Privacy policy
Your projects, stash and counters are stored on your iPhone, not on our servers. This policy sets out the few cases where information does reach us, and what happens to it.
1. Summary
Yarnova is built so that we do not need your data. Your projects, row counts, yarn stash and photographs are stored on your iPhone and are not uploaded to us. There is no account to create, no advertising network involved, and nothing is sold to anyone.
The sections below set out the detail, including the few cases where information does reach us and what happens to it then.
2. Who we are
Yarnova develops the Yarnova iPhone app and operates yarnova.com. For the purposes of the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR, Yarnova is the data controller for the limited personal data described in section 4.
You can reach us about anything in this policy at contact@yarnova.com.
3. Information that stays on your device
Everything you create in the app is written to your iPhone's local storage and stays there:
- Projects, their parts, steps and completion progress
- Row and stitch counters, with their values, intervals and targets
- Yarn stash entries, including brand, fiber, weight, colorway and quantity
- Crochet hooks and knitting needles you record
- Photographs you attach to a project or a stash entry
- Favorites, notes and session timings
What this means in practice
We cannot see your projects or your stash, which also means we cannot recover them for you. Local storage is what keeps this data private, and it is equally what makes backups your responsibility.
This content is included in your iCloud or encrypted local device backups if you have those enabled in iOS. Those backups are handled by Apple under Apple's terms and are not accessible to us.
4. Information we process
There are three narrow cases where information reaches us, or reaches Apple on our behalf.
4.1 Diagnostics and crash reports
If you have enabled Share With App Developers in iOS Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements, Apple may provide us with crash logs and performance measurements. These describe how the app behaved, such as which screen was open when it stopped responding. They do not contain your projects, stash or photographs, and Apple aggregates them before we receive them.
You can turn this off at any time in that same iOS setting, and doing so does not affect your use of the app.
4.2 Correspondence
If you email us, we receive your email address, your message, and anything you attach, such as a screenshot. We use it only to answer you.
4.3 Purchases
Any purchase is processed by Apple through the App Store. Apple confirms to us that a transaction occurred and which product it related to. We never receive your card number, billing address or Apple Account credentials.
5. Why we may process it
Where the UK GDPR or EU GDPR applies, we rely on the following legal bases:
| What | Why | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Diagnostics | Finding and fixing crashes | Consent, given through your iOS analytics setting |
| Correspondence | Replying to your question | Legitimate interests: responding to people who contact us |
| Purchase records | Providing what you paid for, and keeping tax records | Performance of a contract, and legal obligation |
6. Device permissions
The app asks for a permission only at the point it is needed, and it works without them.
- Photos. Requested when you add an image to a project or a stash entry. Images you choose are copied into the app's own storage on your device.
- Camera. Requested only if you take a photo from within the app rather than choosing an existing one.
- Notifications. Requested only if you enable a reminder. Declining leaves the rest of the app unaffected.
You can change any of these later in iOS Settings › Yarnova.
7. What we do not do
- We do not sell, rent or trade personal information.
- We do not use third-party advertising networks or advertising identifiers, and we do not track you across other apps or websites.
- We do not require an account, a username or a password.
- We do not upload your projects, stash or photographs to our servers.
- We do not build advertising or marketing profiles.
8. How long we keep things
- On-device content: for as long as you keep it. Deleting an entry removes it, and removing the app deletes the app's local data from your device.
- Correspondence: normally up to 24 months after your question is resolved, so we have context if you write again.
- Diagnostics: retained by Apple on Apple's own schedule; the aggregated reports we see are kept no longer than 12 months.
- Purchase records: as long as tax and accounting law requires, typically six years.
9. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected or deleted, to restrict or object to how we use it, to receive it in a portable format, and to withdraw consent where our processing relies on it.
Because your projects and stash never leave your device, most of these you exercise directly: edit or delete anything in the app and it is gone. For correspondence or purchase records, write to contact@yarnova.com and we will respond within one month.
If you are in the UK or the EEA and are unhappy with our response, you may complain to your national data protection authority. In the UK that is the Information Commissioner's Office.
If you are a California resident: we do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined by the CCPA, and we will not discriminate against you for exercising any privacy right.
10. Children
Yarnova is a general-audience app and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
11. International transfers
The limited data described in section 4 may be processed on servers outside your country, including in the United States, by Apple and by our email provider. Where required, those transfers rely on the UK International Data Transfer Addendum or the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
12. Changes to this policy
If this policy changes in a way that affects how information is handled, we will update this page and change the date at the top. Significant changes will also be noted in the app's release notes.
13. Contact
Questions about privacy, or a request relating to your rights, can go to contact@yarnova.com.