Welcome to Cool Shadez. This Privacy Policy explains how Cool Shadez ("we", "us", "our", or "Cool Shadez") collects, uses, and protects information when you visit and use the Cool Shadez website located at coolshadez.com and all associated tools and services (collectively, the "Service").
Cool Shadez operates under the laws of the Netherlands and is subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 ("GDPR"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about how we handle data.
This Privacy Policy should be read alongside our Terms of Service and License Agreement. By using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
Cool Shadez is a browser-based creative tool suite that provides WebGL-powered shader tools for generating visual assets, including gradient backgrounds, animated dot fields, 3D globe visualisations, and more. Users can interact with shader parameters in real time and, with an active subscription, export their creations as PNG images and WebM video files.
For the purposes of the GDPR, Cool Shadez is the data controller responsible for the processing of any personal data described in this Privacy Policy.
We are committed to data minimisation. Cool Shadez collects very little personal data. Below is a complete overview of the categories of data that may be processed when you use the Service.
When you visit our website, our hosting infrastructure and any analytics tools we use may automatically collect limited technical data, including:
This data is collected to understand how the Service is used, to detect and prevent abuse, and to maintain the security and performance of the website. We do not use Google Analytics. If we introduce an analytics solution in the future, we will select a privacy-friendly provider and update this policy accordingly.
Cool Shadez does not collect, process, or store any payment information directly. All payment processing is handled entirely by our third-party payment providers:
When you make a purchase, you interact directly with the payment provider's checkout flow. They may collect your name, email address, billing address, and payment card or account details in accordance with their own privacy policies. Cool Shadez may receive a transaction confirmation (such as a transaction ID and subscription status) but does not receive or store your full payment details.
To verify your subscription status and unlock paid features, Cool Shadez stores an encrypted subscription token in your browser's localStorage. This data:
To be explicit about our privacy-friendly approach, Cool Shadez does not:
Under Article 6 of the GDPR, we process personal data only when we have a lawful basis to do so. The legal bases we rely on are:
We process technical data (server logs, basic analytics) on the basis of our legitimate interest in:
We have assessed that these interests do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms, particularly given the minimal nature of the data collected and the absence of individual tracking or profiling.
When you purchase a subscription, the processing of transaction data (by our third-party payment providers) is necessary for the performance of the contract between you and Cool Shadez -- specifically, to provide you with access to the paid features of the Service.
In limited circumstances, we may be required to process or retain data to comply with a legal obligation, such as tax or accounting requirements, or in response to a valid legal request from a public authority.
The limited data we process is used for the following purposes:
We do not use your data for advertising, marketing, profiling, or automated decision-making.
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We share data only in the following limited circumstances:
When you make a purchase, your payment data is processed by one of the following third-party providers. Each provider acts as an independent data controller for the payment data they collect:
Our website is hosted on third-party infrastructure. The hosting provider may process technical data (such as IP addresses) as part of delivering the website to your browser. This processing is necessary to operate the Service and is covered by our hosting provider's data processing agreement.
We may disclose data if required by law, a court order, or a valid request from a competent public authority, or where we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our legal rights, the safety of our users, or the public interest.
Cool Shadez does not share data with advertising networks, data brokers, or marketing partners. We have no advertising on the Service and do not participate in any data-sharing arrangements for advertising purposes.
Cool Shadez does not set any tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or third-party cookies. We do not use cookie-based analytics. If our hosting provider or payment processors set any cookies during their respective processes (for example, during checkout), those cookies are governed by the respective provider's cookie and privacy policies.
We use your browser's localStorage (a client-side storage mechanism) for the following strictly functional purpose:
localStorage is not a cookie. It is not sent to our servers with each request. It persists on your device until you clear your browser data or until the stored token expires. You can view and delete localStorage data through your browser's developer tools at any time.
If we introduce analytics tools in the future, we will:
We retain data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or as required by law.
Standard web server logs containing technical data (IP addresses, browser information, access times) are retained for a maximum of [PLACEHOLDER] days, after which they are automatically deleted. These logs are used solely for security monitoring and performance analysis.
Cool Shadez does not store payment records directly. Payment transaction records are retained by Polar.sh and PayPal in accordance with their respective data retention policies and applicable legal requirements (including tax and accounting obligations).
The encrypted subscription token stored in your browser's localStorage persists until:
Since this data is stored entirely on your device, you have full control over its retention and deletion.
If you contact us directly (for example, via email), we may retain your correspondence for as long as necessary to resolve your enquiry and for a reasonable period thereafter for record-keeping purposes. You may request deletion of such correspondence at any time.
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have the following rights regarding your personal data under the GDPR:
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [PLACEHOLDER_PRIVACY_EMAIL]. We will respond to your request within 30 days, as required by the GDPR. If your request is particularly complex, we may extend this period by a further 60 days, in which case we will inform you of the extension and the reasons for it.
We may need to verify your identity before processing your request, to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to an unauthorised person.
If you believe that we have not adequately addressed your data protection concerns, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The lead supervisory authority for Cool Shadez is:
You may also lodge a complaint with the data protection authority in your country of residence if it differs from the Netherlands.
Cool Shadez is based in the Netherlands and primarily processes data within the European Economic Area (EEA). However, some of our third-party service providers may process data outside the EEA:
Where personal data is transferred outside the EEA, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, including:
You may request further information about international transfers and the safeguards in place by contacting us at [PLACEHOLDER_PRIVACY_EMAIL].
The Service is not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe your child has provided us with personal data, please contact us at [PLACEHOLDER_PRIVACY_EMAIL] and we will take steps to delete such information.
If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child under 16 without verified parental consent, we will delete that data as soon as reasonably practicable.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the Service, or applicable law. When we make changes:
We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your data. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any changes constitutes your acknowledgement of the updated Privacy Policy.
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:
We aim to respond to all privacy-related enquiries within 5 business days and to formal data subject requests within 30 days as required by the GDPR.