Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 15, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what information Indie Ink Shield ("Indie Ink Shield," "we," "us," or "our") collects, how we use it, and the choices you have. It applies to indieinkshield.com and the Indie Ink Shield service (the "Service").

If you have questions about this policy or your data, contact us at hello@indieinkshield.com.

1. Who we are

Indie Ink Shield is a copyright-protection service for independent authors. We scan public sources for unauthorized use of your published works, help you document what we find, and assist with takedown requests. We are based in the United States.

The Service is currently offered as an early-access beta. Practices described here may evolve as the product develops; if we make a material change, we will update this page and, where appropriate, ask you to review the change.

2. Information we collect

Information you give us. When you create an account and set up the Service, we collect:

• Your account details (email address and authentication information, handled by our authentication provider).
• The author name(s) or pen name(s) you publish under.
• Information about your books — titles, retail prices, identifiers (such as ASIN or ISBN), cover images, and the retailers where you officially sell them.
• The official social profiles and author pages you tell us are yours (so we can distinguish them from impersonators).
• Any information you provide when contacting us or submitting feedback.

Information created by using the Service. As the Service operates, we generate and store:

• Findings — listings, pages, or accounts our scans surface as potentially relevant to your works.
• Evidence — screenshots we capture of those findings.
• Records of takedown notices and their status, and the activity history of each case.

Information collected automatically. Like most web services, our hosting and infrastructure providers collect standard technical information (such as IP address and basic request logs) needed to operate the Service securely, including to enforce rate limits on the free public scan.

We do not intentionally collect sensitive personal information, and we ask that you not submit it.

3. How we use your information

We use the information above to:

• Provide the Service — run scans, surface and organize findings, capture evidence, and prepare and track takedown requests.
• Distinguish your own accounts and listings from potential impersonations or unauthorized listings.
• Communicate with you — send account, case, and service notifications you've enabled, and respond to your requests.
• Operate, secure, and improve the Service, including preventing abuse.
• Comply with legal obligations.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it except as described in the next section.

4. How your information is shared

We rely on third-party providers ("subprocessors") to run the Service. They process data only on our behalf and only as needed to provide their function. These currently include providers for:

• Authentication — managing sign-in and account identity.
• Database and file storage — storing your account data, findings, and evidence.
• Screenshot capture — generating evidence images of findings.
• Email delivery — sending you account and case notifications.
• Search and scanning — querying public sources to detect potential unauthorized use.
• Hosting — running the application.
• Payments (when paid plans are active) — processing subscription payments. We do not store full payment-card numbers ourselves.

We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect our rights or the safety of others, or in connection with a business transfer (such as a merger or acquisition), in which case we will notify you.

When you send a takedown notice, the notice — and the information it necessarily contains — is transmitted to the relevant platform or host. That disclosure is inherent to the takedown process you initiate.

5. Your choices and rights

Your data is yours. Regardless of where you live, you can:

• Access and export the books, findings, and evidence associated with your account.
• Correct inaccurate account information.
• Delete your data or your account.
• Manage notifications through your settings, and unsubscribe from non-essential emails.

To make any of these requests, email hello@indieinkshield.com and we'll handle it. Depending on where you live (for example, in the EU/UK under the GDPR, or in California under the CCPA), you may have additional rights — including the right to object to certain processing or to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority. We honor these requests regardless of your location.

6. Data retention

We keep your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. When you delete your data or account, we remove the associated records and stored evidence, except where we're required to retain something to comply with a legal obligation or resolve a dispute.

7. Security

We use reputable infrastructure providers and access controls designed to protect your information. No online service can be perfectly secure, but we work to safeguard your data and to limit access to it to what's needed to run the Service.

8. International users

The Service is operated from the United States, and your information will be processed in the United States and by our subprocessors. If you access the Service from outside the United States, you understand your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, where data-protection laws may differ from those in your country. We apply the practices in this policy to all users.

9. Children

The Service is not intended for anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we'll remove it.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the Service evolves. When we do, we'll revise the "Last updated" date above, and for material changes we'll take reasonable steps to notify you.

11. Contact

Questions, requests, or concerns about your privacy:

Indie Ink Shield

hello@indieinkshield.com