1. Introduction
Empirq LLC ("Empirq," "we," "us," or "our") operates the website at empirq.com and related websites, applications, products, and services (collectively, the "Platform"). This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you use our Platform.
By using the Platform, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use the Platform.
1.1 Scope of Services
The Platform may include multiple products, features, or services operated by Empirq, including current and future offerings. These may include content publishing tools, subscription systems, analytics, and other software applications.
This Privacy Policy applies to all such products and services unless a separate privacy policy is provided for a specific offering.
2. Information We Collect
2.1 Information You Provide
Account Information. When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, and (if applicable) profile photo and bio. If you register via Google or GitHub, we receive account information those providers make available to us based on your settings and authorization, which may include your name, email address, and profile photo.
Profile Information. You may optionally provide additional information such as a display name, biography, website URL, social media handles, and profile image.
Content. We collect the articles, code, images, and other materials you publish on the Platform ("User Content").
Payment Information. If you subscribe to a writer or connect a Stripe account as a writer, Stripe and its affiliates or service providers may collect and process your payment information directly. We do not store your full credit card number, bank account number, or other sensitive payment credentials. We receive limited information from Stripe, such as the last four digits of your payment card, card brand, billing address, payout or account status, and transaction history, as needed to manage subscriptions, payouts, refunds, and related support.
Communications. We collect information you provide when you contact us for support, submit feedback, or respond to surveys.
2.2 Information Collected Automatically
Usage Data. We automatically collect information about how you interact with the Platform, including pages visited, content viewed, search queries, time spent on pages, referring URLs, and interaction patterns.
Device Information. We collect device type, operating system, browser type and version, screen resolution, language preferences, and unique device identifiers.
Log Data. Our servers automatically record information including your IP address, access times, pages visited, and system activity.
Cookies and Similar Technologies. We use cookies, local storage, and similar technologies to maintain your session, remember your preferences, and understand how you use the Platform. See Section 8 (Cookies) for more details.
2.3 Information from Third Parties
Authentication Providers. If you sign in through Google or GitHub, we receive your name, email address, and profile photo as authorized by you through those providers.
Payment Processor. Stripe may provide us with transaction data, customer or account identifiers, payout or onboarding status, fraud or risk signals, and limited payment details necessary to manage subscriptions, payouts, refunds, and compliance.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
Platform Operations. To create and manage your account, authenticate your identity, display your content, process subscriptions and payments, deliver email notifications and newsletters, and provide customer support.
Personalization. To personalize your feed based on your subfield interests, recommend content, and customize your experience.
Analytics. To provide writers with analytics about their content performance (e.g., view counts, subscriber counts, read time), and to understand how users engage with the Platform.
Communication. To send transactional emails (e.g., account verification, subscription confirmations, payment receipts), and, where you have opted in, marketing communications about Platform features and updates.
Safety and Security. To detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, security incidents, and technical issues, and to enforce our Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy.
Legal Compliance. To comply with applicable laws, regulations, legal processes, and government requests.
Platform Improvement. To analyze trends, monitor usage, develop new features, and improve the Platform.
Platform Evolution. As Empirq introduces new products, features, or services, we may use collected information to support and improve those offerings, consistent with this Privacy Policy.
AI-Assisted Processing. We may use automated tools, including artificial intelligence-assisted features, to process content and other information you submit or make available through the Platform for purposes such as operating features, improving functionality, supporting moderation or abuse detection workflows, generating analytics, and enhancing the user experience. We do not use solely automated processing to make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you without appropriate human involvement where required by law.
4. How We Share Your Information
We do not sell your personal information. We share information only in the following circumstances:
4.1 Public Information
Your profile name, bio, profile photo, and published content are publicly visible on the Platform. Subscriber counts and other aggregate metrics may also be publicly displayed.
4.2 Service Providers
We share information with third-party vendors, processors, and service providers that perform services on our behalf or help us operate the Platform, subject to appropriate contractual, technical, and organizational safeguards. These parties may access, process, or store personal information in the United States and other jurisdictions as necessary to provide their services.
| Provider | Purpose | Data Shared |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Payment processing | Payment details, transaction data, billing information, payout and onboarding information, identity verification information, and fraud-prevention or compliance-related data |
| Resend | Email delivery | Email address, name, email content, and related delivery metadata |
| Cloudflare | Content delivery, file storage | Uploaded images and files, cached content, IP address, and access or security logs |
| Google, GitHub | Authentication | OAuth identifiers or tokens, account profile data, and login-related metadata |
| Inngest | Background job processing | Job-related metadata, event payloads, and workflow execution data |
| Redis provider | Caching, rate limiting | Session tokens, cache data, and rate limit counters |
| PostgreSQL provider | Database hosting | Account data, content data, transaction records, and other information stored in our hosted database environment |
4.3 Writers
If you subscribe to a writer's content, the writer may see limited subscriber information necessary to provide and manage the subscription relationship, such as your display name, profile photo, subscription status, and the date you subscribed. Writers do not receive your full payment credentials and generally do not have access to your email address or other private account information unless you choose to share it or the Platform feature you use makes that information available.
4.4 Legal Requirements
We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid legal process, including subpoenas, court orders, or government requests.
4.5 Protection of Rights
We may disclose information where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, potential threats to the safety of any person, violations of our Terms of Service, or as evidence in litigation.
4.6 Business Transfers
In connection with an actual or proposed merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, sale of assets, bankruptcy, or similar corporate transaction, your information may be disclosed to counterparties and advisors and may be transferred to a successor or affiliated entity as part of that transaction. We will notify you of any such transfer and any choices you may have regarding your information, as required by law.
5. Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with the Platform. Specifically:
Account Data. Retained while your account is active and for 90 days after account deletion to allow for account recovery.
User Content. Retained while your account is active. Upon account deletion, we will remove your content from public display within a commercially reasonable timeframe. Cached copies may persist for a limited period.
Payment Records. Retained for 7 years to comply with tax and financial reporting obligations.
Usage Data and Logs. Aggregated usage data may be retained indefinitely. Identifiable log data is retained for 12 months.
Communication Records. Retained for 3 years for customer support and legal purposes.
After the applicable retention period, we will delete or anonymize your data, unless retention is required by law.
6. Your Rights and Choices
Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:
6.1 Access and Portability
You have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. You may export your published content at any time through your account settings.
6.2 Correction
You may update or correct your account information at any time through your account settings. You may also contact us to request corrections to other personal information.
6.3 Deletion
You may request deletion of your personal information by deleting your account through settings or by contacting us at [email protected]. Certain data may be retained as described in Section 5 (Data Retention).
6.4 Opt-Out of Marketing Communications
You may opt out of marketing emails at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any marketing email or by updating your notification preferences in account settings. Transactional emails (e.g., payment receipts, security alerts) cannot be opted out of while your account is active.
6.5 Cookie Preferences
You may manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings or through our cookie consent mechanism. See Section 8 (Cookies) for more details.
6.6 Do Not Track
Our Platform does not currently respond to "Do Not Track" signals from browsers. We will update this policy if we implement Do Not Track support in the future.
7. Rights for Specific Jurisdictions
7.1 European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland (GDPR)
If you are located in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, and applicable data protection law applies to our processing of your personal data, you may have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and related local laws:
Legal Bases for Processing. We process your personal data based on the following legal bases:
- Contract performance: Processing necessary to provide the Platform and fulfill our obligations to you (account management, content delivery, payment processing)
- Legitimate interests: Processing for our legitimate business interests, such as fraud prevention, platform security, analytics, and improvement, where these interests are not overridden by your rights
- Consent: Processing based on your explicit consent (e.g., marketing communications, optional cookies)
- Legal obligation: Processing necessary to comply with applicable laws
Additional Rights. In addition to the rights in Section 6, you have the right to:
- Restrict processing of your personal data in certain circumstances
- Object to processing based on legitimate interests
- Data portability — receive your data in a structured, commonly used format
- Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing
- Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority
Data Transfers. We are based in the United States, and your personal data may be transferred to, stored in, or processed in the United States and other countries that may not provide the same level of data protection as your home jurisdiction. Where required by applicable law, we take steps designed to ensure that international transfers are subject to appropriate safeguards, which may include relying on contractual commitments, such as Standard Contractual Clauses, adequacy decisions, or other lawful transfer mechanisms made available by our vendors and service providers. You may contact us at [email protected] for additional information about the safeguards relevant to our processing.
Data Protection Contact. For privacy or data protection questions, including questions about this Section 7.1, email: [email protected].
7.2 California (CCPA/CPRA)
If you are a California resident, and applicable California privacy law applies to our processing of your personal information, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act and the California Privacy Rights Act:
Right to Know. You may request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected, the sources of collection, the purposes of collection, and the categories of third parties with whom we share information.
Right to Delete. You may request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
Right to Correct. You may request correction of inaccurate personal information.
Right to Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing. We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
Non-Discrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.
Categories of Personal Information Collected. Identifiers (name, email, IP address); internet activity (usage data, browsing history on the Platform); professional information (professional bio, subfield interests); financial information (transaction history, limited payment details from Stripe).
To exercise your rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will verify your identity before processing your request.
8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
8.1 What We Use
We use the following types of cookies and similar technologies:
Essential Cookies. Required for the Platform to function. These include session cookies for authentication, CSRF protection tokens, and security cookies. These cannot be disabled.
Functional Cookies. Remember your preferences, such as display settings and subfield filters.
Analytics Cookies. Help us understand how users interact with the Platform, which pages are most visited, and how users navigate the Platform.
8.2 Managing Cookies
You can control cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies. However, blocking essential cookies may prevent you from using certain features of the Platform.
8.3 Third-Party Cookies
Some of our service providers may place their own cookies or similar technologies on your device when they provide services such as authentication, security, payments, infrastructure support, or analytics. We do not control these third-party technologies, and their use is governed by the applicable third party's privacy policy.
9. Data Security
We implement and maintain reasonable technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information, including:
- Encryption of data in transit (TLS/HTTPS)
- Encryption of sensitive data at rest
- Authentication via secure methods (magic links, OAuth)
- Rate limiting on authentication endpoints
- Input sanitization to prevent injection attacks
- Regular security reviews and updates
- Access controls limiting employee access to personal data
While we strive to protect your information, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.
10. Children's Privacy
The Platform is not directed to children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 18, we will take steps to delete that information promptly. If you believe we may have collected information from a child under 18, please contact us at [email protected].
11. Third-Party Links and Services
The Platform may contain links to third-party websites, services, or resources. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any third-party services you visit.
12. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy on the Platform, updating the "Last Updated" date, and, where appropriate or required by law, sending you an email notification. Your continued use of the Platform after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
13. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your privacy rights, or have a complaint about our data practices, please contact us:
Email: [email protected]
Support: [email protected]
For privacy and data protection inquiries:
Data Protection Contact: [email protected]