Zinely — Privacy Policy
Last updated: 30 October 2026
Zinely is an offline app for making printable zines. This policy covers the Android app, this website, and feedback you choose to send to Aastra. Aastra is the independent two-person team behind Zinely.
The short version
The Zinely Android app collects no information from you. It uploads nothing and has no servers.
Your zines stay on your phone unless you save, share or back them up.
The app has no account, no sign-in, no analytics, no advertising, no tracking, and no crash reporting. Because Zinely does not request internet access, it cannot send your information over the internet, even by accident.
Feedback is separate. If you send a Google Form or an email, the team receives what you choose to share. You do not need to send feedback to use the app.
What Zinely stores, and where
Zinely keeps its data in its own private storage on your phone:
- Your zines: pages, text, layout and settings.
- Photos you add to a zine: Zinely keeps a copy of each photo you choose inside its private storage. Your zine still opens if you later move or delete the original photo.
No other app can read this private storage. Files leave it only when you save, share, or back up your work. You do this through Android’s system file tools.
Permissions Zinely asks for, and why
| Permission | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Photo picker (no permission required) | When you add a photo | Zinely uses the Android photo picker. You choose single photos. Zinely never gets access to your whole photo library. |
WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE — Android 9 and older only |
The first time you save a PDF | Zinely needs it to write your PDF to your Downloads folder. On Android 10 and newer, Zinely uses the system’s scoped Downloads feature and asks for no permission. Zinely writes only the export file you asked for. On these Android versions, Android also gives read access to shared storage (READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) with this permission. Zinely uses it only to check free space and which file names are already taken in Downloads. It does not open your photos or other files. |
| System file picker (no permission required) | When you make or restore a backup | You choose the backup file and where it goes. Zinely gets access only to the file you pick in Android’s picker. |
| Vibration (no prompt) | When you use certain controls | Gives a short buzz when you touch a control. It gives Zinely no access to personal information. |
Zinely does not request the INTERNET permission. Its older storage permission is only for
Android 9 and older. Its vibration permission gives no access to personal information.
What leaves your device, and only when you ask
Nothing leaves Zinely’s private storage unless you ask:
- Save PDF writes a PDF of your zine to your Downloads folder. There it is an ordinary file on your phone, and you control it.
- Share gives a PDF to Android’s share sheet so you can send it yourself. The app you choose then decides what happens to it. Zinely is not involved.
- Back up writes a
.zinebackup to the place you choose in Android’s file picker. The backup stays under your control. You can use it to restore your library later. - Restore reads only the
.zinebackup you select. It adds the valid contents to Zinely’s private storage on your phone.
Zinely never uploads your work or syncs it automatically. Saving, sharing, backing up, and restoring happen only when you ask, with files and places you choose.
Children
The Zinely Android app does not collect personal information from anyone, including children. It has no account, no profile, and no way inside the app to message or talk to other people.
Deleting your data
Delete a zine in the app to remove its private working copy. Uninstall Zinely to remove the app’s
private library. PDFs and .zine backups that you saved outside the app stay where you put them.
Delete them yourself if you no longer want them.
Please note: Zinely has no cloud backup. Before you uninstall or change phones, make a new backup from Backups. Keep it somewhere you control. Without a valid backup, uninstalling deletes the private library, and Zinely cannot get it back.
Changes to this policy
The “Last updated” date shows the latest revision. This revision rewrites the policy in plainer words. It does not change how the app, this website or feedback handle your information. It also explains a storage permission that Android adds on Android 9 and older.
This website
The Zinely website has no analytics, advertising, or third-party fonts. GitHub Pages hosts it, so GitHub may process standard technical data to serve the site. The GitHub General Privacy Statement applies. This hosting does not change how the Zinely Android app handles your information.
Feedback and email
Feedback is optional. If you use the Google Forms feedback form, the team receives your message and the time you sent it. If you give them, the team also receives the feedback category and your reply email. Only the message is required. The form does not ask for your name, file uploads, or automatic app diagnostics.
If you email aritr.g06@gmail.com, the team receives your message, your email address, any sender name your email service supplies, and any attachments you choose to send. Screenshots or short screen recordings can help explain a problem, but you never have to send them. Please hide private photos, notifications, names, and other personal information first.
The team uses feedback to understand problems, improve Zinely, and reply if you give an email address. It is not used for marketing and is not sold. Identifiable feedback is kept private. It is not published in public response summaries or development issues. Development notes may describe the problem or idea without identifying you.
Google services
Google Forms hosts the feedback form, and the contact inbox uses Gmail. Google processes what you submit. It may also process technical information such as your IP address, browser or device information, and cookies, under the Google Privacy Policy. If you leave the optional email field blank, Google may still process information about your visit. These services are separate from the offline Android app. The app sends no zines or diagnostics automatically.
Retention and deletion
The team deletes identifiable feedback within 90 days of receiving it. This covers form responses, feedback emails, attachments, and copies in spreadsheets or downloaded files. Only development notes that do not identify you may be kept longer. This is a cleanup commitment that the team manages. It is not an automatic Google Forms deletion setting. Google’s privacy policy governs Google’s own retention and deletion.
To ask for earlier deletion of feedback you sent, email aritr.g06@gmail.com. Give enough detail to find it, such as the approximate date and topic. If you did not give an email address, we may not be able to identify your response reliably. Please do not send identity documents or other sensitive information.
Contact
Questions about this policy or about how Zinely handles your information: