Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Bard Society (“we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, shares, and protects information about you when you use our website, applications, and services (collectively, the “Service”). By using the Service, you agree to the practices described here.

1. Information We Collect

We collect the following categories of information:

• Account information — your email address, and (if provided) your name and avatar image, used to create and manage your account.
• Content you create — videos and recordings you submit, comments and critiques you write, rubric scores, and profile details.
• Usage information — activity such as lessons completed, videos posted, critiques given and received, sign-in timestamps, and tier progress.
• Technical information — IP address, device and browser type, and similar data collected automatically by us and our infrastructure providers for security and reliability.

2. How We Use Information

• To operate, maintain, and provide the Service, including processing and streaming videos;
• To authenticate you and keep your account secure;
• To enable community features such as peer critique and tier progression;
• To send you transactional and notification emails (for example, sign-in codes, “someone critiqued your story,” and progress recaps);
• To monitor, improve, and protect the Service, and to prevent abuse;
• To comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms.

3. How Your Content Is Shared

Bard Society is a private, members-only community. Videos and critiques are visible only to approved members of the Society, not to the general public, except where you explicitly choose to share. Your profile name and avatar are visible to other members alongside your activity. We do not sell your personal information.

4. Service Providers

We share information with trusted third parties only as needed to operate the Service:

• Supabase — database, authentication, and storage;
• Mux — video upload, transcoding, hosting, and streaming;
• Resend — delivery of transactional and notification emails;
• Vercel — application hosting and content delivery.

These providers process information on our behalf under their own terms and security practices. We may also disclose information if required by law or to protect the rights, safety, and integrity of the Service and its members.

5. Cookies

We use strictly necessary cookies to keep you signed in and to operate the Service securely. These authentication cookies are essential; the Service will not function correctly without them. We do not use third-party advertising cookies.

6. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. When you delete content or your account, we remove it from active systems, though copies may persist in routine backups for a commercially reasonable period before being overwritten.

7. Your Rights & Choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, export, or delete your personal information, and to object to or restrict certain processing. You can edit your profile and delete your videos within the Service, or contact us to exercise these rights. We will respond consistent with applicable law.

8. Security

We use technical and organizational measures — including row-level access controls, encrypted transport, and members-only access — to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Children

The Service is not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

10. International Users

We operate in the United States, and your information may be processed and stored there or in other countries where our providers operate. By using the Service, you consent to the transfer of your information to countries that may have different data-protection laws than your own.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you through the Service or by email. The “Last updated” date above reflects the most recent revision.

12. Contact

Questions or requests about your privacy? Contact us at privacy@bardsociety.com.