Privacy Policy
Lightning Rod · Effective 4 September 2026
The short version: Lightning Rod is a desktop application that runs entirely on one computer belonging to its only user. It has no server, no accounts, and no analytics. Data it reads from Google stays on that computer and is never transmitted to me, to any third party, or to anywhere else.
Who this covers
Lightning Rod is a private business-management application built and used by Trevor Linder, trading as Lightning Rod Studios, to run a concept art, illustration and mural practice. It is not distributed, sold or offered to the public, and it has exactly one user: its author.
What Google data the application accesses
With the account holder’s explicit authorisation, the application requests these Google API scopes:
Gmail — read only (gmail.readonly). Reads message senders, recipients, subjects, dates, text bodies and whether attachments are present, in order to file business correspondence against the correct client and project.
Gmail — compose (gmail.compose). Creates drafts only. The application contains no capability to send mail, and never sends anything on the user’s behalf.
Google Calendar (calendar, calendar.events). Reads existing events to schedule work around them, and writes only to a dedicated calendar the application creates for itself. It does not modify any other calendar.
Attachment contents are never downloaded. Only the fact that a message has an attachment is recorded.
How that data is used
Solely to operate the application for its single user:
Matching email correspondence to the right client, contact and project.
Identifying conversations awaiting a reply.
Preparing draft messages for the user to review and send themselves.
Planning work around existing calendar commitments.
The data is not used for advertising, profiling, model training, or any purpose unrelated to these functions.
How that data is stored
In a local SQLite database file on the user’s own computer, together with locally held backups. There is no cloud database, no hosted service, and no remote copy under my control. Access credentials are held in a local environment file, are never written to the database, and are never displayed, logged or transmitted.
How that data is shared
It is not. No Google user data is transferred to any other person, company, server or service. There are no third-party analytics, error-reporting, advertising or telemetry components in the application. Nothing is sold, and nothing is shared for any purpose.
Limited Use
Lightning Rod’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Retention and deletion
Locally stored correspondence is retained for as long as it remains useful as a business record. The user may revoke the application’s access at any time from their Google Account permissions page, and may delete the local database at any time, which removes all stored data permanently.
Children
The application is not directed at children and is not available to anyone other than its author.
Changes
If this policy changes, the revised version will be published at this address with an updated effective date.
Contact
Trevor Linder — Lightning Rod Studios
trevordesignlinder@gmail.com
Lightning Rod is private software with a single user. This page exists to satisfy the disclosure requirements of the Google API Services User Data Policy.