1. Who we are
[YOUR LEGAL BUSINESS NAME] ("Articlu", "we", "us") operates https://articlu.com. We are the controller of the personal data described in this policy. Contact: support@articlu.com, [YOUR REGISTERED BUSINESS ADDRESS].
This policy applies to our website, our dashboard and our WordPress plugin.
2. Data we collect
- Account data: name, email address, password (stored only as a salted hash), phone, company and bio if you provide them, timezone, and your sign-in method (email and password or Google).
- Subscription data: your plan, billing period and status. Payments are handled by Paddle, our Merchant of Record. We do not receive or store your full card number; Paddle shares with us limited information such as your name, email, country, plan, transaction status and subscription identifiers.
- Content you provide or create: keywords, prompts, settings, backlinks, images you upload, and the articles, titles, images and metadata generated for you.
- Connected-account data: the address of each website you connect, the username and an encrypted Application Password or access token that lets us publish on your behalf, and, if you connect Google, the tokens and basic profile and site information those services return.
- Usage and technical data: pages and features used, scheduled and published post records, indexing requests and results, IP address, browser and device type, timestamps, and security and error logs.
- Assistant history: what you type into the Generate Articles box and what it did (the topics, the articles it created and their status, the answers to checks and reports). It is kept in your account so you can search it, until you clear it or delete your account; the newest 600 entries are kept.
- Credit and usage records: every movement of your credits (what was used, when, and for which feature), because credits are the limit of the service and the record is used to explain your balance and to decide refund requests.
- Misuse and refund records: warnings and account closures for attempts to make the service change its own limits, credits, code or security or to reach other accounts, and refund requests with their decisions. To stop repeat abuse we also keep a one-way record of the email address and website address of an account that used the free plan, received a refund or was closed for misuse.
- Search performance history: if you connect Google Search Console, we keep a copy of its numbers for your website (clicks, impressions, average position and the searches behind them, per page and per day) so your charts load fast and go back months. We only read this data.
- Live reader counts: only if you turn them on for a website. A tiny invisible picture at the end of your articles tells us that a page was opened. We store the page address, the name of the website the reader came from, the time, and a one-way code that identifies a reader for one day. We set no cookies and do not store IP addresses.
- Refresh history: when you refresh an article with Content Refresher Pro we keep the previous text and the new draft so you can compare and undo.
- Support communications: messages you send us.
We do not knowingly collect special categories of personal data. Please do not enter them in prompts or content.
3. How we use your data and our legal bases
- To provide the service you asked for: creating your account, generating and publishing articles, scheduling, SEO analysis, indexing requests (performance of a contract).
- To process payments, manage subscriptions, prevent fraud and meet tax and accounting duties (contract and legal obligation).
- To secure the service, detect abuse, enforce limits and fix problems (legitimate interests).
- To decide refund requests fairly and to prevent people from using credits and then asking for a refund, or asking again, using your credit usage record and refund records (contract and legitimate interests).
- To keep a searchable history of your own requests in your account (performance of a contract).
- To send service messages such as verification, password reset, receipts, security and billing notices (contract and legitimate interests).
- To improve and develop the product using aggregated or de-identified usage information (legitimate interests).
- To send optional product news only where you have asked for it or where the law allows; you can opt out at any time (consent or legitimate interests).
We do not sell your personal data and we do not use it for advertising profiling.
Automated steps: a message that clearly tries to make the service change its own code, limits, credits or security is detected by software. The first time you get a warning; the second time the account is closed. Refund requests are measured by software against the usage rules, but a person decides every request that is eligible or unusual. You can ask a person to review any closure or refund decision by emailing us (see Your rights).
4. AI processing of your content
To generate articles, titles, keyword ideas and images, we send the relevant parts of your prompts, keywords, settings and, where needed, article text to our AI providers listed below. They process the data to return the result to us. We do not authorise these providers to use your content to train their models; their own terms and data-processing commitments govern how they handle it.
AI output can be inaccurate. Do not include confidential or personal information about other people in prompts unless you have the right to do so.
6. Google user data
Articlu's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements. We use Google data only to provide the features you request (such as signing you in, finding your Search Console properties, submitting sitemaps or URLs for indexing and showing indexing status). We do not sell Google user data, use it for advertising, or allow humans to read it except with your consent, to investigate abuse or security, or where required by law. You can revoke access at any time in your Google Account permissions and by disconnecting in Articlu.
7. International transfers
Our providers operate in several countries, including the United States, so your data may be processed outside your country. Where required, we rely on safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, or an adequacy decision.
8. How long we keep data
- Account and content data: for as long as your account is open. After you delete your account we delete or anonymise it within 30 days, except as stated below.
- Billing and tax records: as long as the law requires (typically 6 to 10 years). These are held mainly by Paddle.
- Security and audit logs: up to 12 months.
- Assistant history: until you clear it or delete your account (at most the newest 600 entries).
- Search performance history: until you disconnect the website or delete your account. Short-lived copies of Google answers are deleted within an hour.
- Live reader counts: 3 days, then deleted automatically.
- Refresh history (previous and new article text): until you delete your account.
- Credit and usage records: for as long as your account is open and, after that, as long as needed for accounting, refund and fraud claims.
- Refund and misuse records, and the one-way email and website records used to stop repeat abuse: for as long as needed to prevent repeat abuse and to handle claims, up to 6 years after the last event, then deleted.
- Temporary caches and job records: automatically deleted within days or weeks.
- Backups: removed on a rolling schedule, normally within 35 days of deletion.
9. Security
We use measures such as encryption in transit (HTTPS), encryption of stored website credentials and tokens, hashed passwords, access controls, rate limiting and monitoring. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your data we will notify you and the authorities as the law requires.
10. Your rights
Depending on where you live (including the EEA, the UK and California), you may have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to our processing of your data, to data portability, to withdraw consent, and to lodge a complaint with your data-protection authority. California residents may also ask what categories of data we collect and disclose; we do not sell or share personal data for cross-context behavioural advertising.
You can also ask a person to review a decision made partly by software, such as an account closure or a refund decision, and to hear your side. Deleting your account removes your assistant history; the one-way records used to stop repeat abuse are kept for the period above because we have a legitimate interest in preventing fraud.
To exercise a right, email support@articlu.com. We may need to verify your identity and will respond within the time the law allows (usually one month). Payment-related requests may need to be directed to Paddle as an independent controller.
12. Children
The service is for adults and is not directed to anyone under 18. If we learn that we have collected data from a child, we will delete it.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. For material changes we will notify you by email or in the product before they take effect. The effective date at the top shows the latest version.
14. Contact us
[YOUR LEGAL BUSINESS NAME]
[YOUR REGISTERED BUSINESS ADDRESS]
Email: support@articlu.com