Privacy Policy

HBCU Community ("we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our platform. Please read this policy carefully. If you do not agree with the terms of this policy, please do not access the platform.

1. Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, and authentication credentials. You may also provide additional profile information such as your HBCU affiliation, graduation year, degree, and professional details.

Profile Information

You may choose to provide additional information to enhance your profile, including a biography, profile photo, location, professional experience, skills, and areas of expertise. This information is shared with other community members according to your visibility settings.

Uploaded Files

You may upload files to the Platform, including resumes, verification documents (such as campus photos or degree certificates), and profile photos. These files are stored securely and are accessible only to you and authorized personnel (such as administrators reviewing verification requests). You may delete uploaded files at any time through your account settings.

Usage Data

We automatically collect certain information when you access or use the platform, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, pages viewed, and the dates and times of your visits.

Billing Information

If your chapter subscribes to a paid plan, our payment processor, Stripe, collects and processes the payment details you enter (such as your card information) directly. We do not receive or store your full card number. We retain limited billing records associated with your chapter, such as a Stripe customer identifier, subscription status, plan, and renewal or cancellation dates, to manage the subscription.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Create and manage your account
• Facilitate connections between HBCU alumni, students, and supporters
• Display your profile to other community members
• Send you notifications about relevant community activity
• Improve and optimize the platform
• Respond to your inquiries and provide support
• Comply with legal obligations

3. Information Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your information in the following circumstances:

• With other members: Your profile information is visible to other authenticated members of the community based on your privacy settings.
• With service providers: We may share information with third-party service providers who assist us in operating the platform (e.g., hosting, analytics).
• For legal reasons: We may disclose information if required by law or in response to valid legal process.
• With your consent: We may share information when you give us explicit permission to do so.

4. AI and Automated Processing

Certain features of the Platform use artificial intelligence (AI) to process your data. We use Anthropic's Claude to power the following features:

• Resume parsing: When you upload a resume, we use Claude to extract education and work experience information. Before processing, personal identifiers such as email addresses, phone numbers, and social security numbers are redacted from the text sent to the AI provider. Your original resume file is never shared.
• Bio generation: We may use Claude to generate suggested biography text based on your resume content. The same redaction measures apply.

Anthropic does not train its models on data submitted through its API. AI-generated content is provided as suggestions only. You are responsible for reviewing and approving any AI-generated content before it is added to your profile. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of AI-generated output.

5. Third-Party Services

The Platform uses the following third-party services to operate. Each service processes only the data necessary for its function:

• Supabase: Database hosting, user authentication, and file storage. Stores your account data, profile information, and uploaded files.
• Cloudflare: Content delivery, security, and hosting. Processes request data (IP addresses, headers) to protect the platform from attacks.
• Anthropic (Claude): AI-powered resume parsing and bio generation. Receives only redacted resume text, never personal identifiers or original files.
• Resend: Transactional email delivery. Receives your email address to send verification codes, notifications, and account-related messages.
• Stripe: Payment processing for paid chapter subscriptions. Stripe collects and processes payment details (such as card information) directly under its own terms and privacy policy. We receive only limited billing metadata (such as a customer identifier and subscription status), not full card numbers.
• Sentry: Error monitoring and performance tracking. May capture technical data (browser type, error details) to help us diagnose issues. Does not collect personal profile information.
• OpenStreetMap (Nominatim): Geocoding service. Converts city and country names to coordinates for location-based features. No personal data is sent.
• Google and Microsoft Calendar: You may optionally connect your calendar for scheduling and availability features. When authorized, we use calendar data to check availability and create, update, or remove booking-related events you initiate through the Platform. You may revoke access at any time through your account settings or directly through your calendar provider.

Third-party services are bound by their own privacy policies. We select providers that maintain appropriate security and privacy standards and do not sell your data.

6. Google User Data

The use of raw or derived user data received from Workspace APIs will adhere to the Google User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

If you choose to connect your Google account for calendar features, HBCU Community may access limited Google Calendar data needed to support scheduling and booking features within the Platform.

• How we access it: We access Google Calendar through OAuth only after you authorize the connection.
• How we use it: We use Google Calendar data to check your availability, help prevent double-booking, and create, update, or remove booking-related calendar events you initiate through HBCU Community.
• How we store it: We store the connection details and related booking references needed to operate the feature. We do not use Google user data for advertising, sale, or unrelated profiling.
• How we share it: We do not share Google user data with advertisers, data brokers, or other users except as needed to provide the feature you requested.
• Your control: You can revoke HBCU Community's access to your Google account at any time through your account settings or your Google account permissions.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction: Request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Deletion: Request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
• Data portability: Request a copy of your data in a structured, machine-readable format.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at hello@thehbcu.community.

9. Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies to maintain your session, remember your preferences, and understand how you interact with our platform. You can control cookies through your browser settings, though disabling cookies may limit your ability to use certain features.

10. Children's Privacy

Our platform is not intended for individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected such information, we will take steps to delete it promptly.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the updated policy on this page and updating the effective date. Your continued use of the platform after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at hello@thehbcu.community.