Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

GiveCircle is a community support platform that allows members to make voluntary monthly contributions to a shared pool. Each cycle, the community votes to direct the pooled funds to a member in need. GiveCircle is not a bank, investment platform, lottery, or financial institution.

2. Information we collect

We collect only the information necessary to operate the platform:

• Account information: your name and email address, provided at registration.
• Authentication data: a hashed (bcrypt) version of your password. We never store your password in plain text.
• Payment information: subscription and billing data is processed and stored by Stripe. GiveCircle does not store your credit card number, bank account, or full payment details. We store only Stripe-assigned identifiers (customer ID, subscription ID) to manage your membership.
• Participation data: records of your contributions, votes cast (anonymized), and any cycle payouts you receive.
• Session data: a session token stored in a browser cookie to keep you signed in. This cookie is strictly necessary for the platform to function.

3. How we use your information

We use the information we collect exclusively to:

• Create and manage your account
• Process subscription payments through Stripe
• Operate the monthly pool cycle and voting process
• Send transactional emails (account confirmation, payment receipts, voting notifications, payout confirmations)
• Maintain the transparency log of pool activity
• Prevent abuse of the platform, including enforcement of the 12-month payout cooldown

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes. We do not serve advertisements.

4. Third-party services

GiveCircle uses a small number of third-party services to operate:

• Stripe: payment processing. Your payment data is governed by Stripe's Privacy Policy.
• Resend: transactional email delivery. Email content is transmitted to Resend solely for delivery purposes.

5. Data retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account:

• Your name, email address, and password are permanently removed from our systems.
• Your contribution history and participation records are retained in anonymized form for transparency and audit purposes.
• A one-way cryptographic hash of your email address is retained solely to restore your pool payout cooldown if you rejoin the platform.

6. Your rights

Under Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), you have the right to:

• Know what personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Withdraw consent and request deletion of your account and personal data
• File a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@givecircle.ca.

7. Security

We take reasonable technical measures to protect your personal information, including password hashing, encrypted connections (HTTPS), and session token management. No system is completely secure. If you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately at hello@givecircle.ca.

8. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email or by posting a notice on the platform. Continued use of GiveCircle after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

9. Contact

Questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy can be directed to: