Privacy Policy

Effective date: [LAUNCH DATE] · Last updated: [LAUNCH DATE]

1. What this policy covers

This Privacy Policy describes how DecCentral handles information when you use this DecCentral application — the service where you answer intake questions, we prepare your documents, and you pay for them. It applies to the application only.

In this policy, "DecCentral," "we," "us," and "our" refer to [LEGAL ENTITY NAME].

It does not cover our separate informational website, which has its own privacy policy. That website is where you can read about DecCentral; this application is where you actually provide information to us. This policy governs everything you enter here.

DecCentral is a legal technology service provider. We are not a law firm and we do not provide legal advice. For the full terms of that distinction, see our Terms of Service.

2. What we do not do

Unlike our informational website, this application collects personal information — that is its purpose. But we still limit what happens to that information:

• We do not use tracking or analytics tools. No Google Analytics, no Google Tag Manager, no advertising pixels, no heat-mapping or session-recording tools of any kind.
• We use only essential cookies. The application sets a session cookie for two narrow purposes: letting you leave and resume an in-progress intake, and keeping our own administrators signed in. We set no advertising or third-party cookies, and we do not use cookies to track you across other sites.
• We do not sell your information. We have never sold personal information and we have no plans to.
• We do not share your information for advertising. We do not run ads, we do not participate in ad networks, and we do not share your information with advertising partners.
• We do not build marketing profiles about you. We use what you enter to prepare your documents and process your payment — not to infer characteristics about you or target you with anything.
• We do not require an account. The intake works without registration; there are no user accounts in this application.

These are commitments. We will not change any of them silently. If we ever change any of them, we will update this policy and post a notice before the change takes effect.

3. What we collect

Because this application prepares legal documents for you, we collect substantially more than an informational website would. Everything below is information you choose to enter; we do not collect information about you from third parties.

3.1 Intake information you provide

When you complete an intake, we collect what the questions ask for. Depending on the workflow, this includes: your honorific and name, email address, phone number, mailing address, a billing address, the name and address of the association or other party your matter concerns, and your answers to questions about the matter itself.

We store this information in our database in order to prepare your documents, and we retain it as described in §6. An intake you start but do not finish is also stored (see §6).

3.2 Documents we generate

The documents the application prepares from your answers are part of your record and are retained with your intake information.

3.3 Payment information

Payments are processed by Stripe on Stripe-hosted pages. Your card number goes directly to Stripe and never reaches our servers. We receive confirmation that you paid, along with transaction metadata (such as the amount and a transaction identifier). Stripe's handling of your payment details is governed by Stripe's own privacy policy.

3.4 Session cookie

The application sets an essential session cookie so that an intake you started can be associated with your browser if you return to finish it. A started intake can be resumed for 90 days; after that it can no longer be resumed (though the record is retained as described in §6).

3.5 Basic server logs

Our hosting provider (Heroku) maintains routine server logs for operating, securing, and troubleshooting the application: the IP address a request came from, the time, the page requested, the reported browser and operating system, and the referring URL if any. We do not maintain persistent log storage: our provider retains a short rolling buffer of recent activity — typically hours to days — after which log entries are gone. We do not combine server logs with intake data to profile you.

4. How we use what we collect

• To prepare your documents. This is the core purpose: your answers become the documents you are paying for.
• To process your payment. Via Stripe, as described in §3.3.
• To let you resume an intake. Via the session cookie, within the 90-day window.
• To respond to you. If you contact us, we read the message and reply.
• To operate and secure the application. Server logs help us detect and respond to operational issues and security incidents.
• To comply with law. If a lawful process requires us to retain or disclose information, we comply.

We do not use your information for advertising, for marketing profiles, or for automated decisions that affect you legally or similarly significantly beyond the document preparation you asked for.

5. Who sees your information

• Our service providers. Our hosting provider (Heroku, which hosts the application and its database) and our payment processor (Stripe) technically handle information in the course of delivering their services. They are bound to protect it and not use it for their own purposes.
• Our administrators. A small number of authorized DecCentral administrators can view intake records in order to operate the service and respond to requests.
• No one else, except as legally required. We do not sell, rent, trade, or transfer information to advertising networks, data brokers, or other third parties for their own commercial use. We may disclose information when legally compelled (subpoena, court order, or similar process), when needed to protect the safety of a person, or when needed to investigate and stop activity we reasonably believe to be illegal.

6. How long we keep your information

• Intake records — including the documents we generate — are retained for seven (7) years. This applies to all intake records, including intakes you start but never finish. We retain them as business records of the legal-document services we provide.
• You can ask us to delete your record sooner. If you make a verified deletion request (§7), we will delete your intake answers and the documents we generated for you. We retain only payment and transaction records, and any information we are legally required to keep, for the remainder of the seven-year period.
• A started intake is resumable for 90 days. After 90 days it can no longer be reopened or reused, but the record itself remains subject to the seven-year period above.
• Server logs are retained only in our hosting provider's short rolling buffer (§3.5).

7. Your rights and how to exercise them

Regardless of where you live, you have the following rights regarding personal information we hold about you: to know what we collect, use, and share; to access a copy; to correct inaccuracies; to delete it; to portability; to opt out of sale or sharing for advertising (we do neither, so there is nothing to opt out of); and to non-discrimination for exercising any of these rights.

Unlike a website that holds nothing about its visitors, this application does hold an identifiable record about you if you have entered an intake: your answers, your contact details, and your generated documents. These rights therefore have real, practical application here. We will honor valid requests concerning that record, including deletion as described in §6 (payment and transaction records, and anything we are legally required to keep, are retained).

To exercise a right, send a request to privacy@deccentral.com. Include enough information for us to locate your record (typically the email address you entered in your intake and the approximate date). We will respond within 45 days; if we need more time, we will tell you why and how much (up to an additional 45 days, as permitted by applicable law). You may use an authorized agent; we may ask for proof of authorization and may confirm the request with you directly. If we deny your request in whole or in part, we will explain why and how to appeal: reply to our response or email privacy@deccentral.com with "Appeal" in the subject line.

Exercising your rights will not affect the price or availability of any DecCentral service.

8. Children

The DecCentral application is intended for adults and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has entered information here, contact privacy@deccentral.com and we will delete it. If you are between 13 and 16 and reside in a state with additional protections for minors, those protections are substantively satisfied by our posture: we do not sell or share personal information for advertising, regardless of age.

9. Users outside the United States

The DecCentral application is operated from the United States and is intended for U.S. users. Information you enter is processed and stored in the U.S. If you are a resident of the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with data protection laws that differ from U.S. law, you retain any additional rights that apply to you under your local law, and you may contact privacy@deccentral.com to exercise them.

10. Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information. All traffic to and from the application is encrypted with HTTPS; our database is encrypted at rest at the infrastructure level; administrative access requires authenticated sign-in and is limited to a small number of authorized people; and payment card data is handled exclusively by Stripe and never stored by us.

No system is perfectly secure. If a security incident occurs that affects your information, we will notify you and any applicable authorities as required by law.

11. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top and, for substantive changes, post a notice in the application at least 30 days before the change takes effect. If a change would materially reduce your privacy rights, we will seek your affirmative consent before applying it to information we already hold. We will not change a commitment described in §2 silently — any such change is, by definition, a substantive change.

12. Governing law

This policy is governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute concerning this policy will be resolved in accordance with our Terms of Service.

13. Not a law firm

DecCentral is a legal technology service provider. We are not a law firm, the documents this application prepares are generated by software from your answers, nothing in this application is legal advice, and your use of it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For the full scope of what DecCentral is and is not, see our Terms of Service.

14. How to contact us