Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Light Year Interactive Inc. (“Light Year Interactive,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) handles information in connection with the Tone Caliper desktop application (the “App”), the website at tonecaliper.com (the “Site”), and the optional community recipe service (the “Community Service”). Together these are the “Services.”

We built Tone Caliper to keep your work on your own machine. This policy is written to be read, not to be hidden behind. Where we say we don’t collect something, we mean it.

The short version

• Your photos never leave your computer. The App reads your existing folders read-only and never imports, moves, renames, alters, or uploads your photos or your edits. Editing happens entirely on your device.
• No editing telemetry. We do not track what you edit, how you use the editor, or what’s in your library. Any usage or crash reporting is opt-in and off by default.
• We collect the minimum needed to run a trial, activate a license, answer your emails, and — only if you choose to use it — to power the optional Community Service.
• We don’t see your payment card details. Purchases are processed by a third-party payment provider acting as Merchant of Record.

The sections below give the full detail.

1. Who we are

Light Year Interactive Inc. is a company incorporated in Ontario, Canada, and is the data controller responsible for your information under this policy (except for payment data — see Section 6).

• Contact: contact@tonecaliper.com
• Postal address: 387 Grindstone Trail, Oakville, L6H 0S1, ON, Canada

If you are in the EEA or UK, see Section 11 for how to exercise your rights.

2. The desktop App (Tone Caliper)

2.1 Your photos and edits — stay local

The App opens folders on your computer in read-only mode to display and edit photos. Your photos, your edits, your recipes, and your catalog stay on your device. We have no servers that receive your image files or your editing data. Resetting an edit, applying a recipe, or exporting a photo all happen locally.

2.2 Trial and licensing

To offer a free trial and to activate paid licenses, the App communicates with our licensing systems. In that process we may handle:

• a non-reversible (hashed) machine identifier derived from your device, used to anchor your free-trial period so it can’t be trivially reset, and to enforce the per-license activation limit;
• your license key and activation status;
• your email address, if you provide one during license activation;
• basic technical metadata necessary to validate a license (for example, the App version and a timestamp).

The App periodically re-validates a license with a long offline grace period, so a licensed user is never locked out without connectivity. We use this data only to operate the trial and licensing system, not for advertising or profiling.

2.3 Crash reports and diagnostics (opt-in)

If you choose to enable crash reporting or diagnostics, the App may send us technical information about a crash (for example, error details and App version) to help us fix bugs. This is off by default and can be turned off at any time in settings. We do not include your photos or library contents in crash reports.

2.4 What the App does not do

• It does not upload your photos or edits.
• It does not scan or index your library for our benefit.
• It does not send us telemetry about your editing behavior unless you opt in to diagnostics.

3. The website (tonecaliper.com)

3.1 Contact form

If you contact us through the Site, we receive the information you submit (such as your email address and message) so we can respond. We process and deliver these messages using a third-party email provider (currently Resend). We keep correspondence only as long as needed to handle your request and our records.

3.2 Analytics and cookies

We use Umami, a privacy-friendly website analytics tool, on the Site only (not in the desktop App). Umami gives us aggregate, anonymized statistics — such as page views, referrers, and general country-level location — so we can understand overall Site traffic. It does not use cookies, does not track you across other websites, and does not build an advertising profile of you. Because no personal data is stored for this purpose and no cookies are set, we do not show a tracking-consent banner for analytics.

The Site otherwise uses only the cookies and storage necessary for it to function. We do not use third-party advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

If you create a Community Service account and log in through the Site, we set the cookies needed to keep you signed in (see Section 4).

4. The optional Community Service (recipe sharing)

The Community Service lets you browse, save, like, and publish editing “recipes.” It is optional. You can use Tone Caliper fully without it, and browsing and saving recipes do not require an account.

The Community Service runs on a third-party backend platform (currently Supabase).

4.1 Liking recipes (anonymous)

To enforce “one like per installation,” the App may create a silent anonymous session tied to your installation. This does not require an account and does not collect your name or email.

4.2 Publishing recipes (account required)

To publish a recipe, you create an account using your email address (we use a magic-code / email login — we do not ask you to set a password). When you publish a recipe, the recipe data and any title or description you give it become publicly visible in the catalogue. Don’t publish anything you want to keep private.

4.3 What we process for the Community Service

• your email address (for publishing accounts and login);
• the recipes and metadata you publish (public by design);
• likes and similar interactions;
• basic technical logs needed to operate and secure the service.

You can ask us to delete your Community Service account and your published recipes (see Section 11).

5. Information we do not collect

• We do not collect or upload your photographs or your edits.
• We do not sell your personal information.
• We do not use your data for advertising or to build marketing profiles.
• We do not run editing-behavior telemetry unless you opt in to diagnostics.

6. Payments

Purchases of Tone Caliper are processed by Polar (Polar Software Inc.), acting as our Merchant of Record (the seller of record for your purchase). Polar collects and processes your payment details (such as card information and billing details) and handles tax collection and invoicing.

We do not receive or store your full payment card details. We receive confirmation of a purchase and the information needed to issue and manage your license (such as your email address and order reference).

Polar is an independent controller of the payment data it collects. Please review Polar’s privacy policy for how it handles your information.

7. Service providers (processors) we rely on

We use a small number of reputable third parties to run the Services. They process data on our behalf, or as independent controllers where noted:

Some of these providers may process data on servers located outside Canada, including in the United States. Where we transfer personal data internationally, we rely on appropriate safeguards (such as standard contractual clauses or equivalent provider commitments).

8. Legal bases for processing (EEA/UK)

Where the EU/UK GDPR applies, we rely on the following legal bases:

• Performance of a contract — to provide the App, activate your license, and operate features you use (e.g., publishing a recipe you chose to publish).
• Legitimate interests — to operate, secure, and improve the Services (for example, anti-abuse measures, aggregate analytics, and enforcing licensing), balanced against your rights.
• Consent — for optional features such as crash diagnostics, and for any cookie-based analytics where required. You can withdraw consent at any time.
• Legal obligation — where we must retain records (for example, for tax).

9. Data retention

We keep personal data only as long as needed for the purposes described here:

• Licensing data — for the life of your license and as needed for support, fraud prevention, and tax/legal record-keeping.
• Contact correspondence — for as long as needed to handle and document your request.
• Community Service data — until you delete your account or published recipes, or as needed to operate the service.
• Diagnostics (if enabled) — for a limited period to investigate and fix issues.

When data is no longer needed, we delete or anonymize it.

10. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal data, including reputable hosting and backend providers, access controls, and hashing of machine identifiers used for licensing. No system is perfectly secure, but the strongest protection here is structural: your photos and edits never leave your device in the first place.

11. Your rights and how to exercise them

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to:

• access the personal data we hold about you;
• correct inaccurate data;
• delete your data (including your Community Service account and published recipes);
• port your data;
• object to or restrict certain processing;
• withdraw consent for optional processing (such as diagnostics);
• opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information — we do not sell or share personal information in this sense.

To exercise any of these, email contact@tonecaliper.com. We may need to verify your identity. We respond within the timeframes required by applicable law.

• Canada (PIPEDA): You may also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
• EEA/UK: You may lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
• California: You may exercise rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including access and deletion. We do not sell or share personal information as defined under that law.

12. Children

The Services are not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 16 (or the minimum age in your jurisdiction). If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice. Continued use of the Services after an update means you accept the revised policy.

14. Contact

Questions about this policy or your data:

Light Year Interactive Inc.
387 Grindstone Trail, Oakville, L6H 0S1, ON, Canada
Email: contact@tonecaliper.com