Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This section introduces the Privacy Policy, identifies AuthorsGeek.com, and states the policy's effective date. It sets the stage for how your information is handled when using our services.

Welcome to AuthorsGeek.com (hereinafter "AuthorsGeek," "we," "us," or "our"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website AuthorsGeek.com and use our web application services (collectively, the "Service"). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our practices with regard to your personal information, please contact us at support@authorsgeek.com.

By using our Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

Effective Date: May 22, 2025

2. Information We Collect

This section details the various types of information we gather when you use AuthorsGeek.com, from account details to the manuscripts you entrust us with. Understanding what we collect is the first step to understanding your privacy.

We collect various types of information in connection with the services we provide, including:

  • Account Information: When you register for an account on AuthorsGeek.com, we collect personal information such as your name, email address, and password.
  • Manuscript Data: We collect the fiction novel manuscripts (in PDF format) that you voluntarily upload to our platform. This data is collected for the sole purpose of generating the Developmental Editor Report as requested by you.
  • Report Data: We store the Developmental Editor Reports that are generated for you based on your submitted manuscript.
  • Payment Information: If you subscribe to a paid tier of our Service, we collect payment information. All payment processing is handled by our third-party payment processor, Stripe. AuthorsGeek.com does not directly store your full credit card details. We may receive transaction identifiers and summary information from Stripe necessary for order fulfillment and record-keeping.
  • Usage Data: We may automatically collect certain information when you access and use our Service. This information may include your Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, pages visited, features used, access times and dates, and other statistics. This data helps us understand how our Service is used, maintain security, and improve our offerings.
  • Communications: When you contact us for support, provide feedback, or communicate with us in any other way, we collect the information you provide in such communications.

3. How We Use Your Information

Here, we explain the purposes for which your collected information is used. Our primary goal is to provide and improve the service, ensuring your manuscripts help you grow as an author, without compromising your privacy or intellectual property.

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:

  • To Provide and Maintain the Service: Primarily to process your uploaded manuscripts and generate the Developmental Editor Reports you request.
  • Account Management: To create and manage your user account, authenticate your access, and provide you with customer support.
  • Service Improvement: To understand how users interact with our Service, to monitor and analyze usage and trends, to improve functionality, develop new features, and enhance the overall user experience. Crucially, your individual user manuscripts are NOT used to train general AI models that would benefit other users or be shared externally. Our AI models used for generating your reports are trained on licensed or publicly available data, not on your private manuscript submissions.
  • Communication: To send you service-related notifications, updates about our Service, security alerts, and administrative messages. We may also send you marketing communications if you have opted-in to receive them; you can opt-out of these communications at any time through your account settings or by following the unsubscribe link in the emails.
  • Payment Processing: To process transactions for any paid services you subscribe to.
  • Legal Compliance and Security: To enforce our Terms of Service, prevent fraudulent activity, protect the security of our Service and users, and comply with applicable legal and regulatory obligations.

4. How We Share Your Information

This section outlines the limited circumstances under which your information might be shared. We prioritize your privacy and do not sell your personal data or manuscripts.

We do not sell your personal information, especially your manuscripts. We may share your information in the following limited circumstances:

  • No Sale of Personal Data: We want to be unequivocally clear: we do not sell your personal information or your manuscript data to third parties.
  • Service Providers: We may share your information with third-party vendors, consultants, and other service providers who perform services on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. Examples include cloud hosting providers (such as AWS infrastructure), payment processors (Stripe), analytics providers, and email service providers (Resend). These service providers are bound by contractual confidentiality obligations and are only permitted to use your information to provide services to AuthorsGeek.com.
  • Legal Obligations: We may disclose your information if we are required to do so by law, subpoena, court order, or other governmental request, or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.
  • Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, your personal information may be among the assets transferred. We will notify you via email and/or a prominent notice on our website of any change in ownership or uses of your personal information, as well as any choices you may have regarding your personal information.
  • Aggregated or Anonymized Data: We may share aggregated or anonymized information that does not directly identify you for purposes such as research, marketing, analytics, or improving our Service.

5. Data Security

Protecting your data, especially your creative work, is paramount. This section describes the security measures we implement, while also acknowledging the inherent limitations of any online security system.

We implement a variety of security measures designed to protect the security of your personal information, especially your manuscripts. This includes using encryption in transit (e.g., SSL/TLS) and at rest, implementing access controls, and utilizing secure server infrastructure, including services provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS).

However, please remember that no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

6. Data Retention

This section explains our policies on how long we keep different types of your data, including your manuscripts and reports, and your ability to manage this data.

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

  • Manuscripts and Reports: Your uploaded manuscripts and the Developmental Editor Reports generated from them will be retained for a period of 12 months after the report generation, or until you choose to delete them from the system, whichever comes first. You have the ability to delete your manuscripts and reports from your account.
  • Account Information: We retain your account information for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we may retain some information for a reasonable period thereafter for legal, regulatory, or auditing purposes.

7. Your Data Rights and Choices

You have rights concerning your personal data. This section details those rights, such as access and deletion, and explains how you can exercise them and manage your communication preferences.

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information. These rights may include:

  • Right to Access: You have the right to request copies of your personal information.
  • Right to Correction (Rectification): You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate or complete information you believe is incomplete.
  • Right to Deletion (Erasure): You have the right to request that we erase your personal information, under certain conditions.
  • Right to Restrict Processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information, under certain conditions.
  • Right to Data Portability: You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected directly to you, under certain conditions.

You can typically exercise these rights through your account settings or by contacting us directly at support@authorsgeek.com. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with applicable laws.

  • Marketing Communications: You can opt-out of receiving marketing emails from us by clicking the "unsubscribe" link provided in such emails or by changing your preferences in your account settings. Please note that you may still receive transactional or administrative messages related to the Service even if you opt out of marketing emails.
  • Cookie Preferences: Information on managing your cookie preferences is covered in our separate Cookie Policy.

8. Intellectual Property of Manuscripts

Your creative work belongs to you. This section reaffirms that you retain all intellectual property rights to your manuscripts submitted to AuthorsGeek.com.

You, the author, retain all intellectual property rights to your submitted manuscripts. AuthorsGeek.com claims no ownership rights whatsoever over your manuscripts. Our use of your manuscript is solely for the purpose of providing you with the Developmental Editor Report service you have requested.

9. Children's Privacy

AuthorsGeek.com is intended for adult users. This section clarifies our policy regarding the collection of information from children.

Our Service is not directed to individuals under the age of 18 ("Children"). We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 18 without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to remove that information from our servers.

10. International Data Transfers

If you are using our service from outside the United States, this section explains how your data may be transferred and processed, and the safeguards we have in place.

Your information, including personal data, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction.

If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including personal data, to the United States and process it there. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.

AuthorsGeek.com will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If we transfer your personal data out of the European Economic Area (EEA) to a country not deemed by the European Commission to provide an adequate level of personal data protection, the transfer will be performed based on approved transfer mechanisms, such as the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs).

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Policy may evolve over time. This section explains how we will inform you about any significant changes.

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Effective Date" at the top. We may also notify you via email or through a prominent notice on our website prior to the change becoming effective.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, this section provides information on how to reach us.

If you have any questions, concerns, or comments about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at: Email: support@authorsgeek.com