Privacy

At a glance

Who is responsible

InkSpine is made by Mikonak Digital, a business (eenmanszaak) in the Netherlands, registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK) under number 42183792. Mikonak Digital is responsible for the data described on this page. For anything on this page, including requests to see or delete your data, email support@inkspine.app.

Your writing

Your manuscripts stay on your computer. The app does not upload them, and no feature described on this page sends your prose anywhere. If we ever add a feature that does — an online writing assistant, or syncing between your devices — it will be optional, clearly marked, and off until you turn it on.

If you join the waitlist or beta list

We store your email address, whether you asked to be a beta tester, and the campaign parameters from the link you arrived on, if any.

We use it to email you about beta access and launch, and to see which channels bring people here. The legal basis is your request — you asked us to contact you. Every email we send carries an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing stops further emails.

At launch we may send one email with a personal discount on Core, and one reminder before it ends. If we give you free Core, we may send one email before it ends. If we make you an offer, we keep a record of it (your address, the discount and its dates, whether you used it, and which version of the Terms & EULA applied when you claimed it) until you ask us to delete it.

If you activate a licence

To issue and check a licence key we store:

• Your email address, so we can send you the key and you can recover it later
• A reference to your purchase from our payment provider, which version of the Terms & EULA applied, and what you paid: the price, any discount, the tax, the total and the currency, plus the discount code if you used one
• For each device you activate: a device identifier (a random number the app creates the first time it runs and keeps in its own settings; it is not taken from your hardware), used to count how many devices a licence is on, an optional device name you can recognise, and the operating system, plus which version of the Terms & EULA applied when you activated and when: the version the app showed you, or, if your app is too old to say, the version in force at that moment, and the app’s version number when it reports one
• For every licence, trial and beta key: the dates on which the app checked the key with our server, one entry per device per day, and the time of the most recent check. The app makes this check about once a day while it is online. We use it to see on how many days a licence or trial is in use, and how that relates to who goes on to buy InkSpine Core. For beta licences we also keep the time of each check for 90 days, to see whether testers return after we email them about their key’s end date. We do not track whether you open an email. Links in our emails carry a label naming the email they came from (for example, the trial reminder), so if you accept cookies on our website we can count how many visits each email brings. We never link that count to your address or your key.
• For emails we send, whether our email provider reported the email as delivered, bounced, or marked as spam, so we can see whether our emails arrive.

If we give you free months of Core, including a gift in an offer email, we keep your email address, your key, the dates the free months run, the devices you activate it on, and the dates the app checked the key.

We keep this record to give you what we offered and to check it on your devices (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, and Article 6(1)(b) once you activate it).

We need this to deliver the licence you bought and to enforce the device limit. Once activated, the app checks your licence on your computer; it does not need to contact us to let you write. A new Core purchase is also confirmed with our server twice in its first 150 days (see the Terms & EULA). We keep what you paid so we can answer questions about a charge, check that a discount was applied correctly, and keep our own records straight. We keep the version of the terms so we can show which text applied to your purchase. We also keep which part of the app sent you to the purchase page (for example the export screen or Preferences), as one word from a fixed list, so we can see which limits of the free version lead people to buy.

Legal basis for the check dates: our legitimate interest in understanding how InkSpine is used and how that relates to purchases, so we can improve it (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). We keep this to dates and the time of the latest check, with no content of what you write. You can object at any time by writing to us (see “Your rights”).

Legal basis: delivering the licence you bought (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR); keeping purchase and refund records because Dutch bookkeeping law requires it, for 7 years (Article 6(1)(c)); and keeping records we may need to answer a complaint or a legal claim about a purchase for as long as that claim can be brought (Article 6(1)(f)).

If you own Core and ask the app to email you the last version your updates cover (Preferences → Account), we email a download link to the address your licence was bought with. The app does not send an address; we read it from your licence. The link works for 72 hours. We do this to deliver the licence you bought (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR).

If you own Core and have lost your key, you can ask for a new one (Preferences → Account). The app sends the address you type. We use it only to look for a licence bought with that address, and we do not keep it. If there is one, we email a one-time link to the address the licence was bought with and, when you use it, the new key to the same address, and the old key stops working. We do this to deliver the licence you bought (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR).

To stop these services being abused, we keep counts of requests: per licence and per day for download links and new-key requests, and per hour for licence checks, refreshes, update checks and discount-offer links, under a hashed version of your IP address (a keyed hash; we do not store the address itself), a hash of the credential the app uses to check its licence, the licence’s internal ID, or (for new-key requests) a hashed version of the email address you type. The hashed values are still personal data, because the same input always gives the same value. We delete these counters once they are more than two days old, by a clean-up that runs every hour. We keep them because we have a legitimate interest in keeping these services from being abused (Article 6(1)(f)).

If you write to us for support, we may keep a short note of what you asked and what we did, so that the next answer is consistent and we can show what we agreed. We do this because we have a legitimate interest in answering support properly (Article 6(1)(f)).

If you start a free trial

You start a trial by typing your email address, in the app or on our website. We email you a key, and a link to download InkSpine, that unlocks the full InkSpine for a limited time, usually 30 days. When it ends, InkSpine moves to the Free tier and everything you wrote stays intact.

If you start a trial on our website, the form sends your email address to our licensing service, together with the campaign details in the link that brought you to our site, if there were any (for example, that you came from a Facebook ad and which one). If you have accepted cookies, we also give your email address to PostHog, our analytics provider, so we can see which pages you visited before asking for a trial. We count that a trial was requested (on a phone or a computer, and whether it worked), and an ad platform may be told that a request was made, without your address.

To run the trial we store:

• Your email address
• The date the trial started and the date it ends, and which version of the Terms & EULA applied when it started
• Whether and when we sent your key and your reminder, and how many times you asked for the key again
• The campaign details from the link that brought you to our website, if there were any (source, medium, campaign, ad and search term)
• If you activate the key: the same device details as for a licence (a device identifier, an optional device name you can recognise, and the operating system)
• What the form told you about emails, and what you chose: which version of the notice you saw, whether you ticked “Don’t email me about InkSpine offers”, and when you chose
• If you answer the optional question “Where did you hear about InkSpine?”: your choice from the list and, if you choose Other, the few words you type. You can leave it blank, it does not change whether you get a trial, and it is removed together with your email address (see “How long we keep it”)

To stop people using the form to send emails to strangers, we also keep a pseudonymised (hashed) version of your IP address and of your email address, with a count of requests in the last hour. We do not store your IP address itself for this. The values are still personal data, because the same input always gives the same value. We delete these counters as part of routine clean-up, normally within about a week.

We need this data, apart from your answer to the optional question above, to give you the trial you asked for: to email you the key, to check it on your devices, and to send the reminders below. The legal basis is that you asked for the trial and we cannot provide it without this data (Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR). We keep the pseudonymised counters because we have a legitimate interest in keeping the form from being abused (Article 6(1)(f)). We keep your answer to the optional question because we have a legitimate interest in knowing how writers find InkSpine (Article 6(1)(f)); you can leave it blank, and you can object to it or ask us to remove it at any time (see “Your rights” below). We keep the campaign details because we have a legitimate interest in knowing which of our ads and links lead to trials and purchases, so we don’t keep paying for ones that don’t (Article 6(1)(f)). We give your address to PostHog only if you accepted cookies (Article 6(1)(a)). You can withdraw that at any time under “Cookie settings”, and ask us to remove what PostHog already holds.

Emails about the trial. We send your key as soon as you ask. If you ask again for the same address while the trial is still running, we send the same key again, up to three more times, at least ten minutes apart. If you haven’t activated your key yet, we may send you a few short reminders to help you install InkSpine and get started. If you have activated it, we send one reminder about three days before the trial ends. These emails are part of the trial. They contain no offer or discount, and the reminder before the trial ends only links to our pricing page. Ticking “Don’t email me about InkSpine offers” does not stop them. The unsubscribe link does (see below).

If someone typed your address by mistake, use the unsubscribe link in any of these emails and we won’t send you reminders or offers. Offers about InkSpine are only sent once the key has been activated. This page is our notice to you, and you can ask us to delete the address at any time.

Offers about InkSpine. Once you have activated the key, we may also email you about InkSpine itself, for example a discount on Core. We do this without asking for separate consent, because you gave us your address while getting a service from us, the form told you we may do it, and you can say no for free (the “soft opt-in” in Dutch and EU law). To say no, tick “Don’t email me about InkSpine offers” on the form, or email support@inkspine.app. Every email we send about the trial or an offer carries an unsubscribe link. Using it stops the reminder and any offers. The only email it cannot stop is a key you ask for yourself.

If we make you an offer, we keep a record of it: your address, the discount and its dates, whether you claimed or used it, and which version of the Terms & EULA applied when you claimed it.

Payments

Purchases are handled by Paddle, which is the seller of record. Paddle collects your payment details and issues your invoice; we never see your card. Paddle tells us that a purchase happened and gives us a reference for it, along with what you paid and the discount code you used, if any.

App diagnostics

The app reports crashes and basic usage — which screens are opened, which features are used, and errors — so we can find what is broken or confusing. These are tied to a random identifier generated on your device, not to your name, your email or your licence. If you send feedback, the report carries the same identifier together with your email, so we can match it to a crash.

Your writing is never included — no text from your manuscript, titles, character names or file paths.

This is on by default and you can turn it off at any time in Preferences → About → Privacy.

If you send feedback

Feedback you send from inside the app includes your message, the category and rating you choose, your name (if you give it) and email address so we can reply, optionally a screenshot you chose to attach, the app version and build, whether you use the beta or the regular app, your operating system, and the random device identifier described above, so we can match a report to a crash. Attaching a screenshot is your choice — please check what is in it before you send.

To stop the form being used to flood us, we also keep a pseudonymised (hashed) version of your IP address, and the random device identifier described above, each with a count of reports sent per hour and per day. We do not store your IP address itself for this. The hashed value is still personal data, because the same input always gives the same value. We delete these counters as part of routine clean-up, normally within about a week. We keep them because we have a legitimate interest in keeping the form from being abused (Article 6(1)(f)).

Who else sees this data

Service providers that process data for us, on our instructions only:

• Vercel (website and licensing service)
• Neon (database)
• Resend (email)
• Sentry and PostHog (crash reports and product analytics)
• Cloudflare (app update downloads)

Paddle sells InkSpine Core to you as the seller of record. For your payment and order it is a separate data controller under its own privacy notice (paddle.com/legal/privacy); it shares with us the order details listed above.

Some of these are based outside the EU. Where that is the case, the transfer relies on the standard safeguards those providers offer under EU data-protection law.

We do not sell your data, and we do not share it for anyone else’s advertising.

How long we keep it

• Signup records: until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them
• Licence and device records: for as long as the licence exists (a Core licence does not expire, so until you ask us to delete it), and a revoked or refunded licence for 7 years with the purchase record
• Purchase records, including what you paid and any discount code: for 7 years (Dutch bookkeeping law)
• If you are refunded under our money-back guarantee, we keep that fact with your email address, to apply the once-per-person limit (Article 6(1)(f)), for as long as the purchase record (7 years)
• Do-not-email list: if you unsubscribe, or an address bounces or complains, we keep that address so we can honour it. We remove it if you ask us to
• Diagnostics: kept by our providers on their standard retention, and not linked to you (unless you send feedback, which carries the same identifier with your email, as described above)
• Feedback: until it has been dealt with, and at most 2 years
• Licence check dates (the days on which the app checked a licence, trial or beta key, and the time of the most recent check): kept as long as the licence or trial record, and removed or anonymised with it (the check dates of a beta key are the exception, see the next item)
• Licence check history (beta): the time of each check, and the check dates of a beta key, are deleted after 90 days. The time of the most recent check is kept with the device record, as long as the licence record
• Emails we send you, and their delivery results: kept with the record they belong to (your licence, trial or offer)
• Complaints and disputes: if you raise a complaint or a claim, we keep the related emails and records until it is resolved and the legal time limit for it has passed. While a dispute is open we may keep data we would otherwise delete
• Trial, if you never activated the key: your email address is removed 6 months after the trial ends. What stays is the key’s record without your address (its dates, so we can count trials)
• Trial, if you activated the key and did not buy Core: your email address is removed 2 years after the trial ends. What stays is the key’s record without your address (its dates, so we can count trials). Until then it stops one person getting a second free trial and lets us help if you write to us. If you bought Core, your licence record is kept as described above
• Offers we made you: until you ask us to delete them
• Campaign details of a trial: removed with your email address. The key’s record keeps which campaign it came from, without your address, so we can count trials per campaign
• Your email address in our analytics (PostHog): removed 6 months after you asked for the trial, or sooner if you ask us
• Free months or a gift of Core: your email address is removed from that record 6 months after they end if you never activated the key, or 2 years after they end if you did, together with the names of your devices and the dates the app checked the key. An offer we sent you is kept as described above. What stays is the key’s record without your address: its dates, and the random device ids and app versions it was activated with.
• The pseudonymised request counters on the trial and feedback forms: normally about a week
• The request counters for licence checks, refreshes, update checks, discount-offer links, download links and new-key requests: two days
• Support notes: kept with the record they belong to (your licence, trial, feedback or offer), and removed with it

Your rights

You can ask to see, correct, export or delete your data, to object to how we use it, or to restrict how we use it. Email support@inkspine.app and we will respond within a month.

If you are unhappy with how we handle it, you can complain to the Dutch data-protection authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl), or to the authority where you live.

Deleting your licence data means we can no longer prove the licence is yours or help you recover it. Where the law requires us to keep a record (for example purchase records, for 7 years), we keep only that record and tell you so.

Cookies

This site uses cookieless web analytics (Vercel Analytics) that don’t require consent. If you accept the cookie banner, we also load whichever of these are configured: Meta Pixel and the Google Ads tag, which tell us which ad campaigns bring people here, and PostHog, which records how visitors use the site so we can find what’s confusing or slow. None of these load unless you accept — declining or ignoring the banner keeps them off. If you accept, the site also remembers the campaign details of the first link you arrived on, in your browser’s session storage until you close the tab, so a trial you ask for on a later page can carry them.

When the price comes into view on our website, we load Paddle’s script (Paddle.js) so we can show the price you would pay in your country, including VAT where it applies. Your browser asks Paddle for that price directly, so Paddle receives your IP address and basic information about your browser, and handles it under its own privacy notice. Paddle’s script also loads a script from Paddle’s Retain service (profitwell.com); we tell it nothing about you. Neither sets cookies on this site, but Paddle’s network may set a short-lived security cookie on paddle.com to keep out automated traffic. This happens without the cookie banner because it is needed to show you the price you came to see, and we use nothing from it for analytics or advertising.

You can withdraw your consent at any time: choose “Cookie settings” in the footer, then “Decline”. When you do, those tools stop, the page reloads without them, and we remove the cookies and the browser-storage entries (local and session storage) they are known to keep on this site. Cookies that Meta or Google set on their own domains (for example facebook.com or google.com) are outside this site’s reach and stay until you delete them in your browser settings.