They can be deleted following a valid deletion request, subject to any legal requirement to retain limited records.
• Operational analytics: retained while reasonably needed to operate, secure and understand the service, and may later be deleted or aggregated.

10. Service providers and international processing

The Darkroom uses Patreon for membership authentication/entitlements and payments, Cloudflare for application/database/object-storage infrastructure, Google Gemini for AI generation and optional Aiko text-to-speech playback. These providers may process technical or member data in jurisdictions outside the user’s country. Their own contractual and legal transfer safeguards apply to their processing.

The Darkroom itself does not intentionally store payment-card data. Connection/security information such as IP address may be processed by infrastructure providers even where it is not stored in The Darkroom’s member database.

11. Your privacy rights

Where GDPR or similar privacy law applies, you may have rights including access, correction, erasure, restriction, portability and objection. You can also complain to your competent data-protection authority.

To request access, correction or deletion of your Darkroom member record, contact the Patreon direct-message channel associated with your Dahlia Voss | The Darkroom membership. We may need to verify the request against the Patreon account so data is not disclosed or deleted for the wrong person.

12. Security

The service uses HTTPS, secure HttpOnly session cookies, server-side membership checks, private card storage, cross-origin protections, security headers and request/file validation. No internet service can promise absolute security, and users should avoid sharing secrets or highly sensitive data in character conversations.

13. Children

The Darkroom is intended only for adults aged 18 or older. Do not use the service if you are under 18.

14. Changes

This policy may be updated when the service, providers or legal requirements change. Material changes will be reflected by updating the date on this page and, where appropriate, by a member notice.