Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 21, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how RealHedgehog ("we", "us") collects and uses your personal data when you use realhedgehog.com (the "Service"). We are the data controller for the personal data described here. This policy is written with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 in mind.

1. Data we collect

• Account data: your email address and a securely hashed version of your password.
• Content you submit: the video links or files you provide and the clips we generate from them, along with related metadata (titles, durations, scores).
• Usage & technical data: IP address, browser/device information, and log data about how you use the Service, for security and reliability.
• Billing data: your subscription status and plan. Payments are processed by PayPal; we do not receive or store your card details.

Visitor count. The number beside our logo is a real count of unique visitors. To count each person once, our server stores a one-way hash of your IP address combined with the user-agent string your browser sends and a secret key held only on the server. Your IP address itself is never written down, the hash cannot be reversed to identify you, and these records are deleted automatically after 400 days. No cookie is set, and nothing is shared with anyone else.

2. How and why we use it (lawful bases)

• To provide the Service (create your account, process your videos, deliver clips, manage credits and subscriptions) — lawful basis: performance of a contract.
• To keep the Service secure and working (prevent abuse, debug, maintain) — lawful basis: our legitimate interests.
• To communicate with you (service emails such as receipts, password resets, and clip-ready notices) — lawful basis: performance of a contract / legitimate interests.
• To meet legal obligations where applicable — lawful basis: legal obligation.
• To measure our advertising on X (Twitter), only if you allow Marketing cookies — lawful basis: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time in Cookie settings.

3. Who we share data with

We share personal data only with service providers that help us run the Service, under appropriate agreements:

• PayPal — to process subscription payments.
• Hosting and infrastructure providers — to store data and run the Service.
• X Corp. (X / Twitter) — only if you allow Marketing cookies, to measure whether our ads on X led to a paid subscription. X uses this data as an independent controller under its own privacy policy.

We do not sell your personal data. We may disclose data if required by law or to protect our rights and users.

4. International transfers

Some providers may process data outside the UK. Where they do, we rely on appropriate safeguards (such as UK-approved transfer mechanisms) to protect your data.

5. Retention

We keep account and content data for as long as your account is active, and for a reasonable period afterwards as needed to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. You can ask us to delete your account and data (see your rights below).

6. Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to the processing of your personal data, to data portability, and to withdraw consent where we rely on it. To exercise any right, email support@realhedgehog.com. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

7. Cookies and local storage

RealHedgehog uses no analytics cookies. The only advertising technology is the X (Twitter) conversion pixel, which loads only if you allow Marketing. We use your browser's local storage, and only for the items below. Optional items are stored only if you allow them, and you can change your choice at any time in Cookie settings (also in the footer of every page). Turning a category off deletes its items from your browser.

• Necessary (always on): rh_api_key and rh_api_base keep you signed in to the studio until you sign out; rh_consent remembers your cookie choice for 12 months; when you open checkout, PayPal stores __paypal_storage__ and sets its own cookies to process the payment you asked for (see PayPal's privacy statement).
• Preferences (optional): rh_fx_currency and rh_fx_rates_v1 show prices in your currency; rh_review_snooze remembers that you dismissed the review prompt; rh_opt_follow and rh_opt_fit remember your framing options in the studio.
• Referral (optional): rh_ref remembers the referral link you arrived from, so the person who invited you gets credit when you sign up.
• Marketing (optional): loads the X (Twitter) pixel from static.ads-twitter.com. X sets its own cookies (such as _twclid on our site, plus cookies on X's own domains) and receives your IP address, browser details and the pages you visit, so it can tell us whether an ad on X led to a paid subscription. We also keep the X click ID from the ad link in rh_twclid for up to 30 days, and when you subscribe our server sends X a one-way (SHA-256) hash of your email address, your IP address, browser details and that click ID, so the subscription is counted once even if the pixel is blocked. Turning Marketing off stops the pixel, deletes _twclid and rh_twclid from our site, and our server sends nothing to X; see X's privacy policy for cookies on X's domains.

Our pages load fonts from Google Fonts, so your browser connects to Google's servers, which receive your IP address. Google Fonts does not set cookies.

8. Security

We protect your data with measures including password hashing, encrypted connections (HTTPS), and access controls. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and to notify you of serious incidents where required.

9. Children

The Service is not intended for children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their data.

10. Changes

We may update this policy from time to time; the latest version will always be posted here with an updated date.

11. Contact

For any privacy question or request, contact support@realhedgehog.com.