This policy is written in plain language on purpose. It describes what Caudexus actually collects, because the honest answer is short.
1. Who we are
Caudexus is operated by Caudexus LLC, a limited liability company registered in Michigan, United States (“we”, “us”). We are the data controller for the personal data described here.
Contact: privacy@caudexus.com
2. What this policy covers
This policy covers the Caudexus writing app (web, desktop, and mobile), the Caudexus reader app for beta readers (web and mobile), and the caudexus.com website, as each platform becomes available. It does not cover content you keep only on your own device with sync turned off; that content never reaches us.
3. The short version
- Your writing lives on your device first. It reaches our servers only when you use sync, collaboration, or beta-reader sharing.
- We run no analytics, no advertising, no tracking pixels, and no third-party scripts or fonts. The apps set no cookies.
- We never sell or share personal data for advertising. We do not use your writing or your data to train AI models.
- If you enable a project Vault, your work is end-to-end encrypted. We hold only ciphertext and cannot read it or reset its password.
- You can export your work at any time, and you can delete your account from inside the app.
4. What we collect
4.1 Account data
When you create an account: your email address, a display name, an optional avatar image, and the credentials that secure your account. Passwords are never stored in readable form.
4.2 Device and technical records
Each device you sign in from gets a record: a random installation identifier, a nickname you can edit, basic device information, and a last-seen time. We also process technical data such as IP addresses and standard request logs to operate and secure the service: sign-in verification, rate limiting, and detecting abuse or misuse of accounts.
4.3 Your writing and project content
Your projects and everything you create inside them, including files you upload. This content is stored on your device. If you use sync, encrypted-in-transit copies are stored on our servers so your other devices and invited collaborators can receive them, together with version history and named checkpoints. Each synced change is stamped with the account and device that made it; this attribution is part of the version history.
Standard projects are readable by our systems, which is what lets us recover your work for you if you lose access to your account. Vault projects are end-to-end encrypted on your device before upload: we store only ciphertext and wrapped keys, we cannot decrypt your work, and we cannot reset a vault password. For vault projects the project title remains readable, and we can see technical metadata such as update sizes and timing.
4.4 Collaboration and beta-reader data
When you invite a collaborator or beta reader, we process the email address you enter for the invitation. For beta readers, we store their display name, when they joined, their reading progress per chapter, and the comments, suggestions, and reactions they leave. The project author can see all of this.
4.5 Billing data
Payment is handled by Stripe. We never receive or store card numbers. We store your Stripe customer identifier, your subscription status and plan, and an audit log of billing actions you take (for example, starting a checkout or changing a plan).
4.6 Transactional email logs
We send only transactional email: sign-in links, activation, password reset, two-factor codes, collaboration and reader invitations, and comment-activity notices. We log sent messages, including their content, and delivery events (delivered, bounced, complained) so we can troubleshoot delivery. Hard bounces go on a suppression list so we stop mailing dead addresses.
4.7 What we do NOT collect
No analytics or telemetry. No advertising identifiers. No cookies (sign-in uses a token kept in your browser’s local storage). No third-party fonts or CDN scripts. We collect what we need to operate and secure the service, and no more. We never sell personal data.
5. How we use data
- To provide the service: accounts, sync, collaboration, beta reading, export, billing.
- To secure the service: sign-in verification, device-bound sessions, rate limiting, abuse prevention.
- To communicate: transactional email only. We will not send marketing email to account holders without a separate opt-in.
- To comply with legal obligations, including tax and accounting rules.
We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or automated decision-making, and we do not use it to train machine-learning models.
6. Legal bases (GDPR/UK GDPR)
- Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)): account, sync, collaboration, billing, transactional email.
- Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): service security, abuse prevention, delivery troubleshooting.
- Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)): any future optional communications.
- Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)): retention of billing records.
7. Who we share data with
We share personal data only with the processors needed to run the service:
| Processor | Purpose | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Web Services | Hosting the website and applications | United States |
| Stripe, Inc. | Payment processing, subscription management | United States |
That is the complete list. We may also disclose data if the law requires it, or as part of a merger or acquisition (in which case this policy continues to apply to data collected under it). We never sell personal data.
8. International transfers
We are based in the United States and store data there. Where GDPR/UK GDPR applies to you, transfers rely on appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses.
9. How long we keep data
- Account and content data: for as long as your account exists.
- Version history and checkpoints: kept while the project exists, so you can restore earlier work. Deleting a project deletes its history.
- Sent messages: the message and its content are kept while your account exists, and are deleted when your account is deleted. Your suppression-list entry is deleted with them.
- Delivery records: we keep the record that a message was delivered, bounced, or reported. On account deletion we remove your address and the other fields that identify you from that record. What remains does not identify you, so we keep it without a time limit for delivery troubleshooting and abuse history. This is different from billing records, which we keep in full because the law requires it.
- Billing records: retained after account deletion in pseudonymized form (a customer identifier without your email) for as long as accounting and tax law requires (GDPR Art. 17(3)(b)). Stripe retains its own financial records under its policies.
10. Account deletion
You can delete your account from Settings inside the app, or by emailing us. Deletion removes your projects, sync history, uploaded files, sent messages, and credentials. Some records are anonymized instead of destroyed:
- If you were a beta reader on someone else’s project, your comments and reactions remain visible to that author, but your name is removed from them.
- Billing records are kept in pseudonymized form as described above.
- Internal audit entries are kept with your email replaced by a redaction marker.
- Email delivery records are kept with your address and other identifying fields removed, as described in §9.
If you use the desktop or offline app, copies of your projects on your own devices remain yours and are untouched by account deletion.
11. Your rights
Everyone: you can access and export your work at any time using the built-in export, correct your account details in Settings, and delete your account in-app.
EEA/UK residents (GDPR): you have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection, and the right not to be subject to solely automated decisions (we make none). You may lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority. To exercise a right, email privacy@caudexus.com; we respond within one month.
California residents (CCPA/CPRA): you have the right to know, delete, and correct, and the right to non-discrimination. We do not sell personal information and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of. Requests: privacy@caudexus.com. We verify requests against your account email.
12. Security
All traffic is encrypted in transit. Credentials are stored only in protected form. Vault projects add end-to-end encryption as described in §4.3. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your personal data, we will notify you and the relevant authorities as the law requires.
13. Children
Caudexus is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you believe a child under 16 has an account, contact us and we will delete it.
14. Changes to this policy
We will post changes here and update the effective date. During the beta period we may revise this policy without advance notice; the version posted here governs. After the beta, for material changes we will notify account holders by email or in-app notice before the change takes effect.
15. Contact
Caudexus LLC
privacy@caudexus.com
