Privacy Policy
The short version
- Catalog Sync can't see your shoppers' data. It asks Shopify for permission to manage products, inventory, product images, locations, sales-channel publishing and URL redirects. It never asks for orders, customers or checkout data, so it cannot see who buys from you. Any staff access you give our team is limited to the permissions you choose in Shopify.
- We keep what we need to run your catalog: your store's address and settings, the products we manage for you, and the contact details of the people who sign in.
- We do not sell personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.
- When you uninstall Catalog Sync, Shopify tells us and we remove your store's access key.
Who we are
Whipstitch Local ("we", "us") makes catalog software for independent formalwear and bridal boutiques. This policy covers:
- this website, whipstitchlocal.com;
- the Whipstitch portal at app.whipstitchlocal.com, where boutiques sign in and designers open approval links; and
- Catalog Sync by Whipstitch, our Shopify app.
Questions or requests: hello@whipstitchlocal.com.
What we collect
From your Shopify store, through Catalog Sync
When a boutique installs Catalog Sync, Shopify gives us an access key limited to the permissions the boutique approved. With it we read and write:
- products, variants, prices and product images for the designer lines the boutique carries;
- inventory levels and the store's locations;
- which sales channels a product is published to; and
- URL redirects, so a retired product's address can point somewhere useful.
At installation we also record the store's address, currency, country and time zone, so prices go out in the right currency and dates show in the right time zone. We keep activity records and selected earlier product values so we can look into a change.
Catalog Sync requests no access to orders, customers, checkouts or payments, and we do not collect your shoppers' personal information.
From people who use the portal
- Account details: name, email address and the store or designer you work with.
- Sign-in records: boutiques sign in with one-time codes sent by email. Our staff sign in with an email address, a password and an authenticator app. We store passwords only as one-way hashes.
- Support requests: what you write to us, and the screen you were on when you wrote.
- Activity records: when you sign in and the changes you make, kept to protect accounts and investigate misuse.
For billing
Stripe handles billing for the services we bill directly, and runs the payment pages you enter a card on. We send Stripe your billing contact details. We keep account and invoice references, payment status and limited card details: brand, last four digits and expiry date. We never receive full card numbers.
From designers
When a designer approves which retailers may carry their lines, we record the designer contact's name and email address and each approval or refusal, with its date.
From visitors to this website
This site uses Google Analytics to count visits, see which pages people read and where they came from, and count clicks on buttons such as "Join the Waitlist". Google Analytics sets cookies and receives your IP address and basic details about your device and browser. We use it only to understand and improve this site, never for advertising, and we have switched off Google's advertising features for it. You can block it with your browser's cookie settings or with Google's opt-out add-on. Pages also load fonts from Google Fonts, which receives your IP address as part of delivering them.
From people who use the portal, through Google Analytics
The portal at app.whipstitchlocal.com uses Google Analytics in the same way, on every page including sign-in and the pages designers open by link. Google receives the page visited, with link codes, invite codes and searches removed, the website the visitor came from, and the usual IP address, device and cookie details. When a retailer or staff member is signed in, the visit carries an internal account number that only we can match to a person; Google never receives names, email addresses or store names, and designers using a link are not identified. Shopper, order and payment data are never part of it. Google's advertising features are switched off, and we use it only to improve the portal.
How we use it
- to keep each boutique's Shopify catalog in step with its designers' lines, including prices, sizes, colors and availability;
- to enforce designers' rules, such as minimum advertised prices and which stores may carry a line;
- to sign people in and keep accounts secure;
- to send service messages, such as sign-in codes, sync summaries and incident notices; and
- to answer support requests.
Automated drafting of support replies
To answer support requests faster, the text of a request and the relevant account details may be sent to an AI provider, Anthropic or OpenAI, to draft a reply. A member of our team reviews drafts before anything is sent. Each provider processes this data on our behalf under its commercial API terms, which do not allow it to be used to train their models.
Who we share it with
We share information only with the service providers that run our service, and only what each one needs:
| Provider | What for |
|---|---|
| Shopify | the store platform Catalog Sync connects to |
| Hostinger | the servers that run the portal and store our database |
| Cloudflare | storage and delivery of product images, and encrypted backups |
| Stripe | billing and payment pages, as described above |
| Postmark (ActiveCampaign) | sending email, such as sign-in codes and notices |
| analytics (Google Analytics) for this website and the portal, and web fonts for this site | |
| Anthropic | drafting support replies, as described above |
| OpenAI | drafting support replies, as described above |
We may also disclose information when the law requires it, or to a buyer or successor if our business is sold or reorganized, in which case this policy continues to apply to it. We do not sell personal information.
How long we keep it
- Store connection: for as long as Catalog Sync is installed. When a store uninstalls, we remove its access key once Shopify tells us. When Shopify later asks us to erase the store's data, we delete its product links and product image records. Billing and other business records are kept separately.
- Accounts: while the account is active, and deleted on request.
- Records of prices, availability and approvals: kept as a business record so we can show what was true on a given date.
- Backups: kept for disaster recovery and replaced on a rolling schedule.
Security
Store access keys are encrypted before they are stored. All traffic is encrypted in transit. Staff access requires two-step sign-in, and each boutique can see only its own store's data.
Your choices and rights
You can ask to see, correct, export or delete the personal information we hold about you by emailing hello@whipstitchlocal.com. Depending on where you live, including California and the European Economic Area, you may have further rights under local law, and we honor them. A boutique can disconnect Catalog Sync at any time by uninstalling it from its Shopify admin. Any staff or collaborator access you gave our team is managed separately in Shopify.
Children
Our services are for businesses and are not directed to children under 16. We do not knowingly collect their information.
Changes
If we change this policy, we will update the date above. If a change materially reduces how we protect your information, or lets us use it for a materially different purpose, we will tell account holders directly, by email or in the portal, before it takes effect.