Privacy Policy

Last updated: [date]

This is a draft written to accurately describe how Citadel Books actually works technically. It is not a substitute for review by a qualified solicitor before you rely on it — especially once real customer data and payments are involved. Sections marked [like this] need your specific details filled in.

This policy explains what information Citadel Books ("we", "us") collects when you use our bookkeeping service, and — because privacy is central to how this product works — exactly how that information is protected.

The short version

Your actual business records — invoices, client details, expenses, contracts — are encrypted in your browser before they're ever sent anywhere. We store the encrypted result, not the readable data. We cannot read your business records, and neither can anyone who might gain unauthorised access to our servers.

What we collect

Account information (not encrypted, since it needs to be usable by our systems): your name, email address, and role within your business's account. Billing status and company name are also stored this way.

Your business data (encrypted): invoices, quotes, receipts, contracts, client records, expenses, and anything else you enter into the service. This is encrypted before it leaves your browser using a key derived from your password. We do not have access to this key and cannot decrypt this data, with one exception: if account recovery has been explicitly enabled for your business, a separate recovery key allows us to restore access if a password is lost. Whether this applies to your account is something you can ask us about directly.

What we don't collect

We don't use analytics or advertising cookies. We don't track your browsing behaviour across other sites. We don't sell or share your information with third parties for marketing purposes. See our cookie preferences for the current, real state of what's active — not a boilerplate list of things that might theoretically be there.

Where your data is stored

Encrypted business data and account metadata are stored using Supabase (a database hosting provider) and Netlify (our hosting and static file provider). Both are established infrastructure providers; neither can read your encrypted business data.

How long we keep data

For as long as your account is active. If your business's account is deleted, its data is permanently removed — including from backups within a reasonable operational window. If you'd like your data removed and are not the account administrator, contact whoever manages your business's account first.

Your rights

You can export a full copy of your business's data at any time from within the app. If you're in the UK or EU, you have rights under GDPR to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal information — contact us using the details below.

Payment information

Billing is currently handled [describe your actual payment process here — e.g. "manually, via invoice" or name your payment processor if/when one is integrated]. We do not store full payment card details on our own systems.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes in a way that materially affects how your data is handled, we'll make a reasonable effort to let account holders know.

Contact

[Your business name]
[Contact email]
[Business address, if required for your jurisdiction]