Privacy Policy

Overview

Screw Engine ("we," "us," or "our") operates the screwengine.com website and audio processing service. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you use our service.

Information We Collect

We collect the following personal information:

• Email address: provided when you sign in via magic link
• Payment information: processed securely through Stripe and PayPal (we do not store your full card number or PayPal password)
• Account data: your user ID, token balance, and purchase history
• Audio files: uploaded temporarily for processing, then automatically purged
• Things you send us: if you request a free preview, ask for a custom skin, or write a review, we keep what you submitted - your name, email address, any link or notes you included, and the text of the review

Approved reviews are shown publicly under the name and role you supply. The email address attached to a review is never published.

Analytics

We collect basic, privacy-respecting analytics about site visits: the page visited, the referring site, any campaign tag in the link you arrived through, a general country (from Cloudflare's edge network), a broad device type (desktop, mobile or tablet), and an anonymous daily visitor count. We also record when a checkout link is clicked and which product it was for, so we can tell how many people reach the payment step.

We set no cookies for analytics, and we use no third-party analytics service. Visitor counts come from a rotating daily identifier derived from your IP address and browser: it changes every day, it cannot be reversed, and your full IP address is never stored. We do not track individuals across sites and we do not build advertising profiles. This data is aggregate and is used only to understand how people find and use the site.

How We Use Your Information

• Authentication: to verify your identity via magic link email
• Service delivery: to process your audio files and manage your token balance
• Payment processing: to complete purchases and issue receipts
• Communication: to send transactional emails (login links, purchase confirmations, licence keys)
• Announcements: to occasionally email account holders about new products, updates and offers

Every announcement email carries an unsubscribe link, and opting out takes effect immediately. Transactional email is not marketing and continues regardless - you will still receive login links, receipts and licence keys for as long as your account is open.

Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services that may collect or process your data:

• Stripe - payment processing (Stripe Privacy Policy)
• PayPal - payment processing (PayPal Privacy Policy)
• Resend - transactional and announcement email delivery (Resend Privacy Policy)
• Cloudflare - hosting, CDN, and edge computing (Cloudflare Privacy Policy)
• YouTube - demo videos embedded on some pages, using YouTube's no-cookie player, which sets no cookies until you press play. Starting a video contacts Google's servers (Google Privacy Policy)

Web fonts are served from our own domain. Loading a page on this site does not contact Google, or any other outside font or analytics host, in order to render text.

Cookies, Storage & Authentication

We use JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) for authentication. These tokens are stored in your browser and used to keep you signed in. We do not use tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or any third-party analytics cookies, and visiting this site does not place a cookie on your device.

One cookie exists on the site at all: a functional flag named se_notrack, set only in the site owner's own browser so that their visits are left out of the analytics above. It holds no personal information and is never set for visitors.

Besides that token, the site keeps a few small preference flags in your browser's local and session storage so it can remember what you have already seen - which offers you have dismissed, and whether a notice has already been shown this visit. Each one holds only a timestamp or a yes/no flag. These flags are never sent to our servers, are not used to identify or track you, and the site works normally if you clear them or block storage entirely.

Data Retention

• Account data is retained for as long as your account is active
• Uploaded audio files are processed and automatically purged shortly after processing
• Magic link tokens expire and are cleaned up automatically
• Analytics rows are deleted automatically after 400 days (about 13 months)
• If you unsubscribe from announcements we keep your email address on a suppression list, so that we do not mail you again
• Payment records are retained as required for financial and tax compliance

Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request correction or deletion of your personal data
• Object to or restrict processing of your data
• Request a portable copy of your data
• Withdraw consent at any time

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at wrecks@wrecksonthebeat.com.

Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including encrypted connections (HTTPS), secure token-based authentication, and secure payment processing through PCI-compliant providers (Stripe and PayPal). However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure.

Children's Privacy

Our service is not directed to individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. Your continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us at wrecks@wrecksonthebeat.com.