Privacy Policy
Our privacy commitments — before you read anything else.
- We never sell your data. Not now. Not ever.
- We never use your traces to serve you ads.
- We never share your content with third parties for their own purposes.
- Your traces are private by default. That's not a setting — it's how Trase is built.
- We collect only what we need to make Trase work for you.
- You can delete your account and all your data at any time, no questions asked.
Who We Are
Trase is a private space to leave traces of what inspires you and rediscover them when you need them.
This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you use Trase, why we collect it, and how we handle it. If you have any questions, you can always reach us at privacy@usetrase.com.
What We Collect & Why
Our guiding principle is to collect only what we need. Here is exactly what that looks like in practice.
| Data | Why we collect it | How long we keep it |
|---|---|---|
| Email address | To create and identify your account; to send you essential service emails | Until you delete your account |
| Name | To personalise your account | Until you delete your account |
| Your traces | To store and display your saved content across devices | Until you delete them or close your account |
| IP address | To detect unauthorised access and prevent abuse | 90 days, then deleted |
| Device & browser | To deliver a consistent experience and diagnose technical issues | 90 days, then aggregated |
| Usage events | To understand how Trase is used so we can improve it | 12 months, then anonymised |
What we do not collect
We do not build advertising profiles. We do not track you across other websites. We do not buy or receive data about you from data brokers.
How Trase Processes Your Content
To help you rediscover your traces naturally, Trase analyses the content you save — generating titles, summaries, tags, colour palettes, and reading text within images so you never have to organise anything manually.
What gets analysed
When you save a trace, its content may be sent to third-party AI services for processing. This includes:
- Images — for visual analysis, colour extraction, and OCR
- Link content — for summarisation and tag generation
- Notes — for contextual tagging and title suggestions
Which services we use
We currently use Google Gemini and/or Anthropic Claude for content analysis, and Google Cloud Vision for OCR. We work only with providers whose privacy standards meet ours.
You are always in control
Every title, tag, and summary Trase generates is a suggestion. You can edit or delete any of it at any time.
Data Storage & Security
Your data is stored securely using Firebase (Firestore for metadata, Firebase Storage for media files), deployed via Vercel. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
We maintain regular backups and redundancies to protect your traces from loss.
What we recommend on your side
Use a strong, unique password for your Trase account. If you sign in with Google, make sure two-factor authentication is enabled on your Google account.
When We Access Your Data
Our default is to never access your data. The exceptions are narrow and specific:
- To help you with a support request
- To protect the service from abuse or security threats
- When required by law
If Trase is ever acquired by or merged with another company, we will notify you well before any of your information is transferred, and you will have the opportunity to delete your account first.
Third-Party Services
We use a small number of trusted third-party services to operate Trase.
| Service | Purpose | Data shared |
|---|---|---|
| Firebase | Authentication, database, file storage | Account credentials, trace metadata, media files |
| Vercel | Hosting and serverless functions | Request logs, IP addresses |
| Google Gemini | AI content analysis | Trace content — not retained for training |
| Anthropic Claude | AI content analysis | Trace content — not retained for training |
| Google Cloud Vision | OCR — reading text within images | Images — not retained for training |
Cookies & Analytics
We use a small number of first-party cookies to keep you signed in and remember your preferences (such as light or dark mode). These are essential to the product working properly.
We do not use third-party advertising cookies. We do not allow ad networks to place cookies through Trase.
Analytics
If we use analytics tools, we configure them to anonymise IP addresses and avoid personally identifiable data. We use analytics only to understand how features are used in aggregate.
Data Deletion
Deleting individual traces
When you delete a trace, it is removed immediately from your view. It is permanently deleted from our active systems within 30 days, and from all backups within 60 days.
Deleting your account
You can delete your account at any time from within Trase's settings. When you do:
- All your traces become inaccessible immediately
- All content is permanently deleted from active systems within 30 days
- All content is removed from backups within 60 days
- Once deleted, we cannot recover your data
Your Rights
We apply the same data rights to all Trase users, regardless of where you live. These rights are drawn from GDPR (EU) and CCPA (California), and we honour them universally.
Know what data we hold about you, how it's used, and who it's shared with.
Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you at any time.
Ask us to correct any inaccurate personal information we hold about you.
Request that we delete your personal data by deleting your account.
Receive your data in a portable format and transfer it elsewhere.
Object to how or why your personal data is processed in certain circumstances.
Ask us to limit how we use your data while a dispute is being resolved.
Exercising your privacy rights will never affect the quality of Trase for you.
To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@usetrase.com. We aim to respond within 14 days.
Children's Privacy
Trase is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If we become aware that a child under 13 has created an account, we will delete it promptly.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make meaningful changes, we will notify you via email at least 14 days before the changes take effect.
Continuing to use Trase after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy. If you don't agree, you can delete your account before the changes take effect.
Questions about your privacy?
We'd genuinely like to hear from you. Email us at privacy@usetrase.com — we're a small team and we read everything.
For general support: hello@usetrase.com