Privacy Policy

Last updated: 25 August 2026

1. Who is responsible?

Westson V.O.F., trading as Stitchonomy and The Pattern Club, is responsible for processing personal data through The Pattern Club.

• Address: Vlamingstraat 9, 2712 BZ Zoetermeer, the Netherlands
• Email for privacy questions and requests: info@stitchonomy.nl
• The Pattern Club customer support: help@thepatternclub.com
• Website: https://thepatternclub.com/

In this policy, “we”, “us” and “The Pattern Club” refer to Westson V.O.F. Alyssa Westhoek is the privacy contact. This wording does not state that a formal Data Protection Officer has been appointed.

2. Who does this policy cover?

This policy applies to visitors, customers, members, Stitch Along participants, recipients of free patterns and newsletters, affiliates and people who contact us. It applies to both the English and Dutch versions of the website.

3. What data do we process?

Depending on how you use The Pattern Club, we process:

• contact and account data, such as your name, email address, username, language and country;
• order, invoice and subscription data, such as products ordered, amount, currency, VAT, payment status, subscription status and billing address;
• limited payment information received from payment providers; we do not store your full card details ourselves;
• membership and access data for both current WooCommerce Subscriptions members and legacy Paid Memberships Pro (PMPro) members;
• download, Stitch Along, preference and usage data, including content connected to your account;
• configurator data, including designs you save and feedback you choose to submit;
• community and support data, including messages, submissions and correspondence;
• newsletter preferences, consent, unsubscribes and email delivery and engagement information;
• data used for advertising personalisation or Customer Match, but only when you have given separate consent;
• affiliate data, such as name, email address, PayPal address, referrals, commissions and payouts;
• technical and security data, such as IP address, browser, device, timestamps, errors and security logs;
• cookie and similar identifiers, to the extent allowed by your cookie choice.

We do not intentionally ask for special-category data, such as health data, religion or political opinions. Do not include such information in free-text fields, designs or community posts unless it is necessary. If you choose to provide it, we will process it only where necessary and legally permitted.

4. Why do we process data and what is our legal basis?

Performance of a contract

We process data to:

• create and manage accounts;
• fulfil orders, payments and downloads;
• manage memberships and recurring payments;
• provide access to patterns, Stitch Alongs, downloads, community features and member content;
• provide support and handle complaints, cancellations and withdrawal requests;
• operate the affiliate programme and pay commissions.

Legal obligation

We process and retain data where required for tax, accounting, consumer-law or other legal obligations.

Consent

We ask for consent for matters including:

• non-essential cookies and similar technologies;
• newsletters and commercial email where consent is required;
• Customer Match and similar advertising purposes;
• other optional processing clearly described next to the relevant form.

You may withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawal applies going forward and is as easy as giving consent. Refusing marketing consent does not prevent you from receiving a free pattern you requested.

Legitimate interests

Where appropriate, we process data for security, fraud prevention, resolving technical errors, limited business analysis, protecting our rights and improving our service. We balance those interests against your privacy rights. We do not use legitimate interests as a substitute for required consent to non-essential tracking.

5. Free patterns and newsletters

We may use your email address to make a free pattern you requested available or to send a service message about that request. Signing up for recurring inspiration, offers or other marketing is a separate, optional choice. The marketing checkbox is unticked by default. You still receive the free pattern if you do not consent to marketing.

Every marketing email contains an unsubscribe option. After an unsubscribe, we retain only the minimum suppression data needed to avoid subscribing you again unintentionally.

6. Memberships and subscriptions

New or current members may be managed through WooCommerce and WooCommerce Subscriptions. Legacy members may still be managed through PMPro. The same privacy rights apply in both systems. Their technical processing and cancellation routes differ, so we test both routes separately.

We process subscription status, payment history and access entitlements to provide access, run renewals, handle failed payments and process cancellations. We do not use this data for a solely automated decision that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

7. Configurator, Stitch Alongs and community

When you save designs in the Stitchonomini configurator, they are linked to your account until you delete them, your account is deleted or retention is no longer necessary. Feedback you choose to submit may include your email address, account details, technical data and the relevant design.

Stitch Along preferences, participation status and access data are used to administer participation and access. A separate clean-up process may apply to inactive free accounts. Where applicable, you will receive advance notice and a reasonable opportunity to retain your account before access or saved data is removed for prolonged inactivity.

Content you post visibly in a community may be seen by other members. Do not post personal information you do not wish to share.

8. Who receives data?

We do not sell personal data. We share data only where needed with categories of recipients such as:

• hosting, security, backup and technical service providers, including SiteGround;
• website and commerce tools, including WordPress, WooCommerce, WooCommerce Subscriptions and PMPro;
• payment providers offered at checkout, such as PayPal and/or Stripe;
• email and automation providers, including Mailchimp;
• analytics, advertising and platform services, including Google and Meta, but only with valid consent for non-essential tracking or Customer Match;
• professional advisers, accounting providers and competent authorities where legally required.

Some providers act as independent controllers for their own processing, including certain payment providers. Their own privacy policies may also apply.

9. Transfers outside the European Economic Area

Some providers process data outside the European Economic Area. Where this occurs, we use a valid transfer mechanism, such as an adequacy decision, the EU–US Data Privacy Framework for a certified recipient, or European Commission-approved Standard Contractual Clauses, supplemented by appropriate safeguards where necessary.

10. Cookies

Essential cookies may be used to operate the website, checkout, security, language choice and account features. Analytics, advertising and other non-essential cookies are set only after you consent. You can change your choice later through the website’s cookie settings.

Affiliate referrals and related cookies or logs are used only in line with applicable cookie rules. The separate cookie policy and cookie banner contain more information, including current retention periods and providers.

11. How long do we retain data?

We do not retain personal data longer than necessary. Our intended retention periods are:

• invoices, payments and data forming part of tax records: generally 7 years;
• account and membership data: for the life of the account or membership and for up to 12 months afterwards, except where records are needed longer for accounting, a dispute or a legal obligation;
• marketing data: until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent, followed by minimum suppression data;
• saved configurator designs: until you delete them, your account is deleted or the service ends;
• configurator feedback and ordinary support correspondence: generally up to 24 months after closure, unless longer retention is demonstrably necessary;
• non-financial affiliate profile data: during participation and up to 12 months afterwards; financial commission and payout records may be kept for 7 years;
• technical security and error logs: generally up to 12 months, unless an incident requires longer investigation;
• backup data: until overwritten through the normal secure backup cycle.

If current technology does not yet enforce a stated period automatically, the retention control must be implemented and tested before this wording is published as final.

12. Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures, including access controls, encrypted connections, updates, backups, logging and encryption where appropriate. No system is entirely risk-free. If a personal data breach occurs, we follow the legal notification and information requirements.

13. Your rights

You may ask us to:

• give you access to your personal data;
• correct inaccurate data;
• erase data;
• restrict processing;
• provide data you supplied in a portable format;
• stop processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
• record withdrawal of consent;
• provide an explanation and human review of a relevant automated decision.

Send requests to info@stitchonomy.nl. We may ask for further information where reasonably necessary to verify your identity. We normally respond within one month.

You may also complain to the Dutch Data Protection Authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, at https://autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl/.

14. Children

The Pattern Club is not directed at children under 18, and we do not knowingly enter into paid memberships with minors without valid consent from a parent or legal guardian.

15. Changes

We may update this policy when our services or the law change. The date at the top shows the latest update. We will provide appropriate notice of material changes.

16. Contact

For privacy questions or requests:

Westson V.O.F. / Stitchonomy / The Pattern Club Vlamingstraat 9 2712 BZ Zoetermeer The Netherlands info@stitchonomy.nl