Privacy Policy

Effective date: 31 May 2026. Last updated: 10 August 2026.

BeginThings ("we", "us", "our") operates beginthings.com and the products listed on it. This policy explains what we collect, how we use it, your rights, and how to contact us. Because BeginThings offers five distinct categories of products, the data we handle differs by category. The table below shows the scope honestly so you know what to expect before you start.

1. The 5 product categories and what each one collects

Category	Examples	What is collected
1. Free Tools	QR Creator, Invoice Generator, UPI QR, the /free-tools/ catalog	Nothing personal. Anonymous Google Analytics 4 page-view counts only if you accept analytics cookies. No login, no signup, no email collection.
2. Account-based Workspace	BeginRooms / Workspace 3D	When you sign in, we receive the account profile supplied by Google or the email-link flow. Rooms and boards saved to your account are transmitted over HTTPS and stored for account access and cross-device sync. We do not request Google Drive, Calendar or Gmail access.
3. Subscription and release-gated products	BeginRooms; FormulaMapper when released	For BeginRooms we store the verified account email, product and plan, trial and entitlement timestamps, and the subscription or payment identifiers needed to provide access. FormulaMapper downloads and new subscriptions are currently paused; a future compatible build may also store a machine identifier and hashed device token so a licence can be issued to the correct installation. Card and bank credentials are entered only in Razorpay.
4. Paid Digital Products	Templates, toolkits, workbooks, guides on /shop.html	Order details from the payment processor (Razorpay): email, transaction ID, amount, country of issuance. We never see your card or bank information.
5. Paid Services	Audits, conversion sprints, custom dev	The contact details and project information you provide directly via email or the lead-capture form. Used only to deliver the engagement.

2. Information you provide directly

Email address, if you subscribe to our newsletter, fill out a lead-capture form, or contact us at sourav@beginthings.com.
Google account profile (name, email, profile picture) if you sign in to Workspace 3D or any future Cat 2 product. Provided by Google after you authenticate. We do not request additional Google scopes such as Drive, Calendar, or Gmail.
Order details from your payment processor if you purchase any Cat 3, 4, or 5 product.
Project details if you engage a Cat 5 service. Treated as confidential between you and BeginThings.

3. Information collected automatically

Google Analytics 4 (measurement ID G-7PBJMQL1LZ): page views, referrer, approximate location (city level), device type, browser, anonymized IP. Disabled by default until you accept the cookie banner.
First-party privacy analytics (no cookies, no third party): on our marketing pages only (not the free tools), we count anonymous visits using a daily-rotating, one-way hash of your IP and browser so we can see traffic trends. We never store your raw IP, the hash cannot be linked across days, and it is skipped entirely if you decline analytics cookies.
Standard server logs from our host (Hostinger): request URLs, timestamps, IP address, user agent. Retained for hosting and security purposes.
Google AdSense (publisher ca-pub-8427756296560869), where enabled, may set advertising cookies after you consent. See Google's ads policy.

4. Product content and local processing

BeginRooms keeps a local browser copy for responsive editing and recovery. When you are signed in, saved room and board data is also sent over HTTPS to the BeginThings service for account access and cross-device sync. This content is account-protected but is not end-to-end encrypted; do not store secrets that require client-only encryption.
Free tools (PDF utilities, image converters, calculators, etc.) run entirely in your browser. Files you process never leave your device.
FormulaMapper downloads and new trial starts are paused while the account-linked build is in release verification. When released, working state remains on your computer while trial, device and paid-entitlement checks exchange only the minimum account, machine and entitlement identifiers needed with the BeginThings licensing service over HTTPS.

5. How we use information

To operate and improve beginthings.com and the products listed on it.
To send emails you have requested, including newsletter updates and order confirmations.
To respond to messages you send to sourav@beginthings.com.
To analyze aggregate traffic patterns via Google Analytics.
To show advertising where AdSense is enabled and you have consented.
To fulfill purchases and provide customer support.
To deliver Cat 5 services you have specifically engaged us for.

6. Third-party services we use

Google Analytics 4 for traffic analytics. Google Privacy Policy.
Google Identity Services for optional sign-in on Cat 2 products. Only basic profile scopes are requested.
Google AdSense for display advertising on selected pages.
Hostinger for web hosting.
Razorpay for secure payment processing on paid products (UPI, cards, netbanking, wallets).
Our own contact backend (api/contact.php, hosted on beginthings.com) handles the contact and audit-request forms. There is no third-party form processor: submissions are stored on our own server and emailed to us. Does not place cookies on you.
Cloudflare, cdnjs, Google Fonts, Bootstrap CDN for public asset delivery. May receive your IP as part of normal HTTP requests.

7. Cookies

We use three cookie categories: essential (theme preference, consent state), analytics (Google Analytics), advertising (Google AdSense). Analytics and advertising are disabled by default until you accept the cookie banner. Full breakdown on the Cookie Policy page.

8. Your rights

If you are in the EU, EEA, UK, India, California, or other regions with data-protection laws, you have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you.
Correct inaccurate data.
Request deletion of your data.
Object to or restrict certain processing.
Withdraw consent for analytics or advertising at any time.
Lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority.

To exercise any of these rights email sourav@beginthings.com. We respond within 30 days.

India residents (DPDPA, 2023)

You additionally have the right to nominate another person to exercise rights on your behalf, grievance redressal within 30 days, and consent withdrawal at any time without affecting prior processing. Send DPDPA requests to sourav@beginthings.com with the subject line "DPDPA request".

California residents (CCPA / CPRA)

You have the right to know, delete, correct, limit use of, and opt out of any "sale" or "sharing" of your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not sell personal information traditionally. When you accept cookies and we run paid campaigns, the Meta Pixel or Google Ads cookies may qualify as "sharing" under CPRA. Opt out by declining cookies, enabling Global Privacy Control (we honor it), or emailing sourav@beginthings.com with subject "CCPA opt-out". See the Cookie Policy.

9. Data retention

Newsletter emails: until you unsubscribe or request deletion.
Google Analytics data: per Google defaults (currently 14 months for user-level data).
Server logs: 30 days, then aggregated or deleted.
Account profile, trial and subscription records: kept while the account or a legal/operational record remains active; you may request account deletion, subject to records we must retain.
Cat 3/4/5 order records: retained per Indian accounting law (7 financial years) for tax and audit purposes.
BeginRooms content: kept in the local browser copy and, when sync is enabled for the signed-in account, in the account service until you delete it or request account deletion, subject to backup and security-retention windows.

10. Children

BeginThings is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn we have, we will delete it promptly.

11. International transfers

Our analytics provider (Google) processes data in the United States. Razorpay, our payment processor, processes payments in India and internationally where enabled. By using the site you consent to these transfers. Standard Contractual Clauses apply where required.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the latest revision. Material changes will be highlighted on the homepage.

13. Contact

Questions? Email sourav@beginthings.com. Operator: Sourav Mahapatra, India.