Privacy Policy

Quartz Ripple provides creative planning tools and commissioned illustration and design services. This policy explains how we handle personal information through our website, enquiries, client projects and Story Forge at https://storyforge.today/.

The business responsible for your information is Catherine Gomersall, trading as Quartz Ripple, based in Melbourne, Australia.

For privacy enquiries, contact catherine@quartzripple.com.

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

• Your name, email address, business name and information supplied in enquiries or price-guide requests.

• Account information and content entered into Story Forge, including your business story, audience, creative preferences and product ideas.

• Project briefs, correspondence, supplied files and feedback relating to commissioned work.

• Purchase and transaction information needed to administer your purchase.

• Technical information generated when you use our services, which may include your IP address, browser and device information, session information and service logs.

Please avoid submitting sensitive personal information or information about other people unless it is necessary and you are authorised to provide it.

You can browse public website content without identifying yourself. Certain information is necessary to respond to enquiries, administer purchases or provide account-based services.

We collect information directly from you when you complete a form, contact us, create an account, use Story Forge or commission work. We may also receive information from providers supporting these activities, such as payment confirmations.

We use information to:

• Respond to enquiries and provide requested price guides.

• Provide, administer and support Story Forge.

• Develop and deliver agreed illustration and design work.

• Manage accounts, purchases and client communications.

• Maintain service reliability and security.

• Meet applicable legal and recordkeeping obligations.

We use Stripe to process payments. Stripe collects and processes payment information needed to complete transactions and support payment security.

Quartz Ripple receives transaction information needed to administer purchases, which may include your name, email address, payment status, transaction identifiers and limited payment-method information.

Stripe handles personal information under its own privacy policy, available at https://stripe.com/privacy.

Please do not send full card details or card security codes to Quartz Ripple by email or through enquiry forms.

Where you choose to receive marketing, we use your contact details to send updates and creative product ideas.

Requesting a price guide or purchasing Story Forge does not automatically subscribe you to marketing.

You can unsubscribe using the link in a marketing email or by contacting catherine@quartzripple.com. We may still send service communications necessary to administer your purchase, account or project.

Story Forge uses AI-assisted functionality to generate creative planning suggestions.

When you use an AI feature, submitted information may be sent to the technology providers supporting that feature. This may include your instructions, business information and other content needed to generate a response.

AI providers’ handling of information—including storage, retention and any use for model improvement—depends on their terms and the settings used for the service. This policy does not promise that every AI provider operates without retaining information or using it for model improvement.

Please avoid entering confidential or sensitive information unless you have confirmed that the relevant processing arrangements are suitable for your needs. Contact us if you need further information before submitting material.

The reference-image models used in Catherine Gomersall’s illustration workflow are separate from Story Forge’s processing of customer information. Their use of Catherine’s original source photography does not mean that all customer information is processed entirely within Quartz Ripple.

We share relevant transaction information with Stripe for payment processing.

We may also disclose information to providers supporting website hosting, accounts, data storage, AI functionality and communications where necessary to operate our services.

Relevant information may be shared with professional advisers or an agreed production supplier where necessary to administer the business or deliver your project. We may also disclose information where required or authorised by law.

Third-party services have their own privacy policies. You can contact us for information about the providers relevant to your account or project.

Providers supporting our services may store or process information outside Australia. Processing locations depend on the providers and services involved.

Stripe processes information internationally as described in its privacy policy.

Contact catherine@quartzripple.com if you need information about overseas processing relevant to your use of Story Forge or a commissioned project.

Our website and app may use cookies, local storage and similar technologies to support functions such as account sessions, preferences and service security.

Stripe may also use cookies and similar technologies when you interact with its payment services, as explained in its privacy and cookie policies.

You can manage cookies through your browser settings. Blocking some technologies may affect functionality, including signing in or completing a payment.

Technical information may also be processed by the platforms operating our website and app.

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. No online service can guarantee absolute security.

We retain information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide our services, administer projects and purchases, resolve issues and meet applicable legal obligations.

When information is no longer needed, we take reasonable steps to delete or de-identify it. Some information may remain in backups until those backups are replaced or expire, or in records that must be retained.

Expiry of Story Forge access does not necessarily result in immediate deletion of account information. You can contact us to request deletion and obtain information about applicable retention requirements.

Contact catherine@quartzripple.com to request access to or correction of your personal information, request account deletion or withdraw marketing consent.

We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. Where information must be retained or a request cannot be fulfilled, we will explain the relevant reason.

Information held independently by Stripe is also subject to Stripe’s privacy procedures and applicable obligations.

If you have a privacy concern, contact catherine@quartzripple.com with details so we can investigate.

We will acknowledge your complaint and aim to respond within 30 days. If additional time is needed, we will explain why and provide an update.

Where applicable, you may also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at https://www.oaic.gov.au/.

We may update this policy when our services or information practices change. The current version will be available on our website with its last updated date.

Where required, we will provide additional notice of material changes.