Thematic Thing - Privacy Policy
Thematic Thing is provided and licensed by Clement Rahula, an individual residing in the Republic of Estonia (the “Developer”).
For privacy questions or requests, contact privacy@thematicthing.com.
Plain-English Summary
Thematic Thing keeps research on the user’s computer.
The desktop app has no accounts, analytics, telemetry, or cloud storage. It makes no network requests. Projects, transcripts, codes, themes, notes, and backups stay on the user’s device. The developer cannot access them.
The website uses no cookies, advertising trackers, or visitor profiling. Cloudflare provides basic cookie-free website statistics, such as page views and visits by country.
The Developer directly receives personal data from users only when they choose to make contact.
The Thematic Thing App
Thematic Thing is a local desktop application. Project data is stored on the user’s computer and is not transmitted to the developer.
This includes:
- transcripts and imported material
- codes and themes
- notes and analytical work
- participant information
- local project backups
Backups created by Thematic Thing are stored on the user’s computer according to the user’s backup settings.
The app makes no network requests. It has no telemetry, usage analytics, advertising, automatic crash reporting, or cloud synchronization.
If a user exports a file and chooses to send or upload it somewhere, the user controls that transfer. Thematic Thing does not automatically transmit exported files or their contents.
Crash Reports and Support
If Thematic Thing crashes, it may offer the user the option to report the problem. Choosing to report the crash opens a pre-filled email in the user’s own email application.
The trace generated for a crash report contains technical information about the failure. Project contents and other user data are excluded from the diagnostic logs. Users should not attach project files or sensitive research material. Nothing is sent automatically. The user can review and edit the email before sending it.
If a user emails the developer for support or for any other reason, the developer receives the information the user chooses to send. This normally includes the user’s email address, the contents of the message, and any attachments included.
Support correspondence is used to respond to users, investigate problems, and maintain and improve Thematic Thing. The legal basis for this processing is the developer’s legitimate interest in providing support and maintaining Thematic Thing.
The Website
The Thematic Thing website is hosted on GitLab Pages and delivered through Cloudflare.
Cloudflare processes the network requests needed to deliver and protect the website.
GitLab Pages keeps server access logs containing visitor IP addresses, access times, and pages visited for seven days.
GitLab Privacy Statement: https://about.gitlab.com/privacy/
The website has no user accounts, contact forms, advertising, or behavioral analytics.
Basic Website Statistics
The website uses Cloudflare Web Analytics.
This provides basic website statistics, such as page visits and visits by country.
Cloudflare Web Analytics does not use cookies or browser local storage, and it is not used to identify individual visitors or follow them across websites.
This information is used to understand basic website usage. The legal basis for this processing is the developer’s legitimate interest in understanding how the public website is used.
Downloads
Thematic Thing is distributed through its public GitHub repository.
If a user follows a download or repository link to GitHub, the user’s interaction with GitHub is subject to GitHub’s own privacy practices.
GitHub Privacy Statement: https://docs.github.com/site-policy/privacy-policies/github-privacy-statement
GitHub provides the developer with aggregate repository traffic information, but not the identities of individual people who download Thematic Thing.
Cookies and Tracking
The Thematic Thing website does not use cookies or browser local storage.
The website does not use advertising tracking, cross-site tracking, visitor profiling, or marketing analytics.
Service Providers
The following service providers are involved in operating the website, distributing the application, and receiving email:
- Cloudflare delivers and protects the website and provides Cloudflare Web Analytics. Privacy Policy: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/
- GitLab hosts the website through GitLab Pages. Privacy Statement: https://about.gitlab.com/privacy/
- GitHub hosts the public software repository and downloads. Privacy Statement: https://docs.github.com/site-policy/privacy-policies/github-privacy-statement
- PurelyMail provides the email service. Privacy Policy: https://purelymail.com/privacy
The desktop application does not connect to any of these services, and none of them receives project data.
How Long Personal Data Is Kept
Because Thematic Thing has no accounts, telemetry, cloud storage, or application analytics, the developer does not maintain a database of users or research projects.
Personal data that users send by email is normally kept for up to two years after the last interaction. It may be kept longer where necessary to resolve an ongoing matter, comply with a legal obligation, or establish, exercise, or defend a legal claim.
Cloudflare retains unsampled Web Analytics data for seven days. After that, only sampled aggregate analytics are retained.
Cloudflare Web Analytics retention details: https://developers.cloudflare.com/web-analytics/faq/
GitLab Pages access logs are kept for seven days.
GitLab Privacy Statement: https://about.gitlab.com/privacy/
Privacy Rights
Where the GDPR applies, users may have rights concerning personal data processed about them, including rights of access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, and data portability.
Users can exercise their privacy rights by contacting privacy@thematicthing.com.
Because very little information is collected about visitors and users, the developer may not have any information that allows a particular person to be identified.
If a user believes their personal data has been processed unlawfully, they also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data-protection supervisory authority. In the Republic of Estonia, this is the Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate (Andmekaitse Inspektsioon).
Changes to This Policy
If the way Thematic Thing handles personal data changes, this policy will be updated accordingly.