Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to PrintableHandwriting.com. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use our website and AI handwriting analysis services. We are committed to transparency and protecting your privacy rights. This policy explains our data practices and your choices; using the site does not replace consent where consent is required.

2. Information We Collect

We collect several types of information:

• Account Information: When you create an account, we collect your email address, name, and password (encrypted).
• Payment Information: Processed by Paddle, our Merchant of Record (see Payment Processing section).
• Handwriting Images: Images you upload for AI analysis are temporarily stored and processed.
• Usage Data: We collect information about how you use our services, including pages visited, features used, and time spent.
• Technical Data: IP address, browser type, device information, operating system, and referring URLs.
• Cookies and Tracking: We use cookies and similar technologies for authentication, preferences, and analytics, and advertising as described below.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information for the following purposes:

• Service Delivery: To provide AI handwriting analysis, manage your account, and process credits.
• Communication: To send transactional emails (receipts, analysis results, account notifications). We will never send unsolicited marketing emails without your explicit consent.
• Improvement: To analyze usage patterns and improve our AI models, website features, and user experience.
• Security: To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security threats.
• Advertising: To support the site with ads, measure advertising performance, and enable personalized advertising where permitted by applicable law and your privacy choices.
• Legal Compliance: To comply with legal obligations, enforce our Terms of Service, and protect our rights.

4. Payment Processing and Paddle

All payment transactions are processed by Paddle, who acts as our Merchant of Record. When you make a purchase:

• Payment Data Collection: Paddle collects the payment and billing details required to complete checkout. We do not store your full payment card details on our servers.
• Processor Role: Paddle handles payment processing, fraud checks, and refund transactions.
• Data Sharing: We share your account email and order details with Paddle so the transaction can be matched to your account.
• Processor Terms: Your payment data is also governed by Paddle's own checkout and privacy terms.
• Purchase Records: We store transaction IDs, purchase amounts, report package details, and purchase timestamps in our database.

5. Third-Party Services

We use trusted third-party services to operate our platform:

• Supabase: Provides authentication services and database hosting. Stores user accounts, uploaded images, and analysis results. Data stored in secure US-based data centers. Privacy policy: https://supabase.com/privacy.
• AI providers (Qwen / Ali Cloud and/or Google Gemini, depending on configuration): Process handwriting images to generate educational analysis reports under their respective API terms.
• Paddle: Payment processor and Merchant of Record (see Payment Processing section).
• Vercel: Hosts our website infrastructure with edge caching. May process request logs and technical data. Privacy policy: https://vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy.
• Google Analytics 4: We use Google Analytics to measure visits, traffic sources, and interactions with our worksheets, resources, and tools. It may process cookies or similar identifiers, device and browser information, and usage data. Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy. Advertising preferences do not necessarily control analytics cookies. See Section 12 and our Cookie Policy for browser controls.
• YouTube: Our three Handwriting Efficiency Lab episode pages load privacy-enhanced YouTube players (youtube-nocookie.com) when the page opens, without autoplay. The background comparison article and the Print sentence and Cursive paragraph lessons load their players only after you activate a cover. Loading a player sends a request to YouTube even before playback. Privacy-enhanced mode does not mean that no data is sent to YouTube. Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy.
• Advertising partners may place or read cookies, use web beacons, and process IP addresses or other identifiers to serve ads, measure ad performance, and (where permitted) personalize ads. See the Advertising disclosure below. Learn how Google uses data from partner sites: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

Each service has its own privacy policy governing how they handle data. We may also use contextual affiliate links. If you follow one, the partner may receive referral information and may set its own cookies under its privacy policy. See our Affiliate Disclosure for how these links support the site. Advertising choices are described in Sections 10 and 12.

We are preparing to transition our advertising service to Raptive. Journey by Mediavine may continue to serve ads until that transition is complete. The following disclosure applies to Raptive advertising when enabled on this site.

Advertising.

CMI Marketing, Inc., d/b/a Raptive (“Raptive”) is a service provider of this Site for the purposes of placing advertising on the Site, and Raptive will collect and use certain data for advertising purposes. To learn more about Raptive’s data usage, click here: https://raptive.com/creator-advertising-privacy-statement

6. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information:

• Encryption: All data transmitted between your browser and our servers uses HTTPS/TLS encryption. Passwords are hashed using bcrypt with salt.
• Access Controls: Strict internal access controls limit employee access to personal data on a need-to-know basis.
• Infrastructure Security: Our hosting infrastructure (Vercel, Supabase) provides DDoS protection, firewall rules, and regular security updates.
• Image Handling: Free check handwriting reports and their uploaded images are automatically deleted one month after the report is created.
• Payment Security: We never store full credit card numbers. Payment data is handled by PCI DSS compliant processors.
• Monitoring: We monitor for suspicious activity and security breaches. However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Data Retention

We retain your data for the following periods:

• Account Data: Retained while your account is active and for 12 months after account closure or last login (whichever is later) for legal compliance and dispute resolution.
• Free Check Previews and Handwriting Images: A free check preview and its associated uploaded image are automatically deleted one month after the report is created.
• Full Reports: Full reports are retained while your account is active to maintain your history and are deleted within 30 days of account closure.
• Transaction Records: Retained for 7 years after the transaction date for tax compliance, accounting, and legal requirements.
• Log Files: Server logs and technical data are retained for 90 days for security monitoring.
• Deleted Data: When you request data deletion or close your account, we permanently delete your data within 30 days, except where we're legally required to retain it.

8. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights:

• Right to Access: Request a copy of all personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Right to Restrict Processing: Request limitation on how we use your data.
• Right to Data Portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format for transfer to another service.
• Right to Object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent for data processing where we rely on consent.
• Right to Lodge a Complaint: File a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe we've violated your privacy rights. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at[email protected] with your specific request and account email, if applicable. We will respond within 30 days, subject to any extensions permitted by applicable law.

9. GDPR Compliance (EU/EEA Users)

If you are located in the European Union or European Economic Area, additional protections apply:

• Legal Basis: We process your data based on: (i) Contractual necessity to provide our services; (ii) Your explicit consent; (iii) Legitimate interests (fraud prevention, service improvement); (iv) Legal obligations.
• Data Controller: PrintableHandwriting.com acts as the data controller for your personal information.
• Data Protection Officer: For GDPR inquiries, contact [email protected].
• Cross-Border Transfers: Your data may be transferred to and processed in the United States. We use Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission to protect international data transfers.
• Your EU Rights: All rights listed in Section 8 apply, including the right to lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority.

10. US State Privacy Rights (Including California)

Depending on your state of residence and the law applicable to our services, you may have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) or other US state privacy laws. These may include:

• Right to Know: You can request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we've collected, the sources, purposes, and third parties we share it with.
• Right to Delete: Request deletion of your personal information, subject to exceptions.
• Right to Correct: Request correction of inaccurate personal information.
• Right to Opt-Out: You may opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information or its use for targeted advertising where applicable law provides that right. Advertising data disclosures may qualify as a sale or sharing even when no money is exchanged.
• Advertising Choices: Use the "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" or advertising privacy settings link when provided on the site. If you cannot find or use that control, email [email protected] with "Advertising Privacy Request" in the subject line. An account is not required. Opting out of personalized advertising does not necessarily remove all ads.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights.
• Authorized Agent: You may designate an authorized agent to submit requests on your behalf.
• Verification: For access, correction, or deletion requests, we may ask for information reasonably necessary to verify your identity. Advertising opt-out requests do not require you to create an account.
• Requests and Appeals: Email [email protected] with "US Privacy Request" in the subject line. We respond within the period required by applicable law, generally 45 days, and explain any permitted extension. If applicable law gives you a right to appeal a decision, reply to our response with "Privacy Appeal" in the subject line.

11. Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)

Primary audience: adults — parents, teachers, and individual learners aged 13 and older who operate accounts and purchases. Worksheet content may be used to help younger children practice handwriting, but children under 13 should use the site only under adult supervision and must not create accounts or upload personal information themselves. We comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA):

• Age Restriction: We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 years of age.
• Parental Consent: If a parent or guardian discovers their child under 13 has created an account without permission, please contact us immediately at [email protected].
• Account Deletion: We will promptly delete accounts and associated data of children under 13.
• Educational Use: Teachers and parents may use our services to help children practice handwriting. In such cases, the adult user is responsible for compliance with COPPA and must not upload personally identifiable information of children.
• School Use: Schools using our services must ensure they have appropriate parental consent and comply with FERPA and COPPA requirements.
• Advertising for mixed-age educational use: We do not treat this site as a child-directed service for account creation, and we do not knowingly use Google advertising products to build audiences or serve personalized ads based on activity we know belongs to children under 13. Where Google controls or regional rules require it, we request non-personalized ads and disable interest-based advertising for child-related or restricted contexts.

12. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience:

• Essential Cookies: Required for authentication, security, and core functionality. These cannot be disabled without breaking the service. Examples: session cookies and CSRF tokens.
• Functional Cookies: Remember your preferences and settings (language, theme).
• Analytics Cookies: Google Analytics uses cookies or similar identifiers to help us understand site usage and improve our resources and tools. Advertising consent controls do not necessarily control analytics cookies. You can block or delete cookies using your browser settings.
• Advertising Cookies: When Journey by Mediavine, Raptive, Google advertising products, or their authorized advertising partners are enabled, those providers may place or read cookies, use web beacons, and process device/browser identifiers or IP addresses to serve ads, limit ad frequency, measure effectiveness, and (where you consent and law allows) personalize ads.
• Other Third-Party Cookies: Our payment processor (Paddle) and hosting provider may set their own cookies.
• Managing Cookies: Use the advertising consent or privacy settings presented for your region to manage advertising choices, including withdrawal of consent where available. If you cannot find or use those controls, contact [email protected]. Blocking essential cookies may limit functionality. Most browsers allow you to: (i) View and delete cookies; (ii) Block third-party cookies; (iii) Block all cookies (not recommended); (iv) Delete cookies when closing browser. Additional advertising controls: Google Ad Settings (https://adssettings.google.com/) and industry opt-outs such as https://optout.aboutads.info/. See our Cookie Policy for more detail.
• Global Privacy Control (GPC): This browser signal communicates a preference to opt out of sale or sharing of personal information. For Raptive advertising, the Advertising Privacy Statement linked in Section 5 describes Raptive's recognition of GPC. This signal is separate from the legacy Do Not Track (DNT) header.
• Do Not Track: We do not currently respond to the legacy Do Not Track (DNT) browser header.

13. International Data Transfers

PrintableHandwriting is operated by Xin Wan in China. Our service providers may transfer, store, or process your data in the United States or other countries:

• Data Location: Primary data storage is in US-based data centers (Supabase US regions, Vercel edge network).
• Legal Basis for Transfers: We transfer data internationally based on: (i) Your consent; (ii) Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission; (iii) Adequacy decisions by relevant authorities.
• Data Protection: All international transfers comply with applicable data protection laws, including GDPR and CCPA.
• Third-Party Transfers: Our service providers (Supabase, Google AI, Paddle, Vercel) may also process data internationally under their own privacy frameworks.
• Questions: If you have concerns about international data transfers, contact us at [email protected].

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or business operations:

• Notification: We will notify you of material changes by: (i) Updating the 'Last Updated' date at the top of this policy; (ii) Sending an email to your registered email address; (iii) Displaying a prominent notice on our website.
• Effective Date: Changes become effective 30 days after notification, unless a longer period is required by law.
• Your Choices: A policy update does not replace consent where consent is required for a new use of personal information. We will request that consent separately where required.
• Review: We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.
• Previous Versions: We maintain an archive of previous policy versions upon request.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us: Email: [email protected]. Response Time: We aim to respond to all privacy inquiries within 2-3 business days. For GDPR or CCPA requests, we will respond within the legally required timeframes (30 days for GDPR, 45 days for CCPA). Mailing Address: Available upon request for formal legal notices. We are committed to working with you to resolve any privacy concerns fairly and promptly.