Privacy Policy

Chipin Hive helps groups create shared financial goals ("Hives"), collect participant commitments and payments, and enable organizers to withdraw eligible contribution funds. This Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and when we share it.

Related documents: our Terms of Service and Stripe's privacy materials for payment processing.

Information you provide

• Organizer information: email address; optional display name; Hive title and description; contribution amounts; number of spots; deadlines; and related Hive settings.
• Participant information: first name, last name, email and/or phone (as collected in the commitment flow), and other details you enter to join a Hive.
• Support communications: information you send to us (for example, to support@chipinhive.com).
• Access credentials you create with us: management-link tokens and recovery codes are stored in hashed form where applicable. We do not email recovery codes.

Payment information

Card details (such as full card number and CVC) are collected directly by Stripe through Stripe's payment interfaces (for example, Payment Element). Chipin Hive does not receive or store full card numbers or CVC.

Chipin Hive may receive and store payment-related information needed to operate the Service, including Stripe customer IDs, payment method IDs, payment intent IDs, refund IDs, amounts, currency, payment and refund status, and limited card display metadata (such as brand and last four digits) retrieved from Stripe for features like rejoining with a saved payment method.

Organizers who withdraw funds complete Stripe Connect onboarding (Express connected accounts). Identity verification documents, bank account details, and similar sensitive onboarding data are collected and processed by Stripe.

Chipin Hive may store and use connected-account identifiers, onboarding and payout readiness status, and payout or transfer metadata needed to show status in the product and to initiate transfers or payouts according to product rules.

We process records related to:

• contribution amounts and fee breakdowns for commitments;
• Hive funding progress and status;
• payment attempts and outcomes;
• refund status and refunded amounts;
• organizer withdrawal requests, transfers, and payouts;
• Stripe event identifiers and related webhook payloads used for reliable processing.

Depending on how you use Chipin Hive, we may process:

• Approximate network information such as IP address, used in limited ways (for example, rate limiting for organizer recovery flows). We do not store IP addresses as a dedicated profile field in our application database.
• Operational logs generated by our hosting and application infrastructure (which may include request metadata, error details, and operational identifiers).
• Browser storage we set for product features (see Cookies and similar technologies).

We do not currently integrate third-party advertising or behavioral analytics SDKs in the Chipin Hive web application.

We use information to:

• provide, operate, and maintain Chipin Hive;
• create and manage Hives and commitments;
• process payments, refunds, and organizer payouts;
• authenticate organizers and participants (including magic links and sessions);
• send transactional emails (for example, Hive created, commitment confirmation, recovery links, cancellation, and refund notices);
• detect abuse, prevent fraud, and enforce rate limits;
• provide customer support;
• secure the Service and debug operational issues;
• comply with legal obligations; and
• improve Chipin Hive based on operational needs.

We share personal information with:

• Stripe — payments, refunds, Connect onboarding, and related financial processing;
• Cloud and infrastructure providers — hosting and related services used to run the web app, API, databases, queues, secrets, and logging (including Vercel for the web application and Amazon Web Services for API and related infrastructure, plus managed Postgres hosting used by the deployment);
• Email delivery providers — transactional email (for example, Amazon SES where configured);
• Other users of a Hive — limited information needed for the product experience (for example, participant display names and commitment status visible to organizers; Hive details visible on the shared Hive page);
• Professional advisors and authorities where reasonably necessary for legal, security, or compliance purposes.

Stripe processes payment and Connect data as an independent payment provider. Stripe's privacy practices are described in Stripe's own documentation, including stripe.com/privacy.

Chipin Hive's use of Stripe does not mean Stripe endorses Chipin Hive.

We do not sell personal information for money. We also do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. If that changes, we will update this Policy and provide any notices or choices required by law.

Chipin Hive uses cookies and browser storage for essential product functions, including:

• HttpOnly cookies for organizer session and organizer recovery-session authentication where applicable;
• localStorage / sessionStorage for participant session tokens, cancel/rejoin helpers, pending checkout state, and similar product continuity features.

These technologies keep you signed in to the relevant flows and help complete commitments securely. We do not currently use third-party advertising cookies.

We retain information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide Chipin Hive, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent abuse, and enforce our agreements. Infrastructure logs may be retained according to our hosting configuration and provider defaults.

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards appropriate to the nature of the Service, including hashed storage of sensitive tokens where applicable and reliance on Stripe for card data handling.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of information.

Depending on your situation, you may:

• update information by contacting support or using in-product flows where available;
• request access, correction, or deletion of personal information by emailing support@chipinhive.com;
• stop using Chipin Hive and clear browser storage on your device;
• manage communications preferences where required by law (transactional messages related to payments and account security may still be sent when necessary).

We will respond to requests in accordance with applicable law. We may need to verify your identity and may retain information as required for legal, security, or operational reasons.

Residents of certain U.S. states (including California) may have additional rights regarding personal information, such as the right to know, delete, correct, or opt out of certain processing, subject to legal exceptions.

To exercise applicable rights, contact support@chipinhive.com. We will not discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights available under law.

Chipin Hive is operated from the United States. If you access Chipin Hive from outside the United States, your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States and other countries that may have different data-protection rules than your home country.

Chipin Hive is not directed to children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If you believe a child has provided information, contact us and we will take appropriate steps.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated Policy with a revised "Last updated" date. Material changes may be communicated through the Service or by email where appropriate.

Privacy questions: support@chipinhive.com.