Privacy Policy

Ruminator (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates an online platform that helps founders research startup ideas using AI-assisted analysis. This Privacy Policy explains what information we may collect, how we may use it, and the choices available to you when you use our website and related services (collectively, the “Service”).

We intend to handle personal information in a transparent way and only collect information that is reasonably necessary to operate, secure, and improve the Service.

The information we collect depends on how you use the Service. It may include the categories below.

Account information

When you create an account, authentication is handled by Clerk. We may receive and store information associated with your account, such as:

• Email address
• Name, if you choose to provide it
• Authentication identifiers and session-related data

User content

To provide the Service, you may submit content such as:

• Startup ideas and prompts
• Generated reports and analysis results
• Follow-up questions and conversation history
• Other content you choose to submit through the platform

You retain ownership of content you submit. We process and store user content as needed to operate the Service, as described in these policies and our Terms of Use.

Analytics

We may use analytics tools such as Google Analytics to understand how the Service is used. Analytics data may include, for example:

• Pages visited and features used
• Browser type and device information
• Approximate location derived from IP address
• Referral source and session duration

We may use analytics information to understand aggregate usage patterns and improve the Service. We do not use analytics to identify individual users unless reasonably necessary for security or troubleshooting.

Technical information

When you access the Service, we and our infrastructure providers may automatically collect technical information, including:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Operating system
• Log files and error reports
• Device identifiers where available
• Request timestamps and basic usage metadata

We rely on trusted third-party providers to operate the Service. These providers may process information on our behalf and under their own privacy policies. Current categories include:

• Authentication: Clerk
• Hosting and infrastructure: Vercel and other infrastructure providers we may use from time to time
• Database: Firebase / Google Cloud Firestore
• AI providers: OpenAI, Google Gemini, and other model providers we may enable from time to time
• Analytics: Google Analytics
• Payments: Lemon Squeezy or another payment provider we designate for checkout

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of these providers. We are not responsible for the practices of third parties outside our reasonable control.

We may use collected information for purposes such as:

• Providing, operating, and maintaining the Service
• Authenticating users and managing accounts
• Generating AI-assisted reports and related features
• Improving product quality, reliability, and user experience
• Detecting, investigating, and preventing abuse or misuse
• Providing customer support and responding to inquiries
• Maintaining security and protecting against unauthorized access
• Conducting analytics and understanding usage trends
• Complying with legal obligations and enforcing our agreements

The Service uses artificial intelligence to generate research reports and related outputs. User inputs may be securely transmitted to trusted AI providers (such as OpenAI and Google Gemini) solely for the purpose of generating the results you request.

We may store prompts, generated reports, conversation history, and related metadata as reasonably necessary to provide the Service, maintain your history, improve reliability, investigate abuse, and support platform functionality. Our AI providers and configuration may change over time as we improve the Service.

You should not submit information you are not comfortable having processed for these purposes.

If you purchase paid plans or report credits, payments are processed by our payment provider (currently intended to be Lemon Squeezy). We do not store full payment card numbers on our servers.

The payment provider may collect billing details, transaction records, and related information according to its own privacy policy.

We and our providers may use cookies and similar technologies, including:

• Authentication cookies needed to keep you signed in
• Essential cookies required for core site functionality
• Analytics cookies that help us understand how the Service is used

You may be able to control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect how the Service works.

We generally retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the Service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

Where technically feasible and subject to applicable legal obligations, you may request deletion of your account and associated personal information by contacting us at contact@ruminator.app.

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, or alteration.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your information.

If you access the Service from outside the country where our servers or service providers are located, your information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in countries that may have different data protection laws than your own.

By using the Service, you acknowledge that such transfers may occur as needed to provide the Service.

The Service is not intended for children under 13, or under a higher age where required by applicable local law. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, please contact us so we can take appropriate steps.

We may send service-related communications such as account notifications, security alerts, password resets, billing notices, and other operational emails necessary for providing the Service.

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have rights to:

• Access personal information
• Correct inaccurate information
• Request deletion
• Object to certain processing
• Withdraw consent where applicable

Contact us at contact@ruminator.app if you wish to exercise these rights.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page. Your continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated policy, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, contact us at contact@ruminator.app.