Privacy Policy私隱政策

1 · Who I am

HtPi (htpi.me and class.htpi.me) is operated by Horris Tse in Hong Kong. This policy explains what personal data I collect when you use the site, and how it is used. Questions or requests: ping@htpi.me.

2 · What I collect

• Account — your email address, name, and password (stored only as a secure hash). If you sign in with Google or Apple, I receive your email and name from that provider, never your password.
• Membership & billing — your tier and subscription status. Card payments are processed by Stripe; your card number never touches HtPi's servers. One-off class fees paid by PayMe, FPS or PayPal are recorded as payment references.
• Content you submit — lab discussions and replies, testimonials, and anything else you choose to post.
• Usage — reading progress on articles, your language preference, and standard technical logs (such as IP address and browser type) kept for security. If you accept analytics cookies (see section 6), I also collect aggregate, non-identifying statistics about which pages are read.

3 · How it is used

• Running the service — accounts, subscriptions, class registrations, and access to class materials.
• Transactional email — verification, password resets, receipts, and class confirmations. These are part of the service and are sent to all account holders.
• Member communications — from time to time I send newsletters, reminders when new writing is published, and information about upcoming classes. You can opt out of these at any time (see section 4).
• Moderation and safety — keeping the lab and the site healthy.

HtPi does not run third-party advertising, ad trackers, or sell-side profiling of any kind.

4 · Your email choices

Newsletters, article reminders and class announcements are optional. Every such email includes a way to unsubscribe, and you can also opt out by writing to the contact address above. Transactional messages (verification, password reset, billing) are still sent, as the service cannot operate without them.

5 · Sharing

I do not sell your data. It is shared only with the providers that run the service — Stripe for payment processing, an email delivery provider for sending mail, and cloud hosting/database infrastructure — each receiving only what it needs. If you accept analytics cookies, aggregate usage data is also processed by Google (Google Analytics), which may store it on servers outside Hong Kong; it is never given your name or email. Data may also be disclosed where the law requires it.

6 · Cookies & local storage

HtPi uses a session cookie to keep you signed in, and a language cookie plus browser local storage to remember your English/Chinese preference. These are essential and set without tracking you.

For analytics I use Google Analytics 4 with Google Consent Mode: on your first visit a banner asks whether to allow analytics cookies, and everything stays off until you choose. Only if you accept are any analytics cookies set or any data sent to Google — measuring which pages are read, without storing your IP address. Decline and nothing is loaded; your choice is remembered in your browser, and you can change it at any time by clearing site data. There are never any third-party advertising cookies.

7 · Public content

Parts of the lab are publicly readable, and approved testimonials are published with the name and role you provided. Please post with that in mind.

8 · Retention, account closure & discussion integrity

Your data is kept while your account is active. If you close your account or ask me to, your personal identifiers are removed. Because lab threads are conversations that other members contributed to, your posts may be retained in anonymised form — attributed to a neutral identifier such as "Former member #4F2A", with your name and account link removed. The same identifier is used across all of one author's posts (and differs between authors), so discussions stay readable without revealing who anyone was. If you want specific posts deleted outright, ask and I will accommodate where reasonable. Published testimonials are removed or anonymised on request.

9 · Your rights & security

Under Hong Kong's Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance you may request access to, and correction of, your personal data — write to the contact address above. Passwords are stored hashed, connections are encrypted (HTTPS), and access to production data is restricted.

10 · Children & changes

The service is not directed at children under 13. If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted here with a new effective date.