Privacy policy

The short version

Iron Scribe is a program that runs on your computer. Your manuscript, your characters, your maps and your notes are files on your own disk. We never see them unless you switch on cloud backup, and even then they are a copy we hold for you rather than something we read.

We collect the least we can get away with: an email address so a licence has somewhere to go, a fingerprint of your machine so a licence can be tied to it, and a record of what you paid. That is nearly all of it.

What we collect

Your email address

Given when you start a trial or subscribe. It identifies your account, carries your licence, and is how we reach you about your subscription. We do not send marketing email and you are not signed up to anything by subscribing.

A device key

When Iron Scribe activates on a machine it builds an identifier from that machine's Windows installation identifier and a disk volume serial number, hashes it, and sends the hash. We store the hash and a count of how many machines are on your licence. We cannot turn the hash back into anything about your computer. Its only purpose is to hold you to three devices.

Payment records

Payments are processed by PayFast. Your card details are handled by PayFast and never reach us or our server. What we receive and keep is the amount, the date, the payment reference and whether it succeeded, which is what we need to know your subscription is current and what SARS requires us to hold.

Cloud backups, if you turn them on

Cloud backup uploads a copy of your Iron Scribe database file to our server. That file contains your manuscript and everything else you have written into the program. It is stored so that only your account can retrieve it. We do not read it, index it, mine it, or train anything on it, and nothing in it is shared with anyone. Backup is off until you switch it on, and you can switch it off again whenever you like.

A technical log

The program keeps a log of its own errors and licence checks, and the server records the date and version of update checks. This is used to find faults. It holds no manuscript content.

What we do not do

• We do not sell, rent or share your personal information with anyone.
• We do not read, analyse or train anything on your writing.
• We do not run advertising, trackers or third-party analytics on this site.
• We do not send marketing email.

The writing assistant

If you connect an AI provider, you do so with your own account and your own key. When you send text to that provider, it goes from your computer straight to them. It does not pass through us and we never see it. What they do with it is governed by their terms, not ours, and you should read them.

Why we are allowed to hold this

Under section 11 of the Protection of Personal Information Act we process your information because it is necessary to carry out the agreement between us — to give you a licence, keep your subscription running and back up your work — and because the law obliges us to keep records of what you paid. Cloud backup happens only with your consent, given by switching it on.

How long we keep it

Cloud backups

Deleted ninety days after your subscription ends, so there is time to fetch them.

Payment and licence records

Five years, which is the period the South African Revenue Service requires for records of this kind.

Device keys and technical logs

Twelve months from the last time the account was used.

Your email address

Deleted with the account, except where it appears in a payment record we are obliged to keep.

Where it is kept

Our server is in South Africa. Nothing is transferred outside the country by us. If you use the writing assistant, text you choose to send goes to the provider you chose, wherever they are.

Keeping it safe

The site and the program talk to the server over an encrypted connection. Backups are stored in a location that is not reachable from the web and are served only against your own account. Administrative access is limited to the responsible party. No system is perfect, and if a breach happens that puts your information at risk we will tell you and the Information Regulator, as the Act requires.

What you can ask us to do

Under the Act you may ask us to tell you what personal information we hold about you, correct anything wrong in it, delete anything we no longer have grounds to keep, or object to how we process it. You may also ask for a copy of your backups at any time.

Write to info@ironscribe.co.za. We will answer within thirty days. There is no charge, and asking will never affect your subscription.

If you are not satisfied

Tell us first and give us a chance to put it right. If that does not settle it, you may complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa, JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 2001, or by email to POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za.

Children

Iron Scribe is not sold to children. We do not knowingly hold information about anyone under eighteen. If you believe we do, write to us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the new version appears on this page with a new date at the top. If a change materially affects how your information is handled, we will email you before it takes effect.