Privacy Policy

Our Approach

Pendrilo is operated by Pendrilo, LLC, based in Oklahoma, United States.

Pendrilo is built by authors, for authors. Your manuscript remains yours. We do not sell Your Content, use it for advertising, or use it to train artificial-intelligence models.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use and share it, and the choices available to you.

1. Information You Provide

Account information. We collect your email address, username, password hash, and any optional display name or account preferences you provide. We do not store your password in plain text.

Your Content. We store manuscripts, chapters, story codex entries, cover designs, notes, snapshots, uploaded files, and other material you create or upload.

Your Content is not made public merely because you store it in Pendrilo. Other users can access content you deliberately share through the Service. Authorized personnel and service providers may access information as necessary to operate the Service, provide support, investigate security issues, or meet legal obligations.

Support communications. We collect information you provide in support requests, contact forms, feedback, and related correspondence, including attachments you choose to send.

Newsletter and email preferences. We collect your email address, signup source, and subscription preferences. We also maintain records needed to deliver messages and honor unsubscribe requests.

Reader and campaign information. If you use beta-reader or advance-reader features, we may store reader names, email addresses, preferences, invitations, comments, and campaign activity. You are responsible for having permission to provide another person’s information and send them communications through the Service.

Billing information. Stripe processes payments and manages payment methods. We do not collect or store your full payment-card number or security code in our application.

We retain billing records needed to operate your account, such as Stripe customer, checkout, subscription, payment, and invoice references; plan and billing frequency; payment and refund status; and the dates through which you have access.

2. Information Collected Automatically

Technical and security logs. We and our infrastructure providers may collect IP addresses, browser and device information, requested pages or endpoints, timestamps, error details, and similar request information. We use this information for security, troubleshooting, and reliable operation.

Account activity and usage. We record account-linked activity such as signups, login counts, last login, writing-session activity, book and word counts, export activity, and purchase or refund events.

These records support writing statistics, account administration, product improvement, and relevant service communications. They are not exclusively anonymous or aggregate: administrators can see activity summaries associated with individual accounts.

Trial and access records. We store trial start dates, cumulative manuscript-word usage, transition eligibility, access deadlines, and subscription status to apply the access rules described in our Terms of Service.

Deleting manuscript text does not reset the trial’s cumulative usage record. Keeping that usage total does not, by itself, mean we retain the deleted text; separate snapshots or backups may still contain earlier versions.

Reader activity. Reader-sharing and advance-reader features may record visits, downloads, comments, and reading or review status submitted through the Service. Relevant activity is available to the author managing the share or campaign.

Cookies and browser storage. We use session cookies and related security mechanisms to maintain sign-in sessions and protect requests. Browser storage may also retain preferences and feature state.

We do not use advertising cookies to target advertisements based on your manuscripts. External services you interact with, including Stripe checkout and payment wallets, may use their own cookies or similar technologies under their own policies.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use information to:

• Provide the editor, storage, sharing, export, and related features.
• Authenticate users and protect accounts.
• Maintain snapshots and backups.
• Apply trial allowances, transition periods, and paid-access rules.
• Process subscriptions, renewals, cancellations, and refunds.
• Provide support and resolve technical problems.
• Produce writing statistics and understand how the Service is used.
• Deliver account, security, billing, and important service notices.
• Send onboarding, product news, and other promotional messages where permitted, subject to your preferences.
• Deliver reader invitations and campaign communications requested through the Service.
• Detect abuse, prevent fraud, and enforce our Terms.
• Meet applicable legal obligations.

Where applicable law requires a legal basis for processing, we rely on performance of our agreement with you, legitimate interests such as operating and securing the Service, legal obligations, or consent where required.

4. How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information or Your Content.

We disclose information in the following circumstances:

Service providers. Providers supporting hosting, storage, backups, email delivery, security, and other operational functions may process information needed to provide those services.

Payments. We share information needed to initiate and manage billing with Stripe, including account identifiers, email address, selected plan, and transaction details. Stripe also collects information directly during checkout and billing management.

Stripe may process information for its own purposes, including fraud prevention and legal compliance, as described in the Stripe Privacy Policy. It does not act solely on our instructions in every circumstance.

External website resources. Some pages load resources such as fonts, styles, or software libraries from external providers. Those providers may receive technical information, including your IP address and browser details, when your browser requests those resources.

Administrative content tools. We use third-party AI tools to assist with administrative material such as help articles, website content, and newsletters. Material supplied to those tools is processed by the relevant provider. These administrative tools do not automatically receive users’ private manuscripts merely because those manuscripts are stored in the Service.

Sharing you request. We make information available to readers or other recipients when you use sharing and campaign features.

Legal and safety purposes. We may disclose information when required by law or valid legal process, or when reasonably necessary to investigate fraud, protect rights, or address security threats.

Business transfers. Information may be transferred as part of a merger, acquisition, or transfer of the Service. Any such transfer remains subject to applicable law and the privacy commitments applicable to the information.

5. Beta-Reader and Advance-Reader Sharing

Anyone with a valid share URL—and its passphrase, if required—may access the content made available through that link. Recipients may forward links.

Reader comments and relevant sharing or campaign activity may be visible to the author managing the content.

Deleting or revoking a link prevents subsequent authorized access through that link. It cannot retrieve copies, screenshots, downloads, or content already loaded by a recipient.

Authors using reader-management features should collect only the information they need and respect readers’ communication preferences.

6. Data Retention

Accounts and writing. We retain Your Content while your account remains available, including when it becomes read-only after a trial, transition period, or paid entitlement ends. Ending paid access does not, by itself, delete your writing.

Account deletion. When you request account deletion, we remove Your Content from active systems as part of processing that request, subject to applicable legal obligations and necessary exceptions. Download important work before requesting deletion. We cannot guarantee recovery of permanently deleted content.

Backups. We maintain a rolling 30-day backup retention period. Content removed from active systems may remain in previously created backups until those backups expire, for up to 30 days after removal. Backups are maintained for recovery purposes and are not a substitute for your own downloaded copies.

This backup retention period is separate from manuscript snapshots available within an existing account and from the billing, administrative, and security records described below.

Billing and administrative records. We may retain payment, refund, support, security, and limited account-deletion records after account closure where needed for accounting, resolving disputes, preventing abuse, or meeting legal obligations.

Email preferences. Unsubscribing stops the relevant promotional communications. We may retain your email address and suppression or preference records to prevent sending unwanted messages again.

Technical logs and usage records. Retention depends on the record’s purpose, operational needs, security investigations, and applicable obligations. The 30-day backup period does not establish a 30-day deletion period for these records. We may retain aggregated information that no longer reasonably identifies an individual.

You can contact us about retention or request deletion of personal information. We will explain any applicable exceptions when responding.

7. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to:

• Access personal information we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate information.
• Request deletion, subject to applicable exceptions.
• Receive or transfer eligible information in a portable format.
• Object to certain processing or request restrictions.
• Withdraw consent where processing relies on consent.
• Complain to the relevant data-protection authority.

Manuscript downloads. Read-only access includes Word, HTML, plain-text, and portable JSON manuscript-backup downloads while your account and content remain available. These basic downloads do not require an active paid subscription.

Email choices. Use the unsubscribe link in promotional emails or contact us to change your preferences. Opting out does not close your account. Necessary account, security, billing, and service communications may still be sent.

Requests. Contact us through our contact form. We may need to verify your identity before disclosing or deleting information. We will respond within the time required by applicable law.

8. Children’s Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information.

If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information, contact us so we can investigate and take appropriate action, including deletion where required.

9. Business Location and International Processing

Pendrilo is operated by Pendrilo, LLC, based in Oklahoma, United States. Our hosting and storage infrastructure is located in the United Kingdom and Germany.

Operating and supporting the Service may involve accessing information from the United States. Other service providers, including payment and email providers, may process information in additional countries under their applicable arrangements and privacy policies.

These countries may have data-protection laws different from those where you live. Where applicable law requires safeguards for international transfers, those requirements apply to our handling of your information.

Contact us through our contact form for questions about processing locations or international transfers.

10. Security

We use measures such as password hashing, access controls, and encrypted connections to help protect information.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. Protect your credentials, use trusted devices, and keep independent copies of important writing.

If a security incident requires notification under applicable law, we will provide the required notice.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as the Service or our practices change. We will provide notice of material changes through the Service, email, or another appropriate method as required by law.

We will obtain consent where required before applying changes to previously collected information. An updated policy does not, by itself, remove obligations arising from earlier privacy commitments.

The “Last updated” date identifies the most recent revision.

12. Contact

The organization responsible for this Service and this Privacy Policy is Pendrilo, LLC, based in Oklahoma, United States.

For privacy questions, access or deletion requests, or concerns about how information is handled, contact us through our contact form.