🔒 Privacy Policy

Last Updated: May 13, 2026

Your Privacy Matters

We're committed to protecting your data

No selling or sharing of your data
Stay anonymous - use any username you want
End-to-end encrypted connections
Minimal data collection - only what's needed

📄1. Information We Collect

Account Information:

Email address (for authentication and account recovery)
Username (display name of your choice - no real name required)
Password (encrypted and never stored in plain text)

Profile Information:

Country (required for leaderboards and community features)
State and city (optional - you can choose to hide these)

Activity Data:

Your predictions and confidence levels
Questions you create or answer
Comments and discussions you participate in
Your accuracy scores, streaks, and ranking
Following/follower relationships

Technical Information:

App usage statistics and crash reports (anonymized)
Session data for authentication

What We DON'T Collect:

Real name (unless you choose to use it)
Phone number
Device type or operating system
IP addresses
Precise geolocation or GPS coordinates
Financial information (we have no payments!)
Browsing history outside the app
Third-party tracking cookies

⚙️2. How We Use Your Information

Core App Functionality:

Create and manage your account
Display your predictions and track your performance
Calculate your accuracy, streaks, and leaderboard rankings
Enable social features (following, comments, challenges)
Send important account notifications

App Improvement:

Analyze usage patterns to improve features
Debug technical issues and crashes
Develop new forecasting categories and questions

Security & Safety:

Prevent fraud, spam, and bot accounts
Enforce our community guidelines
Protect against unauthorized access
Verify email addresses

Communication:

Send account-related emails (password resets, confirmations)
Notify you about predictions closing soon (if enabled)
Announce new features or important updates

What We DON'T Do With Your Data:

Sell it to advertisers or third parties
Share it with data brokers
Use it for targeted advertising
Track you across other apps or websites

🔀3. Data Sharing & Disclosure

Public Information:

The following information is visible to other users by default:

Your username
Your predictions and confidence levels
Your comments and posts
Your accuracy stats and leaderboard rank
Your country (always visible)
Your state and city (if you choose to display them)

Private Information:

The following is kept private and never shared:

Your email address
Your password (encrypted)
Your session data

Third-Party Services:

We use trusted service providers for:

Secure cloud hosting and authentication services
Apple Sign In - optional authentication method

These providers are contractually required to protect your data and cannot use it for their own purposes.

Legal Requirements:

We may disclose information if required by law, such as:

Valid legal process (subpoena, court order)
Protecting user safety or preventing harm
Investigating fraud or security issues

We will notify you of such requests unless prohibited by law.

🎛️4. Your Privacy Controls

You Have Full Control:

Hide your state and city in Profile settings
Use any username (stay anonymous if you want)
Delete individual predictions or comments
Export your data at any time
Delete your entire account

Account Deletion:

You can delete your account at any time from Profile > Account Settings > Delete Account. This will:

Permanently remove your account and personal data
Anonymize your past predictions (username becomes "Deleted User")
Remove your profile, stats, and leaderboard entries
This action cannot be undone

Data Retention:

Active account data: Stored as long as your account exists
Deleted account data: Personal info removed within 30 days
Anonymized predictions: May remain for historical records
Backup data: Removed within 90 days

🔐5. Data Security

How We Protect Your Data:

Industry-standard encryption (TLS/SSL) for all connections
Password hashing using secure algorithms
Regular security audits and updates
Access controls limiting who can view data
Secure cloud hosting and authentication services
Automated bot detection systems

Your Responsibility:

Use a strong, unique password
Enable two-factor authentication (when available)
Don't share your login credentials
Log out on shared devices
Report suspicious activity immediately

Data Breaches:

In the unlikely event of a security breach affecting your data, we will:

Notify you promptly via email
Explain what data was affected
Describe steps we're taking to address it
Provide recommendations for protecting your account

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦6. Children's Privacy

Age Requirement:

Our service is intended for users aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has created an account, please contact us immediately at support@forecastiqapp.com and we will delete the account.

Users Aged 13-17:

We encourage parents and guardians to monitor their teenager's online activities and discuss responsible internet use.

🌍7. International Users

Data Storage:

Your data is stored on secure servers located in the United States. By using our service, you consent to this data transfer.

GDPR Rights (EU Users):

If you're in the European Union, you have additional rights:

Right to access your data
Right to correction of inaccurate data
Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten")
Right to restrict processing
Right to data portability
Right to object to processing

To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@forecastiqapp.com

CCPA Rights (California Users):

California residents have the right to:

Know what personal information we collect
Request deletion of your data
Opt-out of data sale (we never sell your data anyway!)
Non-discrimination for exercising your rights

🍪8. Cookies & Tracking

What We Use:

Session cookies (required for login and security)
Local storage for app preferences
Crash reporting and analytics (anonymized)

What We DON'T Use:

Third-party advertising cookies
Cross-site tracking
Social media pixels
Behavioral targeting

Most cookies are essential for the app to function and cannot be disabled. Non-essential analytics can be opted out in Settings.

🔄9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do:

We'll update the "Last Updated" date at the top
We'll notify you via email for significant changes
We'll display an in-app notice for major updates
You'll be asked to review and accept material changes

Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. If you don't agree with changes, you can delete your account.

✉️10. Contact Us

Questions or Concerns?

We're here to help with any privacy-related questions:

📧 Email: privacy@forecastiqapp.com
📧 Support: support@forecastiqapp.com
📧 Security Issues: security@forecastiqapp.com

Response Time:

We aim to respond to all privacy inquiries within 48 hours (2 business days).

For data access, deletion, or GDPR/CCPA requests, we'll respond within 30 days as required by law.

✅ Our Promise to You

Your privacy is not negotiable

We built this app because we love forecasting and believe in skill-based prediction markets. We don't need to sell your data to make money (because we're not trying to extract maximum profit from you).

Your trust is more important than any advertising revenue. We'll always be transparent about how we use your data, and we'll never surprise you with sketchy changes.

— The ForecastIQ Team