Privacy Policy

Who Is Responsible

Physalia’s privacy contact is Manuel Juárez, Founder — Privacy Contact. You can reach them at info​@​thephysalias​.​com for any question or request about your personal information.

Information We Collect

When you contact us. When you contact us through our website, we may collect information that you choose to provide, including:

• Name
• Company or business name
• Email address
• Phone number (if provided)
• Country or location
• Information submitted through our contact or wholesale inquiry forms

When you place an order. We collect what we need to make, ship and support your order: your name, email address, shipping and billing address, phone number, and the pieces you ordered. Payments are processed securely by Stripe; we never see or store your full card details.

When you ask to be notified. If you ask to be notified when a piece is available, we keep your email only to send that one message.

When you sign up to hear from the studio. We keep your email address, when and on which page you signed up, and the wording you agreed to, so we can send you a few emails a year about new pieces and moments from the studio. Every email has a link to unsubscribe, and you can also write to us at any time. We keep your email until you unsubscribe.

When you use a garment’s Digital Passport. See “The Digital Passport” below.

Automatically. Like any website, ours collects limited technical information automatically, such as your IP address, browser and device information, pages visited, and website usage data, through the tools listed under Cookies below.

The Digital Passport

Every Physalia garment has its own Digital Passport, opened by holding a phone to its label. This is what it keeps, and who can see it. The passport’s own terms, which you accept when you claim a garment, are here: Digital Passport Terms.

The garment’s record. The passport shows the garment’s making, its materials, its care and its garment history: when it was finished, when it was claimed, when it was cared for, when it changed hands. This is information about the garment, not about you, and anyone who holds the garment can see it.

When you claim your garment. You use the private code on your Record of Ownership. You may then give us your name and email address. Both are optional. You also choose how you appear on the garment: privately, by your initials, or by name. Your passport is private by default. We record that you accepted the passport’s terms, and when.

You can keep it anonymous. Without your details we can’t help if the card is lost, or when you pass the garment on.

Remembering that it is yours. After you claim your garment, a secure key is saved on your phone so the passport recognizes you as its owner. There is no account and no username. On a new phone, we send a sign-in link to the email you gave us.

Your moments. Moments you add (a title, a date and a few words) are protected by a passcode that only you know, and are never shown to anyone else who holds the garment. Your passcode is stored in a protected form; no one, including Physalia, can read it. If you forget it, we send a reset link to your email.

Keeping a copy. You can have your garment’s record sent to your email, with your moments if you open them. If you never gave us an email, you can type one for that copy only; we use it once and don’t keep it.

Care. When you press Clean, we record when the care period started and ended, and it appears in the garment’s history. While it is on, anyone who holds the garment sees only its care instructions.

Passing it on. When you pass your garment on, you give us the next owner’s email address. We use it only to send them the invitation to make the garment theirs, and we send you a confirmation, to the email you gave us, or to one you type for it. Before the handover, you can keep a copy of your moments. After the handover, your details and your moments are no longer connected to the garment. Its garment history stays with it. When a garment is passed on to you, you choose whether to give us your name and email, and how you appear, just as when you claim a garment.

Opening the passport. Each tap of the label is checked to confirm it comes from the garment itself. The label has no battery and no GPS, and it sends nothing on its own. When the passport opens, our servers record the time and, like any website, technical information such as your IP address, approximate location and browser, kept for a limited time. We use it only to keep the passport secure, never to follow where you go.

The people who made it. The passport shows each maker’s role. Their name and portrait appear only if they have chosen to show them.

Early testers. Before launch, some people try a sample garment’s passport. We ask only for a first name, and we record whether it was opened on a phone or a computer, the visits, the time spent and the chapters opened, so we can improve the experience. The screen says so before you start. Nothing a tester adds is saved as an owner.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Respond to your inquiries.
• Review wholesale applications.
• Communicate regarding business opportunities.
• Make, ship and support your order, and send your ownership code.
• Run each garment’s Digital Passport: confirming ownership, keeping your moments, recording care and handovers, and helping if a card is lost.
• Keep our website and the passport secure, and improve how they work.
• Comply with applicable legal obligations.

We do not sell or rent your personal information, and we never use your moments for marketing. We will only send you marketing emails if you have asked to receive them.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies and analytics tools to understand how visitors use the site, and to support website functionality and security: Google Analytics (through MonsterInsights), which measures visits; Jetpack Stats (by Automattic), which counts visits and shows us which pages are read, as totals only; WooCommerce, which keeps your bag and checkout working; and Stripe, which secures payments. The Digital Passport saves a secure key on your phone only after you claim a garment.

You may manage or disable cookies through your browser settings, although doing so may affect certain features of the website.

Sharing Information

We share information only with service providers that help us operate, and only what they need to provide their service:

• Bluehost — hosts thephysalias.com and the store.
• Supabase — stores order records and each garment’s passport, in Oregon, USA.
• Vercel — hosts the passport, in the USA.
• Stripe — processes payments.
• Resend — sends ownership and passport emails. Google Workspace — our email inbox.
• Google Analytics — measures website visits.
• Jetpack (Automattic) — counts website visits.

These providers store information in the United States. Information stored in another country may be accessible under that country’s laws.

How We Protect It

We use secure connections, limited access and the protections built into the services above. Only Physalia’s team can see order records and owner details, and only when they need to. Your moments are protected by your passcode.

If a breach of personal information ever creates a real risk of significant harm, we will notify the people affected and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, as the law requires.

How Long We Keep It

• Contact and wholesale inquiries: 2 years after our last exchange.
• Order and financial records: generally 6 years from the end of the relevant tax year, or longer where another legal requirement applies.
• Owner details and moments: while you own the garment. After a handover, they are no longer connected to it. If you ask us to delete them while you still own the garment, we delete your name, email and moments; the garment is then shown as claimed by a private owner, and you can write to us to use its owner features again.
• Tester information: deleted 6 months after launch.
• The garment’s record and history: for the life of the garment, because they belong to the garment, not to its owner.

Your Information

You can ask to see, correct or delete the personal information we hold about you by writing to info​@​thephysalias​.​com. We will generally reply within 30 days. Some information, such as order records we must keep by law, may need to be kept for the required period.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be published on this page together with the revised “Last Updated” date.

Contact

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact:

Manuel Juárez, Founder — Privacy Contact
Physalia
info​@​thephysalias​.​com
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada