Your privacy matters to us

📖 Introduction

Formatrix ("we," "us," or "our") is a book formatting SaaS platform that helps authors and publishers produce professionally typeset books. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect when you use our service, how we use it, and the choices and rights you have regarding that information.

By creating an account or using Formatrix, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the service.

This policy applies to all users of Formatrix, including visitors to our website at formatrix.polsia.app, registered account holders, and anyone who contacts our support team.

📋 Information We Collect

We collect only what is necessary to provide and improve the Formatrix service. Here is a breakdown of each category of data we collect.

Account Data

When you register for an account, we collect your name, email address, and a hashed password. We use bcrypt to hash passwords — we never store your password in plain text and cannot retrieve it. Your account data is used to authenticate you and identify your work.

Manuscript Content

When you upload or create a manuscript inside Formatrix, we store the text and documents you provide. This content is yours. It is stored securely, encrypted at rest, and is never shared with any third party, used to train AI models, read by our staff, or sold in any form. See the dedicated section below for our full manuscript protection commitment.

Payment Data

All payment processing is handled by Stripe, a PCI-DSS Level 1 certified payment processor. We never receive, store, or transmit your credit card number, CVV, or full card details. Stripe provides us with a tokenized representation of your payment method and basic billing information (name, billing address, last four digits) for invoicing purposes.

Usage Data

We collect standard usage analytics including: pages viewed, features used, session duration, browser type, operating system, and IP address. This data helps us understand how Formatrix is used and where we can improve. Usage data is aggregated and is not used to identify you individually.

Communication Data

If you contact our support team by email, we retain a copy of that correspondence so we can follow up and track issue resolution. We use Postmark to send transactional emails (account confirmation, password reset, export notifications). We do not send unsolicited marketing emails without your consent.

⚙️ How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Provide, operate, and maintain the Formatrix platform and its features
• Authenticate your identity and protect your account from unauthorized access
• Process payments, issue invoices, and manage subscriptions
• Send transactional emails such as account confirmations and export ready notifications
• Respond to your support requests and resolve issues
• Analyze aggregate usage patterns to improve the product experience
• Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, or violations of our Terms of Service
• Comply with legal obligations where required

We do not use your data for advertising purposes. We do not build ad profiles. We do not sell or rent your information to third parties for their own marketing.

📝 Manuscript Content — Special Protection

Your creative work deserves the highest level of protection. Manuscript content you upload or write inside Formatrix is treated with strict confidentiality, beyond what is standard for account data.

• Your manuscripts are encrypted at rest on our servers
• Manuscript content is never read by Formatrix employees except when you explicitly request hands-on formatting assistance
• Manuscript content is never sold to any third party, under any circumstances
• Manuscript content is never used to train AI models, including our own internal tools
• Manuscript content is never shared with advertisers, data brokers, or partners
• Your content is yours alone — Formatrix claims no license or ownership over what you write

🤝 Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. Period. We share data only with the following trusted service providers who are contractually bound to protect it and may only use it to perform services on our behalf:

Stripe — Payment Processing

We use Stripe to process subscription payments and one-time purchases. Your payment information is collected directly by Stripe and governed by Stripe's Privacy Policy. We share your billing name and email with Stripe solely to process your transactions.

Postmark — Transactional Email

We use Postmark (by ActiveCampaign) to deliver transactional emails such as account confirmations, password resets, and export notifications. We share your email address with Postmark solely to deliver these messages.

Render — Cloud Hosting

Our application and database are hosted on Render's cloud infrastructure. Your data resides on Render's servers, which are located in the United States. Render does not have access to your data for any purpose other than providing infrastructure services to Formatrix.

🗓️ Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as necessary to provide you with the service and comply with our legal obligations. Here is how retention works for each category:

• Account data is retained for as long as your account remains active. If you close your account, we will delete or anonymize your account data within 30 days, subject to any legal hold obligations.
• Manuscript content is retained for 12 months after the date of last access or last export. After that period, manuscripts may be deleted from active storage. You can request immediate deletion at any time.
• Payment records and invoices are retained for a minimum of 7 years to comply with financial record-keeping requirements.
• Support communications are retained for 2 years after the conversation is closed.
• Usage analytics are aggregated and anonymized on a rolling 90-day basis.

You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time by contacting support@formatrix.polsia.app. We will process deletion requests within 30 days.

⚖️ Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information. We honor these rights regardless of your location.

• Right to Access — You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to Correction — You can request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete information about you.
• Right to Deletion — You can request that we delete your personal data (subject to retention obligations noted above).
• Right to Export — You can request an export of your manuscripts and account data in a portable format.
• Right to Restrict Processing — You can ask us to stop using your data for certain purposes.
• Right to Object — You can object to data processing where we rely on legitimate interests as a legal basis.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at support@formatrix.polsia.app. We will respond within 30 days. We do not charge a fee for reasonable requests.

🍪 Cookies

Formatrix uses a minimal, privacy-respecting approach to cookies. We do not use third-party advertising or tracking cookies.

Session Cookies

We use session cookies to keep you logged in while you use Formatrix. These cookies are strictly necessary for the service to function. They contain a session token and expire when you log out or after a period of inactivity. No personal information is stored directly in these cookies.

Preference Cookies

We may store lightweight preferences (such as your selected theme or editor layout) in your browser's local storage. This data never leaves your browser and is not transmitted to our servers.

• No advertising cookies or ad networks
• No cross-site tracking or fingerprinting
• No third-party analytics cookies (e.g., Google Analytics)

You can disable cookies in your browser settings, but doing so will prevent you from staying logged in to Formatrix.

👶 Children's Privacy

Formatrix is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us at support@formatrix.polsia.app and we will promptly delete that information.

If you are between 13 and 18 years old, you should review this policy with a parent or guardian before creating an account.

🔐 Security

We implement industry-standard technical and organizational measures to protect your data from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

• All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is protected with TLS encryption (HTTPS)
• Passwords are hashed using bcrypt with a high work factor — we never store passwords in plain text
• Manuscript content is encrypted at rest on our hosting infrastructure
• OAuth tokens and sensitive credentials are encrypted using AES-256-GCM before storage
• Database access is restricted to application-level access only — no direct public exposure
• We perform regular security reviews and dependency updates

🌴 California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) grants you specific rights regarding your personal information. This section describes those rights and how to exercise them.

Right to Know

You have the right to request that we disclose what personal information we have collected about you over the past 12 months, including the categories of information, the purposes for which it was collected, and the categories of third parties with whom it was shared.

Right to Delete

You have the right to request deletion of personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions (such as information we are required to retain by law).

Right to Opt-Out of Sale

You have the right to opt out of the sale of your personal information. We do not sell personal information — to anyone, for any reason. There is nothing to opt out of, but we wanted to be explicit about this.

Right to Non-Discrimination

We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights. Exercising your rights will not result in denial of service, different pricing, or a different level of quality.

🔄 Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. When we make material changes, we will:

• Update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page
• Send a notification email to your registered account address
• Display a notice within the Formatrix application for 14 days following the change

Your continued use of Formatrix after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy. If you do not agree with the updated terms, you may close your account by contacting our support team.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Previous versions are available upon request.