Privacy policy

01Who we are

Stitch is a knitting app and community run by The Stitch App Company Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17290511), whose registered office is at Paulton House, Old Mills, Paulton, Bristol, BS39 7SX. In this policy, "Stitch", "we" and "us" mean that company.

We're the controller of your personal information. That means we decide how it's used, and we're responsible for looking after it.

This policy covers the Stitch app on iPhone and Android, this website, the waitlist and the emails we send. Stitch hasn't launched publicly yet, so the parts about the app apply once you start using it. This policy doesn't cover other websites or services you reach through Stitch, such as a designer's own pattern shop. They have their own policies.

02What we collect

If you join the waitlist

• Your email address, and when you signed up.
• Sign-up details: Netlify, which runs the form, also records the IP address, browser and page the sign-up came from, and checks sign-ups for spam using a service called Akismet.

What you give us in the app

• Account details: your name, username, email address and password. We never store your password in a form we can read. If you sign in with Apple or Google, we get your name and email address from them instead.
• Your profile: a photo, a short bio, how long you've been knitting, and anything else you choose to add.
• Your projects: the patterns you add (including files and photos of them), where you are in each one, row counts, notes, yarn and needle details, and photos of your work.
• Your measurements: body measurements you enter so Stitch can size patterns for you.
• What you post: posts, photos, comments and likes, and the knitters you follow.
• What you ask Knit: your questions and Knit's answers.
• When you contact us: what you write to us, and our replies.

What the app collects automatically

• Device and app information: your device model, operating system, app version, language and time zone, and identifiers for your device and your installation of the app.
• How you use Stitch: which features you open, what you tap, and how long things take to load.
• Crash reports: what went wrong and what the app was doing at the time.
• Approximate location: your country or region, worked out from your IP address. We don't collect your precise location.
• Notifications: if you allow them, a token that lets us send notifications to your device.

What we get from others

• Apple or Google, if you sign in with them: your name and email address. Apple lets you hide your real email address from us.
• The App Store or Google Play, if you buy something in Stitch: confirmation of what you bought. We never see your card details.
• Services you connect, such as a pattern library: whatever you agree to share with us, such as your saved patterns.
• Other knitters, when they mention you or comment on your work.

03How we use it, and why we're allowed to

Data protection law says we need a lawful reason, called a legal basis, for each way we use your information. Here is each one.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we've weighed them against your rights, and you can object at any time (see your rights). We don't make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects based only on automated processing.

04Knit, our AI assistant

Knit answers your knitting questions. This is what happens when you ask one:

• Your question, and the details of the project you're asking about (such as the pattern and the row you're on), are sent to our AI provider, which writes the answer.
• Our AI provider processes your questions only to answer them for us. Its terms don't allow it to train its models on them.
• Your conversations with Knit are saved to your account so you can look back at them. They're deleted when you delete your account, or sooner if you ask us.

Please don't include sensitive personal information, such as health details, in your questions. Knit doesn't need it to help with your knitting.

05What other people can see

• Other Stitch users can see your username, profile photo and bio, and anything you post to the community, including photos, comments and likes.
• Only you can see your email address, measurements, notes, row counts and conversations with Knit, unless you choose to share them.

Once you post something, other people can save it, screenshot it or share it. Before you post, check what's in your photos: they can show more than you meant them to, such as where you live.

06Who we share it with

We don't sell your personal information. We share it only in these cases:

• Service providers who run parts of Stitch for us: Netlify, which hosts this website and holds waitlist sign-ups, app hosting and storage, our AI provider, analytics and crash reporting, email and notifications, and customer support. They can use your information only to provide their service to us, under contracts that require them to protect it. Email us for a list of the providers we use.
• Apple and Google, to process purchases and deliver notifications.
• Other knitters, when you post to the community (see what other people can see).
• When the law requires it: to comply with the law, a court order or a request from a public authority, or to protect the rights, safety or property of our users, ourselves or others.
• If Stitch changes hands: if we're involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, your information may pass to the new owner, who must keep to this policy. We'll tell you before that happens.
• With your permission: anywhere else, but only if you ask us to.

07Where your information is stored

We're based in the UK. Some of our service providers store or process information in other countries, including the United States and countries in the European Economic Area.

When your information leaves the UK, we make sure it stays protected. Either the UK government has found that the country protects personal information adequately, or we use contracts approved by the ICO, such as the International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. Email us if you'd like a copy of these safeguards.

08How long we keep it

• Your waitlist sign-up: until we've told you Stitch has launched, or until you ask to leave the list, whichever comes first.
• Your account and everything in it: for as long as your account is open.
• After you delete your account: we delete your personal information promptly. Any copies in our backups are removed as those backups expire.
• Conversations with Knit: until you delete your account, or sooner if you ask us.
• Crash reports and usage information: only for as long as we need them to fix problems and improve Stitch. After that we delete them or make them anonymous.
• Messages to us: for as long as we need them to help you and keep a record of what was agreed.
• Records of purchases: for as long as tax law requires, which in the UK is six years.

If we have to keep something for longer to deal with a legal claim or meet a legal duty, we keep only what's needed, and only for as long as it's needed.

09Your rights

Wherever you live, you can:

• See it: ask for a copy of the information we hold about you.
• Correct it: fix anything that's wrong or incomplete. You can edit most of it yourself in the app.
• Delete it: delete your account and your information, in the app's settings or by emailing us.
• Take it with you: get your information in a format you can use elsewhere.
• Object or pause: ask us to stop, or to pause, using your information for a particular purpose, including anything we do on the basis of legitimate interests.
• Withdraw consent: for anything we do with your consent, such as the waitlist or marketing emails. This doesn't affect what we did before you withdrew it.
• Stop hearing from us: reply to any of our emails and ask us to stop, or turn notifications off in your phone's settings.

To use any of these rights, email rachel.sestini@yahoo.com. It's free. We may need to check it's really you before we act. We'll reply within one month. If your request is complicated, we may need up to two more months, and we'll tell you if so.

If you live in the United States

If you live in California or another US state with a privacy law, you have the rights that law gives you, including to know what we collect, to correct it and delete it, and to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We don't sell your personal information or share it for targeted advertising. You can make a request yourself or through an authorised agent, and we won't treat you differently for using your rights.

10Children

You need to be at least 13 to use Stitch or join the waitlist, or older if the law in your country requires it. We don't knowingly collect information from children under that age. If we find we have, we'll delete it. If you think a child has signed up, please email rachel.sestini@yahoo.com.

11Keeping it safe

We encrypt your information while it travels between your device and our servers, and while it's stored. Only the people on our team who need your information to do their job can see it, and we check the security of the providers we use.

No service can be completely secure, so please use a password you don't use anywhere else. If you think someone has got into your account, tell us straight away at rachel.sestini@yahoo.com. If a breach puts your information at risk, we'll tell you, and the ICO, as the law requires.

12This website

This website doesn't use cookies, and it doesn't track you with analytics. The yarn colour you pick at the top of the home page isn't saved anywhere.

The site loads its fonts from Google Fonts, so your browser sends your IP address to Google when a page opens. Google's privacy policy explains how Google handles it. Netlify, our web host, keeps standard server logs, such as IP addresses and the pages requested, for security.

If we add cookies or analytics in future, we'll update this section first, and ask for your consent where the law requires it.

13Changes to this policy

We'll update this policy when Stitch changes or the law does. The date at the top shows when it last changed. If a change affects how we use your information, we'll tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.

14Contact us

For anything about your privacy, email rachel.sestini@yahoo.com, or write to us at The Stitch App Company Ltd, Paulton House, Old Mills, Paulton, Bristol, BS39 7SX.

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK's data protection regulator, at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113. If you live in the European Economic Area, you can also complain to the data protection authority in your country.