Homestead AI ("Company," "we," "us," "our") is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable data protection laws. This policy explains how we collect, use, process, and protect your personal data when you use our website and services.
Controller Name: Homestead AI LLC
Address: 205 Van Buren Street Suite 120, #1021, Herndon, VA 20170, USA
Email: info@homesteadai.org
Website: https://homesteadai.org/
We collect personal data in the following ways:
Information you provide directly:
- Account registration information (name, email address, password)
- Profile information (biographical details, preferences, communication choices)
- Content you upload, submit, or create on our platform
- Communication data when you contact us (support requests, inquiries)
- Payment information (processed securely by payment processors)
Information collected automatically:
- Login information and access logs
- Device information (browser type, operating system, device type)
- Usage data (pages visited, time spent, features accessed)
- Analytics data (how you interact with our website)
- IP address and location data (general, non-precise)
- Cookies and similar tracking technologies
Information from Third Parties:
- Data from third-party service providers and analytics platforms
- Information from social media platforms if you link your account
Homestead AI processes your personal data based on one or more of the following legal bases:
- Consent: You have explicitly consented to the processing of your personal data for specific purposes.
- Contractual Performance: Processing is necessary to perform our contract with you or take steps at your request before entering into a contract.
- Legal Obligation: Processing is necessary to comply with applicable laws and regulations.
- Legitimate Interests: Processing is necessary for legitimate interests pursued by Homestead AI or third parties.
- Vital Interests: Processing is necessary to protect your vital interests or those of another person.
We use your personal data for:
- Providing and improving our services and platform
- Creating and managing your account
- Personalizing your experience
- Communicating with you about your account and our services
- Responding to your inquiries and support requests
- Analytics and understanding user behavior
- Preventing fraud, security incidents, and abuse
- Complying with legal obligations
- Marketing communications (with your consent where required)
- Conducting research and developing new features
Homestead AI retains your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy, or as required by applicable law.
- Account Data: Retained while your account is active and for a reasonable period afterward for legal and business purposes.
- Communications: Retained for the duration of our correspondence and for a period thereafter for record-keeping.
- Cookies: Retained according to the lifespan specified in our Cookies Policy.
- Analytics Data: Retained for up to 12 months for trend analysis and improvement purposes.
When data is no longer needed, we delete or anonymize it. In some cases, we may retain data longer if required by law or for legitimate business purposes.
Under GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
Right of Access
You have the right to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and to obtain a copy of that data in a structured, commonly-used, and machine-readable format.
Right to Rectification
You have the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten")
You have the right to request deletion of your personal data under certain circumstances, such as when:
- The data is no longer necessary for the original purpose
- You withdraw your consent
- You object to processing and there is no overriding legitimate interest
- The data has been unlawfully processed
Right to Restrict Processing
You have the right to request that we limit how we process your personal data while your request is being handled.
Right to Data Portability
You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly-used format and to transmit it to another controller.
Right to Object
You have the right to object to processing of your personal data on grounds related to your particular situation.
Right to Withdraw Consent
If processing is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
Right to Lodge a Complaint
You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority if you believe our processing of your personal data infringes applicable data protection law.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at: info@homesteadai.org. We will respond to your request within 30 days (extendable to 60 or 90 days in complex cases) as required by GDPR.
Homestead AI is based in the United States. When you use our services, your personal data may be transferred to, stored in, or processed outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
When we transfer data internationally, we implement appropriate safeguards, including:
- Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission
- Adequacy decisions where applicable
- Your explicit consent to the transfer
By using Homestead AI's services, you consent to the transfer of your personal data outside the EEA as described in this policy.
We implement comprehensive technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data, including:
- Encryption of data in transit and at rest
- Zero-knowledge, client-side encryption of family content (trees, timelines, profiles, stories, and media), using an individual PIN that only you know, is never shared across a family or group, and that we never transmit or store, meaning Homestead AI employees cannot access or view this content
- Secure authentication mechanisms
- Regular security assessments and audits
- Access controls and user privilege management
- Employee training on data protection
- Incident response procedures
See our Privacy Policy for a fuller description of how this zero-knowledge encryption works.
We may share your personal data with third parties in the following circumstances:
Data Processors
We engage processors to perform services on our behalf. These processors are contractually obligated to protect your data.
Legal Requirements
We may disclose your data if required by law, court order, or government request.
Business Transfers
If Homestead AI merges, acquires, or transfers assets, your personal data may be transferred. We will provide notice before your data becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
Our services are not intended for individuals under 16 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child, we will delete it promptly.
In the event of a personal data breach, Homestead AI will notify affected individuals and relevant authorities in accordance with GDPR requirements.
For questions about our data protection practices, to exercise your GDPR rights, or to report a privacy concern, please contact us at info@homesteadai.org.