Privacy Policy

HBCU Community ("we," "us," or "our") respects your privacy. This policy explains what information we collect when you use our platform, how we use it, who can see it, and the choices you have. If you do not agree with it, please do not use the platform.

1. Information We Collect

• Account and profile information: your name, email address, and sign-in credentials, and anything you add to your profile, such as your HBCU, graduation year, photo, bio, location, and work history. Section 3 says who can see it.
• Content you create: messages, files you upload (such as a resume or a photo), and anything else you post.
• Group information: the alumni chapters and student organizations ("groups") you join, your role in them, and any contact details you choose to share with one.
• Payment information: if you pay for a subscription or pay dues to a group, Stripe processes your payment. We never receive your full card number; we keep a record of the payment and what it covers.
• Mobile number: only if you choose to turn on text messages.
• Email activity: for email a group sends you, whether it was delivered, opened, or bounced, which links you followed, and whether you unsubscribed. Section 7 says who sees it.
• Usage data: information collected automatically when you use the platform, such as your IP address, browser type, device, and pages viewed.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Create and manage your account
• Connect HBCU students, alumni, and supporters, and run the groups they form
• Send you email and, if you turn them on, text messages
• Process payments
• Keep the platform safe, including reviewing reports and enforcing our rules
• Improve the platform and provide support
• Comply with legal obligations

3. Who Can See Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only in these ways:

• Other members: once your profile is complete, signed-in members can find you in the member directory and view your profile. You can block anyone, which hides each of you from the other.
• Group leaders: groups are run by their own members, not by us. If you join one, its leaders can see that you are a member, your role, your profile, and, if the group collects dues, your payment status. They see your contact details only if you choose to share them with that group, and you can withdraw them at any time. Leaders may message members about group business.
• Our public site and newsletter: only if you turn this on in your account settings. You can turn it off at any time, but we cannot recall a newsletter already sent or copies others have made of a public page.
• Service providers: companies that help us run the platform, listed in Section 5 of this policy, which process your information only on our behalf.
• Legal reasons: when required by law or to protect the safety of our members.
• With your consent: anywhere else, only when you ask us to.

4. AI Features

Some features, such as reading a resume you upload or suggesting a bio, use Anthropic's Claude. We remove personal identifiers like your email address and phone number before sending text to it, and Anthropic does not train its models on that data. AI output is a suggestion, and nothing is added to your profile until you approve it.

5. Third-Party Services

We use these providers to operate the platform:

• Supabase: database, sign-in, and file storage
• Cloudflare: hosting and security
• Anthropic: AI features
• Resend: email delivery
• Twilio: text message delivery
• Stripe: payments
• Sentry: error monitoring
• OpenStreetMap: showing groups and schools on a map
• Google and Microsoft Calendar: scheduling, only if you connect your calendar

Each provider has its own privacy policy and receives only what it needs to do its job.

6. Google User Data

If you connect your Google account, we use your Google Calendar data only to check your availability and to create, update, or remove the booking events you make on the platform. We do not use it for advertising or share it with anyone else. You can disconnect at any time in your account settings or your Google account. Our use of data received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

7. Email and Text Messages

We send account email such as verification codes, notifications, and receipts, which you can manage in your notification settings, and our newsletter if you subscribe to it. Groups you belong to may also email you, and every group email has an unsubscribe link. Group leaders see overall totals for their email, not which members opened it.

Text messages are optional and are used only for notifications about your own activity. We do not send marketing by text, and groups cannot text their members. Mobile information will not be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Reply STOP to any message, or turn texts off in your settings, to stop them.

8. Cookies

We use cookies to keep you signed in and remember your preferences. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party analytics, and we do not track you across other websites.

9. Data Retention and Security

We keep your information while your account is open, and delete it when you delete your account. We may keep some records after that where we need them: a group's own records, reports we are reviewing, and anything the law requires us to keep. When something is reported, we keep a copy for review even if it is later edited or deleted.

We use reasonable safeguards to protect your information, but no system is completely secure.

10. Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or get a copy of your personal information. You can delete your account at any time in your account settings. For anything else, contact us at hello@thehbcu.community.

11. Children's Privacy

You must be at least 16 to use HBCU Community, as our Terms of Service require. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone younger, and we will delete it if we learn we have. If you believe we have, contact us at the address in Section 13 of this policy.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the new version here and update the effective date. Continuing to use the platform after a change means you accept it.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about this policy, contact us at hello@thehbcu.community, or write to us at: