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Privacy Policy

This policy explains how Tech Startups handles personal information through the techstartups.gg website, our Discord community, and Verify Tech Bot.

Effective date: August 31, 2026

Scope

Tech Startups ("we," "us," or "our") operates the Tech Startups Discord community, Verify Tech Bot, and the techstartups.gg website (together, the "Services") and is responsible for the processing described in this policy. Discord separately processes information under its own privacy policy and terms.

Information we collect

Depending on how you use the Services, we process the following information to operate community and bot features:

  • Discord account and member information: Discord user IDs, usernames, display names, avatars, account and server join dates, server roles, member join or role-update events, and, in some historical introduction records, custom status text that was visible at the time of submission. Verify Tech Bot no longer requests Discord Presence access and does not newly collect custom status text.
  • Discord server and workflow identifiers: server, channel, message, thread, role, and interaction identifiers and related timestamps.
  • Content submitted to configured workflows:introductions, builder or company updates, messages used for bot assistance, and attachment information such as filenames, URLs, sizes, and media types. The bot does not read every conversation for these workflows; it processes messages in specifically configured channels or when a user invokes a relevant feature.
  • Community activity: introduction votes, reactions, channel subscriptions, company-channel ownership, verification or moderation status, and history needed to operate those features.
  • Generated and administrative information: bot workflow status, quality-review results, summaries, audit records, error information, and other operational metadata.
  • Website information: public company-directory information and basic request information that our hosting and security providers may process automatically, such as IP address, browser or device type, requested page, and request time.

We receive this information from Discord, from content and interactions that users submit, and from community administrators. Please do not submit sensitive personal information through the bot or public community channels.

How we use information

We use the information described above to:

  • onboard members and manage role-based community access;
  • receive, review, edit, vote on, and publish member introductions;
  • manage builder and company channels, updates, subscriptions, and discussion threads;
  • forward qualifying posts and keep forwarded copies synchronized when their source messages are edited or deleted;
  • provide requested bot assistance and create summaries or quality-review information;
  • maintain moderation state, prevent abuse, troubleshoot errors, secure the Services, and comply with applicable obligations.

Message content and artificial intelligence

Verify Tech Bot accesses message content when it is necessary for a configured feature, such as processing an introduction, forwarding and synchronizing a builder update, or responding to a request for bot assistance. Users cannot opt out of this processing while using an intent-dependent workflow, but they can choose not to submit content to those workflows.

When an AI-assisted feature is configured, we may send selected introduction text, builder or company updates, and relevant thread or channel context to Anthropic's commercial API to produce a summary, quality-review information, company metadata, or a requested response. We do not use Discord message content to train machine learning or AI models. Anthropic processes this information as our service provider under its commercial data-handling terms. AI output supports community or staff workflows and is not used to make a solely automated decision with legal or similarly significant effects.

How information is shared

We may disclose information in the following limited situations:

  • Discord and community visibility: Discord provides the platform and API through which the bot operates. Introductions, updates, profile information, votes, and bot output may be displayed to moderators or community members according to the permissions of the relevant Discord channel.
  • Service providers: providers that help us operate the Services, including database and application-hosting providers, infrastructure and security providers, and Anthropic for the AI-assisted processing described above. Their processing is governed by the agreements and privacy terms applicable to those services.
  • Legal and safety reasons: when reasonably necessary to comply with law or valid legal process, protect rights and safety, investigate abuse, or secure the Services.

We do not sell Discord API data or personal information, share it with data brokers, or use it for targeted advertising.

Retention and deletion

We retain personal information only while it is reasonably necessary to operate the features described in this policy, maintain required records, protect the Services, or comply with law. Some workflow records remain useful for longer than 30 days—for example, while an introduction, company channel, subscription, or moderation workflow remains active.

Privacy requests are handled manually. After verifying a request, an operator locates records associated with the Discord user ID and deletes or anonymizes the applicable Discord API data unless retention is required by law. We also delete or anonymize API data when it is no longer needed for approved functionality, when Discord requires deletion, or when we stop operating the applicable Service. We do not currently promise automatic deletion after a fixed number of days.

Anthropic states that standard commercial API inputs and outputs are deleted from its backend within 30 days, subject to limited safety, legal, feedback, and contractual exceptions. See Anthropic's commercial data-retention documentation for details.

Your choices and privacy requests

You may ask us to access, correct, or delete personal information associated with you. To make a request, join the Tech Startups Discord server and privately contact a server administrator or moderator. State that your request concerns Verify Tech Bot and provide your Discord user ID. Do not post sensitive information in a public channel.

We may ask you to verify control of the relevant Discord account before acting on a request. Whether a particular request can be fulfilled may depend on applicable law, but we will respond and explain any limitation. You may use the same contact method to report a privacy, security, or application-policy concern.

Regional privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to request access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, or portability of personal information, to withdraw consent where processing relies on consent, and to appeal or complain to your local privacy regulator. We process information as necessary to provide requested community features, for legitimate interests such as operating and securing the Services, to comply with legal obligations, and with consent where applicable. Use the request method above to exercise a right.

Security

We use commercially reasonable administrative and technical safeguards designed to protect Discord API data, including access controls, encryption in transit, and encryption at rest. No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee that unauthorized access or disclosure will never occur.

International processing

Our community and service providers operate internationally. Information may therefore be processed in countries other than the country where you live, including the United States, where privacy laws may differ. International processing is subject to applicable law and the transfer terms and safeguards offered by the relevant service providers.

Children

The Services are not directed to children under 13 or under the minimum age required to use Discord in their country. If you believe a child has provided personal information contrary to these requirements, contact us so we can review and delete it as appropriate.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our Services or legal obligations change. We will post the updated policy here and revise the effective date. If a change materially affects how Verify Tech Bot uses Discord API data, we will provide additional notice when appropriate and complete any required Discord review before applying the change.

Contact us

For privacy questions, requests, or application-related reports, join the Tech Startups Discord server and privately contact a server administrator or moderator.