Introduction
MeridianSpark, Inc. ("MeridianSpark," "we," "us," or "our") operates the MeridianSpark website and related services (collectively, the "Service").
This Privacy Policy applies to visitors, registered users, newsletter subscribers, and customers who purchase prepaid access through our Service.
By using the Service, you agree to this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.
Information We Collect
Account information
When you create an account, we collect your email address and a password (stored as a one-way hash—we never store your plain-text password).
If you sign in with GitHub, we receive your email address and may receive your display name and profile image from GitHub, according to your GitHub settings and the permissions you grant.
- Optional at signup. Whether you want to receive marketing or product-update emails (marketing opt-in).
Subscription and billing information
When you purchase prepaid access, we record subscription status, plan type, access period dates, and Stripe identifiers in our database. We also store invoice summaries such as amount, currency, status, and links to hosted receipts.
Payment card numbers and full payment credentials are processed by Stripe. We do not store your full card number in our database. When you view saved payment methods on your account page, we retrieve limited card metadata (such as brand, last four digits, and expiration) from Stripe.
Newsletter and marketing email
If you subscribe to our newsletter from the homepage, we collect your email address only after you provide explicit consent via the consent checkbox.
If you opt in during account registration, we may add your email to our marketing list and record that preference on your user profile.
We keep subscription status (active or unsubscribed), how you joined (homepage, signup, or account settings), and timestamps related to subscribe and unsubscribe events.
Topic engagement (signed-in users only)
When you are signed in, you may mark research topics as Interested, Not interested, or Save. We store these preferences linked to your account and the topic. This information is private to you and is not published on public topic pages, sitemaps, or search snippets.
Automatically collected information
Like most websites, our hosting provider may process standard server logs (such as IP address, browser type, referring URL, and timestamps) for security, reliability, and troubleshooting.
We do not use third-party advertising networks or behavioral analytics SDKs in the application today.
How We Use Information
Legal bases (for users in the European Economic Area, UK, and Switzerland): we process personal data to perform our contract with you (account and paid access), based on your consent (marketing email), and where necessary for our legitimate interests (security, fraud prevention, and improving reliability), balanced against your rights.
- Provide the Service. Create and secure your account, authenticate you, deliver topic access according to your plan, and maintain your saved topics and preferences.
- Process payments. Complete checkout, mirror prepaid access periods, show billing history, and send transactional billing emails (such as payment confirmations or access-ending reminders).
- Send marketing communications. With your consent, send newsletters and product updates. You may withdraw consent at any time via unsubscribe links or your account settings.
- Send transactional emails. Deliver non-marketing messages necessary for the Service, including welcome or resubscribe confirmations, unsubscribe confirmations, and billing notices.
- Protect the Service. Detect abuse, enforce access rules, and maintain the security and integrity of our systems.
- Generate research content. Our automated research pipeline creates published topic content. It does not use your personal information as input.
Marketing Communications
We send marketing or product-update emails only to addresses on our active marketing list. Joining the list requires your opt-in consent (homepage checkbox or registration checkbox).
Every marketing email includes a way to unsubscribe. You may also manage marketing preferences from your account when signed in.
Even if you unsubscribe from marketing, we may still send transactional emails related to your account or prepaid access (for example, billing receipts or legally required notices).
Research Content vs. Your Data
MeridianSpark publishes research topic previews and detailed scaffolding to help students plan independent work. That content is generated by our internal research pipeline and is separate from your personal account data.
Your Interested / Not interested / Save choices are stored privately for your account. Aggregated counts may be used internally for product operations; we do not publish per-user engagement on public pages.
Children's Privacy
MeridianSpark is designed for college-bound high school students and the adults who support them (parents, guardians, and mentors).
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without appropriate parental involvement. If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information without consent, contact us and we will take appropriate steps.
Users under 18 should use the Service with guidance from a parent, guardian, or educator.
International Transfers
MeridianSpark is operated from the United States. If you access the Service from outside the United States, your information may be processed in the United States and other countries where our service providers operate.
Where required by applicable law (including the GDPR), we rely on appropriate safeguards for cross-border transfers, such as Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent mechanisms offered by our processors.
Your Privacy Rights
All users
- Access and update. Sign in to view subscription and marketing-email status on your account page. Profile fields from GitHub reflect your GitHub profile.
- Marketing opt-out. Use unsubscribe links in emails or account settings to stop marketing messages.
- Deletion requests. Email us at privacy@meridianspark.com to request account deletion. Self-service account deletion is not yet available in the product.
European Economic Area, UK, and Switzerland
Depending on your location, you may have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, or object to certain processing, and to data portability. Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
You may lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. We encourage you to contact us first so we can address your concern.
California residents (CCPA/CPRA)
California residents may have the right to know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose; to request deletion of personal information; to correct inaccurate personal information; and to not be discriminated against for exercising privacy rights.
We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising as defined under California law.
To exercise California privacy rights, email privacy@meridianspark.com with enough information for us to verify your request. You may designate an authorized agent where permitted by law.
Data Retention
- Account data. Kept while your account is active. If you request deletion, we will delete or anonymize personal data subject to legal and operational requirements.
- Marketing list. If you unsubscribe, we retain your email with an unsubscribed status to honor your preference and maintain audit records.
- Billing records. Retained as needed for accounting, tax, and dispute resolution, and as mirrored from Stripe.
- Email send logs. Retained for operational and deliverability review unless a shorter period is required by policy.
Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect personal information, including hashed passwords, HTTPS in production, server-side access controls for paid content, and restricted access to production credentials.
No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised.
If we make material changes, we will provide additional notice as appropriate (for example, by email or a prominent notice on the Service).
Contact Us
Questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices:
Email: privacy@meridianspark.com
MeridianSpark — Privacy inquiries