Privacy Policy

Welcome to Sparkseeker! Where we take the privacy of our Seekers very seriously. Since your privacy is very important to us, we have written them as simple as possible without legal jargon, unless specifically required by law, so that you can read, comprehend, and determine if our values align with yours. Let us be clear. Your privacy, your data, and what you do with it is your business, not ours. While we are providing you access to the Sparkseeker platform to post content, interact with other Seekers, and get involved (within the guidelines of our Terms of Services this should be a hyperlink.); you control what you want to see, how often you want to be notified, and how you want your data to be handled. At any time, if you no longer wish to use the Sparkseeker platform, you have the ultimate right to download your content and have your data permanently deleted from our servers. Knowing that people change their mind or make mistakes, Sparkseeker provides a 24-hour grace period if you want to reinstate your account and content. If you choose not to, after 24-hours, Sparkseeker will remove your content and release your Seekername so that it can be used by another Seeker. At no point after the 24-hour period can Sparkseeker reinstate your content as we will no longer have it stored on our servers; and if another Seeker signs up with your Seekername, we cannot reassign it to you. As we clearly state, it’s your data. Since we don’t own it, we can’t sell it. We will never sell your private data to anyone – that’s guaranteed!

Any partnerships or collaborations that we have will also be required to follow the same policies that we have in place when it comes to your data. Tracking doesn’t happen on Sparkseeker. Not because you figured out how to opt out of some cumbersome menus and never-ending questions. But because we just don’t do it, ever! Without tracking, you will not see any targeted advertisements. In fact, the only advertisements you will see on Sparkseeker is in our curated Marketplace, and those are for products and/or services from our verified vendors. They know nothing about you. Just that you are interested in products and/or services that support a better world. In being fully transparent, here are the services we are currently using to make the magic at Sparkseeker happen. Components running under AWS:

1. Amazon Cognito lets Seekers sign-up, sign in, and control access to Sparkseeker mobile apps quickly and easily.
2. Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS) is a fully managed messaging service for both application-to-application (A2A) and application-to-person (A2P). This is being used to send One Time Password (OTP) codes to the Seeker.
3. Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) is a cost-effective, flexible, and scalable email service that enables us to send emails to Seekers.
4. Amazon Simple Queue Service SQS is a fully managed message queuing service that enables you to decouple and scale microservices. We are using this for transferring messages/payloads asynchronously between microservice in the backend.
5. Amazon S3 is cloud object storage with industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance.
6. Amazon Transcribe is an automatic speech recognition (ASR) service that makes it easy for developers to add speech-to-text capability to their applications. We are using this to process the uploaded videos and generate subtitles.
7. OpenSearch is a family of software consisting of a search engine, and OpenSearch Dashboards, a data visualization dashboard for that search engine.
8. AWS Lambda is an event-driven, serverless computing platform provided by Amazon as a part of Amazon Web Services. We are using this to handle various backend tasks and processes.

Databases
1. MongoDB is a cross-platform document-oriented database program. We are using this for the Seeker, admin, notification, and chat microservice.
2. PostgreSQL is a powerful, open-source object-relational database system. We are using this for Spark and stream microservices as it is capable of handling massive record-based datasets.

Other third-party components
1. Firebase is a platform developed by Google for creating mobile and web applications and we are using this to send push notifications to devices.
2. Mux Video is an API that enables developers to build unique live and on-demand video experiences and we are using this for streaming the video.
3. Google Geolocation API returns a location which we are using when a Seeker searches their location in Spark, Initiative, Campfire add/edit pages.
4. Google Places API can be used to automatically fill in the name and/or address of a place as the Seeker types. Each key press in the search field causes a call to Places API for getting predictions.
5. Agora is a real-time engagement platform that we are using for video calling and Campfires in the Sparkseeker application.
6. Zendesk i provides software-as-a-service products related to customer support, sales, and other customer communications and we are using this for the FAQ module.
7. IO is an event-driven JavaScript library for real-time web applications. It enables real-time, bi-directional communication between web clients and servers. We are using this for single and group chat functionality.
8. IMGly is being used for editing video while uploading in Sparkseeker application.

Since we are not part of any of these companies, they may, from time to time, change their policies and/or the links to their privacy policy. While we do everything we can to keep as current and as accurate as possible, Sparkseeker cannot be held responsible for these changes. If we do find that changes to their policies violate ours, we will, at our discretion, change/modify the services we are using, and we will update our privacy policy to reflect those changes. If you do find an issue with one of our service providers policies, please email [email protected] and we will review the modification and/or update our privacy policy.

Now that you know about us and how strongly we feel about protecting your data and privacy, you should know what information we may collect from our Seekers when visiting our app and/or website:

1. Log and device data. This could be your device type/model, operating system, mobile network carrier, time zone, log in and log out information. We may collect all, some, or none depending on the device you are using and your settings on that device.
2. Crash reporting. This information is gathered by Firebase, and logs can also be obtained from Android and does not include any Seeker identifiable information beyond the device model and OS.
3. Account data: When a Seeker signs up for an account, we require some personally identifiable information like full name, Seekername, email address, phone number, date of birth (to confirm that you are at least 13 years of age), preferred language, and password. Business accounts will require similar information and include business name, contact name, business phone number, email address, Seekername, password, preferred language, industry, and profession. There is optional information, such as bio, website, social media links, gender, and profile photos that you are not required to include.
4. Contacts: If you choose to invite other Seekers to the platform, we would only have the information you provide. This can include, their name (full or partial), email address, and/or phone number.
5. Messages: If you choose to send and/or receive messages through the Sparkseeker app, including direct messages, group messages, support requests, etc., Sparkseeker stores all communications for easy access by our Seekers and staff. At no time will we review these communications unless another Seeker reports them as an infringement of our Terms of Services.
6. Campfires: Our Campfire chats are set up with the ability to record for the safety of our Seekers. Administrators have the option to turn on or off the record feature should they so choose, and participants will be notified. We only record what can be seen or heard in a Campfire. We never record from muted participants. Once the Campfire has ended, the Administrator can immediately download a copy of the recording for their records. Sparkseeker does not keep a copy of the Campfire chats. The ONLY exception to this is if a Seeker reports an issue while they are actively in the Campfire. In those cases, we retain the video for investigation purposes only. Once the investigation is completed, the video will be removed from the Sparkseeker servers. If the incident was not reported during the Campfire, Sparkseeker will not be able to investigate any potential Terms of Services violations.
7. Wizards, polls, surveys, etc.: During the initial signup process, Sparkseeker will ask each Seeker some questions about their interests to determine the type of content an individual Seeker would like to see. The Seeker will have the ability to update their interests at any time through their individual profile settings. In addition, the Sparkseeker app will occasionally have polls, surveys, etc. posted for our Seekers to interact with. These are completely voluntary, and all information gathered will be stored on our databases and only used to improve our products, services, and the overall Seeker experience.
8. Communications: From time to time, it may be necessary for Sparkseeker to communicate with our Seekers, as a group or individually. These interactions can include, but are not limited to questions, feedback, reporting, Marketplace purchases, etc.
9. Payment and transaction details including name, shipping address(es), billing address(es), payment information, account number(s), and purchase history. This information is collected by our payment processing service, In-App Purchases (IAP) for both Android and iOS , and Sparkseeker has access to, and may store all of the information, except for your payment account number, on our servers for easier processing for our Seekers. The payment processing services agreement and privacy policy outlines how your payments and purchases are processed and the security measures they have in place to protect your information.
10. Any additional information you provide to us through your Sparks, Initiatives, Challenges, and Campfires. Or your responses on Sparks, Initiatives, Challenges, and Campfires. This information can include, but is not limited to, Seekername, information on your profile, location, etc. This information is not only available to Sparkseeker, but to all the Seekers on the platform.
11. Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. If you choose to connect your social media accounts and interact with their platforms through the Sparkseeker app, those companies may provide limited information about your accounts. These outside companies provide different information depending on their privacy policies. We highly recommend that you review their privacy and data practices and keep your settings current. Sparkseeker currently allows Seekers to post Sparks, Initiatives, Challenges, and Campfire information on the following outside social media apps: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Additional applications may be added and/or removed from time-to-time and our privacy policy will be updated to reflect those modifications.
12. Sparkseeker website may or may not collect any of the above information. However, if you so choose, Seekers can provide an email address on the Sparkseeker website to receive information related to all things Sparkseeker. You may customize your communication preferences at any time. You can even opt out of all future notifications just by updating your subscriptions and email options on the Sparkseeker website, https://sparkseeker.com

Now, here’s what we will not collect:

1. Cookies, web beacons or other technologies to receive and store certain types of your personal information as you interact with our platform.
2. IP addresses, user agents, or other unique identifiers.
3. Any interactions with third-party applications (outside of the social media applications you’ve opted to share with).
4. Search history – third-party or on our app/website. Unless you specifically opt-in for Sparkseeker to collect your search history for the Sparkseeker Marketplace, we will never track you.

So now you know what we collect and do not collect. Now you should understand what we can use it for. The information is used for the sole purpose to enhance your experience with Sparkseeker, whether you are on our app or our website. Some of the ways could include, but are not limited to:

1. Logging in – if you choose, Sparkseeker will remember your login credentials or allow you to use face id to log into your account.
2. Managing your account – updating preferences, responding to inquiries, providing customer service, processing of Marketplace orders, and anything that could be associated with providing you with information or services to better improve your experience with Sparkseeker.
3. Messaging – depending on your preferences, you may receive emails, newsletters, text messages, or messages within Sparkseeker.
4. Notifications – privacy settings are in place for each Seeker to determine the type of notifications they wish to receive and when they wish to receive them. Depending on each Seekers’ individual settings, Sparkseeker may notify you when a Seeker thanks you, responds to your Spark, bookmarks your content, sends you a message, and/or attempts to connect with you on a video call. In general, when another Seeker reaches out to you, you may be notified if your privacy settings allow. At any time, you can go into your personal settings and modify your notifications.
5. Insights – Sparkseeker provides information to our Seekers, on certain account types, for the mere purpose of understanding how their content resonates with other Seekers on the platform.
6. Debugging – if an error is reported to Sparkseeker by you or through our crash reporting service (Firebase), we will gather and use any of the collected information to diagnose and/or fix the problem.
7. Updates – from time-to-time Sparkseeker will provide updates to the app and we may push that update to your device. These updates can include new features and/or bug fixes.

While we will never sell your information, to provide the Sparkseeker app to you, we may need to share certain information with the follow companies:

1. Service providers. These may be companies or individuals that provide services in the day-to-day operations of the Sparkseeker app. Companies that provide hosting, analytics, SMS delivery, merchant account processing, etc. may require some basic information to help deliver the Sparkseeker app and any products provided in our Marketplace. Our providers will be bound by our Terms of Services and Privacy Policy when applicable.
2. If Sparkseeker is required, and we believe our compliance is necessary to (a) protect a Seeker’s rights, privacy, and/or safety; (b) enforce our Terms of Services that govern the app; or (c) protect, investigate, and deter against harmful, unauthorized, unethical, or illegal activity.

If Sparkseeker changes control, what happens to your privacy and data? If we sell or transfer part or all of Sparkseeker to another entity (through a merger, acquisition, dissolution, bankruptcy, or liquidation), your information may be among the items included in the transfer. You will continue to have the same rights to your data and privacy, and they will have to honor the commitments we have made to you in this privacy policy. By using the Sparkseeker app, we need to store your information so that it can be accessed quickly and efficiently.

1. While Sparkseeker is headquartered in the United States, we have Seekers across the globe, and as such, data may be processed and stored in different countries depending on where our service providers maintain facilities.
2. Sparkseeker and its service providers may store and/or transfer information that we collect across borders and from your country or jurisdiction to other countries or jurisdictions around the world. If you are located in the European Union or other regions where laws governing data collection differ from the laws in the United States, please be aware that we may transfer information, including your personal information, to a country or jurisdiction that does not follow the same data protection laws.
In addition to storing your data, Sparkseeker is adamant about protecting your data.

1. By registering to use the Sparkseeker app, you agree that you will be responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your login information and any personal identifiable information that may be used to gain access to your account.
2. You agree that you will use the app at your own risk. While we use commercially reasonable safeguards to help protect your data both online and offline, no system is fully secure or error free. Keep that in mind when disclosing personal information to us via the Internet as we cannot be held responsible.
3. Sparkseeker cannot control the actions of other Seekers on the app. While we hold our Seekers to our detailed Terms of Services, we cannot be responsible if they use third party apps or devices to record, store, and/or share content or communications without your prior consent.

Children and how we protect them
Sparkseeker is conscious of our Seekers and their ability to interact on our platform. While we don’t feel any of the content on our app would be harmful, it is not intended for children under 17 years of age. In the event that we learn we have unintentionally collected personal information from a child under the age of 17 without a parent’s consent, we will remove the account(s) and associated data from our servers. Please contact us at [email protected] should you believe an account violates our age policy. Changes to our Privacy Policy. It may be necessary to modify or update our privacy policy from time to time. Any updates or modifications will always be done with our Seekers data and privacy concerns at the forefront of any decision. Your continued use of the Sparkseeker app after any modification will constitute your acceptance of the revised privacy policy.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact, [email protected] or [email protected]

Sparkseeker, LLC. Privacy Policy Effective July 2022