Shadequill Privacy Policy

Effective: October 19, 2026. Publisher: Front Porch Puzzle Press ("we").

Shadequill is a Google Sheets™ add-on that adds up, counts and averages cells by their fill or text colour. It runs entirely inside Google Apps Script under your Google account. We do not operate a server for Shadequill, and no spreadsheet content is ever sent to us.

Google user data Shadequill accesses

The spreadsheet you use it in, and only that spreadsheet (Google scope https://www.googleapis.com/auth/spreadsheets.currentonly): the values, fill colours, text colours, merged cells and conditional-formatting rules in the ranges you measure, and the formula of the cell being calculated. It writes only what you ask for: a formula you insert, a summary table you paste, and one counter cell on a hidden sheet named "Shadequill" (see below). Shadequill cannot open, list or read any other file in your Google Drive™.
Permission to show its menu and sidebar inside Google Sheets™ (scope script.container.ui). This gives no access to data.
Permission to make one outside request (scope script.external_request), used only to check a Shadequill Pro license key with Gumroad. No Google user data is included in that request.

Shadequill's formulas (such as SUMBYCOLOR) run in Google's read-only custom-function mode, which Google runs without asking for any permission and which cannot change your spreadsheet. Shadequill does not access your name, email address, contacts, Gmail, Calendar, Drive files or any other Google account data.

How Shadequill uses Google user data

Shadequill uses the spreadsheet data above for one purpose only: to work out which cells have the colour you asked for and to calculate the sum, count, average, minimum or maximum you asked for, or to list the colours in a range in its sidebar. It reads the cells when a Shadequill formula recalculates, or when you click Scan, Insert, Paste summary table or Refresh.

It does not use your data for any other purpose: no advertising, no analytics, no profiling, no building of user databases, and no training or improving of AI or machine-learning models (generalized or otherwise).

How Google user data is stored

Cell values and colours are not stored by Shadequill anywhere. They are read into memory inside Google Apps Script while a calculation runs and discarded when it finishes.
A refresh counter (text like "r12") is kept in cell A1 of a hidden sheet named "Shadequill" in your spreadsheet, with a named range "ShadequillRefresh" pointing at it. Your Shadequill formulas read it so that Refresh can make them recalculate. It holds no cell contents. Deleting the sheet is safe.
Settings (whether to refresh after each edit, whether to use conditional-formatting colours, and whether a Pro user has used the spreadsheet) are saved in the spreadsheet's own document properties and in the counter cell. They hold no cell contents.
Your license key (if you buy Pro) is kept in Apps Script user properties, stored by Google in your own Google account; we have no access to it.
Error reports. If a command fails, Google Apps Script records the error message (for example "That range has no data yet") in our project's Google Cloud™ error log so we can fix bugs. These messages never contain your cell values, and Google deletes them automatically after its standard log retention period (30 days).

How Google user data is shared

We do not share, sell, rent, transfer or disclose Google user data to anyone. Shadequill has no servers of ours to send it to. The only third party Shadequill contacts is Gumroad (api.gumroad.com), and only to confirm a Pro license key when you activate it and about once a week after; that request contains the license key and Shadequill's product ID, never any spreadsheet content or Google account data.

Formulas, tables and the hidden counter sheet are ordinary parts of your spreadsheet, so anyone you share the spreadsheet with can see them, as they would see anything you added yourself.

How we protect your data

Least privilege. Shadequill requests the narrowest Sheets scope Google offers (spreadsheets.currentonly), so it can reach only the spreadsheet it is used in. It creates no triggers that run while you're away; the optional "refresh after each edit" uses the built-in edit event of Google Sheets™, which runs only while you edit and needs no extra permission.
No copies, no servers. All processing happens inside Google's Apps Script environment under your own account. Your spreadsheet content never reaches us, so there is no copy of it for us to lose or for anyone to breach.
Encryption. Data moving between Google Sheets™, Apps Script and Google's storage is protected by Google's infrastructure, which encrypts data in transit and at rest. The license check to Gumroad is sent only over HTTPS (TLS).
No human access. No person at Front Porch Puzzle Press can view your spreadsheets, settings or license key.
Secure development. Shadequill's code contains no third-party trackers or analytics libraries, loads no remote scripts, and is tested before each release.

Retention and deletion

Cell values and colours are never retained. To remove everything Shadequill added to a spreadsheet, delete the hidden "Shadequill" sheet (View > Hidden sheets) and any Shadequill formulas or tables you inserted. Uninstalling Shadequill from Extensions > Add-ons > Manage add-ons and removing its access at myaccount.google.com/permissions stops all access immediately. Because we hold no copy of your data, there is nothing on our side to delete.

Google API Services User Data Policy

Shadequill's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Google Workspace™ API data is not used to develop, improve or train generalized AI or machine-learning models.

Changes and contact

We will post any changes on this page with a new effective date. Questions: hello@frontporchpuzzlepress.com.

Google Sheets™ and Google Workspace™ are trademarks of Google LLC. Shadequill is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.