Privacy Policy
Introduction
Welcome to Grinning Co.
Grinning Co. ("us", "we", or "our") operates https://useforward.ai and the Forward mobile application (hereinafter referred to as "Service").
Our Privacy Policy governs your visit to https://useforward.ai and the Forward mobile application, and explains how we collect, safeguard, and disclose information that results from your use of our Service.
We use your data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. Unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy, the terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms and Conditions.
Our Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern all use of our Service and together with this Privacy Policy constitutes your agreement with us ("agreement").
We do not sell your personal data. We do not use your data to serve you targeted or behavioral advertising. We do not share your career conversations with any third party.
Definitions
SERVICE means the https://useforward.ai website and Forward mobile application operated by Grinning Co.
PERSONAL DATA means data about a living individual who can be identified from those data (or from those and other information either in our possession or likely to come into our possession).
USAGE DATA is data collected automatically either generated by the use of the Service or from Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).
COOKIES are small files stored on your device (computer or mobile device).
DATA CONTROLLER means a natural or legal person who (either alone or jointly or in common with other persons) determines the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal data are, or are to be, processed. For the purpose of this Privacy Policy, we are a Data Controller of your data.
DATA PROCESSORS (OR SERVICE PROVIDERS) means any natural or legal person who processes the data on behalf of the Data Controller. We may use the services of various Service Providers in order to process your data more effectively.
DATA SUBJECT is any living individual who is the subject of Personal Data.
THE USER is the individual using our Service. The User corresponds to the Data Subject, who is the subject of Personal Data.
Information Collection and Use
We collect several different types of information for various purposes to provide and improve our Service to you.
Types of Data Collected
Personal Data: While using our Service, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you ("Personal Data"). Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:
(a) Email address
(b) First name and last name
(c) Cookies and Usage Data
We may use your Personal Data to contact you with service updates, account notices, and other information directly related to your use of the Service. You may opt out of receiving non-essential communications from us by following the unsubscribe link in any such message.
Usage Data: We may also collect information that your browser sends whenever you visit our Service or when you access the Service by or through a mobile device ("Usage Data").
This Usage Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol address (for example, IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers, and other diagnostic data.
When you access the Service with a mobile device, this Usage Data may include information such as the type of mobile device you use, your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of your mobile device, your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser you use, unique device identifiers, and other diagnostic data.
Location Data: We may use and store information about your location if you give us permission to do so ("Location Data"). We use this data only to provide location-relevant features of our Service, such as surfacing job listings in your area. We do not use location data for advertising purposes.
You can enable or disable location services when you use our Service at any time through your device settings.
Tracking Cookies Data: We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our Service and hold certain information.
Cookies are files with a small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device. Other tracking technologies such as beacons, tags, and scripts are also used to collect and track information and to improve and analyze our Service.
You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Service.
Examples of cookies we use:
(a) Session Cookies: We use Session Cookies to operate our Service.
(b) Preference Cookies: We use Preference Cookies to remember your preferences and various settings.
(c) Security Cookies: We use Security Cookies for security purposes.
(d) Analytics Cookies: We use Analytics Cookies to understand how users interact with our Service so we can improve it. We do not use advertising or behavioral tracking cookies.
Use of Data
Grinning Co. uses the collected data for various purposes:
(a) to provide and maintain our Service;
(b) to notify you about changes to our Service;
(c) to allow you to participate in interactive features of our Service when you choose to do so;
(d) to provide customer support;
(e) to gather analysis or valuable information so that we can improve our Service;
(f) to monitor the usage of our Service;
(g) to detect, prevent, and address technical issues;
(h) to fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it;
(i) to carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collection;
(j) to provide you with notices about your account and/or subscription, including expiration and renewal notices;
(k) for any other purpose with your consent.
Retention of Data
We will retain your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.
We will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of our Service, or we are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.
If you enable Private Chat Mode, your conversation data from that session is permanently deleted when the session ends and is not subject to standard retention periods. See Section 15 for more information.
Transfer of Data
Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to and maintained on computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ from those of your jurisdiction.
If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to the United States and process it there.
Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.
Grinning Co. will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. No transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place, including the security of your data and other personal information.
Disclosure of Data
We may disclose personal information that we collect, or that you provide:
(a) Disclosure for Law Enforcement. Under certain circumstances, we may be required to disclose your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities.
(b) Business Transaction. If we or our subsidiaries are involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.
(c) Other cases. We may disclose your information to our subsidiaries and affiliates, only as necessary to provide the Service.
We do not sell your Personal Data to third parties. We do not share your Personal Data with third parties for advertising or marketing purposes.
Security of Data
The security of your data is important to us. We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your Personal Data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.
However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
Your Data Protection Rights Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
If you are a resident of the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights covered by GDPR. See more at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj
We aim to take reasonable steps to allow you to correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of your Personal Data.
If you wish to know what Personal Data we hold about you, or if you want it to be removed from our systems, please email us at hello@useforward.ai.
In certain circumstances, you have the following data protection rights:
(a) the right to access, update, or delete the information we have on you;
(b) the right of rectification. You have the right to have your information rectified if that information is inaccurate or incomplete;
(c) the right to object. You have the right to object to our processing of your Personal Data;
(d) the right of restriction. You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information;
(e) the right to data portability. You have the right to be provided with a copy of your Personal Data in a structured, machine-readable, and commonly used format;
(f) the right to withdraw consent. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time where we rely on your consent to process your personal information.
Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests. Please note that we may not be able to provide the Service without some necessary data.
You have the right to complain to a Data Protection Authority about our collection and use of your Personal Data. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority in the European Economic Area (EEA).
For users under the age of 16 in the EU/EEA: In accordance with GDPR Article 8, users under 16 require parental or guardian consent to use our Service. If you are under 16 and located in the EU/EEA, please have a parent or guardian review this Privacy Policy and provide consent before using the Service. Parents and guardians may contact us at hello@useforward.ai to exercise rights on behalf of their child.
Your Data Protection Rights Under the California Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA)
CalOPPA is the first state law in the nation to require commercial websites and online services to post a privacy policy. The law's reach stretches well beyond California to require any person or company operating websites that collect personally identifiable information from California consumers to post a conspicuous privacy policy. See more at: https://consumercal.org/about-cfc/cfc-education-foundation/california-online-privacy-protection-act-caloppa-3/
According to CalOPPA, we agree to the following:
(a) users can visit our site anonymously;
(b) our Privacy Policy link includes the word "Privacy" and can easily be found on the home page of our website;
(c) users will be notified of any privacy policy changes on our Privacy Policy page;
(d) users are able to change their personal information by emailing us at hello@useforward.ai.
Our Policy on Do Not Track Signals:
We honor Do Not Track signals and do not track, plant advertising cookies, or use behavioral advertising when a Do Not Track browser mechanism is in place. Do Not Track is a preference you can set in your web browser to inform websites that you do not want to be tracked.
You can enable or disable Do Not Track by visiting the Preferences or Settings page of your web browser.
Service Providers
We may employ third-party companies and individuals to facilitate our Service ("Service Providers"), provide the Service on our behalf, perform Service-related services, or assist us in analyzing how our Service is used.
These third parties have access to your Personal Data only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.
Analytics
We may use third-party Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service.
Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. We configure Google Analytics with privacy-protective settings, including limited data sharing and IP anonymization where available. We do not use Google Analytics features that share your data with Google's advertising network.
For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy Terms web page: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
You can also review Google's policy for safeguarding your data: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245
CI/CD Tools
We may use third-party Service Providers to automate the development process of our Service.
GitHub is provided by GitHub, Inc. GitHub is a development platform used to host and review code, manage projects, and build software. No student personal data or career conversation content is stored in our code repositories.
For more information on what data GitHub collects and how it is protected, please visit: https://help.github.com/en/articles/github-privacy-statement
Artificial Intelligence and Your Data
Forward uses artificial intelligence to power Felix, your AI career guide. Because AI is central to how our Service works, we want to be specific about how your data interacts with AI systems.
What the AI does not see:
(a) Felix never receives your personal contact information. Your name, email address, and phone number are never passed to the AI at any point.
(b) Your resume contact details are protected by an additional layer of encryption. That information is redacted before any AI processes your resume content. Felix never sees your contact details, even when helping you build or refine your resume.
Your career conversations:
(a) Your conversations with Felix are private by default. No Forward employee and no external third party has access to the content of your career conversations. Conversation content is used only to guide you in the moment.
(b) All conversation content is labeled as sensitive at the data layer.
AI infrastructure:
(a) Forward uses a combination of AI models deployed on Microsoft Azure AI Foundry. Your conversation data is not shared with Microsoft.
(b) For users who have not opted out of anonymous data collection, small PII-stripped fragments of platform usage may be used to improve Forward. Full conversation threads are never used for this purpose and this data is never shared with Microsoft or any other third party.
(c) AI tailoring suggestions generated for your resume are not stored after your session ends unless you explicitly save them.
Private Chat Mode:
If you enable Private Chat Mode, your entire conversation for that session is permanently and irreversibly deleted when the session ends. Nothing from a Private Chat session is retained on our servers. You can enable Private Chat Mode at any time from within the app.
Payments
We may provide paid products and/or services within the Service. In that case, we use third-party services for payment processing.
We will not store or collect your payment card details. That information is provided directly to our third-party payment processors, whose use of your personal information is governed by their Privacy Policy. These payment processors adhere to the standards set by PCI-DSS as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council.
The payment processors we work with are:
Apple Store In-App Payments: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/ and https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203027
Google Play In-App Payments: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=us
Stripe: https://stripe.com/us/privacy
Links to Other Sites
Our Service may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.
We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.
Children's and Minors' Privacy
Forward is designed for students in their final year of high school and their first or second year of college. This means some of our users are between the ages of 13 and 17. We take the privacy of younger users seriously and have built our platform with their protection in mind.
Users under 13:
Our Service is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has provided us with personal data, please contact us immediately at hello@useforward.ai and we will remove that information from our records.
Users aged 13 to 17:
We recognize that users in this age group have additional privacy rights under applicable federal and state laws. We apply the following protections specifically for users who indicate they are under 18:
(a) We do not serve targeted or behavioral advertising to users under 18.
(b) We do not share personal data of users under 18 with third parties for any marketing or advertising purpose.
(c) We do not collect data beyond what is necessary to provide the career readiness features of our Service.
(d) Parents or legal guardians of users under 18 may request access to, correction of, or deletion of their child's personal data by contacting us at hello@useforward.ai. We will respond to verified requests within a reasonable timeframe.
EU/EEA users under 16:
In accordance with GDPR Article 8, users under the age of 16 in the EU/EEA require parental or guardian consent to use our Service. If you are located in the EU/EEA and are under 16, please have a parent or guardian review this Privacy Policy and provide consent before you use our Service. Parents and guardians may contact us at hello@useforward.ai to provide consent or to exercise rights on their child's behalf.
Forward's privacy-first design:
Our AI career guide, Felix, never receives personal contact information for any user. Career conversations are private and not accessed by Forward staff. These protections apply to all users regardless of age and are described in full in Section 15.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.
We will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our Service prior to the change becoming effective, and will update the effective date at the top of this Privacy Policy.
You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:
By email: hello@useforward.ai
By visiting this page on our website: https://useforward.ai/home