Privacy Policy

This policy explains what information Craft & System collects, why we collect it, and what you can do about it. We keep this short and honest because we collect very little. If anything here is unclear, email us and we'll explain it in plain language.

Your work stays on your machine

The Author's Blueprint is an offline desktop app. Your manuscripts, outlines, notes, and everything else you write live on your own computer. We never upload, sync, read, or store your creative work, and there is no cloud account that holds your writing. The app does not need an internet connection to do its job. The only things that travel over the network are license checks and software updates — never your manuscript.

What we collect, and why

• Your email address— so we can deliver your license key, send you a magic link to sign in, help you recover a lost key, and notify you about important updates to the software you bought.
• License keys— the keys tied to your purchase, so we can verify your license and show them to you in your dashboard.
• Device identifiers— a non-sensitive identifier for each computer you activate, so we can enforce the per-key activation limit and let you see and manage your active devices. This is used for license enforcement, not tracking.
• Privacy-friendly web analytics— aggregate counts of page visits on our website so we can understand what's useful. This analytics does not build advertising profiles or follow you around the web.

That's the whole list. We don't sell your personal information, and we don't share it for advertising.

Accounts and your dashboard

We offer optional accounts so you can manage your purchase. You sign in with a magic link sent to your email — there's no password to remember. Once signed in, your dashboard shows your license keys, the devices you've activated, and your available downloads.

Payments

Purchases are handled by Lemon Squeezy, which acts as our merchant of record — meaning they are the seller of record, run the checkout, and handle VAT and sales tax. Your payment-card details are entered with Lemon Squeezy, not with us; we never see or store your full card number. We receive the order and license details we need to fulfill your purchase. Lemon Squeezy processes your information under its own privacy terms.

Legal bases (GDPR / UK GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we rely on the following legal bases to process your information:

• Contract— to deliver your license, run sign-in, enforce activation limits, and provide your dashboard.
• Legitimate interests— to keep our service secure, prevent license abuse, and understand website usage through privacy-friendly analytics.
• Legal obligation— to keep records we're required to keep, such as those related to tax and accounting.
• Consent— where we ask for it, such as optional cookies. You can withdraw consent at any time.

Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask us to access, export, correct, or delete the personal information we hold about you. To exercise any of these, email us and we'll handle it. We won't charge you for a reasonable request or treat you differently for making one.

If you are in the EEA or UK, you also have the right to restrict or object to certain processing, to data portability, and to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority. If you are a California resident, the CCPA and CPRA give you the right to know what we collect, to access and delete it, to correct it, and to opt out of any sale or sharing of personal information — though we don't sell or share your personal information in the first place. You won't face discrimination for exercising these rights.

Sub-processors

We use a small number of trusted third parties to operate the service, such as our payment provider, transactional email provider, and hosting provider. See our Sub-processors page for the current list, what each one does, and the categories of data they handle.

Cookies

Our website uses a minimal set of cookies — essentially a sign-in session cookie and privacy-friendly analytics. We don't use advertising or third-party tracking cookies. For the details, see our Cookie Policy.

How long we keep things

We keep your account information, license keys, and device records for as long as your account is active or as needed to support your purchase and free updates. If you delete your account, we remove the associated personal information except where we're required to retain certain records (for example, billing records kept for tax purposes). Aggregate analytics that can't identify you may be kept longer.

International transfers

We're based in the United States, and our providers may process data in the United States or other countries. Where personal information is transferred across borders, we and our providers rely on appropriate safeguards, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, to protect it.

Children

Our products and website are not directed to children under 16, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we'll delete it.

Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information, and we deliberately limit what we collect so there's less to protect in the first place. No system is perfectly secure, so we can't promise absolute security, but we take it seriously and act quickly if something goes wrong.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our product and providers change. When we do, we'll revise the “last updated” date above. If a change is significant, we'll make a reasonable effort to let you know.

Contact

Questions, requests, or concerns about your privacy? Email us using the address below and a real person will get back to you.