Privacy Policy
Last updated: March 23, 2026
Charleston United ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our community coordination platform, including our website and mobile applications (collectively, the "Service").
1. Information We Collect
Personal Information
When you create an account, we collect information such as your name, email address, phone number, and role-specific details (e.g., organization name, EIN for nonprofits, agency and department for government users). You may also provide skills, interests, and availability preferences as part of your profile.
Location Data
We collect your location information to match you with community encounters within the Charleston, SC metropolitan area. This includes address information you provide during registration and real-time location data when you enable location services. Location data is used exclusively for geographic matching within our defined service area (5-mile radius for urban areas, 10-mile radius for rural areas).
Usage Data
We automatically collect information about how you interact with the Service, including pages visited, features used, encounter participation history, contribution logs, timestamps, device information, browser type, and IP address.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Matching: Connect you with relevant encounters based on your skills, location, availability, and gate preferences using our geographic matching algorithm.
- Notifications: Send you encounter alerts, status updates, and platform communications via email, push notifications, and in-app messages.
- Analytics: Generate aggregate impact reports, improve our matching algorithms, and enhance the overall platform experience.
- Account Administration: Manage your account, verify organizations, process requests, and provide customer support.
- Safety: Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and violations of our Terms of Service.
3. Information Sharing
We may share your information in the following circumstances:
- Within Encounters: When you participate in an encounter, your name, role, and relevant contact information may be shared with other encounter participants to facilitate coordination.
- With Organizations: Organizations that moderate encounters you participate in may access your contribution data and gate involvement.
- Service Providers: We work with third-party service providers who assist in operating the platform (see Section 9).
- Legal Requirements: We may disclose information if required by law, regulation, or legal process.
We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We do not share your data with advertisers or data brokers.
4. Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information, including encryption of data in transit and at rest, secure authentication with JWT tokens, rate limiting, and regular security audits. However, no method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
5. Your Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:
- Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
- Deletion: Request deletion of your personal data, subject to certain legal obligations. You can submit a deletion request through our account deletion page.
- Portability: Request a portable copy of your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
- Opt-Out: Opt out of certain data processing activities, including non-essential notifications.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@charlestonunited.org. We will respond to your request within 30 days.
6. Location Data
Location data is central to how Charleston United operates. We use your location to match you with encounters within the Charleston, SC metropolitan area, including Charleston County, Berkeley County, and Dorchester County. Urban area matching uses a 5-mile radius, while rural areas use a 10-mile radius. You can update your location in your account settings at any time. You may disable location services on your device, but this may limit the platform's ability to match you with nearby encounters.
7. Children's Privacy
The Service is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information promptly. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@charlestonunited.org.
8. Cookies and Tracking
We use cookies and similar technologies to maintain your session, remember your preferences, and analyze platform usage. Essential cookies are required for the Service to function (e.g., authentication tokens). Analytics cookies help us understand how users interact with the platform. You can control cookie preferences through your browser settings, though disabling essential cookies may prevent you from using the Service.
9. Third-Party Services
We use the following third-party services to operate the platform:
- SendGrid — For transactional email delivery (encounter notifications, account verification).
- Firebase — For push notifications on mobile devices.
- DeepSeek — For AI-powered encounter matching and need analysis.
These providers process data on our behalf under strict contractual obligations to protect your information. We encourage you to review their respective privacy policies.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable laws. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and notify you through the platform or via email. Your continued use of the Service after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
11. Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at: