Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Personal Information

We collect information that you voluntarily provide to us when you:

• Register for an account (email address, name)
• Set up an Author or Learner profile (bio, profile picture)
• Make purchases or subscriptions (payment information processed securely by our payment provider)
• Upload content as an Author (PDFs, text files, datasets)
• Complete identity verification as an Author (see Section 1.4 below)
• Contact us for support

1.2 Automatically Collected Information

When you access our platform, we automatically collect:

• Device information (IP address, browser type, operating system)
• Usage data (pages viewed, time spent, features used)
• Cookies and similar tracking technologies
• Log data (access times, error logs)

1.3 Content and Communications

• Chat messages with AI chatbots
• Quiz responses and learning progress
• Uploaded documents and datasets (Authors only)
• Communications with our support team

1.4 Identity Verification Data (Authors Only)

When Authors verify their identity before publishing, the following data is collected and processed:

• Government ID: Driver's license, passport, or national ID card image
• Selfie: A photo of your face to match against your ID
• Extracted Data: Name, date of birth, ID number, and document expiration date

Important Privacy Protections:

• Third-Party Processing: Identity verification is processed by Stripe Identity, not by AuthorMind Hub directly
• We Do Not Store ID Documents: Your ID images and selfie are sent directly to Stripe and are never stored on our servers
• Limited Data Retention: We only store your verification status (verified/not verified) and the timestamp of verification
• Stripe's Data Practices: Stripe retains verification data according to their Privacy Policy and may retain data for fraud prevention and legal compliance
• One-Time Process: You only need to verify once; we do not re-collect ID documents for future publications

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Provide Services: Operate the platform, process transactions, train AI chatbots
• Personalization: Customize your experience, recommend datasets
• Communication: Send account updates, trial reminders, payment confirmations
• Security: Detect fraud, prevent abuse, verify identity
• Analytics: Improve our services, understand user behavior
• Legal Compliance: Comply with laws, respond to legal requests
• AI Training: Train dataset-specific chatbots using uploaded content (Authors only)

3. AI and Data Processing

3.1 AI Chatbot Training

When Authors upload content:

• Content is processed by AI to create dataset-specific chatbots
• AI chatbots respond strictly based on uploaded content—no external knowledge
• Chatbot responses may differ from the Author's intended meaning due to AI limitations
• We implement bias detection and ethical AI guidelines

3.2 Learner Interactions

• Your questions to AI chatbots are processed by AI
• Chat history is stored for your reference and platform improvements
• We do not use your chat data to train other AI models

3.3 Chat Logging and Quality Assurance

To provide chat history and ensure quality:

• Chat History: Your questions, AI responses, and feedback ratings are saved so you can view past conversations
• Quality Improvement: Chat logs may be reviewed by administrators to improve AI response quality and accuracy
• Service Improvement: Feedback helps us identify issues and enhance the platform experience

Important: Do not share sensitive personal information (passwords, financial details, health records, etc.) in chat conversations. While we protect your data, chat logs are accessible to platform administrators.

4. Information Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell your personal information. We may share information with:

4.1 Service Providers

• Supabase: Database and authentication services
• Stripe: Payment processing and identity verification (we never store your card details or ID documents)
• Stripe Identity: Author identity verification - ID documents and selfies are sent directly to Stripe for verification and are not stored on our servers
• Google Gemini AI: AI chatbot training and responses
• Email Services: Transactional emails and notifications

4.2 Legal Requirements

We may disclose information when required by law, legal process, or to:

• Comply with court orders or government requests
• Enforce our Terms of Service
• Protect our rights, property, or safety
• Prevent fraud or security threats

4.3 Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity.

5. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures:

• Encryption: AES-256 encryption for data at rest, TLS/SSL for data in transit
• Access Controls: Role-based permissions, multi-factor authentication
• Payment Security: PCI-DSS compliant payment processing (we never store card data)
• Regular Audits: Security assessments and vulnerability testing
• Secure Infrastructure: Hosted on secure cloud platforms (Supabase)

6. Your Rights and Choices

6.1 Access and Correction

You have the right to:

• Access your personal information
• Correct inaccurate data
• Update your profile and settings

6.2 Data Deletion

You can request deletion of your account and data by contacting us. Note:

• Some data may be retained for legal or operational reasons
• Authors: Deleting your account removes your datasets from the platform
• Learners: Your chat history and progress will be permanently deleted

6.3 Marketing Communications

You can opt out of marketing emails by clicking "Unsubscribe" in any email or updating your account settings. Transactional emails (payment confirmations, trial reminders) cannot be disabled.

6.4 Cookies

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling cookies may affect platform functionality.

7. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as:

• Your account is active
• Needed to provide services
• Required by law (tax records, transaction history)
• Necessary for legitimate business purposes

After account deletion, we may retain anonymized or aggregated data for analytics.

8. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your own. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including:

• Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission
• Compliance with GDPR for EU users
• Compliance with CCPA for California residents

9. Children's Privacy

AuthorMind Hub is not intended for users under 18 years old. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If we discover that a child has provided us with personal information, we will delete it immediately.

Parents or guardians who believe their child has provided information to us should contact us at support@authormindhub.com.

10. Third-Party Links

Our platform may contain links to third-party websites or services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies.

11. Regional Privacy Rights

11.1 GDPR (European Union)

If you are in the EU, you have additional rights under GDPR:

• Right to data portability
• Right to restriction of processing
• Right to object to processing
• Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

11.2 CCPA (California)

California residents have the right to:

• Know what personal information is collected
• Know whether personal information is sold or disclosed
• Opt-out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell data)
• Request deletion of personal information
• Non-discrimination for exercising privacy rights

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last Updated" date. Significant changes will be communicated via:

• Email notification
• In-platform notification
• Homepage banner

Your continued use of the platform after changes constitute acceptance of the updated policy.