Privacy policy

Penguin Tree AI Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 20 April 2026  |  Last Updated: 25 May 2026  |  Version 2.0

Penguin Tree AI operates this store and website, including all related information, content, features, tools, products, and services (the “Services”). Penguin Tree AI is powered by Shopify, which enables us to provide the Services to you. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, and disclose personal information when you visit, use, or make a purchase or other transaction using the Services or otherwise communicate with us. If there is a conflict between our Terms of Service and this Privacy Policy, this Privacy Policy controls with respect to the collection, processing, and disclosure of your personal information.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using and accessing any of the Services, you acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Policy and understand the collection, use, and disclosure of your information as described here.

Quick Summary

We do not sell your personal information.

We do share certain device and usage information with Meta (Facebook & Instagram) and Google for cross-site advertising. You can opt out at penguintree.ai/pages/data-sharing-opt-out, or by enabling Global Privacy Control in your browser.

We collect customer information (name, email, address, transaction history) and, separately, Creator information (legal name, tax ID, banking details) under different legal bases and with different protections. Sensitive Creator information is never shared with marketing or analytics tools. Customer transaction records are retained for 7 years; Creator tax records for 7 years (IRS rules); other categories for shorter windows.

We do not use your personal information or any Submissions to train AI models. If we ever wanted to, we would obtain separate consent first.

If you are outside the United States, your local privacy law may grant you additional rights. Email hello@penguintree.ai to exercise them.

Personal Information We Collect or Process

When we use the term “personal information,” we are referring to information that identifies or can reasonably be linked to you or another person. Personal information does not include information that is collected anonymously or that has been de-identified. We may collect or process the following categories, depending on how you interact with the Services and where you live:

  • Contact details — your name, billing address, shipping address, phone number, and email address.

  • Account information — your username, password, security questions, preferences, and settings.

  • Payment-related information about customers — when you make a purchase, our payment processors (such as Shopify Payments, PayPal, or Shop Pay) handle your payment card or account information directly. We receive transaction confirmation details from these processors, including the last four digits of your payment card, billing address, transaction amount, and payment status, but we do not collect or store complete credit card numbers, CVV codes, or full bank account numbers from customers. Complete card data is handled by Shopify Payments and other payment processors under their own privacy policies.

  • Transaction information — items you view, add to cart, add to wishlist, purchase, return, exchange, or cancel, and your past transactions.

  • Communications — information you include in communications with us, such as customer support inquiries.

  • Device and technical information — information about your device, browser, or network connection, IP address, and other unique identifiers, collected via cookies and similar technologies as described in the “Cookies and Tracking Technologies” section below.

  • Usage information — how and when you interact with or navigate the Services.

Creator Information

If you participate in Penguin Tree AI as a Creator under the Creator Submission Agreement, we collect and process additional personal information necessary to operate the Creator program and meet our legal obligations:

  • Your legal name and mailing address (for tax reporting and contracts)

  • Your tax identification information (Social Security Number, Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or Employer Identification Number for U.S. persons; foreign tax identification for non-U.S. persons), collected via IRS Form W-9 or W-8BEN/W-8BEN-E

  • Your payout method details (ACH bank account number and routing number, PayPal email address, or Wise account information)

  • Your Submission history, earnings history, and payout history

  • Your public display name and any other information you provide for your Creator profile

How We Use Creator Information. We use this information to: (a) perform our obligations under the Creator Submission Agreement, including processing payouts; (b) comply with our legal obligations, including tax reporting (issuing IRS Form 1099-NEC to U.S. Creators where required, and applying backup withholding where required); (c) detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and money laundering; and (d) communicate with you about your Creator account and the Platform.

Three-Tier Wall-Off for Creator Data: We treat different categories of Creator information with different protections:

  • Sensitive Creator data — hard wall. Your Social Security Number, banking and routing numbers, tax forms, and payout history are never shared with marketing, advertising, or analytics tools. This data is stored securely and used solely for payout processing and tax reporting.

  • Creator browsing on the storefront — same treatment as customers. If you browse penguintree.ai while logged in as a Creator, your browsing activity is tracked the same way as any other customer’s, including via cookies and the third-party advertising and analytics tools described below. You have the same opt-out rights as customers, available at penguintree.ai/pages/data-sharing-opt-out.

  • Creator email lists — soft wall, opt-in required. We do not upload Creator email addresses to Meta, Google, or other advertising platforms as custom audiences for lookalike modeling or other audience-building purposes. If we ever wish to do so, we will request opt-in consent from Creators first.

How We Disclose Creator Information. We share Creator personal information with: payment processors (Shopify Payments, PayPal, Wise) to issue payouts; our tax filing service or accountant to issue 1099-NEC forms; the IRS and applicable state tax authorities as required by law; and otherwise as described in the “How We Disclose Personal Information” section below. We do not sell Creator information.

Personal Information Sources

We collect personal information from the following sources:

  • Directly from you — when you create an account, visit or use the Services, communicate with us, submit Creator content, or otherwise provide us with your personal information.

  • Automatically through the Services — from your device when you use our products or services or visit our websites, through cookies and similar technologies.

  • From our service providers — when we engage them to enable certain technology and when they collect or process your personal information on our behalf.

  • From our advertising and analytics partners — in some cases, Meta and Google provide us with aggregated information about how their users interact with our ads.

How We Use Your Personal Information

Depending on how you interact with us, we may use personal information for the following purposes:

  • Provide, Tailor, and Improve the Services. To process your payments, fulfill your orders, remember your preferences, send account notifications, manage your account, enable reviews, and create a customized shopping experience.

  • Marketing and Advertising. To send promotional communications by email; to show you ads on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and Google properties; to retarget you with relevant Penguin Tree AI ads on other websites; and to measure ad performance. We use customer email addresses, hashed and securely transmitted, to create matched audiences on Meta and Google. We do not currently use Creator email addresses for these purposes.

  • Security and Fraud Prevention. To authenticate your account, provide a secure payment experience, detect and investigate fraudulent activity, protect public safety, and secure our Services.

  • Communicating with You. To provide customer support and maintain our business relationship.

  • Legal Reasons. To comply with applicable law, respond to legal process, enforce our terms, and investigate violations.

AI Training. We do not use Creator Submissions, customer purchase data, customer Output, or any personal information to train artificial intelligence or machine learning models. If we ever want to use any such data for AI training in the future, we will obtain separate consent before doing so. Note that third-party AI model providers whose services you use to run Penguin Tree AI prompts (such as Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google) have their own policies on training data, which apply when you use their services.

Lawful Bases for Processing (for EU/UK residents). Where required by GDPR or UK GDPR, our lawful bases for processing your personal information are: contract performance (processing necessary to provide the Services and fulfill orders); legal obligation (tax reporting, recordkeeping, fraud prevention); legitimate interests (securing the Services, preventing fraud, marketing existing customers, improving the Services); and consent (for marketing communications to non-customers, for advertising cookies and pixels, and for any use of personal information for AI training in the future). You may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

How We Disclose Personal Information

We share personal information with the following categories of third parties for legitimate purposes subject to this Privacy Policy:

Operational and infrastructure subprocessors. These subprocessors receive only the personal information necessary to perform their functions on our behalf:

  • Shopify Inc. (Canada/US) — commerce platform, hosts the store, processes orders and Creator submissions

  • Shopify Payments (US) — customer payment processing

  • PayPal (US) — customer payment processing and Creator payouts

  • Wise (UK/global) — international Creator payouts

  • Google Workspace (US) — email and document storage

  • Filemonk (US) — digital file delivery for purchased Products

  • Judge.me (Global) — product review collection and display

Marketing and advertising partners. These partners receive device identifiers, page views, conversion events, and (for customer audience building) hashed email addresses for cross-site behavioral advertising and conversion measurement:

  • Meta Platforms (US) — Facebook and Instagram advertising, conversion tracking via Meta Pixel

  • Google (US) — Google Ads advertising, conversion tracking via Google Ads tag and Google Tag Manager

Analytics partners. These partners receive page views, session data, device information, and aggregated conversion data:

  • Google Analytics (US) — usage analytics

Tax and compliance service providers. Creator tax forms and 1099-NEC issuance data is shared with our accountant or tax filing service, and with the IRS and applicable state tax authorities, as required by law.

Business transfers. We may disclose personal information in connection with a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or bankruptcy, in which case the acquiring party will be bound by this Privacy Policy or a substantially similar one.

With your direction or consent. When you direct, request, or otherwise consent to disclosure to third parties.

To comply with legal obligations (including subpoenas, search warrants, and similar requests), to enforce our terms, and to protect our rights or those of our users.

No Sale of Personal Information; Sharing for Behavioral Advertising

No Sale. Penguin Tree AI does not sell your personal information for monetary or other valuable consideration. We do not, and will not, sell customer or Creator data to data brokers, advertising aggregators, or any other third party that would resell it. This is a foundational commitment.

Sharing for Cross-Context Behavioral Advertising. We do share certain device, usage, and identifier information with Meta and Google for cross-site behavioral advertising purposes (which qualifies as “sharing” under California law). You have the right to opt out of this sharing at any time at penguintree.ai/pages/data-sharing-opt-out, or by enabling the Global Privacy Control signal in your browser, which we automatically honor.

Sensitive Personal Information. Under California law, certain categories of personal information are designated as “sensitive,” including Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and precise geolocation. We collect Sensitive Personal Information only from Creators (tax identification numbers and banking information) and only for purposes of payout processing and tax reporting. We do not use Sensitive Personal Information for any purpose other than these strictly necessary functions. You have the right to limit our use of your Sensitive Personal Information; in practice, we already limit such use to what is strictly necessary.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We and our third-party partners use cookies, pixels, tags, and similar technologies to operate and improve the Services and to deliver advertising. The categories we use:

  • Strictly necessary cookies — required for the Services to function (shopping cart, login session, security). These cannot be disabled.

  • Functional cookies — remember preferences and personalize your experience.

  • Analytics cookies — help us understand how visitors use the Services. We use Google Analytics for this purpose.

  • Advertising cookies and pixels — used by Meta Pixel and Google Ads to track conversions, build audiences, and show you relevant ads. You can opt out at penguintree.ai/pages/data-sharing-opt-out, or by enabling Global Privacy Control.

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction that requires prior opt-in consent for non-essential cookies, please note that we are working to implement a region-appropriate cookie consent banner. In the interim, if you are in such a region and would prefer that we delete any tracking data collected during your visit, please contact us at hello@penguintree.ai.

Relationship with Shopify

The Services are hosted by Shopify, which collects and processes personal information about your access to and use of the Services in order to provide and improve the Services for you. Information you submit to the Services will be transmitted to and shared with Shopify as well as third parties that may be located in countries other than where you reside. In addition, to help protect, grow, and improve our business, we use certain Shopify enhanced features that incorporate data and information obtained from your interactions with our Store, along with other merchants and with Shopify. In these circumstances, Shopify is responsible for the processing of your personal information, including for responding to your requests to exercise your rights. To learn more, visit the Shopify Consumer Privacy Policy at shopify.com/legal/privacy/app-users. Depending on where you live, you may exercise certain rights with respect to your personal information at privacy.shopify.com.

Third Party Websites and Links

The Services may provide links to websites or other online platforms operated by third parties. If you follow links to sites not affiliated or controlled by us, you should review their privacy and security policies. We do not guarantee and are not responsible for the privacy or security of such sites. Our inclusion of links does not imply endorsement.

Children’s Data

The Services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at hello@penguintree.ai and we will delete it. For Creators specifically, the Creator Submission Agreement requires Creators to be at least 18 years old. For California residents between 13 and 16, we do not sell or share their personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising without opt-in consent.

Security and Retention of Your Information

We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. No security measures are perfect, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. We recommend that you do not use unsecure channels to communicate sensitive or confidential information to us.

We retain different categories of personal information for different lengths of time:

  • Customer account information — life of your account plus 3 years after closure

  • Customer transaction records (orders, refunds, chargebacks) — 7 years following the transaction (for tax recordkeeping and dispute resolution)

  • Customer support communications — 3 years following the communication

  • Marketing communication records — as long as you are subscribed plus 3 years after unsubscribe

  • Creator account information — life of your Creator account plus 3 years after closure

  • Creator tax records (W-9/W-8BEN forms, 1099-NEC issuance, payout records) — 7 years following the close of the relevant tax year, as required by IRS recordkeeping rules

  • Device, usage, and analytics data — 24 months from collection, after which it is deleted or aggregated/anonymized

  • Records under legal hold, investigation, or pending litigation — duration of the matter plus applicable statute of limitations

Your Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the rights listed below in relation to your personal information. These rights are not absolute, may apply only in certain circumstances, and we may decline requests as permitted by law.

  • Right to Access / Know. Request access to personal information we hold about you.

  • Right to Delete. Request that we delete personal information we maintain about you.

  • Right to Correct. Request that we correct inaccurate personal information.

  • Right to Portability. Receive a copy of your personal information in a portable format and request transfer to a third party.

  • Right to Object / Restrict Processing (EU/UK residents). Object to certain processing and request restriction of processing in defined circumstances.

  • Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing for Targeted Advertising. Opt out of the “sharing” of your personal information for cross-site behavioral advertising at penguintree.ai/pages/data-sharing-opt-out. We automatically honor the Global Privacy Control signal.

  • Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information (California residents). Direct us to limit use of Sensitive Personal Information to what is strictly necessary; as noted above, we already do this by default.

  • Managing Communication Preferences. Opt out of promotional emails using the unsubscribe link in any marketing email. You may still receive non-promotional emails about your account or orders.

You may exercise these rights by contacting us at hello@penguintree.ai. We respond within 30 days, or as required by applicable law. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights. We may need to verify your identity before processing requests. You may designate an authorized agent to make requests on your behalf, provided the agent furnishes proof of authorization and we may also verify your identity directly.

International Visitors and Data Transfers

Penguin Tree AI is based in California, United States. Personal information is stored and processed primarily in the United States. If you access the Services from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to, stored in, and processed in the United States.

For visitors from the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, Switzerland, or other jurisdictions with comprehensive data protection law: You may have additional rights under your local law. We will honor those rights in good faith. To exercise any right, contact hello@penguintree.ai. Where required, we rely on appropriate transfer mechanisms such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, or recognized adequacy decisions. We are continuing to develop our international compliance program; if you have concerns about how your information is handled, please contact us before lodging a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

Complaints

If you have complaints about how we process your personal information, please contact us first using the contact details below. We take complaints seriously and will respond promptly. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority — we encourage you to contact us first so we can attempt to resolve any concern directly.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, including to reflect changes to our practices, new tools we adopt, or operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will post the revised Privacy Policy on this website, update the “Last Updated” date, and provide notice as required by applicable law. Material changes will be communicated by email to active customers and Creators at least 30 days before they take effect.

Contact

Questions about our privacy practices or this Privacy Policy, or to exercise any of the rights described above: hello@penguintree.ai

Penguin Tree AI

PO Box 101

Cobb, CA 95426

United States