Privacy Policy
WinterHowl Studios Ltd. (“WinterHowl”, “we”, “us”) operates winterhowl.com, WinterHowl accounts, and our software products — including Shift, Bonfire, and Co-Tale. This single Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, and protect personal information across those services. Product-specific notes appear below where a product handles additional categories of data.
Who we are
WinterHowl Studios Ltd. is based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. For privacy questions, contact us through the contact form at winterhowl.com.
Information we collect
- Account information — name, email address, password (stored hashed), and security settings such as two-factor authentication when you create a WinterHowl account.
- Organization and billing — workplace or organization names, membership roles, and subscription or payment-related identifiers processed through our payment provider (Stripe).
- Contact form — information you submit when you contact us (name, email, message, and related metadata).
- Technical data — IP address, browser type, and similar logs needed for security, fraud prevention, and service operation.
- Product usage — information you enter or generate in a WinterHowl product, as described in the product notes below.
Product notes
Shift
Shift may process workforce scheduling data you provide, including employee or team identifiers you enter, shift times, location or workplace details, compliance-related flags, and audit logs. You are responsible for ensuring you have a lawful basis to process that workplace data.
Bonfire
Bonfire may process host and player profile data, world and session state, chat-driven game participation, optional platform links (such as Twitch), overlay or dashboard access tokens, and custom art uploads you choose to provide. Stream audiences who never create a WinterHowl account may still generate participation data when a host enables interactive features.
Co-Tale
Co-Tale may process story content, contributions, profile information (such as username, avatar, bio, or social links), story settings and ratings chosen by hosts, and optional cosmetic purchase records. Some stories and profiles may be publicly viewable without signing in.
How we use information
We use personal information to:
- Provide, secure, and improve our services;
- Authenticate users and manage accounts across WinterHowl products;
- Process subscriptions, entitlements, and communicate about billing;
- Respond to support requests and contact form submissions;
- Meet legal obligations and protect our rights and users.
Our commitments
WinterHowl operates under clear product standards, including: no advertising in our products; no generative AI in the software we deliver, product features, or creative assets such as art and music (while we may use AI-assisted tools in our own development workflow); ethical and transparent pricing; a permanent commitment not to sell personal information or customer content; and ongoing efforts to maintain security and privacy. See winterhowl.com — How we build products for a plain-language summary.
Sharing and sale of data
We do not sell your personal information. We share data with service providers who help us operate our services (for example hosting, email delivery, and payment processing), only as needed for those purposes and under appropriate safeguards. Payment card details are handled by Stripe, not stored directly on our servers. Optional platform integrations (for example Twitch for Bonfire) are used only when you connect them and only as needed for that integration.
Retention
We keep information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide services, comply with law, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. You may request deletion subject to legal and operational requirements.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, or delete personal information, or to object to certain processing. Canadian users may have rights under applicable privacy laws, including PIPEDA. Contact us to make a request; we will respond within a reasonable time.
Security
We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure.
Age Restrictions
Children under 13 may not use WinterHowl or any WinterHowl product. We are committed to upholding our age restrictions to keep kids and teens safe. If you know that someone under the age of 13 is using WinterHowl, please let us know through the contact form on winterhowl.com.
People who are 13 or older but under the age of majority where they reside (varies based on legal residence, but is 18 in most U.S. states and 18 or 19 in Canadian provinces) may only use WinterHowl under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to be bound by WinterHowl’s Terms of Service.
Parents and legal guardians who discover that a child has opened a WinterHowl account may use the contact form to request account closure, deletion of personal information, or access to the data we hold for that account. Anyone else who believes a user is under 13 should report it the same way. Include details that help us locate the account—such as the registered email—and if we confirm the user is under 13, we will permanently suspend the account.
Changes
We may update this policy from time to time. We will post the revised version on this page with an updated date. Continued use of our services after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.