Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026

The Software Factory is a software-engineering blog and consulting site owned and operated by Yoshiko Studios LLC ("we," "us," or "our"). Your privacy is important to us. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, and share information in connection with your use of our website and newsletter.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information about you only when we have a reason to do so — for example, to send you the newsletter you asked for, to communicate with you, or to improve our offerings.

1.1 Information You Provide to Us

Newsletter signup. When you subscribe to The Software Factory newsletter, we collect the email address you submit. Subscriptions are single opt-in: your address becomes active immediately and you receive a welcome email. You can unsubscribe at any time (see Section 5).
Communications. If you email us or otherwise contact us directly, we keep a copy of that correspondence.

1.2 Information We Collect Automatically

Usage data. Aggregate information about how the site is used (e.g., page views), used to maintain and improve the site.
Email engagement. Our email provider (see Section 3) records whether newsletter emails are opened or links clicked, so we can understand engagement and improve what we send.

1.3 Third-Party Links

Our site and emails may contain links to third-party sites and services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties; your interactions with them are governed by their own policies.

2. How and Why We Use Information

We use the information we collect to:

Deliver the newsletter you subscribed to and any related welcome or confirmation messages.
Improve the site and newsletter by understanding which content is read and useful.
Protect the service and our users by detecting and preventing abuse, fraud, and spam.
Comply with the law and respond to lawful requests.

2.1 Legal Basis

Our legal basis for sending you the newsletter and processing your email address is your consent, which you give when you submit the signup form. You may withdraw consent at any time by unsubscribing. For individuals in the EU/UK, we may also rely on our legitimate interests in operating and securing the site, or on compliance with a legal obligation.

We share information only in limited circumstances and with appropriate safeguards. We do not sell your personal data.

Email service provider (Kit). We use Kit (formerly ConvertKit) as our third-party email processor to store our subscriber list and to send the newsletter. Your email address and engagement data are stored and processed by Kit on our behalf, subject to Kit's privacy policy. Newsletter email is sent from our authenticated thesoftwarefactory.blog domain.
Service providers. We may share information with other vendors who help us operate the site, subject to confidentiality and data-protection commitments.
Legal requirements. We may disclose information in response to a subpoena, court order, or other lawful governmental request.
Protection of rights. We may disclose information when we believe in good faith it is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Yoshiko Studios LLC, our users, or the public.
Business transfers. In a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, subscriber information may be transferred subject to this Privacy Policy.
Aggregated or de-identified data. We may share information that can no longer reasonably identify you.

4. Data Retention

We keep your email address and subscription record in Kit for as long as you remain subscribed. If you unsubscribe, your address is marked inactive in Kit; we may retain a suppression record as needed to honor your unsubscribe request and to comply with anti-spam law.

5. Your Choices

Unsubscribe / manage your subscription. Every newsletter email — including the welcome email — contains an unsubscribe link and a link to manage your subscription preferences. These are secure, tokenized pages hosted by Kit; clicking unsubscribe stops all newsletter email immediately. You do not need an account or a password to use them.
Email engagement. You can block tracking pixels in your email client to limit open/click measurement.
Contact us. You may also ask us to remove your data by contacting us at the address in Section 9.

6. Security

No online service is 100% secure, but we take reasonable measures to protect your information against unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction. Our newsletter API key is held server-side only and is never exposed in the website or browser.

7. Your Rights

If you are in a jurisdiction subject to the GDPR or UK GDPR, you have the right to request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data; to object to or restrict its processing; to data portability; and to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. You may withdraw consent at any time by unsubscribing.

7.2 California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

California residents have the right to request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected (for the newsletter, this is your email address and email-engagement data), to request its deletion, and to not receive discriminatory treatment for exercising these rights. We do not sell personal information.

7.3 Exercising Your Rights

To exercise any of these rights, unsubscribe via the link in any email or contact us at the address in Section 9. We will verify your identity before acting on a request.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the revised policy on this page and update the "Last updated" date above.

9. Contact

Yoshiko Studios LLC is the data controller for the information described here.

Email: hello@yoshikostudios.com
Mailing address: 3218 153rd Ave SE, Snohomish WA 98290

10. Attribution

Portions of this privacy policy were adapted from the template created by Automattic, available under a Creative Commons Sharealike license.