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Does Affinity collect and send data from computers?


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10 hours ago, R C-R said:

Which is personal data, which they have a legal right to collect for legitimate business purposes & a legal obligation to protect for as long as they keep it.

Indeed they do need it (we agree on something at last :)) for the purposes of verifying identification for purchasing, but there's no need to keep it.

10 hours ago, R C-R said:

If they did not keep it in some personally identifiable form & you bought some software item from their store (an app, brushes, whatever) how could they verify that you had purchased it if you needed to download it again because your local copy was lost or corrupted?

I suppose an e-mail address and/or an order number would be enough. The e-mail address or order number would be the primary key in a customers database. There's no need to keep full names and addresses online at all. An e-mail probably would be necessary to notify users of actions on their accounts and serve as a means to recover account access to download a product again if required.

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6 hours ago, xarthangrol said:

You are focussed on the website policy, but I am focussed on the product EULA, which has already been established to be a separate thing. A website privacy policy does not apply to software use, unless the software is part of the website, such as online services.

It is not just a "website policy." If it was, why would it include sections on Payments, Order Fulfilment and shipping, or Email Communications?

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Just now, R C-R said:

It is not just a "website policy." If it was, why would it include sections on Payments, Order Fulfilment and shipping, or Email Communications?

All that happens in the Affinity Store, which is part of the website.

None of that can be done in the app.

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5 hours ago, xarthangrol said:

There's no need to keep full names and addresses online at all.

They may want the full name for personalized newsletters. I don't kbow what they need it for, but I'm usually okay with it since my mail adress contains my full name anyway.

Adresses are only asked on purchasing non-digital goods.

Serif does this right: If they don't need my address, they don't ask and so they can't loose it on the next big data leak.

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10 minutes ago, Steps said:

All that happens in the Affinity Store, which is part of the website.

Email Communications are not part of the website or the Affinity Store. Neither is the newsletter, also mentioned in the Privacy Policy.

15 minutes ago, Steps said:

None of that can be done in the app.

From the app you can open the support site (last item on the Help menu).

You will also find info in the Privacy Policy about data collected when using the applications (both retail & beta), when an app crashes, & a link to Apple's Privacy Policy, because Mac users can buy the apps through the Mac App Store (& the iPad apps through Apple's Store for that). There is info about the info they collect as the result of communications with Serif, which includes emails, phone calls, or other communications.

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2 hours ago, R C-R said:

It is not just a "website policy." If it was, why would it include sections on Payments, Order Fulfilment and shipping, or Email Communications?

Because they are part of the website's functionality, especially if APIs are integrated into the code, and pass information from the website to those systems as a direct consequence of using the Affinity website.

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2 hours ago, Steps said:

They may want the full name for personalized newsletters. I don't kbow what they need it for, but I'm usually okay with it since my mail adress contains my full name anyway.

Adresses are only asked on purchasing non-digital goods.

Serif does this right: If they don't need my address, they don't ask and so they can't loose it on the next big data leak.

Indeed, personalisation is put into generic communications.

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1 hour ago, R C-R said:

Email Communications are not part of the website or the Affinity Store. Neither is the newsletter, also mentioned in the Privacy Policy.

From the app you can open the support site (last item on the Help menu).

You will also find info in the Privacy Policy about data collected when using the applications (both retail & beta), when an app crashes, & a link to Apple's Privacy Policy, because Mac users can buy the apps through the Mac App Store (& the iPad apps through Apple's Store for that). There is info about the info they collect as the result of communications with Serif, which includes emails, phone calls, or other communications.

Does the website open in the app or in the OS's default browser? There are a more browser-based apps these days, using technology like Electron. If the Affinity website opens in the app, then the privacy policy for the website would apply directly, but only when the website is being used in the app, and not when the website is not being accessed. If help documentation is pulled from the Affinity website, then that would also be cause to note the privacy policy as the app would be accessing the Affinity website. If the app pulls data from AWS, then AWS's policies may apply but not the Affinity's as the Affinity website would not be accessed.

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13 minutes ago, xarthangrol said:

Does the website open in the app or in the OS's default browser?

In a browser.

14 minutes ago, xarthangrol said:

If help documentation is pulled from the Affinity website, then that would also be cause to note the privacy policy as the app would be accessing the Affinity website.

At least on Macs, help topic updates are delivered over the internet. I do not know if that comes directly from Affinity, Apple, or AWS servers.

But regardless, the point remains that the only thing that should be of any real concern is the personal data Serif collects. The Privacy Policy explains how you can gain access to it, change it, & to what extent you can have them delete it.

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9 minutes ago, chakko007 said:

Oh my, oh my... has this become a thread again. :) And now, Serif probably thinks that this is in any way representative, although it's just the opinion of a handful of people online.

Unnecessary posting and totally uncalled for....

But thank you for proving my previous point about people that do not care. ;)

One day you will be affected by an fraud like identity theft and this will help you to learn. I at least hope so. :D

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1 minute ago, Steps said:

Unnecessary posting and totally uncalled for....

But thank you for proving my previous point about people that do not care. ;)

One day you will be affected by an fraud like identity theft and this will help you to learn. I at least hope so:D

I have been a victim of a £3,000 credit card fraud, and my wife had bailiffs after here for a mobile contract in her name that wasn't hers. So, like you, I care about what is being sent from my computer.


I think that if instead of an app taking data, a real person entered people's homes, snooped around their computers and took info without saying what it was, there would be more people against it. And there will be people who'll say it's not the same thing, but it is. You just don't see it happening.

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2 minutes ago, haakoo said:

I'll give you mine;

Every program/app/website needs to collect data whether personal or technical.
For updating/program enhancements/error handling or even marketing purposes.
Eula/privacy statements and conditions are long winded to read and add no value as you need to comply anyway to use anything.
If you don't like it,stay of the grid and use pencil and paper to design,

That's kind of an resignation fighting it, but eventually we get there.

I remember refusing to use the Battle.net because of it's awful Terms and conditions, but in the end I wanted to play Starcraft 2 and finally I accepted that EULA after a month of resistance.

I am thankful for laws like the GPDR because as user you are indeed in a weak position.

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9 minutes ago, Steps said:

Unnecessary posting and totally uncalled for....



No. An absolutely necessary one. There's a handful of people in this thread who care about this. If you or others would be able to reflect, you'd see this yourself.

The internet is always a minority thinking they speak for the majority. It isn't representative at all. And, your defensive-ness speaks for itself in this case.

GPDR has been the death of many small businesses BTW. Just so you know.

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1 minute ago, chakko007 said:

No. An absolutely necessary one. There's a handful of people in this thread who care about this. If you or others would be able to reflect, you'd see this yourself.

Your point is that most people do not care. We knew that before. :|

The only purpose of your posting is to expose how little you understand from all of this.  It's okay, I took a note.  :)

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7 minutes ago, haakoo said:

I'll give you mine;

Every program/app/website needs to collect data whether personal or technical.
For updating/program enhancements/error handling or even marketing purposes.
Eula/privacy statements and conditions are long winded to read and add no value as you need to comply anyway to use anything.
If you don't like it,stay of the grid and use pencil and paper to design,

Not true. Not every app needs to collect data (in order to keep). Not even those online. There are developers that want the data to make money, not just analyse trends or how it works with different systems.

Yes, EULAs and other policies are long, but should still be read, even if only for key points.

Stay off the grid? That's the wrong attitude. Companies need to change their attitude's towards how data is used and when it is necessary. Maybe that's why privacy has been in the news so much recently, not to mention the update to Europe's privacy laws. Many people have been born into a world of data sharing that it is just accepted, handing over a pot of gold to developers.

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@Steps How do you know how much or little i understand about it? Stop being so defensive of your minority opinion.

You know why the whole internet is still free? Because of data collection. You know why i said that many small businesses died because of GPDR? Because they rely on data collection, and have a big overhead by having to comply to the GPDR. So, yeah, i have no idea about this thing, i know.

You know what the main problem is? That the stupid customer (yes, that's us) only sees his own view point, and doesn't see the bigger picture. I personally don't want to pay on the internet on every corner. That's why i embrace what Google, Microsoft, Apple, or others do. Because it keeps the internet free. Feel free to disagree, feel your "personal data" which you share publically online, is compromised, disallow the use, and pay 1 € for every website you visit. Because that is the only alternative. Have fun paying.

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1 minute ago, chakko007 said:

How do you know how much or little i understand about it?

Easy: You proved that with your postings. xD

But your lack of understanding the issue is not my problem. One day it will become yours. I don't care. :)

And for the Minority vs majority Argument ... ok, I let it go. It's ridicoulos to argue that the minority must be wrong.

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6 minutes ago, chakko007 said:

.You know why the whole internet is still free? Because of data collection. You know why i said that many small businesses died because of GPDR? Because they rely on data collection, and have a big overhead by having to comply to the GPDR. So, yeah, i have no idea about this thing, i know.

You know what the main problem is? That the stupid customer (yes, that's us) only sees his own view point, and doesn't see the bigger picture. I personally don't want to pay on the internet on every corner. That's why i embrace what Google, Microsoft, Apple, or others do. Because it keeps the internet free. Feel free to disagree, feel your "personal data" which you share publically online, is compromised, disallow the use, and pay 1 € for every website you visit.

You pay a price with your personal data you are just not being aware of.

Wait for it, one day you will.

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14 minutes ago, Steps said:

 And for the Minority vs majority Argument ... ok, I let it go. It's ridicoulos to argue that the minority must be wrong.

It doesn't have to be necessarily. What i was pointing out is that, on the internet, a few fight for things that the majority might not want at all.

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35 minutes ago, chakko007 said:

You know why the whole internet is still free?

It's not. You pay an ISP to connect to it. Without paying that monthly fee, you wouldn't have any access to it. Besides, the internet is all of the servers and computers on the network not  websites, documents and online services; that's the World Wide Web, which uses the internet.

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14 minutes ago, chakko007 said:

It doesn't have to be necessarily. What i was pointing out is that, on the internet, a few fight for things that the majority might not want at all.

Yes, there is that. But there may be a lot of that assumed majority who just don't want to voice their opinion or might think it's a waste of time saying anything. If they remain silent, there's no way to tell what their opinion really is.

Anyway, my original question has lost all direction now, and I'm glad it was answered several pages ago. :)

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