1. Purpose of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) explains how Doug Haus Limited (trading as Animated Company, Fossa, and Tether) collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data when you:

visit our websites (including www.animatedcompany.com, fossa.studio, and any subdomains);
use our applications and plugins, including Fossa Tether (“Tether”);
create an account;
sign up for newsletters, early access, or exclusive content; or
upload files or other content for AI processing.

This Policy should be read together with our Terms of Service and any product-specific terms (for example, the Tether Terms of Service & End User License Agreement).

Our services are intended only for individuals aged 18 or older.

2. Who We Are (Data Controller)

Doug Haus Limited
Company number: 12575627
Registered in England and Wales
Trading names: Animated Company, Fossa, Tether

Doug Haus Limited is the Data Controller for personal data processed through our websites, applications, and services.

You can contact us at:
📧 hello@animatedcompany.com
📮 2 Eastbourne Terrace, W2 6LG, London, United Kingdom

3. The Data We Collect

We collect the following types of personal data.

3.1 Information you provide directly

Name
Email address
Account login details
Billing details and payment information (processed by third-party payment processors; we do not store full card details)
Files and media you upload (e.g. images, videos, prompts, project metadata)
Support requests and other communications with us
Waitlist / early access sign-up details (e.g., name, email, country/location, company/role if provided, and any preferences you submit via forms)

3.2 Data from your use of our Services

When you use our websites, applications, or plugins (including Tether), we automatically collect:

IP address and approximate location (based on IP)
Browser type and version
Device and operating system information
Log data about how you use the Services (pages visited, features used, timestamps, error logs)
Cookie data and similar identifiers (see our Cookie Policy)

For Tether and other plugins, we may additionally collect:

A hashed representation of your license key or subscription identifier
License tier, usage quota, and job consumption
Adobe After Effects version and basic environment information
Composition metadata needed to run the job (e.g. resolution, frame rate, duration, format)
Job-level technical data (job IDs, configuration parameters, status events, error codes)

We do not inspect or store your full AE project files unless you explicitly send them to us for support.

3.3 Content you upload

When you use our AI processing Services, we process:

Source media files (images, frames, footage, videos)
Text prompts and instructions
Reference frames or stills
Output files generated by our models

These may sometimes include personal data (for example, if a real person’s face appears in your content).

3.4 Aggregated / anonymised data

We may create aggregated or anonymised statistics derived from your use of the Services (for example, total number of jobs run at a given resolution, error rates, or performance metrics). This data does not identify you and is not treated as personal data.

4. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

4.1 To provide and operate the Services

Accepting uploads, rendering AI previews and final outputs
Running style transfer and video transformation jobs
Maintaining queues, job histories, and technical logs
Operating plugins such as Tether (including license validation and usage tracking)

Legal basis: contract necessity (UK GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)).

4.2 To manage your account and purchases

Account registration and authentication
Managing subscriptions, credits, invoices, and payment status
Tracking usage against your plan or license

Legal basis: contract necessity and legitimate interests.

4.3 To communicate with you

Responding to support tickets and technical questions
Sending service-related notifications (for example, maintenance, security notices, major product changes)
Sending optional marketing communications (only where permitted)

Legal basis: contract necessity, legitimate interests, or consent (for certain marketing channels).

4.4 Early Access, exclusive content & newsletters

If you sign up to a waitlist, early access list, newsletter, or to receive exclusive content, we use the information you provide (typically name, email address, and any optional fields such as location, company/role, or interests) to:

send you the updates/content you requested (including early access invitations, product announcements, and related news);
manage your preferences; and
measure email engagement (for example, delivery, opens, and link clicks) where enabled.

We use ActiveCampaign as an email marketing and automation provider to manage these communications.

Legal basis: consent (UK GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)) for waitlist/newsletter marketing.
You can withdraw consent at any time using the unsubscribe link in any email or by contacting us at hello@animatedcompany.com.

4.5 To improve and protect the Services

Monitoring performance, reliability, and crash reports
Debugging issues and analysing failures
Preventing fraud, abuse, and unauthorized use
Analysing aggregated usage patterns to refine features and workflows

Legal basis: legitimate interests (to operate and improve our Services and protect our business and users).

4.6 Safety checks, NSFW filtering, and deepfake abuse prevention

To enforce our terms and comply with applicable law, we may:

use automated tools (for example, classifiers and pattern-matching) to detect:
- sexually explicit or pornographic content, particularly content involving or appearing to involve minors;
- non-consensual or harmful “deepfakes”;
- hate, harassment, or other prohibited content;
- malware or other security threats; and
block or cancel certain jobs, limit access, or review limited samples of content where our systems indicate likely policy violations.

Where legally permitted, members of our team may review a small subset of content (for example, where you request support or where automated systems flag potential abuse).

Legal basis: legitimate interests (to keep the service safe and lawful) and, where relevant, legal obligation.

You can contact us if you believe a safety decision has been made in error.

4.7 Legal compliance

We may process and retain certain data to:

comply with tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations;
respond to lawful requests by public authorities;
establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

Legal basis: legal obligation and legitimate interests.

5. No AI Training on Your Content

We do not:

use your uploaded files or generated outputs to train or fine-tune our AI models;
build user-specific models based on your projects; or
sell your content or use it for unrelated model-development purposes.

Your files may pass through or be temporarily stored on third-party infrastructure (for example, AWS, GCP, Runpod) solely to run the jobs you request and maintain system reliability and security.

We may use aggregated and anonymised usage statistics (for example, counts of render types, resolutions, or error rates) to improve the Services. These statistics do not include your identifiable content.

If we ever wish to use content or outputs for training or R&D beyond simple service provision, we will obtain your separate explicit consent.

6. Legal Bases for Processing (UK GDPR)

Under UK GDPR, we rely on the following legal bases:

Contract necessity – to provide the Services you request (account, uploads, renders, subscriptions).
Legitimate interests – to improve the Services, run analytics, prevent fraud and abuse, enforce our terms, and market similar services (unless you opt out where applicable).
Consent – for waitlist/newsletter marketing and for non-essential cookies or similar technologies.
Legal obligation – for tax, accounting, regulatory requirements, and responding to lawful requests.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we balance our interests against your rights and expectations and implement safeguards.

7. How Your Uploads Are Stored and Processed

7.1 Storage

We store:

uploaded files and intermediate data;
generated outputs;
job metadata (e.g. timestamps, job IDs, technical configuration);

only for as long as reasonably necessary to:

provide the Services and allow you to download results;
support limited re-renders or troubleshooting;
maintain security and system integrity; and
comply with legal obligations and enforce our agreements.

You can typically delete files, outputs, and jobs via your account or by contacting us. When you:

delete a specific render/order; or
delete your account,

we will permanently delete associated uploads, outputs, and metadata from our active systems, subject to any data we are legally required or permitted to retain (for example, billing records, basic logs for security and fraud-prevention).

7.2 Processing

Your files are processed server-side using models and infrastructure hosted and controlled by Doug Haus Limited and our infrastructure providers.

We do not run inference on your local machine beyond what is necessary for the plugin UI (for example, preparing and sending data to the server).

7.3 Geography and transfers

We may process your data in:

the United Kingdom;
the European Economic Area (EEA);
the United States;
Singapore; and/or
other jurisdictions where our trusted providers operate.

When we transfer personal data outside the UK/EEA, we use appropriate safeguards such as:

UK-approved Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs); and
technical and organisational measures to protect confidentiality and integrity.

8. Telemetry, Analytics & Third-Party Providers

8.1 Telemetry and plugin data (including Tether)

To keep the Services running smoothly and securely, we may collect telemetry such as:

hashed license or subscription identifiers;
license tier and remaining usage quota;
basic environment data (e.g. AE version, OS, composition resolution and frame rate);
job status events (job start, completion, failure) and error logs.

We use this data to:

validate licenses and enforce usage limits;
monitor performance and compatibility;
investigate crashes, errors, and abuse;
improve reliability and user experience.

We do not sell telemetry data to third parties.

8.2 Third-party processors

We share personal data only with trusted service providers who process data on our behalf, including:

Cloud infrastructure providers (e.g. AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Runpod);
Payment processors (e.g. LemonSqueezy, Stripe, Shopify Payments);
Analytics providers (e.g. Google Analytics, Plausible);
Customer support tools (e.g. Zendesk, Intercom);
Logging and monitoring services;
Email marketing and automation providers (ActiveCampaign).

These providers are bound by contracts and may only process your data in accordance with our instructions and applicable law.

We never sell your personal data.

9. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the following rights (subject to certain conditions and exceptions):

Access – obtain a copy of your personal data and certain details about its processing.
Rectification – correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Erasure – request deletion of your personal data (“right to be forgotten”) in certain circumstances.
Restriction – request temporary restriction of processing.
Objection – object to processing based on legitimate interests or to direct marketing.
Data portability – receive certain data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and transmit it to another controller.
Withdraw consent – where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting prior lawful processing.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@animatedcompany.com.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data.

10. Marketing Communications

10.1 Waitlist / newsletter marketing (consent)

If you join a waitlist, early access list, newsletter, or request exclusive content, we send these communications based on your consent. You can unsubscribe at any time.

10.2 Customer marketing (where permitted)

If you are an existing customer, we may send you marketing about similar products and services where permitted by applicable law (typically on a legitimate interests basis). You can opt out at any time.

You can opt out by:

clicking the unsubscribe link in marketing emails; or
contacting us at hello@animatedcompany.com.

Opting out of marketing does not affect service or transactional communications (for example, payment or security notices).

11. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this Policy, including:

Account data: while your account is active and for a reasonable period thereafter if needed for legal or operational reasons.
Uploads and outputs: until you delete them or your account, or until they are no longer needed to provide the Services.
Telemetry and logs: for a limited period to improve reliability, investigate issues, and maintain security.
Transactional and billing records: typically six years to comply with tax and accounting obligations in the UK.
Waitlist / marketing list data: until you unsubscribe or request deletion; we may also periodically delete or anonymise inactive sign-ups after a reasonable period.

If you are inactive for a prolonged period (for example, 18 months), we may close your account and delete or anonymise personal data, after providing notice where practicable.

12. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, such as:

encryption in transit and at rest where appropriate;
access controls and least-privilege principles;
secure infrastructure and network protections;
logging, monitoring, and intrusion detection.

However, no system is completely secure. You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential and taking reasonable precautions on your own devices.

13. Children

Our Services are not intended for individuals under 18. We do not knowingly collect or process personal data from anyone under 18. If we learn that we have collected such data, we will delete it.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top and may provide additional notice (for example, via the Website, email, or plugin notices) where appropriate.

Your continued use of the Services after any changes become effective will constitute your acknowledgment of the updated Policy.

15. Contact Information

For any privacy questions, concerns, or requests about your rights, please contact:

📧 hello@animatedcompany.com
📮 Doug Haus Limited
2 Eastbourne Terrace
London W2 6LG
United Kingdom

16. Definitions

Personal Data: any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual.
Processing: any operation performed on personal data (such as collection, storage, use, disclosure, or deletion).
Data Controller: the entity that determines the purposes and means of processing personal data.
Data Processor: a third party that processes personal data on behalf of the controller.

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