Privacy Policy

1. Who we are (Data Controller)

The Service is operated by Tetiana Diachek, a sole trader trading as Beadium, based in the United Kingdom. Postal address available on request.

For any privacy question or to exercise your rights, contact: [email protected] (our postal address is available on request).

2. What data we collect

• Account data: email address, display name, and (optional) profile picture you upload.
• Authentication: Email/Password, Google and Apple sign-in. With Google or Apple we receive your basic profile (name, email); we never see your Google/Apple password.
• Your content: the patterns, colour palettes and bead inventory you create. When signed in, these sync to your account.
• Beading progress and tried colours: when you are signed in, your Beading Mode progress and the colours you try on Pro Patterns ("Try colours") are saved to your account, so they sync across your devices and the website. A copy of your progress is also cached on your device. As a guest, your progress stays on your device only. Tried colours only change how a pattern looks for you — never the original pattern or its PDF.
• Pro Pattern downloads: when you download a Pro Pattern PDF, we log your user ID, the pattern and the time, and keep a count of your downloads, so we can apply the daily download limit and prevent misuse.
• PDF import (Pro, beta): when you import a PDF, the file is sent to our server only to read the chart. It is processed in memory and is not stored and not shared. Only the resulting pattern is saved to your account — the grid, colours, chart text, a mark showing it was imported, and the author name read from the PDF. We also keep a daily count of imports for a technical safety cap (far above normal use) that protects the Service from automated abuse.
• Author verification for PDF import: if you are a pattern designer moving your own work to Beadium and ask us to verify your rights to it, we keep your verification status and your verified author name(s) on your account, together with the support emails you send us about it.
• Public sharing (optional): if you tap Share on a pattern, that pattern and your Display Name (or "Anonymous" if you have not set one) become publicly visible to everyone using the Beadium app and website, and other users can duplicate it. You control this — you can make a pattern private again at any time, though copies others already duplicated remain with them.
• Reference photos: a photo you trace is processed on your device only and is never uploaded — on the website it stays in your browser for that session, and in the mobile app it stays on your phone. Only the traced grid is saved, never the photo. Because we do not keep it, the photo is not there when you reopen the pattern; pick it again to carry on tracing.
• Subscription/purchase data: your plan status and purchase history (processed by Apple, Google Play and RevenueCat on mobile, and by Stripe for web subscriptions — we do not receive or store your card details).
• Preferences: language and app settings.
• Identifiers & technical data: a user ID and standard log/device data needed to run and secure the Service.
• Website analytics: aggregated, cookieless usage statistics via Cloudflare Web Analytics (no personal profiles, no cross-site tracking).
• Product analytics (only if you allow it): which screens and features you use, plus an analytics identifier and standard device data, via Google Analytics for Firebase. Off until you choose "Allow" on the consent bar, and you can switch it off again at any time in Settings.
• Reviews you choose to write: your rating and text, the name you asked us to show (or none, if you asked to stay unsigned) and the country your connection came from, which our host Cloudflare resolves at the moment you press send. The form says so before you send it. We never store your IP address with a review, and the exact location is never collected.
• Search performance: Google Search Console shows us aggregated data about how our website appears in Google Search (search queries, impressions, clicks). It adds no code or cookies to our website, and we cannot identify individual visitors from it.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use it for cross-app advertising tracking.

3. How and why we use it (UK GDPR)

• To provide the Service — create your account, sync and store your patterns, beading progress and tried colours, read the PDFs you import, run subscriptions and support (performance of a contract).
• To verify, at a designer's request, their rights to the original work they import from PDF, so their imported patterns become regular patterns they can share and export (performance of a contract, at your request).
• To apply the daily Pro Pattern PDF download limit and to prevent misuse of Pro Patterns (legitimate interests).
• To keep the Service secure and working — abuse prevention (including the technical safety cap on PDF imports), debugging (legitimate interests).
• Website analytics and search performance — aggregated, cookieless statistics to understand usage, see how people find us in search and improve the Service (legitimate interests).
• Product analytics — to see which features are used and which are not, so we can improve them (consent; you can withdraw it at any time in Settings, which also deletes the analytics cookies).
• Legal compliance — tax, accounting, lawful requests (legal obligation).

4. Who we share data with

We use trusted third parties that process data on our behalf:

• Google Firebase / Google Cloud — authentication, database, file storage (profile avatars) and server processing, including reading the PDFs you import in memory (without storing them).
• RevenueCat — subscription management.
• Apple App Store / Google Play — payment processing and subscriptions on mobile.
• Stripe — payment processing for web subscriptions.
• Google and Apple — sign-in providers.
• Google Search Console — aggregated data on how our website performs in Google Search.
• Cloudflare — website hosting and CDN, and cookieless website usage analytics (Cloudflare Web Analytics).
• Google Analytics for Firebase — product analytics, only where you have allowed it.
• SMTP2GO — transactional emails.

5. International transfers

Some providers process data outside the UK/EEA, including in the USA. Where this happens, transfers are protected by appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum / EU Standard Contractual Clauses or an adequacy decision.

6. How long we keep it

We keep your account and content while your account is active. If you delete your account, we remove your personal data within a reasonable period (a 30-day cancellation window applies before permanent removal). Some data may be retained where required by law.

PDFs you import are not kept at all: they are processed in memory and discarded once the chart has been read. Imported patterns, beading progress, tried colours, author verification status, the Pro Pattern download log and download/import counters are kept as part of your account data.

7. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you can: access your data; correct it; delete it; restrict or object to processing; data portability; and withdraw consent at any time. Manage your account and request deletion in Settings, or email [email protected]. You may also complain to the ICO (ico.org.uk).

8. Children

Beadium is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact [email protected] and we will delete it.

9. Security

We use industry-standard measures (encryption in transit, access controls, managed cloud infrastructure with backups). No method is 100% secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your data.

10. On-device storage & offline caching

To make the app fast and usable offline, some data is stored locally on your device as well as, or instead of, on our servers:

• Guest patterns: if you use Beadium as a guest (without an account), the patterns you draw are saved only on your device. They are not uploaded or synced, and they are lost if you delete the app or clear its data — unless you sign up, which migrates them to your account.
• Beading progress: a copy of your Beading Mode progress is cached on your device. When you are signed in, it is also saved to your account and syncs across your devices and the website; guests keep progress on the device only.
• Cache: your recent patterns, palettes and catalog data may be cached on your device so screens load quickly and keep working offline. You can clear this by signing out or reinstalling the app.
• Reference photos, offline pattern files you export and Pro Pattern PDFs you download stay on your device under your control.

11. Cookies & similar technologies (website)

The Beadium website uses strictly necessary and functional storage, plus optional analytics cookies that we never set without asking. Nothing is used for advertising or cross-site tracking:

• Sign-in session: kept in your browser (IndexedDB/local storage) so you stay signed in. Essential.
• Preferences: your interface language and editor panel state, stored in local storage on your device. Functional.
• Beading progress: a copy of your beading-row progress is cached in local storage; when you are signed in, it is also saved to your account so it syncs across devices. Functional.
• One first-party cookie remembering whether the side panel is open. Functional.
• Security: our host Cloudflare may set a short-lived cookie to tell humans from bots. Essential.
• Payments: during checkout, Stripe sets cookies strictly for fraud prevention. Essential; only appears if you start a purchase.
• Analytics: Cloudflare Web Analytics is cookieless — it stores nothing on your device and builds no personal profile.
• Product analytics (optional): Google Analytics for Firebase sets `_ga` cookies to count returning visitors and follow a visit between pages. These are set only after you choose "Allow" on the consent bar, never before.

You can change your mind whenever you like: Settings → Usage analytics. Turning it off stops collection and deletes those cookies. Clearing this site's data in your browser has the same effect and makes us ask again.

We still do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. If that ever changes, we will ask first.

12. Changes

We may update this policy; the "Last updated" date will change. Material changes will be notified in-app or by email where appropriate.

13. Contact

Email: [email protected] — Data Controller: Tetiana Diachek (sole trader), trading as Beadium, United Kingdom. Postal address available on request.