Privacy policy
Last updated 14 November 2026
Who we are
MakerGuardian (makerguardian.com) is an independent service that checks Etsy shops, listings and buyer files against Etsy's policies. We are not affiliated with Etsy, Inc., Stripe or any AI provider. Questions about this policy: hello@makerguardian.com.
Information we collect
- Early-access sign-ups: the email address you give us.
- Free check: the shop link you paste. We then read that shop's public data (shop details, policies, listings and listing photos) through Etsy's official API.
- Account (Log in with Etsy): your Etsy user ID, shop ID, shop name and email address. We use Etsy's read-only access once at login to learn these and do not store your Etsy access token. We never ask for your Etsy password.
- Full scan: the files you upload (PDF, PNG, JPEG, WebP) and the About text you paste.
- Billing: Stripe handles payments. We receive a customer reference, what you bought and its status, never your card details.
- Technical data: IP addresses (used in memory to limit abuse) and standard server logs. We use only the cookies needed to keep you logged in. There are no analytics or advertising cookies.
How we use information
To run the checks you ask for, show your report, email you about your scans (report ready, scan failed, new issues found by monitoring), process payments, prevent abuse and meet legal obligations. Sign-up emails are used only to tell you when free checks open. We do not sell your data or use it for advertising.
Legal bases (EEA and UK users)
Where the GDPR applies, we rely on performance of a contract (running scans you request or pay for), consent (early-access sign-ups, which you can withdraw at any time) and legitimate interests (security and abuse prevention).
Third-party services
- Etsy: the source of public shop data and of Log in with Etsy.
- Stripe: payments and billing.
- AI review provider: for paid scans only, listing text, shop text and some listing photos are sent to an AI model to look for possible policy issues. The free check uses no AI.
- Resend: sends our emails.
- Hetzner: hosts our servers in the EU.
Each processes data under its own privacy policy.
Retention
- Uploaded files are deleted as soon as the scan finishes, whether it succeeds or fails. Short text snippets kept as evidence in your report expire with it.
- Paid reports are available for 30 days after a one-time purchase, or while your subscription is active, and are then deleted. Daily monitoring results are kept for 14 days.
- Cached AI answers are deleted after 60 days.
- Account data is kept while you use the service. Free check results contain only public shop data.
- Billing records are kept as long as tax law requires.
You can ask us to delete your data at any time.
Security
We use HTTPS everywhere, scan uploads for malware, read files in an isolated process with no network access, and limit who can reach our servers. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure.
Your rights
You can ask to access, correct, delete or export your data, or object to how we use it, by writing to hello@makerguardian.com. If you are in the EEA or UK, you can also complain to your data protection authority.
Children
MakerGuardian is for Etsy sellers and is not directed at children under 16.
Changes
We may update this policy. We will change the date above, and tell account holders by email about significant changes.