Privacy notice

Before public launch: RQAI is the product brand at rqai.co.uk. The contracting trader/controller's verified legal name, service address and company details are awaiting confirmation. This document must be completed with those details before general sale.

Privacy Notice · Version 2026-10-18 · Updated 18 October 2026.

Core promise: RQAI does not receive your local draft library by default, use it to train AI, sell it or monitor your writing. Content leaves your device only when you choose a connected feature.

Controller and scope

RQAI, United Kingdom, is controller for personal information it actually receives through Chapbook sales, trials, support, website operations and RQAI-operated functions. Contact support@rqai.co.uk with “Chapbook privacy” in the subject. A provider you connect may be an independent controller under its own notice. If you use Chapbook for an organisation or process other people's information, you may be a controller and are responsible for your own lawful basis and notices.

What stays on this device

Drafts, writing-partner sessions, snapshots, saved ideas and profile data are stored in IndexedDB. Provider configuration, your GitHub token, AI keys, optional R2 credentials, licence and legal-acceptance record are stored in browser local storage (including helm.studio.config.v1) or equivalent app storage. RQAI cannot retrieve local-only data. On a shared or compromised device, browser storage can be exposed; use device access controls and least-privilege tokens.

Optional data flows you control

• GitHub: publishing and repository operations go from your browser to your repository. The device-login relay forwards the GitHub handshake, applies abuse-rate limiting and stores no token or draft.
• AI: prompts, relevant draft/profile context, images or requested source material go directly to the active Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini or Groq account using your key. Provider retention, training controls, locations and terms apply.
• Private dictation: recorded audio is transcribed by a self-hosted Whisper model on this device after the model download. Live dictation instead uses the browser/operating-system speech service, which may send audio to its vendor.
• Cloudflare R2: optional media goes to your bucket, directly or through a Worker you configure. RQAI does not operate your bucket.
• Crossref and external media: DOI lookups and assets you deliberately fetch reveal normal request metadata to the destination.

Information RQAI receives, purpose and lawful basis

• Purchase/licence details: name, email, Stripe event/customer/payment references, product and licence status — to perform the contract, deliver and support a licence, meet accounting/legal obligations and prevent fraud.
• Licence delivery: RQAI's private cloud worker signs and emails keys, including while the owner's computer is offline. The licence ledger is encrypted at rest; authorised local support tools can synchronise these records. Email delivery involves the recipient address and licence key. Your draft library is not part of this process.
• Trial request: typed email, product and request time in a private fulfilment store; a canonical-email hash limits repeat trials for one year from the original issue date. The function temporarily uses an IP address for rate limiting — contract steps and legitimate interests in abuse prevention.
• Operational request data: Hostinger and its infrastructure may process IP address, URL, time, browser and security metadata to deliver and secure the site — contract and legitimate interests in reliability/security.
• Support: email address, message and attachments you send — contract steps, legitimate interests in support/claims and legal obligation where applicable.
• Anonymous totals: per-day visit/install/activation counters in our private Hostinger database contain no IP, token, licence or user identifier — service measurement and legitimate interests.
• Optional consent: only where specifically requested for future non-essential storage or marketing. Consent can be withdrawn as easily as given.

Accepting the Terms is contractual. Acknowledging this notice is not consent to all processing and does not activate AI or publishing.

Where those records are kept and who can access them

Trial and payment-event records, completed delivery records and renewal/refund indexes are kept in a private MySQL database on our Hostinger server in the United Kingdom. Hostinger identifies Germany as the hosting backup country. The licence ledger is separately encrypted and includes recipient, licence key, product, dates and revocation status. The private GitHub Actions worker reads these records temporarily to deliver licences. Access is limited to the RQAI operator and authorised service credentials. The storage region does not mean all supplier processing stays in Europe.

Authorised Helm support tools keep a synchronised local copy. Cloud-managed records removed by retention are removed from that copy at its next successful sync. The cloud process runs independently of the operator's computer. Stripe receives payment details; Chapbook receives references and status, not full card numbers or card security codes. Resend receives the recipient address, message and licence key. New operational notifications omit customer details. Public revocation checks use random licence identifiers.

An email hash is pseudonymous personal data, not anonymous data. Historical private Git records, older notifications, local backups and supplier backups require separate cleanup or expiry. We track those copies when handling erasure and do not describe a current-record deletion as erasure of every historical copy. Random revocation identifiers may remain necessary to prevent reuse of revoked keys.

What you need to provide and where it comes from

An email is needed to send a trial or paid licence. If you do not provide it, we cannot deliver that key. Purchase, renewal and refund information comes from Stripe; delivery status comes from Resend; support information comes from you. Optional AI/profile, GitHub and media-storage connections are your choice. Declining them leaves the corresponding connected feature unavailable and does not authorise an alternative use of your data.

Recipients and international transfers

RQAI uses Hostinger for application hosting, backend services, private fulfilment storage and aggregate counters; GitHub Actions for delivery; Stripe for payments; and Resend for licence/operational email. The business support mailbox is hosted by Hostinger. Automatic forwarding to the operator’s Google Gmail inbox was stopped on 16 October 2026; new support mail stays in Hostinger. Earlier forwarded copies may remain in Gmail until reviewed under the retention policy or an applicable erasure request. Erasure reviews cover those historical copies as well as Hostinger, including sent mail and recoverable trash. Authorised communications suppliers, professional advisers or authorities may receive information where needed for the stated purposes or required by law. Writers’ published posts remain in their own connected GitHub repositories; optional media and booking services remain with the providers they connect. Moving Chapbook’s backend does not move those repositories or media into RQAI’s hosting account.

These suppliers may process information outside the UK/EEA. RQAI is responsible for assessing the transfer mechanism and safeguards for suppliers it appoints; that responsibility is not transferred to you. Contact support for information about the relevant locations, contractual safeguards and how to obtain a copy. Hostinger, Stripe and Resend publish data-processing and international-transfer terms. Resend stores its message and delivery data in the United States, even when email is sent from an EU region. Contract coverage for the current personal GitHub delivery account remains under review before general launch. Optional AI, GitHub publishing and Cloudflare accounts you connect have their own contracts and privacy notices; review those before sending confidential or personal data. RQAI does not sell personal information or share it for behavioural advertising.

Retention

• Local data: until you delete it, clear site/app data or uninstall; remote copies follow the destination's retention.
• Chapbook trial licence and completed-delivery records: daily cleanup removes identifiable records 90 days after the trial expires. A minimal email hash remains until one year after the original trial to prevent repeated trial resets. Access expires after seven days; that is separate from data deletion. Unresolved orders, disputes, legal holds and unclassified older records are reviewed before removal.
• Chapbook paid-licence and linked delivery records: while the licence is active, then six years after the latest expiry, revocation or issue date for accounting and claims, subject to a specific legal hold. Stripe may retain records it must keep for its own legal duties.
• Support correspondence: normally up to 24 months after closure, longer for an unresolved dispute or legal duty.
• Delivery-worker logs: seven days for new runs. Resend email and delivery logs: 30 days, with backups lasting seven days; earlier removal requires a request to Resend. Hostinger security logs and infrastructure backups follow its operational policies; exact provider backup erasure periods remain under review. A restricted, encrypted migration recovery copy is retained for seven days. Retired Netlify source records remain write-disabled during that recovery window, then undergo deletion review; provider-held residual logs and backups may follow a different schedule. Expiry of earlier Hostinger India/Singapore copies is also being confirmed. Incident extracts may remain for a specific investigation or claim.
• Encrypted migration recovery copy: seven days. Count-only deletion receipts: one year. Rights-request case records: normally 24 months after closure; unresolved cases and legal holds remain subject to review.
• Anonymous daily counters: may be retained for longitudinal product measurement because they contain no user identifier.

Sensitive information and children

Chapbook does not ask for special-category data. Avoid sending health, biometric, political, religious, sexual-orientation or other sensitive information to AI unless you have an Article 6 basis and, where applicable, an Article 9 condition. Do not record people covertly. Chapbook is intended for adults aged 18 and over and is not offered for use by children.

Your rights

Subject to legal conditions, UK/EU rights may include access, correction, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, withdrawal of consent and safeguards for significant solely automated decisions. Chapbook does not make such decisions about users. Most drafts are only on your device, so use Export or Settings → Sign out & forget this device. For information RQAI holds, email support. We may verify identity and respond within the statutory period.

Right to object: you may object to processing based on legitimate interests. You have an absolute right to object to direct marketing; Chapbook performs no behavioural advertising.

For RQAI-held information, request access, correction or deletion at support@rqai.co.uk. We normally respond within one month, subject to lawful extensions and necessary identity checks. Removing local drafts or uninstalling the app does not erase RQAI's purchase/trial records or your published repository. If a request cannot be fully met, we will explain the reason and available complaint route.

You may complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or, where EU GDPR applies, your local supervisory authority.

Security, deletion and changes

Controls include HTTPS/HSTS, restrictive CSP, local-first storage, sandboxing/sanitisation, self-hosted local transcription, scoped provider calls, rate limits and signed licences. No system is perfectly secure. Revoke provider tokens if a device is lost. A material notice change receives a new version and renewed acknowledgement where appropriate.