Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 28, 2026

Card Curator was built with privacy as a foundational design requirement. This policy explains, in plain language, exactly what data the app handles, where it goes, and what we do — and don't — collect.

The short version: Card Curator stores your collection data on your Mac. iCloud sync uses Apple's end-to-end private CloudKit, which means your data flows between your own Macs and never touches our servers. We do not run analytics. We do not run a backend that sees your data. The only information that leaves your Mac and reaches us is what you explicitly send by purchasing a license, requesting an update, or opting in to publish content to the community marketplace.

1. Who We Are

Card Curator is operated by Brian Moore, a sole proprietor based in the United States. For the purposes of data-protection law, Brian Moore is the data controller. Lemon Squeezy (Lemon Squeezy LLC) acts as the merchant of record and payment processor for purchases; their privacy practices are governed by the Lemon Squeezy privacy policy.

2. Data You Provide Directly

2.1 License Activation

When you activate your license, Card Curator sends the following to Lemon Squeezy's License API:

Your license key (the one you received by email after purchase).
An "instance name" — by default, a short identifier we generate from your Mac's hostname so multiple Macs on the same license are distinguishable in the License panel.

Lemon Squeezy returns a confirmation that the key is valid and an activation slot has been claimed. Card Curator stores the activation status locally in the macOS Keychain and re-validates silently every seven days.

Lemon Squeezy is the merchant of record. They handle billing, customer email, payment-method data, fraud screening, and tax compliance. We never see your full payment-method details, and we never send your collection data to Lemon Squeezy.

2.2 Collection Data

The cards, photos, prices, notes, Spaces, themes, binders, storage locations, and any other content you create in Card Curator is stored locally on your Mac in a SwiftData database. Photos are stored on disk and stripped of EXIF/GPS metadata before saving. Nothing in your collection is sent to Brian Moore, to any analytics service, or to any third party that we operate.

If you have iCloud Drive enabled and are signed into iCloud on your Mac, Card Curator's data is automatically synced to your other Macs through Apple's CloudKit private database. CloudKit private database is end-to-end private to your Apple ID — Apple cannot read it, and neither can we. Sync stops working if you sign out of iCloud or disable iCloud for Card Curator.

3. Optional Third-Party Integrations

Card Curator includes several optional integrations that you can enable by supplying your own API credentials. We do not see, store, or proxy these credentials. They live in the macOS Keychain on your Mac and are sent directly from your Mac to the third party when you use the feature.

3.1 eBay

If you connect an eBay developer account, Card Curator queries eBay for sold-listing data when you request a price refresh. Your eBay credentials live in the macOS Keychain. Requests go directly from your Mac to eBay; we do not receive a copy.

3.2 CardHedge

If you supply a CardHedge API key, Card Curator queries CardHedge for current market values. Your API key lives in the macOS Keychain. Requests go directly from your Mac to CardHedge.

3.3 Anthropic (AI scanning & market audit)

If you supply an Anthropic API key, Card Curator can use Anthropic's Claude API for AI-assisted card scanning and market audits. Your API key lives in the macOS Keychain. The card image and a structured prompt are sent directly from your Mac to Anthropic. Anthropic's data-handling practices are governed by their own privacy policy and any agreement between you and Anthropic.

3.4 Community Marketplace (CloudKit Public Database)

The community Marketplace lets collectors share Space templates and Themes. Browsing the marketplace is always available. Publishing is opt-in — you must explicitly enable it in Settings → Sharing, and explicitly choose what to publish. When you publish:

The published payload (template structure or theme appearance) is uploaded to Apple's CloudKit public database under our shared container. The author name you entered, an iCloud-issued creator record identifier, and the publish timestamp travel with the record.
Templates contain only structural scaffolding — tab names, filter rules, goal types, decoration choices. No card data, no photos, no prices, no personal info.
Themes contain only appearance values — colors, fonts, decoration. No collection data.
Other collectors can install and use what you publish. You retain ownership.

You can delete anything you've published from the My Templates / My Themes view at any time.

4. Auto-Updates

Card Curator uses Sparkle 2 for optional automatic updates. When the app checks for an update, it makes a network request to https://updates.cardcurator.app (a Cloudflare R2 bucket we operate) for the appcast XML. The request includes a User-Agent header with your app version, macOS version, and Mac model — standard Sparkle behavior so we can deliver compatible updates. We do not associate update checks with your identity, and we do not retain server logs longer than Cloudflare's standard retention.

You can disable automatic update checks in Settings → Updates.

5. What We Do Not Collect

We don't run analytics. We don't ship a crash reporter. We don't track which features you use. We don't know how many cards you have, what you paid for them, or what's in your collection. We don't sell, rent, or share your data, because we don't have your data to sell.

We don't use cookies on this website. We don't run third-party advertising or marketing trackers. The website is hosted by Cloudflare; Cloudflare's standard logs (which include IP addresses for DDoS protection and uptime monitoring) are governed by Cloudflare's privacy policy.

6. Children's Privacy

Card Curator is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

7. Data Retention

Lemon Squeezy retains your purchase record for accounting and compliance purposes per their privacy policy. The activation records held by the Lemon Squeezy License API are retained for as long as your license is active. You can request deactivation at any time through the in-app License panel or by contacting us.

Collection data on your Mac is retained until you delete it. Marketplace records you publish are retained until you delete them or we remove them under our content policy. Cloudflare access logs for the website and update endpoint follow Cloudflare's retention defaults (typically 30 days or less).

8. Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights under data-protection laws (such as GDPR in the EU/UK or CCPA in California) including the right to access, correct, port, or delete your personal information, and the right to opt out of certain processing activities.

Because we hold very little data about you (essentially: a license-key activation record at Lemon Squeezy, plus any marketplace content you chose to publish), exercising these rights is straightforward. Contact us at support@cardcurator.app with your request and we will respond within 30 days.

9. Security

Card Curator runs in Apple's macOS sandbox with the minimum required entitlements: network access (for license validation, your chosen third-party APIs, and update checks), camera (for card scanning, with your permission), microphone (for voice memos in journal entries, with your permission), file access for user-selected save and open panels, iCloud, and the App Group needed for widget data sharing. We do not request access we don't use.

Auto-updates are signed with EdDSA keys held in the maintainer's macOS Keychain and verified by Sparkle on every download. Update artifacts are notarized by Apple. License validation requests use TLS.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision. For material changes, we will post a notice here and, where reasonably possible, in-app at next launch.

11. Contact

For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, contact us via the contact page.