Clipkiln — Privacy Policy
Version: 1.0 · Last updated: 2026-07-23
Who is responsible
Charles Benjamin Towe, trading as Clipkiln. Address: Crowle Court Farmhouse, Bredicot Lane, Crowle, Worcestershire, WR7 4AY, United Kingdom · Contact: support@clipkiln.com ICO registration: application pending
The short version
Your videos never leave our server. Transcription (Whisper) and rendering (ffmpeg) both run on our own machine. Your footage is not uploaded to any AI cloud.
The transcript does leave. The text of what is said in your video is sent to our AI provider so it can find the best moments, write hook lines, and translate subtitles. If your video contains things you would not paste into a chatbot, do not upload it.
What we collect
Your account: email address, a hashed password (bcrypt — we never see the original), display name, plan, minutes used this period, and your Stripe customer ID.
Your content, stored on our server: the videos you upload, transcripts of them, clips we render, and any logo, music, or transition sound you upload.
Support: if you use the Contact form, we receive what you write and any files you attach.
We do not use cookies for advertising or tracking. We do not sell your data.
Who else sees it
| Who | What they receive | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe (Managed Payments) | Your email and payment details | They are the merchant of record and take the payment. We never see your card number. |
| OpenRouter | The transcript of your video (the words spoken), and your script if you use the story tab | To score the best moments, write hooks, and translate subtitles. We send every request with a "do not collect" data policy, so it is routed only to AI providers that do not store or train on your transcript. |
| Pexels | Search terms derived from your video's content (e.g. "barbell squat") | To fetch matching stock footage, only if you switch b-roll on |
| Resend (email delivery) | Your email address, and anything you write in the Contact form | It delivers our account emails and carries your support messages to us, so we can reply |
Your video file itself is sent to none of them.
Cookies and what we store in your browser
We use no cookies, no analytics and no third-party trackers. There is no Google Analytics, no advertising pixel, and nothing that follows you to other websites.
We store two things in your browser's local storage, all of them strictly necessary for the service you asked for:
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| Your login token | So you stay signed in and we are not asking for your password on every page |
| The ID of your last upload | So closing the tab, or your laptop sleeping, does not lose the video you are part-way through |
Because these are strictly necessary to provide a service you actively requested, they are exempt from the consent requirement under PECR reg 6(4) — which is why you are not being shown a cookie banner. If we ever add analytics, that changes, and we will ask first.
You can clear all of it at any time through your browser settings. Doing so signs you out and forgets which upload you were working on; it deletes nothing from your account.
Is my video "biometric data"?
No. Whisper converts speech to text; it does not build a voiceprint, and we do no face recognition. The ICO is explicit: a photo or "a recording of someone talking" is a biometric sample, not biometric data — it only becomes special-category data if it is processed for the purpose of uniquely identifying someone. We do not do that.
Our legal basis
- Running your account and providing the service: performance of a contract.
- Keeping the service secure and preventing abuse: legitimate interests.
- Support messages: legitimate interests.
How long we keep things
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| An upload, and everything belonging to it | 5 days after you last touched it — the source video, its clips, and the record of the upload itself are all deleted together |
| Rendered clips you did not save | Deleted with their upload at 5 days (sooner if you delete the upload) |
| Stock footage we fetched for a job | 1 day |
| Clips you saved to your account | Until you delete them or close your account |
| Account data (email, plan, usage) | While your account is open, then 30 days |
| Support messages | 12 months |
Your rights
You can ask us to: see the data we hold on you, correct it, delete it, export it, or object to how we use it. Email support@clipkiln.com.
We will respond within one month. Where we need to confirm who you are first, that month runs from when we have verified your identity.
If you are unhappy, complain to us first at support@clipkiln.com. We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk) at any time — you do not have to come to us first.
Security
Passwords are hashed with bcrypt. The service is served over HTTPS. Access to your files requires your login. No system is perfectly secure — do not upload anything whose exposure you could not tolerate.
Children
Clipkiln is not for under-18s and we do not knowingly hold their data.
Changes
We will post updates here and email you about material ones.