This policy explains what personal data SmartWP Plugins collects when you use smartwpplugins.com, download one of our plugins or ebooks, or buy a licence. It also covers what we do with that data and the choices you have. We collect as little as we can. We don’t sell personal data, we don’t run ads, and analytics only runs if you allow it.
The short version
- Analytics (Google Analytics) stays off until you allow it in the cookie card, and you can change your answer any time.
- If you give us your email to download a plugin or an ebook, we send you the download and add you to our mailing list. Every email has an unsubscribe link.
- Messages to support are used to answer you, nothing else.
- Freemius, our payment and licensing partner, handles checkout. We never see your full card number.
- You can ask us to show, correct or delete your data at [email protected].
Who we are
SmartWP Plugins is run by GrowQuest Technologies Pvt. Ltd., registered at P-3, Dr. R.N. Tagore Road, North 24 Parganas, Kolkata 700056, India. We decide how personal data on this site is used. That makes us its controller under the EU and UK GDPR, and its data fiduciary under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
What we collect and why
When you browse the site
Like every website, ours receives the details your browser sends with each request: your IP address, browser and device type, the page you asked for and when. Our hosting and Cloudflare, which protects and delivers the site, use them to show you pages and to block attacks and spam.
If you allow analytics, Google Analytics also records the pages you visit, how you found us, your device and browser, and your approximate location (country or city), which it works out from your IP address. Google doesn’t store the IP address itself. We look at these numbers in aggregate to see which pages help and what to improve. Google Analytics never gets your name or email from us.
When you write to support
The support form asks for your name, your email, the reason you’re writing and your message. We send it to our support inbox, and we email you a short confirmation so you know it arrived. We use it only to answer you and, if you’re a customer, to help with your plugin or licence. Writing to support doesn’t add you to our mailing list.
To stop spam, the form checks how quickly it was filled in and limits how many messages one IP address can send in a short time.
When you download a free plugin or an ebook
To get a free plugin or one of our ebooks, you give us your email address. We email you the download link or the PDF. We also add you to our mailing list in Kit, tagged with what you downloaded, so we can send occasional updates, tips and tricks. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing works straight away.
When you buy a licence
Freemius, our payment and licensing partner, runs the checkout. It collects your name, email, billing address and payment details, takes the payment, works out any sales tax or VAT, issues your invoice and manages your licence. We receive your name and email, what you bought and your licence details, but never your full card number. Freemius’s own privacy policy covers what it does as part of the sale.
Your account page at smartwpplugins.com/account/ shows Freemius’s customer portal inside our site. When you sign in there, your details go to Freemius.
When our plugins check for updates
When a paid plugin on your site checks for updates or verifies its licence, the request includes your site’s address, the plugin and WordPress versions and, for licence checks, your licence key. We use these only to deliver updates to licensed sites. Free plugins update through WordPress.org, and the WordPress.org privacy policy covers those checks.
Cookies
Cookies are small files a website stores in your browser. We use a few that the site needs to work, and analytics cookies only after you allow them. You can change your choice whenever you like: open your cookie settings, or use the Cookie settings link at the bottom of any page.
| Name | What it does | Set by | Kept for | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
smartwp_consent |
Remembers your cookie choice, so we don’t ask on every page | This site | 6 months | Essential |
hs_theme |
Remembers whether you picked the light or dark theme (stored in your browser’s local storage) | This site | Until you clear it | Essential |
__cf_bm |
Tells people and bots apart to protect the site | Cloudflare | 30 minutes | Essential |
cf_clearance |
Remembers that you passed a Cloudflare security check, if you were shown one | Cloudflare | Set by the check, usually 30 minutes | Essential |
| Checkout cookies | Keep your purchase going inside the Freemius checkout window | Freemius | Set by Freemius | Essential |
_ga |
Tells one visitor from another in Google Analytics | 2 years | Analytics | |
_ga_4YH2B35NYJ |
Keeps track of your current visit in Google Analytics | 2 years | Analytics |
If you allow analytics and later change your mind, the site turns analytics off and removes the Google Analytics cookies from your browser.
Why we’re allowed to use your data
Under the GDPR we need a legal reason for each use:
- Your consent for analytics. You can withdraw it at any time in the cookie settings.
- A contract with you when we deliver a download or an ebook you asked for, sell you a licence, and support your purchase.
- Our legitimate interests in keeping the site secure, stopping spam and answering questions people send us. They also cover sending occasional updates, tips and tricks to people who downloaded our free plugins or ebooks. You can stop those emails any time with the unsubscribe link, and we’ll stop at once.
- Legal obligations, such as keeping tax and accounting records.
Who else handles your data
We use a small number of providers to run the site. Each handles your data only to provide its service to us:
- GridPane and Vultr host the site, on servers in the United States.
- Cloudflare protects and delivers the site through its worldwide network.
- Brevo (France) sends our emails: download links, ebooks and support replies.
- Kit (United States) runs our mailing list.
- Google (United States) provides Tag Manager and Analytics, only if you allow analytics.
- Freemius runs checkout, licences and customer accounts.
- WordPress.org delivers our free plugins’ downloads and updates.
We don’t sell personal data or share it for advertising. We’ll only disclose it to others if the law requires it or to protect our rights or someone’s safety.
When data leaves your country
We’re based in India, and some of our providers are in the United States or work worldwide. Where the EU or UK GDPR applies, we rely on the safeguards those providers offer for international transfers, such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
How long we keep it
- Support messages: for as long as we need them to help you and keep a record of what we agreed, then we delete them.
- Mailing list: until you unsubscribe. Ask us and we’ll remove your address completely.
- Purchases and licences: for as long as tax and accounting law requires.
- Analytics: Google Analytics keeps detailed data for the period set in our account, never longer than 14 months. After that only totals remain.
- Your cookie choice: 6 months, then the site asks again.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you can ask us to:
- show you the personal data we hold about you and give you a copy,
- correct it if it’s wrong,
- delete it,
- stop or limit using it, or object to how we use it,
- send it to you or to another company in a format a computer can read.
You can withdraw your consent to analytics at any time in the cookie settings, and you can leave our mailing list with the unsubscribe link in any of our emails. In India you can also nominate someone to exercise these rights for you. Email [email protected]. We’ll answer within one month, and we may ask you to confirm who you are first.
Keeping it safe
The site runs over HTTPS, access to our systems is limited to the people who need it, and we choose providers that protect the data they handle. No system is perfectly secure, so if a breach ever puts your data at risk, we’ll tell you and the authorities as the law requires.
Children
Our site and plugins are for businesses and the people who build their sites. They aren’t meant for anyone under 18, and we don’t knowingly collect children’s data. If you think a child has given us their details, tell us and we’ll delete them.
Changes to this policy
When our tools or practices change, we update this policy. The date at the top shows when it last changed. If a change affects how we use data you’ve already given us, we’ll say so on this page before it applies.
Contact and complaints
Questions, requests and complaints about your data: [email protected]. Post: GrowQuest Technologies Pvt. Ltd., P-3, Dr. R.N. Tagore Road, North 24 Parganas, Kolkata 700056, India. This address is also our grievance contact under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
If you’re in the EU or the UK and you’re not happy with our answer, you can complain to your data protection authority. In India, you can take a complaint to the Data Protection Board of India.