Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Information You Provide

When you use the Services, we collect information you provide to us, which may include:

• Account information.Your name, email address, and date of birth.
• Profile information.Your photo, headline, biography, location or general area, university or institutional affiliation, employer or job title, skills, interests, career goals, mentor or mentee preferences, social-media profiles, and other information you choose to add.
• Content and communications.Coffee-chat requests, personalized notes, in-app messages, resources you share, feedback, survey responses, support inquiries, and safety or conduct reports.
• Other information.Any other information you choose to provide through the Services or when communicating with us.

Information Collected Automatically

When you use the Services, we and our service providers may automatically collect:

• Device and log information.Internet Protocol address, browser type and version, operating system, device identifiers, language settings, dates and times of access, referring and exit pages, and error or diagnostic information.
• Usage information.Pages and profiles viewed, searches, clicks, coffee-chat and messaging activity, feature use, session duration, and other interactions with the Services.
• Approximate location.A general location, such as city or region, inferred from an IP address or similar information.
• Cookies and similar technologies.Information collected through cookies, local storage, pixels, software development kits, and similar technologies, as described below.

Information From Other Sources

We may receive information about you from other users (for example, when someone sends you a coffee-chat request or message), from connected services such as Google, from an institution or community through which you access the Services, and from publicly available sources that you direct us to or link to your profile. We use that information only as described in this Policy.

2. How We Use Personal Information

We use personal information to:

• Create, authenticate, secure, and manage accounts.
• Display profiles and help users discover mentors, mentees, and relevant professional connections.
• Enable coffee-chat requests.
• Personalize parts of the user experience.
• Send service, security, legal, and administrative communications, and send promotional messages where permitted by law and consistent with your choices.
• Provide support, respond to inquiries, and resolve technical or account issues.
• Understand use of the Services; perform analytics; and develop, test, maintain, and improve features.
• Protect users and the Services; detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, security incidents, and violations of our Terms or policies.
• Create aggregated or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify you and use that information for lawful business purposes.
• Comply with law, respond to lawful requests, resolve disputes, and establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

3. How We Share Personal Information

We may share personal information in the following circumstances:

• With other users and visitors.Profile information and content you choose to share are visible consistent with the product design and any privacy settings made available to you. Limited profile information may be visible to visitors or appear in search results. Messages and coffee-chat details are shared with the participants involved. Other people may save or re-share information you disclose to them.
• With service providers.Vendors that provide hosting, database, authentication, analytics, email delivery, customer support, security, and other operational services may process information for us as reasonably necessary to perform those services.
• With connected services.When you connect a third-party account or ask us to interact with another service, we share information at your direction and subject to the permissions you grant. The third party's use of information is governed by its own privacy policy.
• For legal and safety reasons.We may disclose information if we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to comply with law or legal process; enforce our agreements; investigate suspected misconduct; protect the security or integrity of the Services; or protect the rights, property, or safety of informally, our users, or others.
• With your direction or consent.We may share information for another purpose that we explain to you at the time and for which you direct us or provide consent.
• In aggregated or de-identified form.We may share information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

informally does not sell personal information for money.

4. Google Account and Calendar Data

Google Sign-In

If you choose to sign in with Google, we receive basic account information authorized by you, such as your Google account identifier, name, email address, and profile image. We use this information to authenticate you, create or connect your informally account, and support account security. We do not receive your Google password.

Google Calendar

If you connect Google Calendar, informally may:

• Retrieve your calendar list so you can choose which calendar to connect.
• Read calendar events in real time to check availability and identify scheduling conflicts when a coffee chat is requested or changed.
• Create, update, or delete calendar events to reflect coffee-chat bookings, reschedules, and cancellations that you make through the Services.

informally does not store the contents of your Google Calendar events on its servers. Availability checks are processed in real time. We may retain information created within informally that is necessary to manage a booking, such as the scheduled time, participants, status, and internal event identifiers.

informally's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs will comply with the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements. We do not sell Google User Data, use it for advertising, or transfer it except as permitted by that policy and applicable law.

You can disconnect informally from your Google Account at any time through your Google Account permissions. Disconnecting may disable calendar features and may require you to manage existing calendar events manually.

5. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We and our service providers may use cookies, local storage, pixels, and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember preferences, secure the Services, understand performance and usage, and improve features. Some providers may collect information directly through technology they operate and process that information under their own privacy policies.

You can control many cookies through your browser settings and any consent tool we make available. Blocking certain technologies may cause parts of the Services to work incorrectly. Because there is not yet a uniform industry standard for browser-based "Do Not Track" signals, the Services do not currently respond to those signals. We process legally recognized opt-out preference signals, such as Global Privacy Control, when required by applicable law.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as your account is open or as reasonably necessary to provide the Services. Retention periods vary based on the type of information, the purpose for which it was collected, the sensitivity of the information, and legal, security, fraud-prevention, and dispute-resolution needs.

When you close your account or request deletion, we will delete or de-identify personal information unless we need to retain it for a legitimate business or legal reason. Information may remain for a limited time in backups. Messages or other information you shared with another user may remain in that user's account or records, and we cannot control copies made outside the Services. We may retain aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably identify you.

7. Your Choices and Privacy Rights

Privacy Requests

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to request access to personal information; obtain a copy; correct inaccurate information; delete information; object to or restrict certain processing; withdraw consent; opt out of certain sales, sharing, targeted advertising, or profiling; and appeal a denied request. We will not discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right.

To submit a request, email support@informally.app with the subject line "Privacy Request." We may verify your identity before completing a request. Where permitted, an authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf, but we may require proof of authorization and identity verification.

California users under 18 may request removal of content they posted publicly through the Services by contacting us. Removal may not be complete if another user copied or re-shared the content, or if retention is required or permitted by law.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy as our Services, practices, or legal requirements change. We will post revisions at informally.app/privacy and update the "Last updated" date. We will provide additional notice of material changes when required by law.

9. Contact Us

Questions, concerns, complaints, and privacy requests may be sent to support@informally.app.