Privacy Policy
We keep your private information private.
1. Intro
Your privacy is important to us. It is Backstory's policy to respect your privacy and comply with any applicable law and regulation regarding any personal information we may collect about you when accessing our website, withbackstory.com.
Personal information is any information about you which can be used to identify you. This includes information about you as a person (such as name, address, and date of birth), your devices, payment details, and even information about how you use a website or online service.
In the event our site contains links to third-party sites and services, please be aware that those sites and services have their own privacy policies. After following a link to any third-party content, you should read their posted privacy policy information about how they collect and use personal information. This Privacy Policy does not apply to any of your activities after you leave our site.
Last updated: 13 May 2025
2. Information We Collect and Why
Information we collect falls into one of two categories: "voluntarily provided" information and "automatically collected" information.
"Voluntarily provided" information refers to any information you knowingly and actively provide us when using or participating in any of our services and promotions.
"Automatically collected" information refers to any information automatically sent by your devices in the course of accessing our products and services.
Log Data
When you visit our website, our servers may automatically log the standard data provided by your web browser. It may include your device's Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, pages visited, time and date of your visit, time spent on each page, and other details.
Additionally, if you encounter certain errors while using the site, we may automatically collect technical details about your device, what you were doing, and any related error information.
Please be aware that while this information may not identify you on its own, it may be combined with other data to personally identify individual persons.
Device Data
When you visit our website or interact with our services, we may automatically collect data about your device, such as:
- Device Type
- Operating System
Device settings may influence what information is shared with us. Please check your device's policies for more information.
Personal Information
We may ask for personal information—for example, when you subscribe to our newsletter or contact us—which may include:
- Name
- Social media profiles
- Date of birth
Transaction Data
Transaction data refers to records that accumulate during your normal interactions with our services, such as stored files, analytics data, and usage metrics.
Calendar Event Data
We store meeting details (title, participants, description, time, URL) for use in providing our main app functionality.
Legitimate Reasons for Processing Your Personal Information
We only collect and use your information when there are legitimate reasons to do so.
3. Use and Sharing of Google Data
Backstory uses Google's API services to provide its core functionality and enhance the functionality of backstory's services. Our use and transfer of Google user data comply with Google's API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Use of Google Data
When users connect their Google account, Backstory accesses:
- Profile Information (name and email) for authentication
- Calendar events (event name, participants, date, time, and meeting links) to generate meeting notes.
- Gmail messages (subject, sender, recipient, and content) to generate contextual meeting notes.
- We encrypt all your data in transit and information is only available to you and our service providers via our authentication methods (Clerk)
We do not modify or store email content, drive files, or any other Google data beyond what is necessary for meeting note generation.
Sharing of Google Data
- Backstory does not share Google data with third parties for advertising or marketing purposes.
- Google data is only processed within Backstory's secure environment and may be shared with trusted sub-processors solely for delivering the Service.
- Users can disconnect their Google account at any time and their data will be deleted from our systems.
User control over Google Data
Users can disconnect their Google account at any point via the settings page.
4. Security of Your Personal Information
We protect your data through commercially acceptable means. However, no method of storage or transmission over the Internet is 100% secure.
You are responsible for keeping your passwords secure and confidential.
Email and Calendar Data
- Emails: We do not store any email data. All data is stored on your devices or in your Google or Apple account. Email data we use is strictly used for research generation and insights.
- Calendar events: We store meeting details (event name, participants, date, time and URL) for use in research and insights.
- We encrypt all your data in transit and information is only available to you and our service providers via our authentication methods (Clerk)
5. How Long We Keep Your Personal Information
We retain personal information only for as long as necessary. Afterward, we delete it or anonymize it unless longer retention is required for legal or compliance reasons.
6. Disclosure of Personal Information to Third Parties
We may disclose personal information to:
- Our subsidiaries, affiliates, contractors, employees
- Service providers like IT companies, analytics providers, marketing services, and payment systems
- Courts, tribunals, regulatory bodies
- Partners, sponsors, or agents
- Debt collectors
- Purchasers of our assets or business
Subprocessors
We use the following subprocessors to provide our services:
- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- Clerk
- Neon
- Render
- Sentry
- Front
- Stripe
These subprocessors may process your personal information as required to provide our services. All subprocessors are bound by data processing agreements that require them to process data in accordance with applicable laws and our privacy practices.
7. Training of AI Models
Your data shared will NOT be used to train any AI models, including OpenAI and Anthropic.
8. International Transfers of Personal Information
All personal information is stored and/or processed in the United States.
9. Your Rights and Controlling Your Personal Information
Your choice: You may withhold personal information, but this might affect service quality.
Marketing permission: You can opt out of marketing communications at any time.
Access and correction: You may request access to or correction of your personal information.
Non-discrimination: Exercising your privacy rights will not result in discrimination.
Data breaches: We comply with applicable laws regarding any data breaches.
Complaints: Contact us if you believe your privacy rights have been breached.
Unsubscribe: You can unsubscribe from communications anytime by contacting us at support@withbackstory.com.
10. Use of Cookies
We use cookies to understand how you use our site and personalize your experience.
11. Business Transfers
In the event of a sale or bankruptcy, your data may be transferred to acquiring parties under the same privacy terms.
12. Limits of Our Policy
We are not responsible for the privacy practices of external sites we link to.
13. Changes to This Policy
We may change this policy from time to time and will post updates here. For significant changes, we will notify registered users.
Contact Us
For any questions or concerns regarding your privacy, you may contact:
Robert Chung
support@withbackstory.com
San Francisco, CA, April 2025