Privacy Policy

1. Plain-English summary

We are an independent software studio. Our business model is simple: you pay us for an app, or you don't. Either way, we don't need to know very much about you. The only information we handle is what's strictly necessary to (a) let the app do what you asked it to do, (b) fulfil a paid transaction, or (c) respond to you when you email us.

2. Who this applies to

This policy applies to DeadStick Digital LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company ("DeadStick", "we", "us"), and to these properties:

• The website at www.deadstick.net
• BillingBird — a private invoicing and receipt app, available on iPhone and iPad, including compatible Macs that run the iPad app; Android and Windows support is planned
• CarrierPigeonVPN — a paired-device networking app for iPhone and Mac; Windows, Apple TV, and Android versions are planned
• Holos Drive Vault — an encrypted external-drive security utility
• Document Vault — a secure document scanner for important records
• DeadStick Utilities — a Mac storage and cleanup utility

Section 10 describes any data handling that is unique to a specific app. The rest of this policy applies to all of them.

3. What we collect

3.1 Information you provide directly

• Email correspondence. If you email us, we receive your email address, your message, and any attachments. We keep the thread so we can support you.
• Purchase information. When you buy one of our apps on the Apple App Store or Google Play, the store handles the transaction. The store and, where used, RevenueCat may process a purchase receipt, an automatically generated app-user identifier, device/platform information, and entitlement status so the app can validate or restore paid features. DeadStick does not receive your credit card, billing address, or real name from that process.

3.2 Information collected automatically

• Website server logs. Our website host records standard access logs (IP address, timestamp, requested URL, referrer, user agent) for up to 30 days for abuse prevention and debugging. These logs are never joined to any profile.
• Crash reports. If an app crashes, Apple or Google may share anonymized crash reports with us via App Store Connect / Play Console. You can opt out of this in your device's Privacy settings. We use these solely to fix bugs.

3.3 Information we do not collect

Except for the BillingBird-specific permissions and subscription processing described in Section 10.1 and CarrierPigeonVPN subscription processing in Section 10.2, we do not operate advertising SDKs, behavioural analytics, user accounts on our servers, location tracking, contact-list access, or any form of device fingerprinting. We do not sell or rent any information to third parties.

4. How we use information

We use the limited information we do collect for the following purposes, and no others:

• Providing the functionality of the app you installed;
• Validating your purchase and enabling paid features you have bought;
• For BillingBird, subscription analytics through RevenueCat as described in Section 10.1;
• For CarrierPigeonVPN, subscription functionality and analytics through RevenueCat as described in Section 10.2;
• Replying to your support email;
• Diagnosing crashes and fixing bugs;
• Complying with legal obligations (tax, export, court orders).

5. How we share information

We share information only with the small set of service providers that are strictly necessary to run our business:

• Apple Inc. and Google LLC — for App Store / Play Store distribution and payment processing.
• RevenueCat — processes an automatically generated app-user identifier, device/platform information, Apple or Google Play purchase records, and subscription entitlement status so BillingBird and CarrierPigeonVPN can validate and restore paid features. RevenueCat does not receive BillingBird bookkeeping records or CarrierPigeonVPN network traffic.
• Our email provider — for receiving and replying to messages you send us through our contact form.
• Our contact-form provider (Web3Forms) — receives submissions from the message form on our website and forwards them to us by email. Submissions include the name, email address, topic, and message you type in, plus your IP address and a bot-check result, which Web3Forms uses only for spam prevention.
• Our website host — for serving www.deadstick.net.

We do not share information with advertisers, data brokers, or analytics networks. We may disclose information if required by law, by valid legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of DeadStick Digital, our users, or the public.

6. Retention

We retain email correspondence for as long as needed to provide continuing support and to satisfy our tax and accounting obligations. Server access logs are rotated within 30 days. Anonymized crash reports are kept for up to 12 months. RevenueCat retains limited subscription customer and transaction information under its privacy policy and applicable legal obligations. Where a verified deletion right applies, DeadStick can direct RevenueCat to process the associated customer record using its provider deletion tools.

7. Your rights (CCPA, GDPR, and similar laws)

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
• Rectification — request correction of inaccurate information;
• Erasure ("right to be forgotten") — request deletion of the information we hold about you. Because we hold so little, most erasure requests can be completed immediately; see our dedicated data deletion page for the specific steps per app;
• Restriction and objection — object to or restrict our processing of your information where a lawful basis permits;
• Portability — receive the information you provided to us in a portable, machine-readable format;
• Withdraw consent — where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting processing done before withdrawal;
• Complaint — lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority (for EEA / UK residents, this is your national data protection authority).

To exercise any of these rights, send us a message through the contact form and select Privacy request as the topic, or write to the postal address in Section 12. We will respond within 30 days (45 days for CCPA requests, extendable once by a further 45 days where permitted). We do not charge a fee for reasonable requests and will not discriminate against you for exercising any right.

7.1 California residents (CCPA / CPRA)

In the preceding twelve (12) months we have not sold personal information and we have not shared personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising, as those terms are defined under the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act. Because we do not sell or share, we are not required to provide a "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" link, but this statement serves as our public acknowledgement.

California residents may designate an authorised agent to submit requests on their behalf. We will verify the agent's authorisation before acting on the request.

7.2 EEA, UK, and Swiss residents (GDPR / UK GDPR)

The controller of your personal information for GDPR purposes is DeadStick Digital LLC, at the address in Section 12. The lawful bases on which we rely are (a) performance of a contract when you buy or use one of our apps, (b) legitimate interests in replying to correspondence, preventing abuse of our website, and improving our products, and (c) consent where we ask for it explicitly. We do not engage in solely automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal effects. We do not transfer personal information outside the United States except as necessary to reply to you if you are messaging us from abroad; in that case we rely on standard contractual protections provided by our email and form providers.

8. Children's privacy

Our apps are designed for general audiences and are not directed to children. Specifically:

• We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (United States — Children's Online Privacy Protection Act).
• We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16 (European Economic Area and United Kingdom — Article 8 GDPR / "GDPR-K"), or the lower minimum age where an individual member state has set one.

None of our apps have social features, user-generated content visible to other users, or accounts. If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us using the details in Section 12 and we will delete it.

9. Security

We take reasonable measures to protect information in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest, and we review our practices regularly. However, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure. If we become aware of a security incident that affects you, we will notify you in accordance with applicable law.

10. App-specific notes

10.1 BillingBird

BillingBird keeps your business profile, clients, invoices, estimates, receipts, expenses, manual payment records and attachments in private local app storage on your iPhone, iPad or Android device. DeadStick Digital does not collect, read or store this bookkeeping database on its servers. You choose what to export or share and what to include in a support message. Support receives the messages and attachments you send.

Optional private iCloud backup on Apple devices stores a copy in your Apple account. Device handoff uses backup and restore, with one active editing device; it does not merge simultaneous edits. Bookkeeping can remain local. Subscription checks still contact Apple and RevenueCat. Compatible Macs can run the iPad app where the App Store permits it; a separate native Mac release, Android and Windows support are planned, and those platforms are not yet shipping as separate apps.

Android version. BillingBird for Android keeps bookkeeping on the device and does not provide cloud backup or Google Drive synchronization. You can export an archive and choose where to save or share it. Google Play and RevenueCat process subscription purchase and entitlement history, an automatically generated app-instance identifier, and platform information for subscription functionality and analytics. BillingBird does not send them your bookkeeping records, receipt images or payment-card details. No advertising or attribution integration is enabled. A complimentary review license, when supplied by DeadStick Digital, is verified on the device and stored separately in protected local storage; it is not a subscription purchase.

On Apple devices, BillingBird uses Apple and RevenueCat for subscription purchases, validation, restoration and subscription analytics. RevenueCat processes purchase and entitlement history, an automatically generated app-user identifier, device and platform information (including Apple's vendor identifier when available), and tracking-permission status. It does not receive your BillingBird bookkeeping records. An automatically generated identifier is not a promise that provider-held records cannot be linked. Deleting the app does not automatically delete provider-held purchase records; see the BillingBird deletion instructions.

With your permission, BillingBird can access Contacts to help you select or search for a client, or save a client back to Contacts when you request it. Selected client details are stored in your local bookkeeping records. Camera and photo-library access let you capture or choose receipt images. OCR runs on your device. Online payment collection remains disabled.

Version 1.0.3 keeps pending financial-save input and recovery notes in protected local storage. These records are excluded from exported archives and iCloud backups. After a save is verified, unapplied input remains available in Settings → Privacy & Local Data → Recovery notes until you remove it. Invoice drafts also remain on the device until saved or explicitly discarded.

10.2 CarrierPigeonVPN

CarrierPigeonVPN establishes a WireGuard tunnel directly between your Mac and your own paired iPhone or Android phone. Traffic is not routed through any DeadStick-operated server and we have no visibility into the contents, destinations, or metadata of your network traffic. Local configuration (WireGuard keys, paired device identifiers) is stored on your devices in the system keychain. On Android, pairing records are encrypted using a key held in Android Keystore and are excluded from app backup and device transfer.

Android phone connections. You turn on the phone's system hotspot and join it from your Mac. The Android app does not create a Wi-Fi Direct network or turn the hotspot on or off. If you enter network details for a paired device, those details stay in protected local pairing storage and are sent only in encrypted device-to-device pairing information, not to DeadStick Digital or RevenueCat.

Hotspot details you enter. When pairing with a Windows PC or Android TV, the iPhone app asks for your Personal Hotspot name and password if those details have not already been saved. It keeps them in the iPhone's system Keychain and includes saved hotspot details in the encrypted pairing information sent directly to the device you pair with. A Mac, iPad, or Apple TV does not require you to enter hotspot details in the iPhone app, but may receive details you previously saved. The paired device keeps its saved pairing information in local protected storage. These hotspot details are not sent to DeadStick Digital or RevenueCat.

DNS. While your Mac is connected, its DNS lookups travel through the tunnel and out through your phone's mobile connection to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) and Google (8.8.8.8) public DNS, whose own privacy policies apply to those lookups. CarrierPigeonVPN does not see, log, or store them.

On-device diagnostics. Each device keeps a local diagnostic log of connection events, such as local network addresses, your hotspot's network name, device names, timings, and data totals, so connection problems can be diagnosed. It does not contain the contents of your traffic or the websites you visit. It stays on your device and reaches us only if you choose to send us a Support Details export.

Permissions. The iPhone app uses the camera only to scan the pairing QR code, Bluetooth only to exchange pairing keys with your nearby device, and Local Network to reach your paired device. The Mac app asks for Location only because macOS requires it to read Wi-Fi network names, which it uses to find and join your iPhone's hotspot; your location is not stored or sent anywhere. On Android, the camera scans the pairing code on the phone, Nearby devices/Bluetooth access supports local pairing, and notifications and a connected-device foreground service keep an active connection visible. Camera frames are processed on the phone and are not uploaded by CarrierPigeonVPN. The Android app does not request location access or a battery-optimization exemption.

Subscription. Purchases are processed by Apple or Google Play, depending on the app you use. RevenueCat receives an automatically generated app-scoped user identifier, basic device and app information, purchase and entitlement history, and subscription status to check and restore subscriptions and provide subscription statistics and billing reports. This subscription analytics does not include the contents or destinations of tunnel traffic. The Android integration does not enable advertising or attribution features.

Android subscription recovery. After a purchase, RevenueCat's Android SDK can store its app-user identifier through Google Block Store under your Google account to help recover subscription access on a restored or replacement device. An automatically generated identifier is not a promise that provider-held purchase records cannot be linked. Uninstalling the app does not automatically delete Google Play purchase records or provider-held subscription records. Use the privacy contact route in Section 7 to request deletion of eligible provider-held data. Subscription cancellation is separate from deletion; manage Android subscriptions in Google Play. The retention rules in Section 6 continue to apply.

Android complimentary access. If you redeem a complimentary code, the Android app verifies its digital signature locally. The code, expiry and clock-verification history are encrypted in local app storage using Android Keystore and excluded from backup and device transfer. The code is not sent to RevenueCat. Complimentary access expires without automatic renewal or a charge; removing it does not cancel a Google Play subscription.

CarrierPigeonVPN Android: request data deletion

1. Write to contact@deadstick.net, or use our contact form with the topic Privacy request. State that your request concerns CarrierPigeonVPN Android.
2. To identify a RevenueCat record, open Privacy & support → Subscription support ID in the Android app and choose Copy support ID. Include that ID in your request; it is available without a purchase. If you no longer have the app, a saved support ID or Google Play order reference can help identify your record. We may need that reference to locate an otherwise anonymous record.
3. After verification, we can direct RevenueCat to delete eligible customer-profile, app-scoped identifier and subscription-history data. Google Play may independently retain transaction records; records required for tax, accounting, fraud prevention or legal obligations remain subject to Section 6 and the provider's retention rules. We explain any applicable retention in our response under Section 7.

Pairing records, local diagnostic logs and complimentary codes remain on your devices. Remove complimentary access in its app screen, forget paired devices, or remove the Android app's data in system Settings to erase local app data. Deletion does not cancel a subscription; manage or cancel Android subscriptions in Google Play.

VPN commitment. As required by Apple's App Store Review Guideline 5.4 and Google Play's VpnService policy, DeadStick Digital LLC does not sell, use, or disclose to third parties any data collected by CarrierPigeonVPN, and will not use the VPN tunnel to manipulate ads or track users for advertising, marketing, or analytics purposes. The services named above do not change this: RevenueCat processes your purchase on our behalf only to check and restore your subscription and provide subscription billing reports, and your Mac's DNS lookups reach the public DNS services as your own traffic, which CarrierPigeonVPN does not collect. CarrierPigeonVPN is provided by DeadStick Digital LLC, an organization-enrolled developer, and the app's VPN capabilities are used only to carry the user's own traffic between their paired devices.

10.3 Document Vault

Document Vault stores scanned documents, page images, OCR text, translations, generated PDFs, annotations, folders, tags, and search indexes in a local document vault on your device by default. Those documents may include sensitive personal records such as passports, driver's licenses, IDs, receipts, and forms. Document Vault does not require a DeadStick-operated server to scan, organize, search, translate, or export your documents. Private sync through your own iCloud or Google Drive storage may be offered in later versions; those providers' own terms and privacy policies will apply to that optional sync.

10.4 Holos Drive Vault

Holos Drive Vault is separate from Document Vault. Holos Drive Vault helps users prepare encrypted external drives and recover drive keys through operating-system credential storage. The app stores recovery material in Apple Keychain and, when the user has enabled it, iCloud Keychain. DeadStick Digital does not receive, store, sell, share, or recover your drive PIN, password, recovery key, drive contents, or keychain item.

If you enter recovery contact information during setup, that information is written to the drive's setup partition so a finder can contact you. That file is intentionally visible on the removable drive. Biometric authentication is performed by the operating system; Holos Drive Vault receives only the success or failure result and never receives fingerprint or face data. The app does not use advertising SDKs, behavioral analytics, telemetry, or a DeadStick-operated account system.

10.5 DeadStick Utilities

DeadStick Utilities for Mac scans only when you start a scan, and scanning only reads. File contents, file names and scan results stay on your Mac and are not sent to DeadStick Digital. The app has no account, no analytics, no advertising, and no company-operated cloud service, and it runs only when you open it. Apple processes subscription purchases. A support export is created only when you choose, and you save it locally yourself; you may choose to attach it to a support message. Website logs and support messages you send voluntarily are handled as described in the rest of this policy. See the DeadStick Utilities privacy policy for details.

11. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy in a way that affects how we treat your information, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where required, notify you in the relevant app or by email. Continued use of the apps after the effective date means you accept the revised policy.

12. How to contact us

For any privacy question, request, or complaint, contact:

DeadStick Digital LLC
Attn: Privacy
c/o Republic Registered Agent LLC
5830 E 2nd St, Ste 7000
Casper, WY 82609, USA
Contact: deadstick.net message form
Web: www.deadstick.net