A&A Publishing and Marketing, Inc. is a publishing and AI marketing services company organized under the laws of Colorado, USA. We develop and operate the Smart AI Book (SAB) platform, which transforms authors' manuscripts, voices, and knowledge into interactive, AI-powered reading experiences. Our mission is to extend the reach and impact of authors' work through intelligent content delivery and personalized reader engagement.
This policy governs the Spiritual Ways Smart AI Book — the book Spiritual Ways: The Teaching of Elder Petros by Dimitris Tsakiris and its AI Companion, the Fellow Traveler. Who to contact:
Data controller: A&A Publishing and Marketing, Inc., organized under the laws of Colorado, USA, operating the Smart AI Book platform.
The author: Dimitris Tsakiris, Athens, Greece. Spiritual Ways: The Teaching of Elder Petros is his work, and the Fellow Traveler carries his voice.
Contact point in the European Union: Dimitris Tsakiris, Athens, Greece, at info@spiritual-ways.com. Readers in the EU may use this address for any question about their data.
Supervisory authority: readers in Greece may complain to the Hellenic Data Protection Authority at www.dpa.gr.
Section 2
Scope of This Policy
This Privacy Policy applies to all data collected by A&A Publishing and Marketing in connection with the Spiritual Ways Smart AI Book and the broader SAB platform. It covers:
Readers: individuals who access and engage with a Smart AI Book ebook, including those who receive the book through email, Instagram DM, or direct website download.
Authors: writers whose manuscripts and voice profiles are used to build a SAB product.
Beta users: pre-launch testers of SAB features and pilot programs.
Data is collected through multiple channels: email opt-ins, the reading pages at spiritualways.co, the AI Companion (the Fellow Traveler) chatbot interface, and the A&A internal dashboard (Authors and A&A staff only).
Section 3
What Data We Collect
We collect different data depending on your role and interaction with the SAB platform.
From Readers
Name and email address: captured when you opt in to receive a SAB or make a purchase.
Instagram username: no longer collected. Instagram sign-up was retired in August 2026.
Reading behavior: which sections of the ebook you viewed, time spent on each section, which sections you completed, and any ratings or feedback you submit within the reading interface.
Companion conversation data: all messages you send to the AI Companion and all responses you receive from the Companion.
Ratings and feedback: thumbs up/down reactions to Companion responses, and any optional text comments you submit.
Purchase data: processed by Stripe. We receive confirmation of purchase and your email address only. We do not store credit card numbers or sensitive payment details.
From Authors
Personal information: full name, email address, mailing address, and payment information for billing purposes.
Manuscript and book content: the complete text of your book, including drafts and revisions.
Voice interview recordings and transcripts: audio recordings of interviews where you answer foundational questions about your book, voice, and message. These are transcribed and stored.
Voice profile data: metadata about your writing style, tone, vocabulary, key themes, and messaging rubrics used to train the AI Companion to sound like you.
Author Dashboard activity: logs of your login activity, content uploads, edits, approvals, and feedback submissions.
Communications: emails, notes, and feedback you submit through the Author Dashboard or directly to A&A staff.
Automatically Collected Data
Analytics: page view patterns, time on page, scroll depth, device type, browser type, and operating system. Collected via Google Analytics 4 with IP anonymization enabled and Google Signals disabled. We do not collect personally identifiable information through analytics, and analytics data is retained for two months before automatic deletion.
Email engagement: open rates and click-through rates on emails we send you.
Server logs: IP addresses, request timestamps, and page requests. These logs are retained for 90 days and then deleted.
Section 4
How We Use Your Data
Reader Data Is Used For:
Delivering the SAB: generating personalized Companion responses tailored to the author's voice and knowledge.
Communication: sending welcome emails, reading reminders, and follow-up messages.
Quality assurance: A&A staff review flagged Companion responses to ensure accuracy and brand alignment. The author of your SAB may also review flagged exchanges to ensure the Companion matches their voice. Reviewers see the Companion response and the reason it was flagged only; they do not see your identity or the full context of your message unless quality issues require it.
Product improvement: analyzing anonymized conversation patterns (topics, frequent questions, response gaps) to improve the Companion and develop future SAB features.
Legal compliance: responding to legal requests, enforcing our terms, and preventing fraud or abuse.
Author Data Is Used For:
Building the SAB: transforming your manuscript, voice recordings, and profile into the AI-powered Companion and ebook platform.
Operating the platform: managing your Author Dashboard, processing your uploads, and tracking project milestones.
Billing and payment: processing invoices, tracking service hours, managing scope changes, and coordinating payment via your preferred method.
Communication: sending project updates, approval requests, and administrative notifications.
We do not sell reader or author data to third parties. We do not use your data for external advertising or marketing without explicit consent.
Section 5
The AI Companion: Specific Disclosures
On the Spiritual Ways platform, the Companion is called the Fellow Traveler. It is a large language model (LLM) fine-tuned on Dimitris Tsakiris's book Spiritual Ways: The Teaching of Elder Petros and the materials prepared with him. It runs on Voiceflow's platform. You should understand:
Authorship and views. The ideas, teachings, and spiritual perspectives the Fellow Traveler shares are those of Dimitris Tsakiris and Elder Petros, presented as one author's witness within the Greek Orthodox Hesychast tradition. They are not necessarily the views of A&A Publishing and Marketing, its team, or its other clients. Nothing the Companion says is offered as religious authority or as spiritual direction; it is an invitation to read, reflect, and discern for yourself.
Training source: the Companion is trained on the author's approved content, voice profile, interview transcripts, and published materials. It is not trained on external internet data or other authors' work.
Response types: the Companion may generate responses that are Direct (verbatim from source material), Inferred (derived from author materials but not direct quotes), or Synthesized (created by the AI from its understanding of the author's voice). The Companion discloses which type of response you receive when applicable.
AI limitations: the Companion may produce responses that are inaccurate, incomplete, or out of character. The Companion is not sentient and does not retain personal information about you between sessions.
Not a substitute for professional advice: the Companion AI may make mistakes. Do not rely on Companion responses for medical, legal, financial, or mental health decisions. Always consult qualified professionals.
Conversation logging: Companion conversations are stored on the platform vendor's systems (Voiceflow) and retained for as long as the Companion product is in active use, or until you request deletion. During this period, Dimitris Tsakiris (the author of Spiritual Ways), Melissa Burch, Alexander Burch, Lefteris (the A&A team), and authorized AI tools may review conversations for quality assurance, voice integrity, response safety, and product improvement.
Author review rights: the author of your SAB — for Spiritual Ways, Dimitris Tsakiris — has the right to review Companion responses that are flagged for quality assurance. The author sees the flagged response and the reason it was flagged. They do not see your name, email, or other identifying information unless a quality issue specifically requires investigation.
Reader deletion rights: you may request deletion of your Companion conversation history at any time by emailing privacy@spiritual-ways.com with the subject line "Conversation Deletion Request." We will delete your logs within 30 days.
Section 6
Companion Conversation Data: Detailed Policies
Because conversations between readers and the Companion contain sensitive interaction data, we have detailed policies:
Reader messages are your personal data: messages you send to the Companion belong to you and are protected as your personal information.
A&A holds conversations as a data processor: we store and manage Companion conversation logs on behalf of the author and for quality assurance purposes, not for our own commercial use.
No sale to third parties: conversation data is never sold, rented, or licensed to third parties under any circumstances.
No external AI training: conversation data is never used to train external large language models, systems from competitors, or any AI outside the SAB platform without your written consent.
Anonymized research only: anonymized patterns (topic frequencies, question types, Companion response success rates) may be used to improve SAB intake questions and Companion protocols. This analysis is done at the aggregate level and does not expose any reader identity.
Flagged conversation review: when a Companion response is flagged for quality review, only the flagged exchange is reviewed. A&A staff and the author see the specific flagged response and flag reason, not the entire conversation history.
Author quality review scope: the author's right to review flagged Companion responses is limited to quality assurance only. Authors cannot use conversation data for any other purpose, including marketing or external publication.
Section 7
Data Sharing and Third Parties
We share data only with the following third parties:
Voiceflow (Web AI Companion Platform)
What we share: your conversation content with the AI Companion (the Fellow Traveler) when you use it on the reading pages.
Purpose: running the AI Companion chatbot on web reading pages.
Voiceflow's responsibility: Voiceflow is subject to their own Privacy Policy. See Voiceflow's Privacy Policy.
Stripe (Payment Processor)
What we share: your name, email, and purchase amount. We do not share credit card numbers or sensitive payment details.
Purpose: processing ebook purchases and author invoices.
Stripe's responsibility: Stripe handles all payment card data under PCI DSS compliance. See Stripe's Privacy Policy.
Cloudflare (Website Host and Network)
What we share: your IP address and browser details, as part of any request to the website.
Purpose: serving the reading pages, providing the security certificate, and protecting the site from attack.
Cloudflare's responsibility: Cloudflare hosts spiritualways.co and is responsible for the security of data under its control. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.
Google Analytics (Usage Analytics, only with your consent)
Consent first: Google Analytics is not loaded and Google is not contacted at all unless you agree on the banner shown when you first arrive. If you decline, nothing is written to your device and nothing is sent.
What we share (only after you agree): pages viewed, approximate country, how you reached the site, and device type.
Settings: advertising features are switched off, data is kept for 2 months, and Google Analytics 4 does not store IP addresses.
Changing your mind: you can withdraw or give consent at any time on this page, using the button in Section 9.
Authors and A&A Staff
What we share: flagged Companion responses (author only; A&A staff see flagged responses and quality metrics).
Purpose: quality assurance and product improvement.
Restrictions: authors may not use reader data for any purpose outside of quality review. A&A staff are bound by confidentiality agreements.
We do not share data with any other third parties.
Section 8
Data Retention
We retain data for the following periods:
Reader name and email: retained while you are an active subscriber. Deleted within 90 days of your deletion request or final unsubscribe.
Reading behavior data: retained for 24 months, then anonymized so no individual reader can be identified.
Companion conversation logs: retained on the platform vendor's systems (Voiceflow) for as long as the Companion product is in active use, or until you request deletion. Deletion requests are honored within 30 days.
Purchase records: retained for 7 years as required by federal tax law and accounting standards.
Author voice profile and content: retained for the duration of your author agreement with A&A. Upon termination, author data is deleted within 30 days. Author may request earlier deletion.
Author Dashboard activity logs: retained for 12 months, then deleted.
Server logs: retained for 90 days, then deleted.
Section 9
Your Rights (Readers and Authors)
You have the following rights regarding your personal data:
Right to access
You may request a copy of all personal data we hold about you. We will provide this in a readable format within 30 days.
Right to deletion
You may request deletion of your personal data at any time. We will delete reader email and name within 90 days. Companion conversation logs are deleted within 30 days of your request. Note: some data (purchase records, server logs) may be retained as required by law.
Right to correction
You may request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data. We will update your records within 30 days.
Right to opt out
You may unsubscribe from email communications at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email from us. Unsubscribing removes you from email lists but does not delete your account or conversation history. Submit a separate deletion request to have those deleted.
Right to data portability
You may ask us to send you the personal data you gave us in a structured, commonly used, machine readable format, or to send it directly to another provider where that is technically possible.
Right to object and to restrict processing
You may object to our processing of your personal data, and you may ask us to restrict processing while a dispute about its accuracy or lawfulness is resolved.
Right to withdraw consent
Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time, and withdrawing is as easy as giving it. Withdrawal does not affect processing that already took place.
For website analytics you can change your choice here:
Right to complain to a supervisory authority
If you are in the European Union you may lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority. In Greece this is the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (Αρχή Προστασίας Δεδομένων Προσωπικού Χαρακτήρα), www.dpa.gr. You may complain to them whether or not you contact us first.
How to exercise your rights
Email privacy@spiritual-ways.com with subject line: "Privacy Request." Readers in the European Union may instead contact Dimitris Tsakiris directly at info@spiritual-ways.com. Readers outside the European Union may also contact Alexander Burch at alexander@aa-services.co. Include your name, the SAB title (Spiritual Ways), and the specific right you are exercising (access, deletion, correction, or opt out). We will respond within 30 days.
Section 10
Children's Privacy and Parental Consent
The SAB platform is not intended for children under 13. In the European Union the age at which a child may consent on their own to online services is set by each member state and is 15 in Greece; below that age we require the consent of a parent or guardian. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If we discover we have collected data from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will delete that data immediately.
For users aged 13 to 17: You may use the SAB platform only with verifiable parental or legal guardian consent. A&A may require proof of parental consent before allowing minors to use the Companion AI or submit personal data.
Parents or guardians concerned about a minor's data can contact us at privacy@spiritual-ways.com to request access to or deletion of that minor's information.
Section 11
Beta Users and Pilot Programs
Beta testers access pre-release SAB features and agree to participate in testing under a separate Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). Beta user data is handled as follows:
Beta conversations and feedback may be used to improve the product before public launch.
You have the same data rights as regular users: access, deletion, correction, and opt-out rights apply equally.
Your NDA agreement governs the confidentiality of beta features; this Privacy Policy governs the handling of your personal data.
Beta data will be deleted according to the same retention schedules as non-beta data, unless your NDA specifies otherwise.
Section 12
Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use minimal tracking and advertising technologies:
Local storage: the reading pages remember small preferences on your own device, such as whether you dismissed the Companion hint and your analytics choice. These stay on your device and are not sent to us. You can clear them in your browser settings.
Email tracking pixels: our email provider may use invisible tracking pixels to measure email opens and click rates. You can disable pixel tracking in your email client settings.
Google Analytics cookies: Google Analytics sets cookies (typically named _ga, _ga_*, and _gid) to distinguish unique visitors and measure session duration. These cookies do not contain personally identifiable information. They expire automatically (most within two years, _gid within 24 hours).
No fingerprinting: We do not use device fingerprinting or cross-device tracking.
No advertising cookies: We do not use third-party advertising cookies, retargeting pixels, or remarketing tags.
You may opt out of email tracking pixels by adjusting your email client's privacy settings or requesting HTML-only emails. You may opt out of Google Analytics tracking using the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on or by enabling "Do Not Track" in your browser. You may also clear all site cookies at any time through your browser's privacy settings.
Section 13
Security and Data Protection
We use industry-standard security practices to protect your data:
HTTPS encryption: all data transmitted between your device and our servers is encrypted using TLS/SSL.
Access controls: Companion conversation logs and author data are access-controlled and available only to authorized A&A staff and the project's author.
No credit card storage: we do not store credit card numbers or CVV codes. Stripe handles all payment security under PCI DSS compliance.
Limited retention: data is deleted according to the schedules in Section 8 above.
However, no method of internet transmission is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of any data transmitted over the internet. You use the SAB platform at your own risk.
Section 14
CAN-SPAM Compliance
We comply with the US CAN-SPAM Act and related email regulations:
Sender identification: every marketing email clearly identifies A&A Publishing and Marketing as the sender.
Physical address: every marketing email includes our physical mailing address: A&A Publishing and Marketing, Inc., Colorado, USA. [Full street address to be inserted before publication.]
Unsubscribe mechanism: every email includes a clear, functional unsubscribe link in the footer. We honor unsubscribe requests within 10 business days.
Honest subject lines: we do not use deceptive, misleading, or false subject lines.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors.
When we make changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this document. If we make material changes (e.g., expanding the types of data we collect or how we use your data), we will notify you by email or by prominently posting the change on our website before the change becomes effective.
Continued use of the SAB platform after notification of material changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
For general inquiries or technical support, email info@spiritual-ways.com with subject line: "Technical Support"
We will respond to all inquiries within 30 days.
Refund Policy
Spiritual Ways · Last updated: May 31, 2026 This policy is published in v1 form pending final attorney review.
Section 1
What We Sell
A&A Publishing and Marketing, Inc. sells digital reading products through the Smart AI Book (SAB) platform, including the Spiritual Ways Smart AI Book. Digital products are considered delivered the moment you receive access after payment, which typically takes 1 to 5 minutes after a successful Stripe transaction.
Section 2
Refund Window
You may request a refund within 7 days of purchase if the product was not what you expected. After 7 days, all sales are final.
Section 3
How to Request a Refund
Email info@spiritual-ways.com from the email address you used at checkout. Include the subject line "Refund Request" and the order ID from your Stripe receipt. We will respond within 3 business days.
Section 4
How Refunds Are Processed
Approved refunds are returned to your original payment method via Stripe. Stripe typically processes refunds within 5 to 10 business days of approval. Your bank may take additional time to display the refund on your statement.
Section 5
Partial Refunds and Promotional Pricing
We do not offer partial refunds for partially read content. Products purchased through promotional pricing or bundle offers are non-refundable unless the product was inaccessible due to a technical problem on our side.
Section 6
Technical Issues
If a technical problem on our side prevents access to a product you purchased, email info@spiritual-ways.com with the subject line "Technical Support." We will resolve the issue or issue a full refund, whichever you prefer.