Privacy Policy

Introduction

PixelFuel is a design and development consulting firm operated by Haviland Software LLC, doing business as PixelFuel ("PixelFuel", "we", "us"). This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect through pixelfuel.io and our services, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. It is written with applicable privacy laws in mind, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Information We Collect

Information you give us

We collect personal information when you:

• Fill out our contact form, onboarding questionnaire or other forms on our website
• Start one of our multi-step forms, such as the Prototype Audit or Spark sign-up. Once you enter your email, we save your answers as you go, even if you don't finish
• Send us a Prototype Audit request, including the link to your project or its code, your answers about the problems you are seeing, and any scope document you upload (PDF, DOCX, TXT or MD)
• Use our Scope Analyzer or other AI tools by uploading documents (PDF, DOCX, TXT) or pasting text
• Take part in a Spark engagement, including your answers during sessions, your chats with our AI assistant, files you upload, the profile photo (avatar) you add, which only our team and people who share a Spark engagement with you can see (if you join a later engagement, your photo is shown there too), and the briefs and other documents we create together
• Sign in to a signed-in area of our site, such as Spark or our referral portal. We sign you in with your email address and a one-time code sent to that address, so we do not ask you for a password
• Pay for a service, such as Spark, through our payment provider Stripe
• Book a call with us through our scheduling provider OneCal
• Apply to work with us, including your resume, LinkedIn and GitHub profile links and the details you share about your experience. We may check that the LinkedIn profile link you give us exists by requesting that public page from LinkedIn. When you enter your GitHub username, your browser asks GitHub whether that account exists, so GitHub receives the username along with your IP address and browser details
• Take part in our invite-only referral program as a partner, including your name and email address, the date and version of each acceptance of the program terms and, from October 2026, the IP address and browser used, the email addresses you add, and, before we pay you, your IRS Form W-9 (which includes your taxpayer identification number) and the bank details we need to pay you. You give us your W-9 and bank details through a secure link from our accounting or payout provider, never by email or through our website, and they are kept with that provider
• Rate or comment on a Scope Analyzer result. We keep your rating and comment together with your IP address in our server logs, so we can spot spam and abuse
• Engage our services as a client or otherwise contact us

This information may include your name, email address, phone number, company name, project details, billing details and any content you submit to us or to our AI tools.

Payment information

Payments are made on a checkout page hosted by Stripe. Your card details are entered directly with Stripe. We do not receive or store your full card number. We receive information from Stripe such as your email address, whether the payment succeeded and what you paid for.

Information collected automatically

When you visit our website we collect information through cookies and similar technologies, as described in the Cookies section below. Google Analytics runs only if you accept analytics cookies. When you submit a form, we also record how you reached us: the page you landed on, the site that referred you, and any campaign tags in the link.

When you use our site, our hosting provider (Vercel), our bot-protection provider (Cloudflare Turnstile) and our own servers receive your IP address, browser and device details, and the pages you request. We use this to run the site, limit abuse such as repeated requests to our AI tools, and fix errors.

When we email you a download link, such as our agency vetting cheat sheet, we record whether, when and how many times you open that link.

Information we receive from others

We run a referral program for invited partners. When a partner refers someone, they submit that person's email address through our referral portal. We store the email address and the date it was added. We check whether that person was already in touch with us when added, whether they later contact us or become a client, and, if they do, what they pay us in the 12 months after their first paid engagement, so we can work out the partner's fee. We do not email referred people because they were referred. If a partner referred you and you would like us to delete your data, contact us at hello@pixelfuel.co. We will delete your contact details, but if the partner has earned, or is still earning, a referral fee for you, we keep the minimum records needed to pay it: the client name, the relevant dates and the fee amounts. Deleting your details does not cancel the partner's referral.

When someone books a Spark for their team, they may give us the names and roles of the people taking part and tell us who makes the final decision. We, or the person who booked, then add each participant's name and email address to the engagement. Participants sign in with that email address. We use this information only to set up and run the engagement. If someone else added you and you want your details corrected or deleted, contact us at hello@pixelfuel.co.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide our services, including Prototype Audits, Spark engagements and our AI tools, and improve them. We use the content of documents you submit to our AI tools to improve those tools only if you opt in, as described below
• Sign you in and keep signed-in areas secure
• Take payments and schedule calls
• Communicate with you about your projects and inquiries
• Email you the free resource you asked for, such as our agency vetting cheat sheet, when you give us your name and email address on one of our forms, followed by a few follow-up emails about our services. You can opt out of these emails at any time by replying to any of them or by emailing us. We do not run a separate newsletter
• Run our referral program and credit referral partners
• Review job applications
• Analyze website usage to improve user experience (with your consent)
• Protect our site from spam and abuse
• Comply with legal, tax and accounting obligations

AI and Machine Learning Processing

Several of our tools use artificial intelligence to work with content you provide. This section explains how your data is processed when you use them.

How We Use AI

• Scope Analyzer: analyzes uploaded documents (PDF, DOCX, TXT) and pasted text to assess project scope, identify gaps and risks, evaluate pricing and suggest improvements
• Prototype Audit: reads your answers to help reflect back what you told us
• Proposal Generator: uses the details you enter to draft a proposal
• Spark: our AI assistant chats with you, helps draft, tag, estimate and improve your answers, and helps prepare summaries and briefs from your session content and uploaded files
• AI processing happens only when you use one of these features

Third-Party AI Providers

We use Anthropic (Claude AI) to power our AI features. When you use them:

• The content you submit, and the related session content needed to answer you, is sent to Anthropic's servers for processing
• Anthropic processes the content to generate the response you requested
• Under Anthropic's commercial terms, Anthropic does not use this content to train its AI models by default
• Anthropic retains API data for a limited period under its commercial terms. Its current policy says it deletes API inputs and outputs within 30 days, with exceptions such as content flagged for a policy violation (kept up to 2 years) or where the law requires longer
• For information about how Anthropic handles data, please reviewAnthropic's Privacy Policy and Anthropic's Commercial Terms

Data Handling for AI Features

• Scope Analyzer content is sent to our AI provider only when you click to submit an analysis
• Scope Analyzer results (scores, red flags, recommendations) are stored in our database to enable the sharing functionality
• Share tokens allow you (and anyone you share the link with) to access analysis results
• Spark session content, AI chats, uploaded files and briefs are stored in our database and file storage so you and your PixelFuel team can come back to them

Opt-In Document Storage & Model Training

Before each Scope Analyzer analysis, you will be asked whether you consent to having your original document stored and used to improve our tools:

• If you consent: Your original uploaded file or pasted text will be stored securely in our database. We may use this content to train and improve our own AI analysis models and tools. Your document is kept private and is never shared with third parties for their own purposes.
• If you decline: Your document is held only in server memory for the duration of the analysis and is then permanently discarded. No copy of your original document is stored by PixelFuel. We still keep the analysis results, which include a summary of your document, and we pass that summary to our team through our notification tools.

Regardless of your choice, the analysis itself runs identically. Your consent choice affects only whether we retain a copy of the original document you submitted. You may choose differently each time you use the tool.

Your Rights Regarding AI Processing

• Opt Out: You can choose not to use AI-powered features, and you can decline Scope Analyzer document storage each time you use the tool
• Withdraw Consent: If you previously consented to document storage, you may withdraw that consent by contacting us and we will delete your stored documents
• Deletion: Request deletion of stored analyses, stored documents and Spark content by contacting us
• Information: Request information about how your data was processed

Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

Under GDPR, we process your personal data based on the following legal grounds:

• Contract: To provide a service you ask for or pay for, or to take steps you ask us to take before a contract. This covers Spark engagements, Prototype Audits, running a Scope Analyzer analysis you submit, sign-in, payments and scheduling, paying referral partners who accepted the referral terms, and reviewing a job application you send us
• Legitimate Interest: Where our interest does not override your rights. This covers sending you the resource you asked for and our follow-up emails, keeping a referred person's email address and tracking whether they become a client so we can pay partners accurately, recording how you reached us when you submit a form so we know which channels work, checking the LinkedIn and GitHub details a job applicant gives us, protecting our site from spam and abuse (including logging IP addresses), and replying to your inquiries. You can object at any time (see Right to Object below)
• Consent: For analytics cookies and for storing your Scope Analyzer documents and using them to improve our tools
• Legal Obligation: When we are required to process data by law, such as keeping tax and accounting records

For AI-Powered Services: We process the content you submit to the Scope Analyzer to produce the analysis you asked for. Our legal basis is performance of a contract or our legitimate interest in providing the service you requested. Keeping your original document after the analysis is optional. We do so only with your separate consent, which you can decline each time you use the tool and withdraw at any time by contacting us.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. We use:

• Essential Cookies: Required for the site to work. These include sign-in session cookies that keep you signed in to signed-in areas such as Spark and our referral portal, and cookies used by Cloudflare Turnstile to check that form submissions come from a person and not a bot
• Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors use our site (Google Analytics)

You can accept or reject analytics cookies through our cookie consent banner. Google Analytics is only loaded after you click Accept. We remember your choice in your browser's local storage. You can change your choice any time using the "Cookie settings" link in the site footer or in the menu of signed-in areas such as Spark. Essential cookies do not need consent because the site cannot work without them.

Your Rights Under GDPR, UK GDPR and Swiss Data Protection Law

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom or Switzerland, you have the following rights:

• Right to Access: Request a copy of your personal data
• Right to Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate data
• Right to Erasure: Request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten")
• Right to Restrict Processing: Request limitation of how we use your data
• Right to Data Portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
• Right to Object: Object to processing based on legitimate interest or for marketing purposes
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent

We do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing, including profiling, that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.

To exercise these rights, contact us athello@pixelfuel.co. We will respond within 30 days.

Your Rights Under CCPA (California Residents)

If you are a California resident, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act:

• Right to Know: Request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we collect
• Right to Delete: Request deletion of your personal information
• Right to Opt-Out: Opt out of the "sale" of personal information
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights

We do not sell your personal information. We do not sell your personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are defined by applicable privacy laws.

To exercise your rights, contact us athello@pixelfuel.co. We will verify your identity and respond within 45 days.

Data Sharing and Third Parties

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with the service providers that help us run our business, and in the other cases listed below.

Service providers

• Supabase: our database, sign-in and file storage provider. It stores the information you submit through our site
• Vercel: hosts our website and runs the code behind it
• Stripe: processes payments. When you check out for Spark, we also send Stripe your name, email, your project link and a shortened copy of your sign-up answers, and a reference to any file you uploaded, so we can match your payment to your booking. Stripe may collect your billing address
• OneCal: handles call booking. When you book a call, the details you enter in the booking form go to OneCal
• Anthropic: powers our AI features, as described in the AI section above
• Cloudflare (Turnstile): checks that form submissions come from a person and not a bot
• Accounting and payout providers: collect referral partners' W-9s (including taxpayer identification number) and bank details directly, through a secure link, so we can pay referral fees by ACH and meet tax reporting duties
• Google (Google Analytics): measures how visitors use our site, only if you accept analytics cookies
• Zapier: when you give us your name and email address on one of our forms, Zapier passes your name, email address, how you reached us (including campaign tags) and your download link to our team and to our business email, so we can follow up and send you the resource you asked for
• Google Workspace: our business email. We use it to send you the resource you asked for and our follow-up emails, and to reply to you
• Automation tools that route enquiries to our team: when you submit a form, such as a contact request, audit request, onboarding questionnaire or Scope Analyzer analysis, your submission is passed to these tools so our team is notified and can follow up

Other sharing

• People you share with: anyone you send a Scope Analyzer share link to can see that analysis, including the first name you entered
• Referral partners: if a partner added your email address, their referral portal shows whether you have contacted us through our website since they added it. We may also tell that partner whether you became a client and the referral fee they earned. Because the referral fee is a fixed percentage of what we collect from you, the partner can work out roughly how much you paid us in that period. We do not share your invoices or the exact amounts you paid, unless we need them to resolve a dispute with that partner about the fee. We do not share the content of your messages or project details
• Legal Authorities: when required by law or to protect our rights
• Business transfers: if our business is sold or merged, your information may transfer to the new owner under this policy

Our service providers may use your information only to provide their services to us and are required to protect it.

International Data Transfers

We are based in the United States. If you are accessing our services from outside the US, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the US. We take appropriate safeguards to ensure your data is protected in accordance with this policy and applicable laws.

Data Retention

We keep your personal information until you ask us to delete it. The exceptions are records we must keep for tax, accounting or legal reasons, such as payment, payout and tax records, and, if you were referred to us, the minimum records needed to pay a referral fee already earned or still being earned (the client name, the relevant dates and the fee amounts), and, if you are a referral partner, records of when you accepted our referral terms, including the IP address and browser used, kept as evidence while any fee can still be claimed. If you ask us to delete your data, we delete all of it, including your contact details, Spark content, analyses and stored documents, except those records, which we keep only for as long as they are needed for that purpose.

This applies to:

• Leads and contact information you send us through our forms or by contacting us
• Spark engagement content, including session answers, AI chats, uploaded files, profile photos and briefs
• Scope analysis results from our AI-powered tools, and the shareable links to them
• Scope documents you upload with an audit request or a Spark sign-up
• Referral records, such as a referred email address and the date it was added
• Job applications

Referral Records: Whether a referred person contacted us or became a client comes from our own lead and client records, and referral fees are tracked outside the portal. Partner tax forms and fee payment records are kept for as long as tax and accounting laws require.

Payment and Tax Records: Records of payments and invoices are kept for as long as tax and accounting laws require.

Stored Documents: If you opted in to document storage, your original uploaded file or pasted text is retained until you request deletion or withdraw your consent. To request deletion of your analysis results, stored documents or any other personal information, please contact us athello@pixelfuel.co.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. This includes encryption, secure hosting, and access controls.

Children's Privacy

Our services are intended for adults. You must be at least 18 years old and have reached the age of legal majority where you live to use them, and they are not directed to anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe we have collected information from someone under 18, please contact us at hello@pixelfuel.co and we will delete it.

Policy Updates

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The updated policy will show a new "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. If we make a material change, we will also email signed-in users and clients we hold an email address for before the change takes effect. We will not use personal information we already hold for a materially different purpose than the one described when we collected it unless we first get your consent.

Contact Us

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

For GDPR-related inquiries, you may also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.