Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how [Registered Company Name] ("Company," "we," "us," or "our"), as the legal operator of SkillCart accessible at SkillCart.ca ("App" or "Platform"), collects, uses, discloses, and safeguards your information when you access or use our web application, mobile-optimized web application, and related services.

Please read this policy carefully. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not access or use the App.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information that identifies, relates to, or describes you ("Personal Data") when you interact with our App:

• Information You Provide Directly:
  • Account credentials (e.g., name, email address, password).
  • User Content (e.g., uploads, messages, or listings created within the App).
  • Billing and contact information for subscription or payment processing.
  • In-App Communications & Messages: Chat messages, project requests, and communications exchanged between clients and service providers on SkillCart. These messages are securely transmitted over encrypted channels (TLS) and stored in our database with access restricted to the participating parties and authorized platform managers for service delivery and dispute resolution.
  • Contact & Verification Information: Phone numbers, email addresses, and names provided during registration or account verification. Phone numbers are utilized to enable masked voice and SMS communications via Twilio to keep your personal contact details private from other platform users.
• Information Collected Automatically:
  • Log & Connection Data: Standard web server logs collected by our hosting and infrastructure providers (such as Vercel and Supabase), including IP addresses, browser type, and operating system versions.
  • App Usage Data: Basic interactions within the app (such as pages visited or actions taken) required to operate and maintain the service.

2. How We Use Your Information

We process your personal information for the following purposes:

• To provide, manage, and maintain core functions of SkillCart.
• To facilitate secure communications between service providers and clients, including masked phone calls and SMS proxying through Twilio to protect user privacy.
• To process and store in-app messaging and platform interaction logs for service agreement delivery, customer support, and dispute resolution.
• To authenticate accounts and maintain cloud server security.
• To handle billing transactions and service payments securely through Stripe.
• To diagnose bugs, system failures, and optimize platform performance.
• To send operational updates, security alerts, and customer support notifications.

3. How Data is Hosted and Processed

To operate and deliver our services, we partner with specialized third-party service providers who process and host data on our behalf under strict security standards:

• Cloud Infrastructure & Hosting (Vercel): Our web application and API endpoints are hosted on Vercel, which processes technical log data and connection metadata necessary to deliver the application.
• Database & Authentication (Supabase & AWS): We use Supabase for core user account storage, database management, and primary authentication, alongside Amazon Web Services (AWS) for supplementary authentication and transactional email infrastructure (AWS SES).
• Payment Processing (Stripe): Payments and billing details are processed securely through Stripe. We do not store full credit card or bank details on our servers; Stripe handles payment data in accordance with PCI-DSS compliance standards.
• Communications Gateway (Twilio): We utilize Twilio to route voice and SMS notifications necessary for account verification and platform communication features.

4. Data Encryption & Security Measures

We implement industry-standard administrative, technical, and physical security measures to safeguard your personal data across our hosting infrastructure:

• Encryption in Transit: All web traffic and user interactions, including in-app messaging and authentication data, are encrypted in transit using Transport Layer Security (TLS/HTTPS).
• Encryption at Rest: Platform data and database backups hosted on our cloud infrastructure (Supabase and Vercel) are protected using standard AES-256 encryption at rest.
• Row-Level Data Isolation & Access Controls: We enforce strict Row Level Security (RLS) policies within our database layer (Supabase) to ensure that users can only access data, messages, and records explicitly authorized for their account. Internal access to administrative logs is strictly restricted using Role-Based Access Controls (RBAC).
• Field-Level Privacy & Masking: Sensitive user metadata and contact credentials (such as masked communication routing details) are masked or anonymized at the field level in our database to prevent unauthorized exposure.

5. International Data Transfers

Your personal data and system interactions may be transferred to, hosted on, and processed on cloud servers operated by our trusted infrastructure partners (such as Vercel, Supabase, AWS, and Stripe) located outside your home state, province, or country (including in Canada and the United States). By accessing and using SkillCart, you acknowledge and consent to the processing and storage of your information in these global cloud regions in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

6. Your Rights & Data Requests

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal information stored in our databases.
• Correction: Request updates or corrections to incomplete or inaccurate data.
• Deletion: Request permanent erasure of your account and personal details from our active servers and primary database (Supabase).

7. Children's Privacy

SkillCart is not intended for use by children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 16.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child under 16 has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at contactskillcart@gmail.com. If we discover that we have collected personal data from a child under 16 without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information from our database as quickly as possible.

8. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the operational, legal, and dispute resolution purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. Upon account termination or an explicit request for account deletion, your personal data stored within our primary database (Supabase) and hosting environment (Vercel) will be deleted or permanently anonymized, except where retention is required by applicable accounting, legal, or tax regulations.