Privacy Policy

1. The short version

Hearth asks you for personal things. We think you should know exactly what happens to them.

• We collect what we need to match you into a Circle, keep gatherings safe, and understand whether the program works.
• We never sell your information, and we do not use it for advertising.
• What you say in a Circle check-in is not recorded by us and does not go in a file.
• We do keep a confidential record of safety concerns, because a pattern across separate Circles is only visible if someone is holding all of it. Section 7 explains that in detail.
• You can ask us what we hold about you, correct it, or ask us to delete it, with one narrow exception for safety records.

The rest of this policy is the long version.

2. Who we are

Hearth is a fiscally sponsored project of The Hack Foundation (d.b.a Hack Club), a 501(c)(3) organization. This policy covers information handled by the Hearth program, including our website, application, member records, surveys, and events.

Questions: hello@discoverhearth.org.

3. What we collect

You give us:

• Contact and basic details: name, email, phone, zip code, and whether you want text updates.
• Matching information: your availability, the parts of the city that work for you, whether you lean toward connection or discussion, whether you could host, and whether you might want to facilitate someday.
• How you heard about Hearth, and who referred you.
• Contribution information, handled by our payment processor. We see the amount, date, and status. We do not store your full card number.
• Survey responses, including questions about how meaningful your life feels, your sense of belonging, and your social connections.
• Anything you send us directly, including feedback, exit survey answers, and messages to the member advocate.

We generate:

• Attendance and participation records, including which meetings you came to and which Circle you belong to.
• Your roles and status within Hearth.
• Notes we need to run the program, such as a rematch request.
• Safety records, described in Section 7.

We receive from others:

• Background check results from a third-party consumer reporting agency, described in Section 6.
• Basic technical information from our website, such as IP address, browser type, and pages visited, through Lovable, our website provider.
• Information other members give us about you, most often in the private feedback check-in during a Circle trial period, or in a safety report.

What we do not collect: we do not record or transcribe Circle meetings. We do not keep notes on what you disclose during a check-in or a wisdom discussion. Facilitators are asked not to write down what members share.

4. How we use it

• To match you into a Circle and to backfill Circles that need members.
• To run meetings and events, including logistics and reminders.
• To process contributions and send receipts.
• To keep people safe, including background checks, responding to reports, and reviewing patterns.
• To measure whether the program works, including tracking retention, attendance, and survey outcomes over time.
• To improve the curriculum and the program model.
• To communicate with you about your membership, and, if you opt in, our newsletter and text updates.
• To report to funders and partners, using aggregated or de-identified figures.
• To meet legal and accounting obligations.

5. Survey and wellbeing information

Some survey questions touch on how you feel about your life. We treat those answers with extra care.

• Individual survey answers are visible only to the small number of Hearth HQ staff who work on program measurement.
• Your facilitator does not see your individual survey answers. Every ongoing survey lets you send feedback to your chapter representative instead of your facilitator.
• When we report outcomes publicly or to funders, we use aggregates. We do not publish individual answers or anything that identifies you.
• If you tell us something in a survey that suggests you may be in danger, we may reach out to you, and we may involve emergency services if we believe there is a risk to life. This is the one place where a survey answer is read as more than data.

6. Background checks

Before you enter a private home for a Hearth gathering, we obtain a background check through a third-party consumer reporting agency, Checkr.

• You authorize the check through a separate written disclosure and authorization form, not through this policy or the Terms.
• The vendor collects and processes the underlying data. We receive a report or a pass/fail result.
• We use the result only to decide whether you can participate, and we may re-run it periodically or if a concern arises.
• If a report may lead us to decline you, you have rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, including a copy of the report, a summary of your rights, and an opportunity to dispute inaccurate information before we make a final decision.
• We retain the result, not the full report, for up to 7 years.

7. The safety record

This is the most sensitive information Hearth holds, so it gets its own section.

What it is. Hearth HQ keeps a single confidential record of safety concerns raised anywhere in the community. Its purpose is to catch a pattern that no single Circle could see on its own, where each individual incident might look deniable.

What goes in it. A description of the concern, who raised it, who it concerns, when, and what we did about it.

Who can see it. Access is limited to the Chapter President, Vice President, Membership Chair, and HQ employees. Chapter volunteers do not have access to the full record. A chapter leader may be told what they need to know to handle a situation in front of them.

How long we keep it. We keep safety records for 7 years even if either person leaves Hearth, because the point of the record is to see across time.

If a concern is raised about you. We may not tell you that a report exists, and we may not identify the person who raised it. Protecting people who come forward is the reason the system works. If we take action against your membership, we will tell you the substance of the concern to the extent we can do so without exposing anyone to risk.

If you raise a concern. We keep your identity confidential within the group described above. We do not tolerate retaliation. We may have to identify you if the law requires it or if the situation goes to police.

Your rights do not fully reach this record. If you ask us to delete your information, we will keep safety records. We consider this necessary to protect other people, and we will tell you when we rely on this exception.

8. When we share information

We share only in these situations:

• Service providers who work on our behalf under contract: our payment processor, background check vendor, email and SMS tools, member database, survey tools, and hosting. They may use your information only to provide their service to us.
• Mobile messaging information. We do not share, sell, rent, or otherwise provide your mobile phone number, SMS opt-in information, or messaging consent to third parties or affiliates for their marketing or promotional purposes. We may share this information with service providers that help us operate our messaging program, solely to provide those services on our behalf.
• Our fiscal sponsor, The Hack Foundation (d.b.a Hack Club), for financial administration and required reporting.
• Other members, but only what is necessary: your first name and Circle to your Circle, and your contact details to your facilitator and host for logistics. We do not share your survey answers, your safety reports, or your background check with other members.
• Safety and emergencies, when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to prevent serious harm to someone.
• Legal requirements, such as a subpoena, court order, or law enforcement request. Where we are permitted to tell you, we will.
• Funders and partners, in aggregated or de-identified form only.
• A successor organization, if Hearth transitions from its fiscal sponsor to its own 501(c)(3) or merges. Your information moves with the program, under this policy.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

9. Your choices

• Email. Unsubscribe from optional email at any time. We will still send messages needed to run your membership.
• Text messages. If you opt in to receive text messages from Hearth, message frequency varies and message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe or HELP for help.
• Photos. Tell an organizer or email hello@discoverhearth.org and we will not use images that identify you.
• Surveys. Every survey is optional. You can skip any question.
• Leaving. You can end your membership at any time.

10. Your rights

You can ask us to:

• Tell you what personal information we hold about you and where it came from.
• Correct information that is wrong.
• Delete your information, subject to the safety record exception in Section 7 and to records we must keep for tax, accounting, or legal reasons.
• Send you a copy of your information in a portable format.

Email hello@discoverhearth.org. We will respond within 45 days. We will not treat you differently for exercising these rights.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under state law, including in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, and others. As Hearth expands, this section will be updated to reflect the laws that apply to you.

11. How we protect information

We use access controls, encryption in transit, and vendor agreements to protect your information. Access to sensitive records is limited to the people who need it. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

If a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you as required by law, including New York's SHIELD Act.

12. How long we keep information

• Member records: for the life of your membership plus 7 years.
• Contribution records: 7 years, for tax and accounting.
• Survey responses: retained for longitudinal analysis, de-identified after 7 years.
• Background check results: 7 years.
• Safety records: 7 years, as described in Section 7.
• Website analytics: 12 months.

13. Children

Hearth serves adults 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If we learn we have, we will delete it. If you believe a minor has given us information, email hello@discoverhearth.org.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. If a change is material, we will notify you by email at least 30 days before it takes effect, and post the updated version with a new date.

15. Contact

hello@discoverhearth.org
223 E 78th St, Apt 4B, New York, NY, 10075