Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 7, 2026

This policy covers ventureease.org only. Each VentureEase product (StartEase, LaunchEase, HireEase) has its own privacy policy governing data within that app.

1. Data we collect

• Account data: email, first name, last name, password (stored hashed with bcrypt — we never see or store the plaintext), email-verification timestamp, last login time.
• Blog subscriptions: email only. Status (pending / confirmed / unsubscribed) and per-subscriber tokens for double opt-in confirmation and one-click unsubscribe.
• Contact form: name, email, subject, message, your IP address, and your browser's user-agent string at the time of submission.
• Authentication telemetry: login attempts (email + IP + outcome) used for progressive lockout against brute force.
• Cookies: a session cookie (VORG_SESSID) used to keep you signed in. Set with HttpOnly, Secure, and SameSite=Lax. Idle timeout 24 minutes. No third-party tracking cookies. No analytics in v0.1.0.

2. Single sign-on (SSO)

When you click a product tile on your dashboard to open StartEase, LaunchEase, or HireEase, we send a short-lived signed token to that product carrying your email and name. The receiving product creates or finds a local account and signs you in. The token is valid for 10 minutes and is used once. You can read the technical details in our About page or by inspecting the token URL.

3. Email

We send transactional emails (verification, password reset) and — only to confirmed blog subscribers — new-post notifications. Emails are sent via our own SMTP using the info@ventureease.org sender address.

4. Where data is stored

Data is stored in a MariaDB database on shared hosting in the United States operated by NameCheap. We use industry-standard server hardening (HTTPS, HSTS, secure session cookies, prepared SQL statements, file-permission lockdown).

5. Retention

• Account data: kept until you request deletion. Email info@ventureease.org to delete.
• Blog subscriptions: kept until you unsubscribe. Unsubscribed records are kept for 30 days then purged.
• Contact form submissions: kept indefinitely so we can keep context for ongoing conversations.
• Login attempts: kept for 24 hours (the lockout window).

6. Your rights

Email info@ventureease.org to request a copy of your data, correct inaccuracies, or delete your account.

7. Sharing

We do not sell or rent personal data. We share data only as needed to operate our own services (e.g., signing an SSO token to the LaunchEase or HireEase app you're entering, which are operated by us). We do not use third-party advertising, analytics, or tracking services on this site.

8. Children

The site is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect data from them.

9. Changes

If we update this policy, we'll change the "Last updated" date at the top. Material changes will be flagged on the homepage.

10. Contact

Privacy questions: info@ventureease.org.