This Privacy Policy describes how Merkra (“we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, and protects information when you use the LEWCA plugin and the lewca.com website. We are committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about our data practices.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide

• Account and license information: When you purchase a Pro license or start a free trial, we collect your email address, site URL, and payment information (processed by our payment provider — we do not store credit card numbers).
• Support requests: When you contact support, we collect your email address, subject, and message content.
• Founding Partners applications: Name, email address, website URL, and optionally your WordPress version.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

• License validation: When you activate a Pro license or trial, your site URL (or a hashed version) and license key are sent to lewca.com to verify license status. This occurs at activation and daily via a background check.
• AI fix requests (Pro only): When you request an AI-generated accessibility fix, the specific HTML snippet and issue context are sent to lewca.com for processing. Only the relevant code block is transmitted — not your entire page content.
• Website analytics: We use privacy-respecting analytics on lewca.com to understand how visitors use our website. We do not use invasive tracking or sell visitor data.

1.3 Information That Stays on Your Server

The majority of LEWCA’s functionality operates entirely within your WordPress installation. The following data never leaves your server:

• Accessibility toolbar rendering and all visitor toolbar interactions
• Visitor disability profile preferences (stored in the visitor’s browser localStorage)
• WCAG scan results and accessibility scores
• Plugin settings and toolbar configuration
• Generated accessibility statements
• Compliance reports (PDF/CSV exports)

For a detailed technical breakdown, see our Privacy Architecture documentation.

2. Third-Party Services

LEWCA uses the following third-party services, each of which can be independently disabled by administrators:

• LibreTranslate: When visitors use the toolbar’s translation feature, visible page text and the target language are sent for translation. LibreTranslate is an open-source translation engine. No personally identifiable visitor information is included.
• Dictionary API: When visitors use the word lookup feature, the selected word is sent to a dictionary API. No visitor identification or page context is included.

Administrators can disable both translation and dictionary features in the LEWCA Button Manager, which stops all data transmission to these services.

3. Cookies and Local Storage

The LEWCA plugin does not set cookies. Visitor toolbar preferences (profile selections, text size, contrast settings, etc.) are stored in the visitor’s browser using localStorage. This data is not accessible to your server or to us. Visitors can clear these preferences by clearing their browser data.

The lewca.com website may use essential cookies for session management and analytics.

4. How We Use Your Information

• To provide and maintain the LEWCA plugin and services
• To process license purchases and manage your subscription
• To verify license validity and prevent unauthorized use
• To provide AI-powered accessibility fix suggestions (Pro)
• To respond to support requests
• To send transactional emails (license confirmations, trial notifications, support responses)
• To improve our products and services

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.

5. Data Retention

• License records: Retained for the duration of your license plus 12 months after expiration for support and re-activation purposes.
• AI fix request data: HTML snippets sent for AI processing are retained for up to 30 days for quality improvement, then permanently deleted.
• Support requests: Retained for up to 24 months after resolution.
• Founding Partner applications: Retained for the duration of the program plus 12 months.
• Local plugin data: Scan results, scores, and settings are stored in your WordPress database and retained until you delete them or uninstall the plugin.

6. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including encryption in transit (TLS/HTTPS), secure server infrastructure, and access controls. However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Your Rights (GDPR and Similar Laws)

If you are located in the European Union, United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with applicable data protection laws, you have the following rights:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate data
• Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data
• Portability: Request a machine-readable copy of your data
• Restriction: Request that we limit processing of your data
• Objection: Object to processing of your data for specific purposes

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at admin@merkra.com with your site URL and the nature of your request. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Children’s Privacy

LEWCA is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such information, please contact us and we will promptly delete it.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify users of material changes by posting the updated policy on this page and updating the “Last updated” date. Continued use of LEWCA after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

10. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, contact us at:

Merkra
Email: admin@merkra.com
Website: lewca.com