Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how TradeFile (“we”, “us”) collects, uses, and shares personal data when you use TradeFile (the “Service”). It covers two groups: artists who hold accounts, and fans who unlock downloads.

1. Data we collect

From artists (account holders)

• Account details: email address, display name, password (stored only as a salted hash).
• Optional profile details: username and bio.
• Content you create: gates, download links/files, artwork, and configured actions.

From fans (people unlocking a gate)

• Email address, if the artist enabled email collection on that gate.
• IP address and basic request data, used for analytics counts and abuse prevention.
• Aggregate interaction counts (gate views and per-action opens), used for analytics.

2. How we use data

• To provide and operate the Service (authenticate accounts, serve gated downloads).
• To generate analytics for artists (views, unlocks, conversion, drop-off).
• To prevent abuse, fraud, and spam (e.g. rate limiting by IP).
• To communicate with you about your account and the Service.

3. Legal bases (EEA/UK)

Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we process personal data on the bases of performance of a contract (providing the Service), our legitimate interests (security, analytics, and improving the Service), and consent where required. For fan email collection, the artist is the controller and is responsible for the lawful basis and any required consent; we act as a processor on the artist’s behalf.

4. How we share data

• With artists: when a fan unlocks a gate that collects email, that email and unlock timestamp are made available to the artist who owns the gate.
• Service providers: infrastructure we use to host and run the Service (e.g. Hetzner Cloud), acting under our instructions.
• Legal: where required by law or to protect rights, safety, and the integrity of the Service.

We do not sell personal data.

5. YouTube and Google user data

An artist can require fans to prove they subscribed to the artist’s YouTube channel before a download unlocks. If you choose Verify with YouTube, you sign in with Google and grant TradeFile read-only access to your YouTube account (the youtube.readonly scope). TradeFile uses the YouTube API Services, and by using this feature you also agree to the YouTube Terms of Service; Google’s handling of your data is described in the Google Privacy Policy.

• What we access: only whether your account is subscribed to that one artist’s channel. We make a single request asking YouTube that question and read nothing else — not your other subscriptions, videos, playlists, history, or profile.
• How we use it: solely to decide whether to unlock that gate. The answer is not used for advertising, analytics, profiling, or any other purpose.
• What we store: nothing from your Google account. The access token Google issues is used for that one request and then discarded; it is never saved to our database or logs. The only record is a signed cookie in your browser noting that the action was verified, which expires within two hours.
• How it’s protected: the access token only ever travels over encrypted connections (TLS), between Google and our server, and is held in server memory for the single request that needs it. It is never sent to your browser, to the artist, or to any third party, and it is never written to disk, a database, a log or a backup. The safeguards in section 6 apply as well.
• Sharing: we do not share, sell, or transfer YouTube or Google user data to anyone, including the artist. The artist only sees that their gate was unlocked.
• Revoking access: you can remove TradeFile’s access at any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions or security.google.com/settings/security/permissions. Because we keep no YouTube data, there is nothing further to delete, but you can contact [email protected] with any questions.

TradeFile’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

6. How we protect data

We use technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal data, and especially sensitive data such as Google user data, against unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure:

• Encryption in transit: every connection to TradeFile uses HTTPS (TLS), enforced with HTTP Strict Transport Security. Traffic between our CDN and our server is also encrypted, and our server talks to Google and other providers only over TLS.
• Encryption at rest: uploaded files and backups are stored with Cloudflare R2, which encrypts all stored data at rest. Download files sit in a private bucket and are only ever handed out through short-lived signed links.
• Data minimisation: we collect only what the Service needs. Google access tokens are discarded immediately after use (see section 5), so there is no stored Google data to be exposed.
• Credentials: passwords are stored only as salted bcrypt hashes, never in readable form.
• Secure cookies: sign-in and verification cookies are cryptographically signed, marked HttpOnly (unreadable by page scripts), Secure (sent only over HTTPS) and SameSite, and verification sign-ins are protected against cross-site request forgery with a signed, short-lived state value.
• Access control: production systems, the database and backups are accessible only to the TradeFile operator, through authenticated accounts. Secrets such as API keys are kept out of source code.
• Abuse prevention: rate limiting and bot checks protect sign-in and unlock endpoints.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but if we become aware of a breach affecting your personal data we will notify you and the relevant authorities as required by law.

7. Cookies

We use a strictly-necessary cookie to keep you signed in (a session token). It is required for the Service to function and is not used for advertising or cross-site tracking. If we introduce analytics or marketing cookies in the future, we will update this Policy and request consent where required.

If you verify an action on a gate (for example with YouTube), we also set short-lived, strictly-necessary cookies: one that protects the sign-in round-trip (expires after 10 minutes) and one recording which actions you verified on that gate (expires within two hours). They contain no personal data from the third-party service.

We also keep a note in your browser’s session storage of the website that first sent you here (for example “google.com”) and the first page you opened. It contains no identifier, is deleted when you close the tab, and is only sent to us if you create an account, so we can see which channels bring new artists.

8. Retention

We keep account data for as long as your account is active, and gate and unlock data for as long as the gate exists. When you delete a gate, its associated files and unlock records are removed. You can delete your account yourself under Settings → Account (it asks for your password), or by contacting [email protected].

9. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or port your personal data, or to object to or restrict certain processing. To exercise these rights, contact [email protected]. Fans whose email was collected by an artist should contact that artist directly; we will assist the artist in honoring such requests.

10. Children

The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal data. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes & contact

We may update this Policy from time to time; the “Last updated” date above reflects the latest version. Questions or requests? Contact [email protected].