Privacy Policy

This policy explains what The Ideas Garden (“we”, “us”) collects when you use theideasgarden.com and the app, why we collect it, and what control you have. We are the data controller for this information.

1. Using the app without an account

You can use the Service as a guest. In guest mode your ideas, credits, plants and garden are stored in your own browser's local storage and are not sent to our servers. Clearing your browser data deletes them, and we cannot recover them. If you later create an account, that local data is uploaded so it can sync to your account.

2. What we collect

Account information. Your email address, and a password hash if you sign up with a password. If you use Google sign-in, we receive your email address and basic profile information from Google. We never see your Google password.

Profile information you choose to give. A display name, and optionally your occupation, age range and what you plan to use the app for. These are optional and used to tailor the experience.

Content you create. Your ideas and any text you add to them, plus derived app state such as credits, weekly targets, plant placements and purchased garden items.

Billing information. If you subscribe, Stripe processes your payment. We store only your Stripe customer and subscription identifiers, your plan, and its status. We never receive or store your full card number.

Technical information. Standard server logs generated when you connect, such as IP address, browser type and timestamps, used for security and diagnosing faults.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use your ideas to train machine-learning models.

3. Why we use it, and our legal basis

• To provide the Service (storing and syncing your ideas and garden): performance of our contract with you.
• To take payment and manage subscriptions: performance of our contract, and compliance with tax and accounting law.
• To keep the Service secure and prevent abuse: our legitimate interest in protecting the Service and its users.
• To contact you about service matters such as security or billing: performance of our contract. Any marketing email would be sent only with your consent, and you can withdraw it at any time.

4. Who we share it with

We share data only with the providers needed to run the Service, each acting on our instructions:

• Supabase: database, authentication and hosting of your account data.
• Stripe: payment processing and subscription management.
• Vercel: application hosting and delivery.

We may also disclose information if we are legally required to, or to establish or defend legal claims. If the Service is ever transferred to another owner, your data may transfer with it, and we would tell you first.

5. International transfers

Our providers may process data outside your country, including in the United States. Where data leaves the UK or EEA, it is protected by appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.

6. How long we keep it

We keep your account data for as long as your account is open. If you delete your account, we delete your personal data and content within 30 days, except records we must keep longer for legal reasons, such as payment and tax records, which are typically retained for up to seven years. Server logs are kept for a short period for security purposes.

7. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access a copy of your data, correct it, delete it, restrict or object to how we use it, request it in a portable format, and withdraw consent where we relied on it. To exercise any of these, email hello@theideasgarden.com. We will respond within one month.

If you think we have handled your data badly, you can complain to your local data protection authority. In Slovakia, that is the national data protection supervisory authority.

8. Cookies

We use only what the Service needs to function: a cookie that keeps you signed in, and browser local storage that holds your guest garden. These are strictly necessary, so they do not require consent. We do not use advertising or third-party tracking cookies.

9. Security

Data is encrypted in transit, access to production systems is restricted, and database access rules are enforced per user so one account cannot read another's data. No system is perfectly secure, but if a breach affects your rights we will notify you and the relevant authority as the law requires.

10. Children

The Service is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes

If we make a material change to this policy we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect. The date at the top always shows the current version.

12. Contact

Privacy questions or requests: hello@theideasgarden.com. See also our Terms of Use.