At Verfolia, we are committed to revolutionizing the job search by providing unprecedented transparency and control, while fiercely protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our platform, including our website, mobile applications, and any related services (collectively, the "Service").

By accessing or using our Service, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information to provide and improve our Service, personalize your experience, and ensure security.

Information You Provide Directly:
- Account Information: When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, and a hashed version of your password.
- Profile Information: Details you add to your professional profile, such as your professional summary, work experience, education, skills, projects (including descriptions, links, and embedded media like videos), and headshot.
- Communication Data: Information you provide when you contact our support team, send us feedback, or participate in surveys.
- AI Assistant Input: Text you provide to our AI Career Assistant (e.g., job descriptions for cover letter generation, company names for recruiter finder). This data is processed to provide the service and is not used to train models for other users.
Information We Collect Automatically (Usage Data):
- Device and Connection Information: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, unique device identifiers, mobile network information.
- Log Data: Details of how you use our Service, including pages viewed, features accessed, time spent on pages, clickstream data, and dates/times of access.
- Cookies and Tracking Technologies: We use cookies and similar technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to maintain your session, remember your preferences, analyze site usage, and support our analytics features.
Information Collected for Profile Owners (Analytics Data):
- When your Verfolia profile link is viewed, we collect anonymized and aggregated data about the viewer, such as:
  - View Count: How many times your profile link has been opened.
  - Engagement Time: How long a viewer spends on your profile.
  - Section Focus: Which sections of your profile (e.g., projects, skills, experience) receive the most attention.
  - Geographical Location (Aggregated): General region or country of the viewer (not precise location).
  - Company Name (if identifiable): If the viewer's network allows us to identify their organization, we may provide this to you.
- Consent-Based Viewer Username Disclosure (for Locked Content): As detailed in our Data Transparency Consent Document, if a viewer explicitly consents to access "locked" content on your profile, their Verfolia username and timestamp of access will be shared with you.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes:

To Provide and Maintain the Service: To operate Verfolia, allow you to create and manage your profile, and enable sharing.
To Personalize Your Experience: To tailor your profile editing experience, AI assistant suggestions, and content recommendations.
To Power Your Analytics Dashboard: To provide you with real-time insights into your profile's performance and engagement.
To Improve Our Service: To understand how users interact with Verfolia, identify areas for improvement, and develop new features.
For Communication: To send you important updates, notifications (e.g., profile views), support messages, and marketing communications (which you can opt out of).
For Security and Fraud Prevention: To protect your account, prevent unauthorized access, and ensure the integrity of our platform.
For Research and Development: To analyze trends, conduct research, and develop new products and features.

3. How We Share Your Information

We share your information only in specific circumstances:

With Profile Viewers (Your Public Profile): Your Verfolia profile content (what you choose to make public) is designed to be shared and viewed by anyone with your unique link.
With Profile Owners (Consent-Based for Locked Content): As described above and in our Data Transparency Consent Document, your Verfolia username will be shared with a profile owner if you explicitly consent to access their locked content.
Aggregated or Anonymized Data: We may share aggregated or anonymized data (which cannot be used to identify you personally) with third parties for research, marketing, analytics, or other business purposes.
Service Providers: We work with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating the Service (e.g., hosting, data storage, analytics, email delivery). These providers are bound by confidentiality agreements and are only permitted to use your information as necessary to perform services for us.
Legal Compliance and Protection: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court order or government agency request). We may also disclose information to protect our rights, property, or safety, or that of our users or others.
Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

4. Your Choices and Rights

You have significant control over your information on Verfolia:

Access and Correction: You can access and update most of your profile information directly within your Verfolia account settings.
Deletion: You can delete your Verfolia account at any time. Please note that deleting your account will remove your personal data from our active systems, but some aggregated or anonymized data, or data previously shared with profile owners (e.g., your username for locked content access), may persist in our backup systems or their analytics dashboards.
Marketing Communications: You can opt out of receiving marketing emails from us by following the unsubscribe instructions in those emails.
Cookie Preferences: You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings.
Consent Management (for Locked Content): Your consent to share your username for locked content access is always explicit. You can manage overall data sharing preferences within your account settings, though specific past consents may be tied to historical analytics.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide the Service, fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, and comply with our legal obligations.

6. Data Security

We implement robust technical and organizational measures to protect your information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, or alteration. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure.

7. International Data Transfers

Your information may be stored and processed in any country where we have facilities or where we engage service providers. By using our Service, you consent to the transfer of information to countries outside of your country of residence, which may have different data protection rules than those of your country.

9. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

10. Contact Us

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

melroy@verfolia.com