Privacy Policy

1. Information You Provide to Us

• Account information: name, email address, password.
• Founder verification information: when founders set up payouts, our payment processor (Stripe) collects identity information such as legal name, date of birth, and government identifier (e.g., SSN) and bank account details to verify identity and enable payouts. This is handled by Stripe; we do not store this verification data ourselves.
• Payment information: processed by Stripe — we never see or store full card or bank account numbers.
• Campaign content: the story, images, goals, and tiers founders create.
• Communications: messages you send us and information you provide in support requests.

2. Information We Collect Automatically

• Usage data: pages visited, actions taken, and interactions with campaigns.
• Device and browser information: IP address (used to estimate general location), browser and device type, and operating system.
• Cookies and similar technologies used to operate the platform, remember your preferences, and improve the service.

3. How We Use Your Information

• Operate and provide the platform, including creating and running campaigns.
• Process contributions and enable founder payouts through Stripe.
• Send transactional and campaign-related notifications (invites, reminders, confirmations, thank-yous).
• Maintain security, prevent fraud, and comply with legal and financial-regulatory obligations.
• Improve and develop the service.

4. What's Public and What's Private

• Public: campaign content founders publish (story, goal, progress) is visible to anyone with the campaign link.
• Shared with founders: when you contribute to a campaign, the founder receives your name and contribution details so they can thank you and keep you updated.
• Private: your account credentials, payment and verification details, and usage data are not public.

5. How We Share Information

• We do not sell your personal information.
• We share data only with service providers who help us operate, specifically: Stripe (payments and identity verification) and Lovable Cloud (data storage and backend). Please note: This sharing completely excludes text messaging originator opt-in data and consent, which is never shared with any third parties or service providers for any reason.
• We may disclose information if required by law, to protect against fraud or security threats, or to defend legal claims.

6. Data Retention

• We keep your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the service.
• We may retain certain information after account closure where required by law or for legitimate purposes such as financial-regulatory compliance, fraud prevention, and resolving disputes.

7. Your Rights and Choices

• You can access, update, or request deletion of your account information at any time by contacting hello@firstcirclefund.com.
• You can opt out of non-essential communications; note that some account and transaction messages are required to use the service.
• Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights (for example, to request the categories of personal information we collect, the purposes, and the third parties we share with).

8. SMS Communications (A2P / Text Messaging Policy)

• SMS consent: Program name: FirstCircleFund Alerts. By providing your mobile phone number and expressly opting in, you consent to receive SMS messages from FirstCircleFund regarding your account, campaign invitations, campaign updates, contribution notifications, transactional alerts, and early access updates. These messages may be sent using an automated system. Consent to receive SMS messages is not a condition of using FirstCircleFund or of any purchase or contribution.
• How consent is collected: You opt in through a public form on our website during registration, profile setup, or waitlist signup. You voluntarily enter your mobile phone number and must actively check a consent checkbox authorizing SMS communications. The checkbox is unchecked by default and is never preselected, and it clearly states that message frequency varies, that message and data rates may apply, and that you can reply STOP to opt out and HELP for assistance. Our SMS terms and this Privacy Policy are linked directly beneath the consent checkbox. Consent is recorded with your phone number, timestamp, and request metadata (including IP address) and stored securely in our database. You may withdraw consent at any time in your account settings or by replying STOP.
• Message types: Account and verification notifications, campaign invite confirmations, contribution receipts and updates, milestone and campaign updates, thank-you messages from founders, and early access updates. Example message: "FirstCircleFund: Thanks for supporting Maria's campaign — your $25 contribution was received. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help."
• Message frequency: Message frequency varies depending on your activity and account settings (typically fewer than 10 messages per month).
• Message and data rates: Message and data rates may apply. Mobile carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
• STOP instructions: Reply STOP to unsubscribe from SMS messages at any time. After you reply STOP we send a single confirmation message and you will receive no further texts unless you opt in again (reply START to resubscribe).
• HELP instructions: Reply HELP for assistance or contact support at hello@firstcirclefund.com.
• Our privacy promise: Mobile phone numbers and SMS consent are never sold, rented, shared, or disclosed to third parties or affiliates for marketing purposes.
• Service provider: We use Twilio as our SMS service provider solely to deliver these messages on our behalf. Your phone number is shared with Twilio only for that purpose and is not used by Twilio for its own marketing.
• All categories of data sharing described elsewhere in this policy exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties or affiliates for any reason.

9. Children's Privacy

The platform is not directed to anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we'll update the effective date and, where appropriate, notify you.

11. Contact Us

Privacy questions or requests: hello@firstcirclefund.com