Privacy Policy

Last updated 13 September 2026. This policy explains what Inna Cherniavska, an individual developer based in Cyprus ("Sewing Soul", "we") collects when you use the Sewing Soul app and website, why, and what your rights are. We designed Sewing Soul to collect as little as possible.

What we collect. (1) Account data: when you sign in with Apple or e-mail we store your e-mail address (or the private relay address Apple provides), a user ID, your username, display name, optional bio, website and avatar. (2) Your choices: the interests you select, the creators you follow, posts you save, collections you create, reactions and comments you write, reports you file and users you block. (3) Usage data: which cards were shown to you, which you opened and for how long, searches, shares and external link taps, together with a session identifier, your device platform and app version. When you are not signed in this data is keyed to a random identifier stored on your device, not to you. (4) Country: the region setting of your device (not GPS), used only to prioritise regional stories. (5) Push token: only if you enable notifications.

Why we use it. To run the service (accounts, saving, following, discussions); to personalise your feed (interests, follows, "not interested" signals, reading behaviour); to keep the discussions safe (reports, blocks, moderation, AI pre-screening of comments); to understand which stories readers find useful (aggregate statistics only); to send notifications you opted into; and to comply with law. The legal bases under the GDPR are performance of a contract (the service), our legitimate interest in improving and securing the service, your consent (notifications, optional profile fields) and legal obligations.

No advertising, no payments. Sewing Soul is completely free: there are no ads, no sponsored posts, no in-app purchases and no subscriptions. We do not use advertising SDKs, we do not track you across other apps or websites, and we never sell or rent personal data.

AI processing. Comments are automatically screened by an AI model for spam, harassment and similar violations before a human moderator decides. Editorial drafts are generated from public sources by AI and reviewed by editors. AI providers process content on our behalf under contract and do not use it to train their models.

Who we share with. Service providers that host our infrastructure (Supabase — database, authentication and functions in the EU; Netlify — web hosting; Apple — sign-in and push notifications; Anthropic — AI processing of comments and editorial drafts). Authorities when legally required. Nobody else. We do not sell personal data.

Retention. Account data is kept while your account exists. Usage events are kept for up to 24 months in raw form and indefinitely in aggregate. Moderation records are kept for as long as needed to enforce our rules. When you delete your account, your profile, comments, saves, follows and identifiers are deleted or anonymised within 30 days, except where we must retain data by law.

Your rights. You can access and edit your profile in the app, export your data by e-mailing us, and delete your account at any time from Profile → Delete account. Under the GDPR and UK GDPR you may also request access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and object to processing, and lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority (in Cyprus: the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection).

Children. Sewing Soul is not directed at children under 16. If we learn that a child under 16 has created an account we will delete it.

International transfers. Our servers are located in the European Union. Where providers process data outside the EU/EEA we rely on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses or an adequacy decision.

Cookies. The website uses only strictly necessary cookies (a session cookie for staff signing in to the newsroom). We do not use analytics or advertising cookies on the website and therefore show no cookie banner. The app uses no cookies; it stores a random anonymous identifier, your sign-in session and cached content on your device.

Controller and contact. The data controller is Inna Cherniavska, an individual developer based in Cyprus. Write to privacy@sewingsoul.com for any privacy request; we answer within 30 days. We will notify you in the app of material changes to this policy.