Privacy Policy

1. Scope and responsibility

This Privacy Policy explains how Arcopolis collects, uses, discloses, and retains personal information through our website, mobile apps, and related services. Arcopolis helps people document contributions to the built environment, discuss buildings, and discover professional work.

Arcopolis is operated by [legal entity name], with a mailing address at [business mailing address]. In this policy, “Arcopolis,” “we,” and “us” refer to that operator. Contact support@arcopolis.io with privacy questions or requests.

This policy covers information we handle for these services. Organizations using Arcopolis may also process information for their own purposes, such as recruiting or managing staff. Their separate privacy obligations apply to those activities. Feature-specific notices or agreements may provide additional details.

2. Information we collect

Account and professional information. We collect information you provide, such as your name, email address, profile photo, professional role, discipline, biography, location, affiliations, and account preferences. Our authentication provider processes sign-in credentials. If you use Apple, Google, or another supported sign-in service, we receive the account information that service makes available for sign-in.

Contributions and media. We collect credits, project details, historical attributions, citations, endorsements, critiques, replies, photographs, and other material you submit. Uploads can include file details, image dimensions, and capture dates. Avoid including private information or sensitive metadata you do not intend to share.

Communication and workspace information. We process direct messages, connections, notifications, saved items, support requests, reports, and correction requests. Organization tools may contain membership and seat information, recruiting searches, candidate lists, pipeline stages, tags, notes, and outreach activity.

Verification and billing information. We collect statements and supporting information you submit for identity, affiliation, credential, or organization review, together with review outcomes. Payment providers process payment details; we receive customer and subscription identifiers, transaction information, and billing status. Our current checkout flow does not send us full payment-card numbers.

Usage and technical information. We and our service providers process information such as IP address, browser and device information, identifiers, access times, pages and profiles viewed, searches, shared-link activity, and diagnostic or security logs. Some activity is associated with your account; some uses browser or session identifiers. A hashed identifier is not necessarily anonymous information.

Location information. If you grant browser or device permission, we use precise location to support features such as showing nearby buildings. Map and search providers may receive coordinates, map areas, or search queries needed to return results. We also process locations you enter and may infer approximate location from technical information. You can revoke device permission and navigate the map manually.

Information from others. We may receive professional or project information from colleagues, organizations, other contributors, public sources, archives, authentication providers, and service providers. This can include information about people who do not have an Arcopolis account. Contact us if a record about you is inaccurate or raises a privacy concern.

3. How we use information

We use personal information to create and secure accounts; display contributions and project records; provide maps, search, messaging, and professional discovery; manage organization access and paid features; process verification, endorsements, corrections, and reports; and communicate about accounts, transactions, and service changes.

We also use information to understand how features perform, improve relevance and reliability, prevent fraud and abuse, protect users and the service, resolve disputes, maintain accurate records, and meet legal obligations. Where permitted, we may send product updates or promotional communications; you can opt out of promotional messages.

We may produce aggregated or de-identified statistics for product development, research, and professional insights. We use information in that form only where individuals are not reasonably identifiable, and maintain safeguards against re-identification. Removing a name alone does not make a record de-identified.

4. What other people can see

Public records. Public profiles, professional affiliations, credits, historical attributions, sources, endorsements, critiques, and published photographs can be seen by other users and visitors. They may appear on maps, in search results, in public portfolios, in exports, or in links shared outside Arcopolis. Search engines and other people may copy public material. Privacy settings do not make a previously public contribution private retroactively.

Profile views. We record profile-view activity. If you view a profile while signed in, an eligible profile owner may see your name, professional details, associated organization where available, and when you viewed the profile. Signed-out visits may be counted using a browser identifier without displaying an account identity. We do not currently provide an anonymous-browsing setting for signed-in profile views.

Professional discovery. Eligible recruiters can search public professional records. Your “Open to opportunities” and recruiter-outreach preferences control the corresponding signals and outreach permissions; they do not hide public credits or profiles. Recruiting search does not provide private account contact details, verification evidence, private collections, messages, or billing information.

Private and shared areas. Direct messages are available to their participants rather than the public. Organization workspace information is available to authorized members according to their permissions; private recruiting notes are shared within the authorized workspace, not published on a candidate’s profile. Arcopolis and its service providers may access nonpublic information when needed to deliver the service, investigate issues, provide support, or meet legal obligations. “Private” does not mean end-to-end encrypted.

Other users can share or retain information they receive, including messages and exports. Take care before sharing confidential or sensitive material. Their independent handling of information may be subject to their own obligations, and does not remove Arcopolis’s obligations for information we control.

5. When we disclose information

Service providers. We disclose information needed by providers supporting hosting, authentication, databases, file storage, maps and search, payments, communications, and service operations. Current integrations include Supabase, Mapbox, and Stripe; supported sign-in services include Apple and Google. Providers can change as the service develops. Providers acting on our behalf are subject to appropriate contractual restrictions; services processing information independently also have their own privacy notices.

At your direction and through service features. We disclose public contributions, messages, organization records, and other information to the audiences described above, or when you authorize a share, export, or integration. Giving an integration access can transfer information outside Arcopolis; review its permissions and privacy practices.

Legal and safety purposes. We may disclose information where required by law or where reasonably necessary to respond to legal process, investigate misuse, prevent harm or fraud, enforce our terms, or protect the rights and safety of users, Arcopolis, or others. We assess requests and disclose information appropriate to the circumstances.

Business changes. Information may be disclosed to advisers and prospective or actual successors in a financing, merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, subject to appropriate confidentiality and legal requirements. Any successor’s use of information remains subject to applicable privacy commitments and law.

Advertising and sale. We do not sell personal information to data brokers or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. Paid access to public professional discovery does not include private contact details or communications. If future products introduce new advertising or data-sharing practices, we will explain them before they begin and provide the notices, choices, and consent required by law.

6. Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies, local storage, session storage, and similar identifiers to keep you signed in, secure the service, remember preferences and recent searches, preserve shared-link context, and measure profile views and contribution-sharing activity. Some identifiers can persist between visits. Mapping, authentication, and other providers may use their own technologies when you interact with their services.

You can manage cookies and stored site data through your browser. Blocking essential storage may prevent sign-in or other features from working. If we introduce nonessential tracking that requires consent, we will provide an appropriate choice before using it.

Arcopolis does not currently change its first-party data collection in response to the browser’s legacy “Do Not Track” signal. That signal is distinct from legally recognized opt-out signals such as Global Privacy Control. We will apply recognized signals where required for applicable sale, sharing, or targeted-advertising activities.

7. Your choices and privacy rights

You can update your profile, use available contribution editing and deletion tools, change recruiting preferences, block users, and revoke device permissions. Use account settings to request account deletion. Promotional messages will include an opt-out method; essential account, security, and transaction messages may still be sent.

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have rights to access personal information, receive a portable copy, correct inaccuracies, request deletion, restrict or object to processing, withdraw consent, or opt out of certain sales, sharing, or targeted advertising. Some laws also allow you to limit certain uses of sensitive information, appeal a denied request, or complain to a privacy regulator. These rights have legal limits and exceptions.

To make a request, email support@arcopolis.io with the subject “Privacy request.” We may verify your identity and ask for information necessary to understand and safely fulfill it. An authorized agent may act for you where allowed. We will respond within applicable legal time limits and explain a refusal or limitation and any available appeal process. You do not need a paid subscription to exercise a privacy right, and we will not unlawfully discriminate against you for doing so.

Public records about you and information supplied by others may require a different correction or deletion process from your own submissions. We assess the relevant privacy rights, accuracy, third-party rights, and applicable legal requirements. A billing lapse or change of employer does not, by itself, remove an accurate contribution. Rights concerning personal information remain available.

8. Retention and account deletion

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably needed for the purposes described in this policy, including providing accounts and workspaces, documenting contributions, handling corrections and disputes, maintaining security, and meeting legal or accounting requirements. Retention depends on the type of information, why it is used, account activity, legal requirements, and the need to preserve an accurate public record. We delete or de-identify information when it is no longer needed.

Public contribution and historical records may outlast the account or employment relationship that created them. Paying for access does not determine whether the underlying record is retained. We assess privacy and removal requests individually; maintaining a record does not override rights that apply by law.

The current account-deletion process anonymizes profile details and disables account access, then schedules permanent account deletion after a seven-day retention window. Processing may take additional time. Sole owners of active organizations must transfer ownership first. Deletion may remove direct conversations, while critiques, their reply structure, and independently submitted records may remain without an active author profile.

Account deletion is not a guarantee that every copy disappears immediately. Information may remain in backups, required transaction records, security or dispute records, or material independently retained by other users. Retained information is limited to its continuing purpose. Contact us about a specific item or privacy concern, and separately manage any active subscription.

9. Security

We use technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information, including access controls and authentication. Safeguards depend on the information and the service involved. No internet transmission or storage system is completely secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Protect your account credentials and avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information in public posts or messages. Report suspected unauthorized access to support@arcopolis.io. We will provide notifications about security incidents where required by law. This policy does not waive privacy rights or responsibilities that cannot lawfully be excluded.

10. International processing and legal bases

Information may be processed in the countries where Arcopolis and its providers operate, including the United States. Privacy laws may differ from those in your home country. Where applicable law requires protection for an international transfer, we use an appropriate transfer mechanism or other lawful basis, and you can contact us for details.

Where European, UK, or similar laws require a legal basis, we rely on performing our agreement with you for requested services; legitimate interests, balanced against your rights, for maintaining professional records, securing and improving the service, and handling disputes; compliance with legal obligations; and consent where required for optional features or tracking. We will identify an additional basis where a particular activity requires one. You may withdraw consent without affecting earlier lawful processing.

11. Age requirements

Arcopolis accounts and contributions are intended for people aged 16 and older. We do not knowingly permit accounts for children under 16. If you believe a child has provided personal information through an account or service use, contact support@arcopolis.io so we can investigate and take appropriate action. Additional protections and consent requirements may apply to younger users under local law.

12. Future products and automated features

Arcopolis may develop additional portfolio, research, recruiting, organization, analytics, integration, or AI-assisted features. We may use relevant information for those features when the use is compatible with the purposes and protections described here. A new feature may require additional information, permissions, or a feature-specific notice.

If we introduce AI-assisted processing, we will explain the relevant inputs, purposes, provider access, and available choices before the feature is used. We will not use private messages or nonpublic verification evidence to train general-purpose AI models without separate affirmative permission. Materially different uses of personal information require additional notice and any consent required by law; this policy does not give unrestricted permission to repurpose earlier data.

Current professional search uses project and profile information to help people find relevant records; it does not make hiring decisions on an employer’s behalf. If we introduce solely automated decisions with significant legal or similar effects, we will provide the disclosures and safeguards required by applicable law.

13. Policy changes

We may update this policy as the service, providers, and legal requirements change. We will publish the revised policy with an updated effective date and provide prominent notice of material changes, such as through an in-app notice or email. We will obtain additional consent where required before introducing a new use or disclosure.

An updated policy does not automatically authorize a materially different use of information collected under earlier privacy commitments. We will respect those commitments and applicable law. Continued use alone is not a substitute for consent where the law requires it.

14. Contact

For privacy questions, requests, or concerns, email support@arcopolis.io with the subject “Privacy request,” or write to [legal entity name] at [business mailing address]. If a request concerns an organization’s independent use of information, we may direct it to that organization or explain which parts Arcopolis can address.