Privacy Policy

1. Introduction & Scope

This Privacy Policy explains how Rate My Acquaintance ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, discloses, and safeguards personal data when you use our platform, website, and services (collectively, the "Service").

By accessing or using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, you must immediately cease using the Service.

2. Data We Collect

A. Data Provided by Registered Users (Reviewers)

• Account Information: Name, email address, password, or authentication data from third-party login providers (e.g., Google).
• Content Data: Reviews, ratings, scores, and text comments submitted to the platform.
• Technical & Usage Data: IP addresses, browser types, device identifiers, log data, and timestamps of when you access or post content.

B. Data Gathered About Rated Professionals (Landlords, Recruiters, Managers)

• Professional Identity Data: Name, current or former job title, employer/company name, and geographic location.
• External Identification: Publicly available URLs or hyperlinks provided by users (e.g., public LinkedIn profile links).
• Aggregated Sentiment Data: Star ratings, categorical performance scores, and user-generated commentary regarding professional performance.

3. Legal Basis and How We Use Your Data

We process your personal data under the following legal frameworks:

• To Provide and Maintain the Service: Processing user accounts and displaying professional ratings.
• Legitimate Interests: We process publicly available professional data (LinkedIn links, corporate titles) to facilitate a platform for transparency and community professional evaluation, provided it does not override the fundamental rights of the data subject.
• Security and Fraud Prevention: Monitoring IP addresses and user accounts to detect malicious behavior, bot networks, review manipulation, or Terms of Service violations.
• Legal Compliance: To comply with valid legal obligations, court orders, or enforceable government requests (e.g., subpoenas).

4. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell personal data to third parties. We may disclose personal data in the following strictly limited scenarios:

• Service Providers: To trusted third-party vendors who assist us in hosting, data analysis, email delivery, and customer service under strict data processing agreements.
• Legal Obligations & Safety: We will disclose account data, IP addresses, or content data if required to do so by law, or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a court order, subpoena, or to protect the safety and legal rights of the platform, our users, or the public.
• Business Transfers: In connection with any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business.

5. Special Provisions for Rated Professionals (Opt-Out & Removal)

We recognize that professionals listed on this platform may not have created their own profiles. We provide robust rights to ensure compliance with global privacy regulations:

• The Right to Know: Any professional may request access to the data held about them on our platform.
• The Right to Rectify/Correct: If a profile contains factually incorrect administrative or metadata (e.g., wrong company name or misspelled name), the professional has the right to request correction.
• The Right to Erasure / "Right to be Forgotten": In strict compliance with CCPA and GDPR, any individual may submit a formal request to have their profile, name, and associated external links permanently removed from our public indexing system.

To exercise these rights, please use the "Report profile" button on the person's page or contact our support team.

6. Data Security

We implement industry-standard technical and organizational security measures to protect data from unauthorized access, loss, or alteration. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. International Data Transfers

Our servers are located in the United States. If you access the Service from Europe, Asia, or any other region with laws governing data collection and use that differ from United States law, you acknowledge that your data is being transferred to and processed in the United States.

8. Your Rights (Registered Users)

• Access and Portability: You may request a copy of your personal data at any time through your account settings.
• Correction: You may update or correct your account information through your profile settings.
• Deletion: You may delete your account at any time through your profile settings. Upon deletion, your email and personal metadata will be removed, and any reviews you authored will be disassociated from your identity.
• Opt Out of Communications: You may opt out of non-essential communications at any time.

9. LinkedIn URL Processing

LinkedIn URLs submitted by users are treated as plain text — simple hyperlinks to external websites. We do not operate background scripts or APIs to scrape, cache, or process profile information from LinkedIn or any other external platform. All professional metadata (name, title, company) is entered manually by users.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. We will notify users of significant changes by posting the updated policy on this page and updating the "Last Modified" date below. Your continued use of the Service after modifications constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise any of your rights, please reach out to our support team.