Privacy Policy

Side Channel Studios LLC — Effective September 2026

This Privacy Policy describes how Side Channel Studios LLC (“we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, and shares information in connection with your use of our applications (“Apps”) and our website at sidechannelstudios.com (“Website”). By using our Apps or Website, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Apps — No Data Collected (Default)

The vast majority of our Apps are designed with a strict “no data collected” policy. These Apps:

Do not collect, store, or transmit any personal data
Do not require account creation or sign-in
Do not use analytics frameworks, crash reporters, or telemetry SDKs
Do not contain advertising or advertising identifiers
Do not use cookies, local storage tokens, or device fingerprinting
Process all data entirely on your device

Each App’s individual privacy policy (linked from its App Store listing and from our Website) specifies whether that App collects any data. If an App’s privacy label on the App Store states “Data Not Collected,” then no personal information of any kind is gathered by that App.

1.2 Apps That May Collect Limited Data

A small number of our Apps may require network access or process data that could be considered personal information (e.g., location data for weather, network data for connectivity tools). For these Apps:

Data collection is limited to the minimum necessary for core functionality
No data is linked to your identity
No data is used for tracking across apps or websites
No data is shared with or sold to third parties
No data is stored on our servers — all processing occurs on-device or via direct API calls to service providers (e.g., weather APIs)

The specific data practices for each App are disclosed in its individual privacy policy and in the App Store privacy nutrition label.

1.3 Website

Our Website (sidechannelstudios.com) sets no cookies and uses no third-party advertising, tracking, or session-recording services. Two things do measure traffic, and we would rather describe both plainly than round them off.

Cloudflare Web Analytics. A privacy-focused analytics service that uses no cookies and no device fingerprinting. It gives us aggregate page view and referral data.

Our own measurement. The site also records its own page views, rather than handing that job to anyone else. For each visit we store the page path, the referring site when you arrived from somewhere else, your country, a coarse screen size (desktop, tablet, or mobile), and roughly how many seconds the page was actually visible. Each visit also carries a visitor identifier that lets us tell one person reading four pages from four people reading one. That identifier is not a cookie and nothing is stored on your device to create it: our server computes it as a SHA-256 hash of your IP address, your browser’s user agent string, the date, and a random secret that we generate fresh every day and discard two days later. We never store your IP address itself. Because the secret is thrown away, the hashes for a past day cannot be turned back into the addresses that produced them by anyone, including us, and because the date is part of the input the identifier changes every day, so your visits cannot be linked from one day to the next. This data lives in our own database, is never sold or shared, and is used only to understand which pages are worth writing more of. If your browser sends a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal, this measurement is skipped entirely and nothing is sent.

Two things are stored locally in your browser: your display theme preference (light or dark mode), and, if you arrived through a link carrying a campaign tag, that short tag for up to 30 days so we can tell which channel sent you. Neither contains personal information. The theme preference is never transmitted; the campaign tag is sent only if you go on to subscribe to the newsletter.

Server logs maintained by our hosting provider (Cloudflare) may record standard access data (IP addresses, request timestamps, pages visited) in accordance with Cloudflare’s own privacy policy. We do not access, analyze, or retain these logs.

1.4 Email Communications

If you contact us through our contact page, we will receive and store your email address and the contents of your message solely for the purpose of responding to your inquiry. Writing to us does not add you to any mailing list, and we never share your email address with third parties.

If you subscribe through one of the signup forms on this site, we store your email address in our own database, along with which page you signed up from, so we can send occasional updates about our software. Every email we send carries an unsubscribe link, and you can also ask us to remove you at any time by writing to the contact address below.

2. How We Use Information

For Apps that collect any data, we use that information solely to:

Provide and maintain the App’s core functionality
Respond to support requests you initiate

We do not use any information for advertising, marketing, profiling, behavioral analysis, or any purpose other than delivering the functionality you expect from the App.

3. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, rent, lease, or trade your personal information to anyone, for any reason, under any circumstances. We may disclose information only if required to do so by law or in response to valid legal process (e.g., a court order or subpoena).

4. Third-Party Services

Our Apps are distributed through Apple’s App Store and every one of them is a free download. When you download an App, that transaction is handled by Apple in accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. We do not receive your Apple ID or any other account details from Apple. Apple provides us with aggregate, anonymized download data. This data cannot be used to identify individual users and is retained only for business reporting purposes.

5. Data Retention

For Apps that collect no data, there is nothing to retain. For Apps that process data on-device, that data remains on your device and is deleted when you delete the App, and we hold no server-side database for those Apps. Support emails are retained only as long as necessary to resolve your inquiry and are deleted within 90 days of resolution.

6. Data Security

For our Apps, we collect or store no personal data on servers, so there is minimal risk of a server-side breach affecting our users. Apps that store data locally on your device rely on the security protections built into macOS and iOS, including App Sandbox, Data Protection (file-level encryption), and Keychain Services where applicable.

7. Children’s Privacy

Our Apps do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 (or the applicable age in your jurisdiction). Because the vast majority of our Apps collect no data whatsoever, they are inherently safe for users of all ages. We comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provisions regarding children, and equivalent regulations worldwide.

8. Your Rights Under GDPR (European Economic Area)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including the right to access, correct, delete, restrict processing, and port your personal data. Because our Apps generally do not collect personal data, these rights are inherently satisfied. If you believe we hold any personal data about you (e.g., from a support email), you may contact us to exercise your rights.

Legal basis for processing: Where we process any data, our legal basis is legitimate interest (providing the App’s core functionality) or your explicit consent (e.g., granting location access). You may withdraw consent at any time through your device’s Settings.

9. Your Rights Under CCPA (California)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) grants you specific rights regarding your personal information. You have the right to:

Know what personal information is collected about you
Know whether your personal information is sold or disclosed and to whom
Say no to the sale of personal information
Access your personal information
Request deletion of your personal information
Not be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights

We do not sell personal information. Because our Apps generally collect no personal information, these rights are inherently satisfied. To make a verifiable consumer request, contact us.

10. International Data Transfers

Because we do not collect or store personal data on servers, there are no international data transfers to disclose. App data remains on your local device. Support emails are processed through email infrastructure that may operate in the United States.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by updating the “Effective” date at the top of this policy and, where appropriate, through an update to the affected App. Your continued use of our Apps or Website after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Side Channel Studios LLC
Contact us