1. Who We Are

The Chowthee Foundation is a registered charitable trust. We operate an AI-powered business coaching platform. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you use our services at coach.thechowtheefoundation.org. We are committed to complying with the applicable privacy laws.

2. Data We Collect

We collect the following personal data when you register and use AI Business Coach:

Name and email address
Business name and profile information
Conversation and coaching session content
Billing information (processed securely by Stripe — we do not store card details)
Usage data and analytics (pages visited, features used)
Marketing preferences

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your data to:

Provide, maintain, and improve our coaching service
Personalise your coaching experience
Process payments and manage your subscription
Send transactional emails (account, billing, security)
Send marketing communications (only if you opt in)
Comply with legal obligations

4. How We Collect Information

We collect personal information that you provide directly (e.g. when you register or use the service), and information generated automatically through your use of the platform (e.g. usage data). We collect only information that is necessary to provide and improve the service, in accordance with applicable privacy principles.

5. AI Processing & Data Training

AI Business Coach uses the Anthropic API to power Michael, your AI business coach. When you send a message, your conversation history and business profile are transmitted to Anthropic's servers to generate a response.

Anthropic does not use API inputs or outputs to train their AI models. This is a contractual commitment that applies to all Anthropic API customers and is explicitly stated in their usage policy. Your conversations with Michael are processed to generate your response and are not retained by Anthropic for any other purpose.

Your conversation data is stored in our secure database, hosted on Neon (neon.tech) — a third-party cloud PostgreSQL platform. It is not shared with, sold to, or used by any AI provider for model training — including Anthropic.

6. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with the following service providers, solely to operate the platform:

Anthropic — to generate AI coaching responses (see Section 5 above)
Stripe — to process payments securely (we do not store card details)
Neon — for secure PostgreSQL database hosting (neon.tech)
Supabase — for additional database and infrastructure services
Vercel — for application hosting and delivery
Brevo — to send transactional and marketing emails on our behalf

All third-party providers are contractually bound to process your data securely and only as instructed by us.

7. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active or as required by law. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal data within 30 days, except where we are legally required to retain it.

8. Your Rights

Under applicable privacy law, you have the right to:

Request access to the personal information we hold about you
Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
Request deletion of your account and associated data
Unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time via the unsubscribe link in any email we send
Make a complaint about how we have handled your personal information

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@coach.thechowtheefoundation.org. We will respond within 20 working days as required by the Privacy Act 2020.

9. Security

We use industry-standard security measures including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, and secure cloud infrastructure. No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your data.

10. Cookies

We use essential cookies required to operate the service (authentication sessions). We do not use tracking or advertising cookies.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. We will notify you of significant changes by email or in-app notice. Continued use of AI Business Coach after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.

12. Governing Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of New Zealand.

13. Contact & Complaints

For privacy queries, contact us at privacy@coach.thechowtheefoundation.org. If you are unsatisfied with our response, you have the right to make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand.