Thickening Time is published by Ortomate Ltd (NZBN 9429051658644), registered in New Zealand. We comply with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 and the thirteen information privacy principles it establishes. This policy explains what we collect, why, and what control you have.
1. What we collect
Reading the free book
Nothing. We do not require an account, set tracking cookies, or collect personal information when you read the book.
Analytics
We use Plausible Analytics, a privacy-respecting analytics service. Plausible does not use cookies, does not collect personal data, and does not track you across sites. All data is aggregated. We see page views and referrers, not individuals.
Assessment
Your assessment answers are processed in your browser. We do not store them on our servers unless you continue to purchase a personalised edition, in which case they are saved alongside your session to generate your custom content.
Google sign-in
If you sign in with Google (for social reading features such as reactions), we receive your name, email address, and profile photo from Google via OAuth. We store these in our database (hosted on Supabase) to identify your account. We do not access your contacts, calendar, files, or any other Google data. We do not post to your Google account.
Personalised edition
When you purchase a personalised edition, we collect:
- Your assessment responses
- Your conversation messages during the personalisation chat
- Your name (if you provide one, for the book dedication)
- Your email address (for the download link)
Your conversation and assessment data are used solely to generate your personalised book. We do not use them to train AI models, sell to third parties, or share with anyone outside Ortomate Ltd.
Payments
Payments are handled by Stripe. Your card number, expiry, and CVC go directly to Stripe. We never see or store your card details. We receive a confirmation of payment and your email address from Stripe.
Emails
We send transactional emails (download links, purchase confirmations) via Resend. We do not send marketing emails or newsletters. We do not add you to any mailing list.
2. How we store your data
Your data is stored in a Supabase-hosted PostgreSQL database. Data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest. Our servers are operated by Vercel (frontend) and Supabase (database), both of which maintain SOC 2 compliance. Your generated PDFs and EPUBs are stored temporarily and deleted after your download window expires.
3. Who we share data with
We share data only with the service providers needed to run this site:
- Stripe — payment processing
- Supabase — database hosting
- Vercel — website hosting
- Anthropic — AI content generation (your conversation messages are sent to Anthropic’s API to generate your personalised content; Anthropic does not use API inputs for model training)
- ElevenLabs — audiobook narration
- Resend — transactional email delivery
- Plausible — anonymous, aggregated analytics
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We do not share data with advertisers.
4. Cookies
We do not use tracking cookies or third-party advertising cookies. If you sign in with Google, Supabase sets an authentication cookie to maintain your session. This is a functional cookie required for sign-in to work. Plausible does not use cookies.
5. Your rights under the Privacy Act 2020
Under New Zealand’s Privacy Act 2020, you have the right to:
- Access — request a copy of any personal information we hold about you
- Correction — ask us to correct inaccurate information
- Deletion — ask us to delete your data (we will do so unless we have a lawful reason to retain it, such as financial records required by the Tax Administration Act 1994)
To exercise any of these rights, email hello@thickeningtime.com. We will respond within 20 working days as required by the Act.
6. Children
This site is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
7. International transfers
Our service providers (Stripe, Supabase, Vercel, Anthropic, ElevenLabs, Resend) operate servers outside New Zealand, primarily in the United States. By using this site, you acknowledge that your data may be processed in countries with different privacy laws. We only use providers with appropriate data protection practices.
8. Data retention
Assessment and personalisation session data is retained for 12 months after purchase to allow re-downloads, then deleted. Authentication data (name, email, profile photo from Google sign-in) is retained until you delete your account. Plausible analytics data contains no personal information and is retained indefinitely in aggregate form.
9. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The “last updated” date at the top will change when we do. Material changes will be noted on this page.
10. Contact and complaints
If you have questions or concerns about your privacy, email hello@thickeningtime.com. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (Te Mana Matapono Matatapu).