myCircles

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: September 29, 2025

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We built myCircles to be a private space for your groups. Your privacy is a top priority for us, and we want to be transparent about how we handle your data. This policy explains what we collect and why.

Information We Collect

We only collect information that is essential to provide the myCircles service to you.

• Account Information: When you register, we collect a username and a password. We never store your password in plain text; it is immediately hashed using a strong, one-way algorithm (bcrypt).
• Content You Create: This includes any circles you create, posts you make, comments you write, polls you vote on, and images you upload. This content is the core of the app and is visible to other members of the specific circles you post in.
• Technical Information: Like most services, we use secure browser tokens (JWTs) to keep you logged in. These are stored on your device, not our servers.

How We Use Your Information

We use your information for one reason: to make myCircles work.

• To operate the service: We display your username with your posts and comments and show your content to the members of your circles.
• To secure your account: Your hashed password is used to verify your identity when you log in.
• To improve features: We analyze usage patterns in an aggregated, anonymous way to understand which features are most useful.

Third-Party Services

To provide certain features, we rely on a few specialized third-party services. We only share the minimum information necessary. We will never sell your data.

• Cloudinary (for Images): When you upload an image or post a link to an image, it is securely uploaded to our Cloudinary account for hosting. You can view the Cloudinary Privacy Policy here.
• OpenAI (for AI Features): If you use the "Suggest Poll with AI" feature, the text you enter is sent to OpenAI's API to generate a question and options. You can view the OpenAI Privacy Policy here.
• Embedded Content (e.g., YouTube): Posts may contain embedded content from other websites. Interacting with this content may be subject to the privacy policy of that service (e.g., the Google Privacy Policy).

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