Privacy Policy

This policy explains what personal information we collect when you buy or use Is Your Family Hurting You?, the PauseHalt app, and the bonus materials — and what we do with it. We have written it in plain language on purpose. If anything is unclear, email hello@pausehalt.com and we will explain it.

1. Who is responsible

[YOUR BUSINESS OR PERSONAL NAME] of [YOUR ADDRESS], Botswana is the data controller for the information described here. Contact: hello@pausehalt.com.

2. What the app stores, and why we cannot see it

PauseHalt runs entirely in your browser. When you save a log entry, the app writes it to localStorage — a small storage area belonging to your browser on your device. Entries can include what you write in these fields:

• What happened
• What you felt
• What old memory it brought up
• The emotion you selected and the response you chose
• The date and time

This information is never transmitted anywhere. It is not sent to us, to a server, or to any third party. There is no network request involved in saving it. We have no database of user entries, because there is no database at all. Practically:

• We cannot read your entries. Not on request, not by subpoena, not by accident.
• We cannot recover them for you. If you clear your browser data, use private mode, switch browser or device, or your device is wiped, the entries are gone permanently. There is no backup.
• We cannot delete them for you. You do that yourself — entry by entry in My Week, or by clearing your browser's site data for the app.

Because the entries sit on your device, anyone who can unlock it and open the app can read them. This matters if you share a phone or laptop, or if your safety depends on a family member not seeing what you write. Use a screen lock, and consider what you commit to writing.

If you use "Copy my week as text", the content goes to your device's clipboard and then wherever you paste it. Once pasted into an email, note or message, this policy no longer covers that copy — it is governed by the service you pasted it into.

3. Information we collect when you buy

Name	To identify your order and address you correctly
Email address	To deliver download links and order confirmation, and answer support queries
Order details	To fulfil the order, handle refunds and keep tax records
Billing country	Tax and currency handling
Partial card details	Fraud prevention and refunds, held by our payment provider
Checkout technical data	Security and fraud prevention, collected by our payment provider

We never see or store your full card number, expiry date or security code. Payment is processed by [PAYMENT PROCESSOR], who handle card data under their own security standards and privacy policy.

4. If you join our email list

If you subscribe, or tick the box at checkout, we store your email address and first name with our email provider, [EMAIL PROVIDER], to send you the resource you asked for and occasional emails about our work. The provider records standard engagement data such as whether an email was opened or a link clicked, so we can tell what is useful and stop sending what is not.

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of every email. Buying the bundle does not require you to stay on the list, and unsubscribing does not affect your access to what you bought.

5. Information collected on our website

pausehalt.com is hosted by [HOSTING PLATFORM], which keeps standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages viewed, referring page) for security and basic traffic counts.

[IF YOU USE ANALYTICS, DESCRIBE IT HERE — OTHERWISE DELETE THIS LINE.]

The app itself sets no cookies and contains no analytics or advertising code.

6. Why we are allowed to process your information

Where the GDPR or similar laws apply, our legal bases are:

• Performance of a contract — collecting your name, email and order details so we can deliver what you paid for.
• Legal obligation — keeping transaction and tax records for the period the law requires.
• Consent — sending marketing emails. You can withdraw this at any time by unsubscribing.
• Legitimate interests — securing our site, preventing fraud, answering support emails, and understanding basic traffic levels, balanced against your privacy.

A note on sensitive information. What you write in the app is emotionally sensitive and may count as health-related data under some laws. Because it never leaves your device, we do not process it at all, and need no legal basis to do so. This is a deliberate design decision, not an oversight.

7. Who we share information with

Only what is necessary, and only with providers who process it on our behalf: [PAYMENT PROCESSOR] for payments and refunds; [EMAIL PROVIDER] for delivering your files and emails; [HOSTING PLATFORM] for hosting the site and files; and our accountant or the tax authority where required.

We may also disclose information where legally required, or to establish or defend legal claims. If our business is ever sold, information may pass to the new owner, who must continue to protect it under this policy.

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information. We do not share it with advertisers or data brokers.

8. International transfers

We are based in Botswana. Our providers may store and process information in other countries, including the United States and the European Union, whose data protection laws may differ from those where you live. Where information is transferred out of a region with transfer restrictions, we rely on our providers' safeguards — such as standard contractual clauses or an adequacy decision — to keep it protected.

9. How long we keep information

• Order records: as long as required by Botswana tax and accounting law, currently [NUMBER] years.
• Email list: until you unsubscribe, or after [NUMBER] months of no engagement, whichever comes first.
• Support emails: up to [NUMBER] months after the query is resolved.
• Your app entries: for as long as you keep them on your device. We hold none of them.

10. How we protect information

We use providers who maintain recognised security standards, keep access to our accounts limited and protected with strong passwords and two-factor authentication, and keep only what we need. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. The most significant risk to your app entries is physical access to your own device, which is why we recommend a screen lock.

11. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, correct it, delete it, restrict or object to our processing, receive a portable copy, withdraw consent where we relied on it, and not be subject to decisions made solely by automated processing (we make none).

To exercise any of these, email hello@pausehalt.com. We will respond within one month, and will not charge you or treat you differently for asking. Remember we cannot action a request about your in-app entries, because we do not hold them — you control those directly on your device.

If you are in Botswana: this policy is written to comply with the Data Protection Act, 2024 (Act No. 18 of 2024). If you believe we have mishandled your information, you may complain to the Information and Data Protection Commission.

If you are in the EU or UK: you may complain to your national data protection authority, or to the UK Information Commissioner's Office.

If you are in California: we do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under the CCPA/CPRA, and we will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

12. Children

The Materials are for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, email hello@pausehalt.com and we will delete it.

13. Links to other services

The Materials and our emails link to other websites, helplines and resources. Once you follow a link, this policy no longer applies. Please read the privacy policy of any site you visit.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy — for example if we change payment or email providers. The current version is always at pausehalt.com/privacy, with the "Last updated" date at the top. If we make a significant change, we will say so by email or on the page itself.

15. Contact

[YOUR BUSINESS OR PERSONAL NAME]
[YOUR ADDRESS], Botswana
hello@pausehalt.com
pausehalt.com