Privacy Policy | Royal Studios

The short version. We collect what's needed to answer you, do the work, and ship what you buy. We don't run advertising trackers, we don't sell or rent your information, and we don't share it with anyone except the services that make the site function.

1. Who we are

"Royal Studios," "we," and "us" mean the Royal Studios digital studio operated from St. George, Utah, United States. "You" means anyone visiting this site, using the client portal, opening an approval link, or buying from Halftone. Questions about this policy go through the contact form; we answer privacy requests the same way and within 30 days.

2. What we collect and when

When you visit the site

Our hosting provider records standard server logs: IP address, browser type, the pages requested, and the time. These are used to keep the site running and secure and are retained for a short period by the provider. We do not use Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, or any advertising or cross-site tracking.

When you use the contact form

Your name, email address, what you're looking for, and the message you write. The form also records which page it was sent from. This is stored in our database and emailed to us so we can reply.

When you're a client using the portal

Your login email and name; the calendar items, captions, notes, ideas, and files your business or we upload; approval decisions and any notes you leave on them; account records we keep about where your marketing lives (never passwords); and monthly performance figures we enter for your business. Files you upload are stored in private cloud storage; a file becomes viewable by anyone who has its exact link only when an approval link is shared for that item.

When you open an approval link

Approval links don't require a login. If you approve or request changes, we record your decision, any notes, the name you type, and the time. Anyone with the link can view that item's content and caption, so treat the link like the content itself.

When you buy from Halftone

Your name, email, shipping address, what you ordered, and your edition number. Payment details go directly to Stripe; we never see or store your full card number. If you reserve before paying, we keep your name and email to send the payment link.

When you email or text us

We keep the conversation so we can do the work and refer back to it.

3. How we use it

To reply to you and do the work you asked for.
To run the client portal: calendars, approvals, files, reports.
To fulfil, ship, and support Halftone orders, and to enforce purchase limits and prevent fraud.
To keep the site and portal secure and working.
To tell you about the next Halftone drop — only if you opt in. Buying or reserving does not subscribe you to anything.
To meet legal obligations, such as keeping tax records of sales.

We don't use your information for advertising, profiling, or automated decisions that affect you.

4. Who we share it with

Only the services required to run this site, each under its own privacy policy and only for the purpose we send it:

Vercel — hosting and server functions (server logs, form handling).
Supabase — database, authentication, and file storage (client portal data, leads, orders, blog content).
Resend — transactional email (contact-form notifications, approval and order emails).
Stripe — payment processing for Halftone (payment details, shipping address).
Google Fonts — typefaces are loaded from Google's servers, which receive your IP address when a page loads.
Instagram, TikTok, YouTube — inside the client portal only, when you choose to play an embedded reference video; the platform may set its own cookies at that point.
Shipping carriers — name and address, to deliver Halftone orders.

We may also disclose information if required by law or to protect our rights, our clients, or the public. We never sell personal information and never share it with data brokers or advertisers.

5. Cookies and local storage

We don't set tracking cookies. The site uses your browser's local storage for a few functional settings: keeping you signed in to the portal, remembering which client you last viewed (admins), and a one-per-day flag for a small animation on the homepage. Stripe's checkout page and embedded video players set their own cookies for security and playback. You can clear all of this from your browser at any time; the site keeps working.

6. How long we keep it

Contact-form messages: until the conversation is resolved, then up to 2 years in case you come back.
Client portal data: for as long as you're a client, then deleted or returned to you within 90 days of the end of the engagement unless you ask otherwise.
Approval records: kept with the calendar item they belong to.
Halftone orders: as long as tax law requires (in the US, generally 7 years). Reservation records that never became orders are deleted after 90 days.
Server logs: per the hosting provider's retention, typically days to weeks.

7. Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask us to: tell you what we hold about you; correct it; delete it (subject to records we must keep by law); give you a copy; or stop using it for a particular purpose. Send the request through the contact form from the email address we have on file. We'll respond within 30 days and won't charge for it. If you're in a place with a specific privacy law (for example the EU/UK, California, or Utah), those rights apply in full and we honor them without discrimination.

If you believe we've mishandled your information and we can't resolve it, you may complain to your local data-protection authority.

8. Security

Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS everywhere) and at rest by our providers. Client portal data is protected by per-client access rules enforced in the database, not just in the interface. Payment details never touch our systems. No system is perfectly secure; if we learn of a breach affecting your data we will tell you promptly and describe what happened.

9. Children

This site, the portal, and Halftone are not directed at anyone under 16, and we don't knowingly collect their information. If you think a child has given us data, tell us and we'll delete it.

10. Where data lives

Our providers store data on servers in the United States. If you're outside the US, your information will be transferred here; by using the site you consent to that.

11. Client content

Content our clients upload to the portal — photos, videos, captions, business figures — belongs to those clients. We use it only to do their work. We don't reuse a client's content in our own marketing without their permission.

12. Changes

If this policy changes materially, the date above changes with it and portal users and Halftone buyers on file will be notified by email. Continued use after a change means you accept it.