Privacy Policy

Coffee Chat helps you keep track of your professional network. To do that, we store data for you. This page explains, in plain English, what we collect, how it's used, and what your options are.

What we collect

• Account information: your name, email address, and password. Passwords are stored only in encrypted (hashed) form; we never see or store them as readable text. If you sign in with Google, we receive your name and email address from your Google account instead, never your Google password. Our use of information received from Google complies with the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.
• Content you add: the contacts, conversation notes, job applications, and follow-up reminders you create in the app.
• Group content: if you join a group, the coach notes written for you and your replies to them. If you run a group, your group's name and settings, the email addresses you invite, and the private session log you keep about your own work with each student.
• Basic technical data: standard server logs (such as IP address and browser type) kept for security and reliability.

How we use it

Only to run Coffee Chat: signing you in, storing and showing you your own data, showing it to your coach if you choose to join a group (see Groups and coaches), and sending you service emails: account emails like password resets, group invitations, and any reminders you set up. We do not sell your data, we don't run ads, and we don't share your information with third parties for marketing. Ever.

Cookies & browser storage

Coffee Chat uses your browser's local storage to keep you signed in and remember basic preferences. Our bot-protection check may set a cookie of its own to tell humans from automated traffic. We don't use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

We use a privacy-first analytics tool to count visits and see how the site performs. It doesn't use cookies, doesn't collect personal information, and doesn't follow you across other websites. We only ever see aggregate numbers, never who you are.

Notes about other people

Coffee Chat is built for keeping notes on people you've met. That information stays private to your account. We never contact the people in your network, and no other user can see your contacts or notes. Please be thoughtful about what you record about others; you're responsible for the content you keep.

Who can access your data

• You. Your contacts, conversations, applications, and follow-ups are visible only to your account, unless you choose to join a group (below).
• Your coach, only if you join a group. See Groups and coaches.
• Coffee Chat administrators can view account-level information (your name, email, and usage counts) to operate the service. Administrative tools cannot read the content of your contacts, notes, or conversations (that restriction is enforced at the data layer, not just hidden from view), and admins cannot edit your data.
• Trusted service providers. Like nearly every online service, Coffee Chat runs on established cloud infrastructure for hosting, data storage, and email delivery. These providers process data only as needed to deliver their service to us, never for their own purposes.

Groups and coaches

A coach, counselor, or program can run a group on Coffee Chat (an Enterprise account). Joining one is always your choice: you enter the group's code or accept an invitation, and we show you exactly what your coach will see before you confirm. Nothing is shared until you do.

• While you're an active member, the group's owner can view your contacts, conversation logs, applications, and follow-ups, read-only, and can write coach notes that you can read and reply to.
• Your coach cannot add, edit, or delete your data unless you switch on edit access yourself in Settings › Group, and you can switch it off at any time. Your coach can never see your settings, password, or billing, and cannot see anything after you leave. These limits are enforced at the data layer, not just hidden from view.
• A coach's private session log about their work with you belongs to the coach alone. It is never shown to you or to anyone else in the group.
• Other members see nothing about you. Groups are a link between you and one coach, not a shared workspace.
• Leaving. You can leave from Settings at any time, and a coach can remove you. Either way your coach's access ends immediately, you keep every piece of your data, and you choose whether to keep a read-only copy of the coach notes.

Security

All traffic is encrypted in transit (HTTPS), every account's data is kept isolated, and passwords are stored only in encrypted form. No system is perfectly secure, but Coffee Chat is designed so that each account can only ever reach its own data, plus, for coaches, the data of members who chose to join their group. If a security incident ever affects your information, we'll notify you promptly.

Where your data lives & how long we keep it

Coffee Chat is operated from the United States and your data is stored on servers in the United States. By using the service from elsewhere, you consent to your information being transferred there. Your data stays only as long as you want it to: delete a contact, conversation, or follow-up and it's removed; delete your account and everything in it is permanently erased. Routine security logs age out on their own.

Children

Coffee Chat isn't intended for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, contact us and we'll remove it.

Your choices

• You can update your name, email, and password anytime from your account page in the app.
• You can delete any contact, conversation, or follow-up you've created.
• You can delete your account and all of its data anytime from your account page, or email us and we'll take care of it for you.

Changes

If this policy changes in a meaningful way, we'll update this page and the date at the top. Continued use of Coffee Chat after a change means you accept the updated policy.

Contact

Questions or requests: hello@usecoffeechat.com