Privacy Policy for use.fo
Effective Date: January 30, 2026
Last Updated: March 23, 2026
1. Introduction
Welcome to use.fo ("we," "our," or "us"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring that your personal information is handled in a safe and responsible manner. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information when you visit our website at https://use.fo (the "Service").
Important Notice Regarding Payments:
Our order process is conducted by our online reseller, Paddle.com. Paddle.com is the Merchant of Record for all our orders. Paddle provides all customer service inquiries regarding payments and handles returns.
2. Information We Collect
We collect information to provide our Service, strictly adhering to data minimization principles.
A. Information You Provide to Us
- Account Information: Email address, name, and password when you register for an account.
- User Content: Text, documents, or inputs you submit to our AI rewriting service ("Input"), and the resulting rewritten content ("Output").
- Support Inquiries: Information sent to our customer support channels.
B. Information Received from Paddle (Merchant of Record)
We utilize Paddle.com for payment processing. We do not collect, store, or process your credit card or financial information. All payment transactions are handled directly by Paddle.
Paddle may share the following information with us solely for the purpose of order fulfillment:
- Transaction Data: Order ID, subscription status, purchase date, and product type.
- Customer Contact: Name, email address, and approximate location (country/region) for tax and fraud prevention purposes.
C. Automatically Collected Information
- Device & Usage Data: IP address, browser type, operating system, device identifiers, pages visited, and interaction patterns.
- Cookies: Information collected through cookies and tracking technologies (detailed in Section 5).
3. How We Use Your Information & Legal Bases
We process your data based on the following legal grounds (GDPR):
| Purpose of Processing | Data Type | Legal Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Service Delivery: To provide AI rewriting features, manage accounts, and maintain functionality. | Account Info, User Content | Performance of Contract |
| Order Fulfillment (via Paddle): To activate subscriptions, verify payments, and handle refunds/disputes. | Transaction Data, Customer Contact | Performance of Contract |
| Support & Communication: To respond to your requests and send transactional emails (e.g., password resets). | Support Inquiries, Email | Legitimate Interest |
| Fraud Prevention & Security: To detect abuse and ensure system integrity. | Device Data, Transaction Data | Legitimate Interest |
| Improvement: To analyze usage trends and improve our AI models (non-personally identifiable aggregation). | Usage Data | Legitimate Interest |
| Marketing: To send newsletters or promotional offers. | Email Address | Consent (Explicit Opt-in required) |
Strict Limitation on Paddle Data:
Data received from Paddle (e.g., email associated with a purchase) is used strictly for order fulfillment, customer support, tax compliance, and fraud prevention. We do not use this data for unrelated marketing purposes unless you have explicitly opted in to receive such communications.
4. Third-Party Services
We share data with trusted third-party service providers solely to operate our business. We ensure these parties adhere to strict data protection standards.
A. Merchant of Record & Payments
- Paddle: We use Paddle.com Market Ltd. as our Merchant of Record. Paddle handles all payment processing, tax collection, and compliance.
- Data Shared: We do not send data to Paddle; you provide payment data directly to Paddle. Paddle shares order details with us.
- Privacy Policy: Paddle Privacy Policy
B. Analytics & Marketing
- Google Analytics: Used to analyze website traffic. Anonymized IP addresses are used where possible.
- Facebook Pixel: Used for advertising effectiveness. This is only enabled if you consent to non-essential cookies.
- Email Services: We use third-party providers to send transactional and marketing emails. You may opt-out of marketing emails at any time.
App Tracking Transparency (iOS Only):
On iOS devices, we explicitly request your permission through Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework before utilizing third-party trackers (such as Facebook Pixel) that track your activity across other companies' apps and websites. If you select 'Ask App Not to Track', we will disable these specific tracking mechanisms. This choice will not affect your ability to use use.fo's core features.
C. AI Processing
- AI Providers: To provide our core rewriting service, your text inputs may be processed by third-party LLM providers (e.g., OpenAI/Anthropic) via secure APIs.
- Privacy Note: We utilize "Zero Data Retention" policies with these providers where available, meaning your input data is not used to train their public models.
D. Google Drive Integration (Google Workspace APIs)
- Google Drive: use.fo integrates with Google Drive to enable document synchronization.
- Limited Use Compliance: Our use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
- Data Access: We only access and store files explicitly selected by you. We do not use this data for training generalized AI models or serving advertisements.
- Data Sharing: We do not share your Google Drive data with third parties except as necessary to provide our core service functionality.
5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use cookies to enhance your experience.
- Essential Cookies: Necessary for the website to function (e.g., login sessions). These do not require consent.
- Non-Essential Cookies (Analytics/Marketing): Used to track behavior and ad performance. These are disabled by default and only activated if you click "Accept" on our Cookie Banner.
Managing Preferences:
You can change your cookie preferences at any time via your browser settings or by clicking the "Cookie Settings" link in our footer.
6. Data Security
We employ commercially reasonable security measures (encryption, access controls, secure servers) to protect your information. However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure.
- Payment Security: We never handle your raw credit card data. It is processed securely by Paddle in compliance with PCI-DSS standards.
7. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on your location, you have specific rights regarding your data.
GDPR (EEA/UK Users) & CCPA (California Users)
You have the right to:
- Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification: Correct inaccurate information.
- Deletion (Right to be Forgotten): Request deletion of your data (subject to legal retention requirements).
- Restriction/Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
- Portability: Receive your data in a structured format.
- Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent for marketing or cookies at any time.
Account Deletion:
You may initiate the deletion of your account and all associated personal data directly within the iOS App by navigating to Settings > Account > Delete Account. Alternatively, you may contact us at contact@use.fo. Upon receiving a request, we will permanently delete your data within 30 days, subject to legal retention obligations (such as tax records which must be retained for 7 years).
How to Exercise Your Rights:
Contact us at contact@use.fo. We will verify your identity and respond within 30 days (or as required by law).
Note for Paddle Orders: If your request relates specifically to payment data or billing history, we may direct you to contact Paddle's Buyer Support (help@paddle.com) as they are the data controller for financial transactions.
8. Data Retention
We retain your personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.
- Account Information: Retained as long as your account is active. Deleted upon request or after 2 years of inactivity.
- Transaction Records (from Paddle): Retained for 7 years (or as required by tax/accounting laws) to demonstrate compliance and handle disputes.
- User Content (AI Inputs): Inputs are processed in real-time. We do not retain your raw text inputs for longer than necessary to generate the output and monitor for abuse (typically deleted within 30 days).
- Marketing Data: Retained until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent.
9. International Data Transfers
Our servers and third-party providers (including Paddle) may be located outside your country of residence (e.g., in the United States).
If we transfer data from the EEA/UK to countries without an adequacy decision, we rely on:
- Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs): Approved by the European Commission.
- Data Privacy Framework: Where applicable for US-based providers.
We take all reasonable steps to ensure your data is treated securely in accordance with this policy.
10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date. Significant changes may be notified via email.
11. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:
- Data Privacy Officer: contact@use.fo
- Website: https://use.fo
- Paddle Support (for payments): help@paddle.com
This privacy policy was last updated on March 23, 2026. It serves as a transparent disclosure of our data practices to comply with GDPR, CCPA, and Paddle.