Privacy Policy

FounderCircle is a hyper-local networking app that helps founders, builders, and entrepreneurs discover and connect with each other. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect through the FounderCircle iOS application and the foundercircle.app website (together, the “Service”), why we collect it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over it.

1. Who is responsible for your data

The Service is operated by Amirhossein Savizfar, an individual developer based in Turkey(the “data controller” under data protection law). For anything related to your personal data, contact support@foundercircle.app.

2. The short version

• We collect what we need to run a founder-networking app: your email, your profile, your content, your city, and a push token.
• Your location is city-level only. We never store or show your exact GPS coordinates.
• Your posts and comments are public to other app users. Your messages are private between you and the person you message.
• We do not sell your data, we do not show third-party ads, and we do not use your content to train third-party AI models.
• You can delete your account at any time, in the app or at foundercircle.app/delete-account.

3. What we collect, and why

Account data

• Email address and password. Collected when you sign up, to create and secure your account and to send you essential account emails (such as password resets). Authentication is handled by Supabase Auth; your password is stored only as a salted hash.

Profile data

• Name, profile photo, title, bio, and city. Collected when you fill in your profile, so other founders can see who you are and what you work on. Your profile is visible to other FounderCircle users.
• Photos. If you choose a profile picture, the app asks for access to your photo library and uploads only the image you select. We never scan or upload anything else from your library.

Location

• City-level location only. The FounderCircle map places you and other founders by city, never by exact position. You can set your city manually, change it, or leave it empty. If you use automatic detection, your device’s GPS reading is converted to a city-level area immediately and your precise coordinates are not stored. Purpose: showing you founders near you — the core feature of the app.

Content

• Posts and comments.Public content you publish in the feed. Visible to all FounderCircle users. Collected so we can display it — that’s what posting is.
• Messages. Private 1-on-1 conversations between you and another founder. Stored so your conversation history works across devices. Messages are encrypted in transit and at rest, and are not read by us except where strictly necessary to investigate an abuse report or comply with a legal obligation.

Technical data

• Push notification token.If you enable notifications, your device’s push token is stored so we can deliver them (e.g. a new message or comment). Deleted when you log out or disable notifications.
• IP address. Processed transiently for security, abuse prevention, and rate-limiting. Not stored alongside your profile.
• Basic device data. Device model, OS version, and app version, used for compatibility and fixing crashes.

4. Who can see what

• Public to all app users: your profile (name, photo, title, bio, city), your position on the map at city level, and your posts and comments.
• Private: your 1-on-1 messages (visible only to you and the recipient), your email address, and your push token.
• Never visible to anyone:your exact GPS coordinates — we don’t store them at all.

5. Third-party processors

We use a small number of service providers to run FounderCircle. Each one processes data on our behalf, only for the purposes described here:

• Supabase (privacy policy) — our backend. Provides the database, authentication, file storage, and real-time messaging. Your account data, profile, content, and messages are stored on Supabase infrastructure hosted in the United States (AWS us-east-2, Ohio).
• Expo Push Notification Service (privacy policy) — relays push notifications from our backend to your device. It processes your push token and the content of each notification.
• Apple Push Notification service (APNs) (privacy policy) — performs the final delivery of notifications to your iPhone, as required for all iOS apps.
• DiceBear (privacy policy) — generates a placeholder avatar if you haven’t uploaded a profile photo. To do this, your username is sent to the DiceBear API as the image seed. No other personal data is shared with it.

We may also disclose data when required by law (a valid legal request) or in a business transfer, in which case we will notify you before your data becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

6. Where your data lives — international transfers

FounderCircle is operated from Turkey, and your data is stored in the United States on Supabase’s infrastructure (AWS us-east-2). This means your personal data is transferred outside your own country, whether you live in Turkey, the EU/EEA, or elsewhere. Where the GDPR applies, these transfers rely on Standard Contractual Clauses entered into with our processors. Where Turkish law (KVKK) applies, transfers abroad are carried out in accordance with Article 9 of Law No. 6698, including on the basis of your explicit consent where required.

7. How long we keep your data

• Account and profile: for as long as your account exists. After you delete your account, personal data is deleted or anonymized within 30 days.
• Posts and comments: until you delete them, or until your account is deleted — whichever comes first.
• Messages: until you delete them or your account. Copies of a conversation may remain visible to the other participant, just as a sent letter remains with its recipient.
• Push tokens: until you log out, disable notifications, or uninstall the app.
• IP addresses: processed transiently and kept only in short-lived security logs.
• After deletion: we may retain a minimal record of the deletion event, abuse reports filed against the account, and anything we are legally required to keep — and nothing more.

8. Legal bases under the GDPR

If you are in the EU/EEA or UK, we process your data on these legal bases:

• Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) — account, profile, content, messages, and push delivery: the things the app exists to do.
• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) — automatic city detection from GPS, photo library access, and push notifications. Each is requested separately in the app, and you can withdraw consent at any time in iOS Settings or in the app.
• Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — security, abuse prevention, and rate-limiting (e.g. transient IP processing).
• Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)) — where we must retain or disclose data under applicable law.

9. Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask us to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you;
• Correct data that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• Delete your data (see account deletion below);
• Export your data in a portable format;
• Restrict or object to certain processing, and withdraw consent where processing is based on it.

To exercise any of these rights, email support@foundercircle.app from the address tied to your account. We respond within 30 days. If you are in the EU/EEA or UK, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

10. Your rights under KVKK (Turkey)

For users in Turkey, personal data is processed in accordance with the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 (“KVKK”), with Amirhossein Savizfar acting as data controller. Under Article 11 of the KVKK you have the right to: learn whether your personal data is processed; request information about that processing; learn its purpose and whether it is used accordingly; know the third parties to whom it is transferred in Turkey or abroad; request correction of incomplete or inaccurate data; request deletion or destruction of your data; request that corrections and deletions be notified to third parties; object to results produced exclusively by automated analysis; and claim compensation for damages arising from unlawful processing.

You can submit a KVKK request by emailing support@foundercircle.app with the subject line “KVKK request”. We will respond within the statutory period of 30 days.

11. Deleting your account

You can delete your account and the personal data associated with it at any time, either from Settings → Account → Delete Account inside the app, or by following the steps at foundercircle.app/delete-account. Profile, posts, comments, messages, and authentication records are removed, and remaining personal data is deleted or anonymized within 30 days.

12. Security

We protect your data with encryption in transit (TLS) and at rest, access controls, and row-level security rules in our database so users can only read the data they are entitled to see. No system is perfectly secure; if we become aware of a breach affecting your personal data, we will notify you and the relevant authorities as required by applicable law.

13. Children

FounderCircle is a professional networking app for founders, builders, and entrepreneurs and is strictly for users 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 18, we will delete the account and its data. If you believe a minor is using the Service, please report it to support@foundercircle.app.

14. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you in the app or by email at least 7 days before they take effect. The date at the top of this page always shows when the policy was last revised.

15. Contact

Questions about this policy or your data? Email support@foundercircle.app — we read every message.