Privacy policy
Last updated 10 November 2026Who's responsible
PenWise Software Ltd (SC845352), 6 Dryden Road, Loanhead, EH20 9LZ, is the data controller. Contact hello@penwise.co.uk.
Lemon Squeezy sells Literally as merchant of record, so it handles your payment details under its own privacy policy.
Your writing stays on your computer
Your books, the trial count and your settings are stored on your computer. There's no account, and Literally doesn't send analytics as part of licensing.
What the app sends
Literally connects to the internet for two things only: licensing and update checks. Licensing data goes to Lemon Squeezy:
When you activate a licence
Your licence key and a computer name are sent. The name is the hostname plus the operating system, for example "ash-laptop (linux)", so you can tell your machines apart.
Stored on your computer
Literally keeps your licence key, plus the name and email address Lemon Squeezy returns, in its app data.
Background check, at most once a month
Your licence key and that computer's activation ID are sent. While a refund notice is showing, this check runs once a day instead.
When you remove a licence
The same two values are sent: your licence key and the activation ID.
Update checks
About once a day, Literally asks this website whether a newer version exists, and the website passes the request on to GitHub, where we host downloads. That request, and the download of an update if you choose one, shows our web host and GitHub your IP address, as any internet request does, and may include the version of Literally and the operating system you're running. It never includes your licence key or anything about you or your books. You can switch the daily check off in Settings › Updates. GitHub handles its part under its own privacy statement.
Nothing else is sent.
What we collect through this website
This website doesn't ask you for anything. There's no account, no sign-up form, no mailing list and no analytics. That leaves three ways we can end up holding something about you:
When you visit
Like every web server, our host, Hostinger, logs each request: IP address, browser type, the page asked for and the time. We use those logs only to keep the site running and secure. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests.
When you email us
We get your email address and whatever you choose to tell us, and we use it to reply and to help. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests, or our contract with you where the message is about something you've bought.
When you buy
Lemon Squeezy shares the order with us: your name, email address, country, what you bought and when, the order number and your licence key. We never see your card details. We use the order to support you, to deal with refunds and to keep the business records the law requires. Our lawful bases are our contract with you and our legal obligations.
We don't send marketing email unless you've asked for it, and we don't make automated decisions about you.
Who we share it with
We never sell personal data. We share it only with the companies that help us run PenWise, and only as far as each needs:
- Lemon Squeezy, part of Stripe, for payment, tax, invoices and licence keys
- Hostinger, which hosts this website
- GitHub, which hosts downloads and updates
- our email provider, for messages you send us
- our accountants and the tax authorities, where the law requires it
Some of these companies are based outside the UK, including in the United States. Where personal data is transferred abroad it is protected by safeguards recognised in UK law, such as the UK-US data bridge or standard contractual clauses.
Cookies
This website sets no cookies and uses no trackers, which is why there's no cookie banner. Its fonts and images are served from the site itself, not from a third party.
The checkout is run by Lemon Squeezy. It uses the cookies it needs to take payment and prevent fraud, under its own policy.
How long we keep it
- Order records: six years after the end of the financial year of the purchase, as UK tax law requires.
- Emails: up to two years after the last message in a conversation, unless they form part of an order record.
- Server logs: Hostinger deletes these on its own schedule. We don't copy them or keep them.
- Licence details on your computer: until you remove the licence or uninstall Literally.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask us to:
- show you the personal data we hold about you
- correct it if it's wrong
- delete it, where we have no legal reason to keep it
- stop or limit how we use it
- give you a copy you can take elsewhere
Email hello@penwise.co.uk and we'll answer within one month. It's free. If you live in the EU you have the same rights under the GDPR.
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, please tell us first so we can fix it. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.