Last updated: January 2026
Your privacy matters to us. This Privacy Policy explains how The Sewing Birdie (“we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you visit our website thesewingbirdie.com and purchase our digital sewing patterns and courses.
1. Information We Collect
Information You Provide
When you make a purchase or create an account, we collect:
- Name – to personalize your account and communications
- Email address – to send order confirmations, download links, and updates
- Billing address – required by our payment processors for fraud prevention
- Payment information – processed securely by our payment providers (we never see or store your full card details)
When you contact us, we collect:
- Email address and message content – to respond to your inquiries
When you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect:
- Email address – to send you sewing tips, new pattern releases, and special offers
Information Collected Automatically
When you browse our website, we automatically collect:
- Device information – browser type, operating system, screen size
- Usage data – pages visited, time spent, clicks
- IP address – approximate location for analytics and fraud prevention
- Cookies – small files stored on your device (see Section 6)
2. How We Use Your Information
We use your personal information to:
- Process your orders – deliver digital downloads, send order confirmations
- Provide customer support – respond to questions about patterns or downloads
- Send transactional emails – order receipts, download links, account updates
- Send marketing emails – only if you’ve opted in to our newsletter
- Improve our website – analyze how visitors use our site to make it better
- Prevent fraud – protect against unauthorized transactions
- Comply with legal obligations – tax records, legal requests
We will never sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for their marketing purposes.
3. Digital Products & Downloads
When you purchase a digital sewing pattern or course:
- Your download links are sent to the email address you provide at checkout
- Download links may have limits (number of downloads and/or expiration time)
- We keep records of your purchases so you can access your downloads from your account
- If you lose access to your downloads, contact us and we’ll help you
4. Third-Party Services
We use trusted third-party services to run our business. These services may process your data according to their own privacy policies:
| Service | Purpose | Privacy Policy |
|---|---|---|
| WooCommerce | E-commerce platform | https://automattic.com/privacy/ |
| Stripe | Payment processing | https://stripe.com/privacy |
| PayPal | Payment processing | https://www.paypal.com/privacy |
| Google Analytics | Website analytics | https://policies.google.com/privacy |
| Mailchimp / MailerLite | Email marketing | Check your provider’s policy |
We only share the minimum information necessary for these services to function (e.g., your email for order confirmations, payment details for processing transactions).
5. Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to:
- Provide you access to your purchased digital products
- Comply with legal obligations (tax records must be kept for 5-10 years depending on jurisdiction)
- Resolve disputes and enforce our agreements
If you request account deletion, we will remove your personal data except where we’re legally required to retain it.
6. Cookies
Our website uses cookies to:
- Keep you logged in to your account
- Remember your cart contents
- Analyze traffic (via Google Analytics)
- Improve your experience by remembering your preferences
Types of Cookies We Use
| Cookie Type | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | Cart, login, security | Session |
| Functional | Preferences, currency | 1 year |
| Analytics | Traffic analysis | 2 years |
Managing Cookies
You can control cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling essential cookies may prevent you from making purchases.
7. Your Rights (GDPR)
If you’re in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have the right to:
- Access – request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Rectification – ask us to correct inaccurate data
- Erasure – ask us to delete your data (“right to be forgotten”)
- Restriction – ask us to limit how we use your data
- Portability – receive your data in a portable format
- Object – object to certain processing, including marketing
- Withdraw consent – unsubscribe from marketing at any time
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at: [your email address]
We will respond to your request within 30 days.
8. Marketing Communications
We only send marketing emails if you’ve explicitly opted in (e.g., subscribed to our newsletter or checked a box at checkout).
Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link. Click it to stop receiving promotional emails immediately.
You will still receive transactional emails (order confirmations, download links) even after unsubscribing from marketing.
9. Data Security
We protect your information using:
- SSL encryption – all data transmitted to our site is encrypted (HTTPS)
- Secure payment processing – we never store your full credit card number
- Limited access – only authorized personnel can access customer data
- Regular updates – we keep our website software up to date
While we take security seriously, no online transmission is 100% secure. Please use strong passwords and keep your login information safe.
10. Children’s Privacy
Our website and products are not intended for children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.
11. International Transfers
We are based in Romania (EU). If you access our website from outside the EU, your information may be transferred to and processed in Romania. By using our website, you consent to this transfer.
For transfers outside the EEA, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place (such as Standard Contractual Clauses).
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we’ll update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page.
For significant changes, we’ll notify you via email or a notice on our website.
13. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or want to exercise your rights, contact us:
The Sewing Birdie
Email: contact@thesewingbirdie.com
Website: thesewingbirdie.com