Privacy policy
Last updated: 5 August 2026
This Privacy Policy describes how YINK LTD. collects, uses, and discloses your personal information when you visit or make a purchase from yink.co (the "Site"), and when you contact us by WhatsApp, email, or in person to enquire about or place an order.
YINK LTD. is a limited company registered in Trinidad and Tobago, trading as YINK and APPMA. APPMA is a trading brand of YINK LTD., not a separate company. This policy covers both.
In this policy, "personal information" means any information about an identifiable individual.
Contact
If you have questions about this policy, want more information about our privacy practices, or would like to make a complaint, contact us:
YINK LTD. 5 Patraj Trace, El Socorro, San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago Telephone: 868-280-9342 Email: info@yink.co
Two ways you reach us
We handle personal information in two distinct contexts, and it is worth being clear about which is which:
- Browsing and buying on the Site — our online store, hosted by Shopify.
- Contacting us directly — WhatsApp, email, or an enquiry that becomes a custom order, handled through our internal business system.
The sections below cover both.
Part 1 — Information we collect through the Site
Device information
What we collect: browser version, IP address, time zone, cookie information, pages and products you view, search terms, and how you interact with the Site.
Why: to load the Site correctly for you, and to understand Site usage so we can improve it.
How: collected automatically when you access the Site, using cookies, log files, web beacons, tags, and pixels.
Shared with: Shopify, our store platform.
Order information
What we collect: name, billing address, shipping address, payment information, email address, and phone number.
Why: to fulfil our contract with you — to process your payment, arrange delivery or collection, provide invoices and order confirmations, communicate with you about your order, and screen orders for fraud.
How: collected from you when you place an order.
Shared with: Shopify, and our payment and delivery providers as needed to complete your order.
Customer support information
What we collect: whatever you choose to send us when you contact us for help — your message, your contact details, and any images or documents you attach.
Why: to answer your question and resolve your issue.
How: collected from you.
Shared with: the service providers listed under "Who else sees your information".
Part 2 — Information we collect when you contact us directly
Which channels reach us
- WhatsApp — our business number receives enquiries for both YINK and APPMA. A member of staff reads your message and directs it to the right brand.
- Email — at our published @yink.co and @appma.co addresses.
What we store
- What you sent — the text of your message, and any images, documents, voice notes or location you chose to send.
- Who it came from — your WhatsApp phone number or email address, and the display name your account presents.
- When it happened — timestamps, and delivery and read status for messages we send you.
- The conversation it belongs to — so replies land in the right thread and staff can see the history of your enquiry.
- Your order records — quotes, job details, artwork you supply, payments and receipts, where an enquiry becomes an order.
We use this to answer you, quote your work, carry out orders you place, and keep proper business records. We do not use the content of your messages for advertising or profiling, and we do not build marketing lists from it.
WhatsApp specifically
WhatsApp messaging is provided through the WhatsApp Business Platform, operated by Meta. When you message our WhatsApp business number, Meta handles that message in transit under its own terms and privacy policy, which are outside our control. We receive the message from Meta and store it as described above.
WhatsApp restricts when a business may send a free-form message: outside a 24-hour window from your most recent message to us, we may only send a message using a template Meta has approved in advance. We do not send marketing messages by WhatsApp.
Automated processing, and what it does not decide
Incoming messages are read by an automated assistant that helps staff work faster. It picks out order details from what you wrote — a quantity, a size, a garment colour — and prepares a suggested reply for a member of staff to consider.
To do this, the text of your message is sent to OpenAI, a service provider in the United States, which processes it on our behalf and returns a classification and a suggested reply. We send the message text and recent conversation context for that purpose only.
Two limits are worth stating plainly, because they are built into how the system works rather than being promises about how we intend to use it:
- No message is ever sent to you automatically. Every reply is read and sent by a member of staff. The assistant only proposes.
- No decision about you is automated. Prices come from our own pricing rules, not from the assistant, and a person decides what is quoted and agreed.
Our message records cannot be edited
Conversation records are kept append-only: once a message is recorded, its content cannot be altered or removed by staff. A correction is added as a new entry rather than replacing what was there. This exists so that what a customer actually said cannot be rewritten after the fact — it protects you as much as us.
It has a consequence we would rather state than obscure: we cannot selectively delete individual messages from a conversation history. If you ask us to erase your information, we can remove your customer record and contact details and stop contacting you, and we will tell you honestly what remains in the message log and why.
Who else sees your information
We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not share it for anyone else's marketing. We do share it with service providers who process it on our behalf, for the purposes described above only:
- Shopify — our online store platform. Shopify's privacy policy: https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy
- Meta — WhatsApp message delivery.
- Google — business email, website analytics, and storage of files customers send us.
- OpenAI — the automated classification and draft-reply assistance described above.
- Intuit (QuickBooks Online) — accounting records.
We may also disclose information where the law requires it, including in response to a lawful request for information, or to protect our rights.
Storage and security
Order and enquiry records are stored in our own database, accessible only to the business owner and authorised staff, each with their own login. Traffic between your device, our messaging providers and our systems is encrypted in transit. Messages received from WhatsApp are cryptographically verified as genuinely originating from Meta before they are accepted.
Store data is held by Shopify under its own security arrangements.
Advertising and analytics
We use Google Analytics to understand how customers use the Site. You can read how Google uses this information at https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/ and opt out at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
We use Shopify Audiences to show ads on other websites through our advertising partners. This shares information about your use of the Site, your purchases, and the email address associated with your purchases.
This applies to Site browsing and store purchases only. The content of messages you send us by WhatsApp or email is never used for advertising or ad targeting.
You can opt out of targeted advertising through:
- Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads
- Google — https://www.google.com/settings/ads/anonymous
- Bing — https://advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/policies/personalized-ads
- Digital Advertising Alliance — https://optout.aboutads.info/
For background on how targeted advertising works, see the Network Advertising Initiative at https://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work
Lawful basis
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area, we process your personal information on the following bases:
- your consent;
- performance of the contract between you and us;
- compliance with our legal obligations;
- protection of your vital interests;
- our legitimate interests, where these do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms.
Retention
Information is kept for as long as needed to run the business, honour orders and warranties, and meet legal and tax record-keeping obligations in Trinidad and Tobago. Conversation records and order records form part of those business records.
Automated decision-making
We do not engage in fully automated decision-making that has a legal or otherwise significant effect on you. As described under "Automated processing" above, our messaging assistant proposes; a person decides.
Shopify uses limited automated decision-making to prevent fraud, which does not have a legal or otherwise significant effect on you. This includes:
- a temporary blocklist of IP addresses associated with repeated failed transactions, lasting a few hours;
- a temporary blocklist of payment cards associated with blocked IP addresses, lasting a few days.
Your choices
You can ask us what information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, ask us to port it to another service, ask us to stop messaging you, or ask us to delete your customer record — subject to the limits described under "Our message records cannot be edited" and any records we are legally required to keep.
You can stop messaging us at any time. If you block our WhatsApp number we will not be able to reach you there.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details at the top of this page.
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area, your personal information from the Site is initially processed in Ireland and then transferred outside Europe for storage and further processing, including to Canada and the United States. For how these transfers comply with the GDPR, see Shopify's GDPR whitepaper: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/your-account/privacy/GDPR
Children
Our services are intended for business and adult customers. We do not knowingly collect information from children.
Cookies
A cookie is a small amount of information downloaded to your computer or device when you visit our Site. We use functional, performance, advertising, and analytics cookies. Cookies let the Site remember your actions and preferences, so you do not have to re-enter information each time you return or move between pages.
Cookies necessary for the functioning of the store
| Name | Function | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _ab | Used in connection with access to admin. | 2y |
| _secure_session_id | Used in connection with navigation through a storefront. | 24h |
| _shopify_country | Used in connection with checkout. | session |
| _shopify_m | Used for managing customer privacy settings. | 1y |
| _shopify_tm | Used for managing customer privacy settings. | 30min |
| _shopify_tw | Used for managing customer privacy settings. | 2w |
| _storefront_u | Used to facilitate updating customer account information. | 1min |
| _tracking_consent | Tracking preferences. | 1y |
| c | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| cart | Used in connection with shopping cart. | 2w |
| cart_currency | Used in connection with shopping cart. | 2w |
| cart_sig | Used in connection with checkout. | 2w |
| cart_ts | Used in connection with checkout. | 2w |
| cart_ver | Used in connection with shopping cart. | 2w |
| checkout | Used in connection with checkout. | 4w |
| checkout_token | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| dynamic_checkout_shown_on_cart | Used in connection with checkout. | 30min |
| hide_shopify_pay_for_checkout | Used in connection with checkout. | session |
| keep_alive | Used in connection with buyer localization. | 2w |
| master_device_id | Used in connection with merchant login. | 2y |
| previous_step | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| remember_me | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| secure_customer_sig | Used in connection with customer login. | 20y |
| shopify_pay | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| shopify_pay_redirect | Used in connection with checkout. | 30 minutes, 3w or 1y depending on value |
| storefront_digest | Used in connection with customer login. | 2y |
| tracked_start_checkout | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| checkout_one_experiment | Used in connection with checkout. | session |
Reporting and analytics
| Name | Function | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _landing_page | Track landing pages. | 2w |
| _orig_referrer | Track landing pages. | 2w |
| _s | Shopify analytics. | 30min |
| _shopify_d | Shopify analytics. | session |
| _shopify_s | Shopify analytics. | 30min |
| _shopify_sa_p | Shopify analytics relating to marketing and referrals. | 30min |
| _shopify_sa_t | Shopify analytics relating to marketing and referrals. | 30min |
| _shopify_y | Shopify analytics. | 1y |
| _y | Shopify analytics. | 1y |
| _shopify_evids | Shopify analytics. | session |
| _shopify_ga | Shopify and Google Analytics. | session |
How long a cookie stays on your device depends on whether it is a "persistent" or "session" cookie. Session cookies last until you stop browsing; persistent cookies last until they expire or are deleted. Most of the cookies we use are persistent and expire between 30 minutes and two years from the date they are downloaded.
Most browsers accept cookies automatically, but you can change this through your browser's settings, usually under "Tools" or "Preferences". Your browser's help file will explain how to block, manage or filter cookies. Blocking cookies can affect how the Site works and some parts may no longer be fully accessible.
Blocking cookies may not completely prevent information being shared with third parties such as our advertising partners. To opt out of those uses, follow the instructions under "Advertising and analytics" above.
Do Not Track
Because there is no consistent industry standard for responding to "Do Not Track" signals, we do not alter our data collection and usage practices when we detect such a signal from your browser.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices, or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. When we do, we will update this page and the date at the top.
Complaints
If you would like to make a complaint, contact us by email or post using the details at the top of this page.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority in your jurisdiction.