Privacy Policy

Whimoway ("we", "our", "us") is operated by Dean as a sole trader based in the United Kingdom. This privacy policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your data.

What we collect

When you use Whimoway, we collect the following information:

Account information. When you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile photo from your Google account. We use this to create and manage your Whimoway account.

YouTube data. With your explicit consent via Google OAuth, we access the following from your YouTube account:

• Your YouTube subscription list (which channels you are subscribed to)
• Public metadata about those channels (channel name, description, subscriber count, thumbnail)
• Public metadata about recent videos from your subscribed channels (video title, description, tags, thumbnail, duration, publish date)

We access this data solely to organise and categorise your subscriptions within Whimoway. We do not access your private YouTube data, watch history (unless you explicitly upload it), playlists, comments, likes, or any other YouTube account data beyond what is listed above.

Data you create on Whimoway. This includes your profile information (display name, bio, interests), stashes (video collections you create), forum posts and replies, saved whims, custom feed configurations, and any notes or goals you add to your profile journal.

Usage data. We track basic activity within Whimoway to power features like "continue where you left off" and your personal progress journal. This includes which stashes you opened, which videos you clicked through to YouTube, and which forum threads you participated in. This data is private to your account and is not shared with anyone.

How we use your data

We use your data to:

• Provide the Whimoway service — organising your YouTube subscriptions by category, powering your feeds, and enabling stash creation
• Classify your subscribed channels into interest-based categories using video metadata (titles, descriptions, tags) and publicly available information
• Display your profile information to other Whimoway users if you choose to make it public
• Show your public stashes to other users and visitors
• Populate your personal progress journal with your activity history
• Improve the classification system and product features

We do not use your data to:

• Serve targeted advertising based on your YouTube data or viewing habits
• Sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for their marketing purposes
• Build advertising profiles or track you across other websites
• Make any changes to your YouTube account (we use read-only API access)

YouTube API Services

Whimoway's use of information received from YouTube API Services adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Our use of YouTube API Services is limited to:

• Reading your subscription list to import your subscribed channels
• Reading public channel metadata to display channel information and classify content
• Reading public video metadata to populate your feeds and enable classification

We do not store YouTube API data indefinitely. Channel and video metadata is refreshed periodically and outdated data is replaced. If you revoke access or delete your account, all YouTube-derived data associated with your account is deleted within 30 days.

You can revoke Whimoway's access to your YouTube data at any time through your Google Account permissions page.

Data storage and security

Your data is stored securely using Supabase (database hosting) and Vercel (application hosting). Both providers use encryption at rest and in transit. We do not store your Google password or OAuth tokens beyond what is necessary for authenticated API access.

Your account data is stored in the United Kingdom and European Union. By using Whimoway, you consent to this data storage.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR and applicable data protection laws, you have the right to:

• Access your personal data — you can view your data through your Whimoway profile and account settings
• Correct inaccurate data — you can update your profile information at any time
• Delete your data — you can request complete deletion of your account and all associated data by contacting us. We will process deletion requests within 30 days. This includes all YouTube-derived data, profile information, stashes, forum posts, and activity history
• Export your data — you can request a copy of your data by contacting us
• Withdraw consent — you can revoke YouTube API access at any time through your Google Account settings, and you can delete your Whimoway account at any time
• Object to processing — you can contact us to object to specific uses of your data

Cookies and advertising

Whimoway uses essential cookies for authentication and session management. We do not use tracking cookies or third-party analytics cookies.

Public-facing pages (such as shared stashes and blog posts) may display advertisements served by Google AdSense to non-authenticated visitors. These advertisements are governed by Google's own privacy and advertising policies. Authenticated (signed-in) users do not see advertisements.

Children

Whimoway is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by posting a notice on the website. Your continued use of Whimoway after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

For privacy-related enquiries, data deletion requests, or any questions about this policy, contact us at:

Email: privacy@whimoway.com

Google Privacy Policy

Whimoway uses Google OAuth for authentication and YouTube API Services. Google's privacy policy is available at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

YouTube's terms of service are available at https://www.youtube.com/t/terms.