Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

STARTUPSHORTCUT (“we,” “our,” or “us”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our platform, including our website, dashboard, and services (collectively, the “Service”).

We comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), and other applicable data protection laws. By using our Service, you consent to the data practices described in this policy.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

• Account Information: Name, email address, password (encrypted), and authentication credentials
• Quiz Responses: Business goals, experience level, budget, timeline, skills, passions, industry preferences, and target market information
• Dashboard Data: Business ideas, viability assessments, market research inputs, pain points, opportunities, personas, and offer details
• Payment Information: Billing details processed securely through Stripe (we do not store full credit card numbers)
• Communication Data: Messages sent through contact forms, support requests, newsletter signups, and feedback submissions

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Usage Data: Pages visited, features used, time spent, click patterns, and navigation paths
• Device Information: IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, unique device identifiers
• Cookies and Tracking Technologies: Session cookies, authentication tokens, analytics cookies, and preference cookies
• Log Data: Access times, error logs, and system activity

2.3 Information from Third Parties

• Authentication Providers: If you use social login, we receive basic profile information
• Payment Processors: Transaction confirmations and payment status from Stripe
• Analytics Services: Aggregated usage statistics and performance metrics

3. How We Use Your Information

We process your personal data for the following purposes:

3.1 Service Delivery (Legal Basis: Contract Performance)

• Generate personalized Viability Scores and business assessments
• Provide AI-powered market research, pain point discovery, opportunity generation, persona building, and offer creation
• Deliver dashboard access with your customized data and analytics
• Process payments and manage your account
• Send transactional emails (account confirmations, roadmap deliveries, purchase receipts)

3.2 Service Improvement (Legal Basis: Legitimate Interest)

• Analyze usage patterns to improve features and user experience
• Conduct research using anonymized, aggregated data to enhance our algorithms
• Test and develop new features
• Identify and fix technical issues

3.3 Communication (Legal Basis: Consent)

• Send newsletters with business tips and platform updates (opt-in only)
• Notify you about new features
• Respond to support requests and inquiries

4. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We share data only with service providers (Supabase, Stripe, email providers, AI services), when required by law, or with your consent.

5. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict processing of, and port your data. EU/EEA/UK residents have GDPR rights. California residents have CCPA/CPRA rights. To exercise your rights, email hello@startupshortcut.com.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to provide our services. Account data is deleted within 90 days of account deletion. Transaction records are retained for 7 years for legal compliance.

7. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including encryption in transit (TLS/SSL) and at rest (AES-256), secure password hashing, role-based access controls, and continuous monitoring.

8. Cookies and Tracking

We use essential cookies for authentication, functional cookies for preferences, and analytics cookies (anonymized) to understand usage. You can control cookies through your browser settings.

9. Children's Privacy

Our Service is not intended for individuals under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

10. Contact Information