Legal Hub

Privacy Policy

Last Updated: August 17, 2026 | Effective: August 17, 2026

BranchPy ("we," "us," or "our") respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect information when you use our website, software, and services.

Key Principles:

  • We collect limited operational data to operate, secure, and improve BranchPy
  • We never sell your personal data or project content to third parties
  • BranchPy analysis runs locally; your scripts, project files, media, and analysis outputs are not uploaded to BranchPy — except when Project Advisor is used with a user-configured AI provider (see §3.4)
  • BranchPy uses optional product signals for usage and reliability statistics; diagnostic telemetry remains a separate optional upload flow
  • You can request access, correction, or deletion of eligible personal data at any time

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Account Information

When you create a BranchPy account, we collect:

  • Email address: Used for account identification, authentication, and communication
  • Username: Your chosen display name on our platform
  • Password: Stored as a securely hashed value using bcrypt (we never store plaintext passwords)
  • Account metadata: Account creation date, last login, subscription tier, and license status

1.2 Optional Product Signals

BranchPy may send optional usage signals to understand feature reliability and improve the product. These signals may include the event name, status, broad error category, coarse duration bucket, detected engine type, BranchPy version, operating system family, license tier when available, and event timestamp.

Product signals do not include project content. We do not collect scripts, story text, project files, media assets, detailed analysis outputs, full paths, file names, labels, or creative content through product signals.

1.3 Optional Diagnostic Telemetry

Diagnostic telemetry is separate from product signals. If you enable or manually submit diagnostic telemetry, we may collect limited usage and diagnostic data such as feature usage, performance metrics, environment information, and sanitized error logs.

Account and device association: When diagnostic telemetry is enabled, events may be associated with your account identifier, device identifier, or session identifier for support and reliability analysis. This telemetry is pseudonymous; it is not used to profile personal identity and never includes your project content.

What we DO NOT collect in product signals or diagnostic telemetry:

  • Source code, script text, dialogue, or file contents
  • AI prompts or responses
  • Project names, file names, full paths, or media assets
  • Authentication tokens or secret credentials inside event payloads
Data Storage: For details on where BranchPy stores cache, logs, and local app data on your machine, see the Storage Layout section in our documentation.

1.4 RC Testing Telemetry

Participants in the RC Testing Program may have telemetry collected locally on their machines during the testing period. This diagnostic telemetry is not transmitted unless exported or uploaded through the approved testing flow. See the RC Testing Agreement for full details.

1.5 Website Usage Data

We collect standard web analytics data:

  • Page views and navigation: Which pages you visit on branchpy.com
  • Browser information: Browser type, version, and device type
  • IP address: Used for security, fraud prevention, and geographic analytics
  • Cookies and local storage: Session tokens for authentication (see Section 9)

1.6 Community Content

If you participate in the BranchPy community, we store content you choose to provide, such as username, avatar, posts, comments, timestamps, and edit history.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your data for the following purposes:

  • Account management: Authentication, account recovery, subscription management, and licensing
  • Service delivery: Providing access to BranchPy software, downloads, and account features
  • Product reliability and planning: Using product signals and diagnostic telemetry to prioritize fixes, measure feature reliability, understand usage frequency, and plan updates
  • Support: Responding to customer inquiries and troubleshooting issues without inspecting project content
  • Communication: Sending important updates, security alerts, RC testing invitations, and release announcements where permitted
  • Legal compliance: Fraud prevention, enforcing terms of service, and responding to lawful requests

3. Data Sharing and Third Parties

We do not sell your personal data. We share data only in the following limited circumstances:

3.1 Service Providers

  • Railway (hosting): Our backend infrastructure is hosted on Railway. They have access to server logs but not to encrypted user data.
  • SendGrid (email delivery): We use SendGrid to send transactional emails (password resets, RC Testing invitations). They process email addresses solely for delivery purposes.
  • Payment processors (Stripe): If you purchase a subscription, subscriptions are processed by Stripe. Card data is handled by Stripe and never stored on BranchPy servers. Stripe's Privacy Policy applies.

3.2 Legal Obligations

We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or government request, or to protect our rights, safety, or property.

3.3 Business Transfers

If BranchPy is acquired or merged with another company, your data may be transferred as part of the transaction. You will be notified of any such change.

3.4 Project Advisor: AI-Provider Data Flow

Project Advisor is an optional Pro feature that requires you to configure your own AI provider and API key (Bring Your Own Key — BYOK). When you use Project Advisor:

  • Anonymized project evidence — finding summaries, structural metrics, and tool outputs — is sent to your configured AI provider to generate advice.
  • Your API key is stored locally on your machine and used only to authenticate calls to the provider you chose.
  • BranchPy does not receive, log, or store the content of AI provider calls or responses.
  • The AI provider's own privacy policy and terms govern how they handle the data sent to them.
  • No data is sent to an AI provider if Project Advisor is not configured or not used.

You can review or remove your stored API key at any time in Studio Settings.

3.5 Cloud Connector Services (Optional Feature)

BranchPy Studio includes optional Cloud Project Connectors (Pro/BetaTester feature). When you use them:

  • GitHub: OAuth token stored in your OS keychain. Project files cloned to local cache only; no content reaches BranchPy servers. Governed by GitHub Privacy Statement.
  • Google Drive: OAuth 2.0 flow via our backend proxy (api.branchpy.com). Access/refresh tokens stored in your OS keychain. Drive folder contents downloaded to local cache only; no file content on BranchPy servers. Governed by Google Privacy Policy.
  • Amazon S3: AWS credentials read from OS keychain or ~/.aws/credentials. S3 objects downloaded to local cache only; no credentials or content transmitted to BranchPy servers. Governed by AWS Privacy Notice.

In all cases: connectors are read-only; no project file content is uploaded to BranchPy; credentials are stored on your device only; your cloud provider's own terms apply.

4. Data Retention

  • Account data: Retained as long as your account is active. Deleted within 30 days of account closure, unless retention is required by law or security obligations.
  • Raw product signals and telemetry data: Retained for a limited period, typically 90 days after collection, then deleted or aggregated.
  • Offline product signal queue: Stored temporarily in local app data, capped in size, and pruned by age.
  • RC Testing telemetry: Retained for 90 days after the RC phase ends, then deleted or aggregated.
  • Community posts: Retained indefinitely unless you request deletion or delete your account.
  • Email logs: Email providers may retain delivery logs for a limited period.

5. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data:

  • Encryption in transit: All data is transmitted over HTTPS (TLS 1.2+)
  • Encryption at rest: Sensitive data (e.g., 2FA secrets, if implemented) is encrypted using AES-256-GCM
  • Password hashing: Passwords are hashed using bcrypt with 10 rounds
  • Access controls: Only authorized personnel have access to production databases
  • Regular security audits: We monitor for vulnerabilities and apply security patches promptly

However, no system is 100% secure. If you discover a security vulnerability, please report it to security@branchpy.com.

6. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

6.1 Access

You can view and download your account data from your profile settings or by emailing support@branchpy.com.

6.2 Correction

You can update your username, email, and profile information in your account settings.

6.3 Deletion

You can delete your account at any time from your profile settings. Associated account data will be deleted within 30 days, except where retention is required for security, legal, or aggregated statistical purposes.

6.4 Data Portability

You can export eligible account data in JSON format by emailing support@branchpy.com.

6.5 Opt-Out of Marketing

You can unsubscribe from marketing emails by clicking the "Unsubscribe" link in any email or by updating your preferences in account settings. You will still receive critical transactional emails.

6.6 Telemetry Control

Diagnostic telemetry can be enabled, disabled, exported, or uploaded through the applicable BranchPy settings and testing flows. BranchPy product signals are separate operational signals used for product reliability and usage statistics.

7. Children's Privacy

BranchPy is not intended for users under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us at support@branchpy.com, and we will delete it immediately.

8. International Data Transfers

BranchPy is based in Québec, Canada. If you are accessing our services from outside Canada, your data may be transferred to and stored in Canada or other countries where our service providers operate. We ensure adequate data protection measures are in place for international transfers.

9. Cookies and Local Storage

We use cookies and browser local storage for the following purposes:

  • Session tokens: Stored in localStorage to keep you logged in (contains no personal data, only a session ID)
  • Preferences: Theme settings, language preferences (stored locally, not sent to servers)
  • Attribution cookies (bpy_utm_ft, bpy_utm_lt): Set when you arrive via a UTM-tagged link (e.g. from a newsletter or social post). These store the marketing channel that brought you here — no personal data, no browsing history. They expire after 30 days. Used only to understand which channels lead to registrations and downloads. You can delete them at any time in your browser settings.

You can clear cookies and local storage at any time in your browser settings. Note that clearing session tokens will log you out.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. Significant changes will be communicated via:

  • Email notification to registered users
  • Prominent notice on branchpy.com
  • Updated "Last Updated" date at the top of this page

Continued use of BranchPy after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Compliance

BranchPy aims to comply with:

  • Québec Law 25: Québec's privacy law (in effect September 2023)
  • PIPEDA: Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
  • GDPR: European Union General Data Protection Regulation (where applicable)
  • EU AI Act: We aim to meet EU AI Act transparency requirements for AI systems that interact with users. Project Advisor surfaces AI-generated advice with clear disclosure of the provider in use and a distinction from deterministic BranchPy analysis (current in Studio v2026.2.3).

12. Contact

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, contact us: