Privacy Policy

HER-STEMisphere is a community platform built for women in STEM — students, early-career professionals, and leaders — to connect, find mentorship, access resources, and grow their careers.

• Privacy / support: support@herstemisphere.com
• General: hello@herstemisphere.com
• Website: https://herstemisphere.com
• Legal entity / operator: HER-STEMisphere

We collect information in the following categories:

Account and profile information

• Name, email address, and password (or sign-in via Google, Apple, or LinkedIn)
• Profile details such as photo, bio, headline, company or school, job title, location or state (city/region you enter — not GPS), career stage, STEM category, interests, and LinkedIn URL
• Student email or university email when you apply for Student membership
• Membership tier, status, and related subscription metadata synced from our payment provider
• Records that you accepted our Terms and Privacy Policy and confirmed you are at least 18 (timestamp and document version where stored)

Identity verification (required)

To maintain a trusted women-focused community, HERStem verification is required before full access to the Services. You submit a photo of a government-issued ID. Authorized administrators review submissions manually. Verification images are stored privately, reviewed only by authorized administrators, and permanently deleted from our file storage after a verification decision (approve or reject). Pending submissions remain in storage only until review is complete, and we aim to decide within about 24 hours; unfinished pending files may be removed after a limited hold period. After a decision we may retain verification status, timestamps, and admin notes — not the ID image itself.

Content you create

• HERspace posts (including posts marked anonymous to other members), comments, and likes
• Direct messages and connection or mentor-match requests
• Mentor applications and related career goals or preferences
• Support tickets and feedback you send through Help & Support or our contact form
• Event RSVPs and engagement with Live, podcast, or media content

HER AI Career Coach

If you use HER AI Career Coach (or related AI assist features), we process your prompts and conversation history so the Coach can respond and so we can save your chat to your account. Those requests are sent to our AI service provider (currently OpenAI) to generate replies. Do not include sensitive personal information (such as ID numbers, exact addresses, or financial account details) in Coach chats.

Device, usage, and notifications

• Device and app identifiers needed to operate the Services securely
• Push notification tokens (for example Expo / FCM tokens) and your notification preferences
• Basic usage and diagnostic information that helps us keep the Services reliable
• Website interaction data from our marketing site when you browse pages, open STEM news, or submit the contact form

Payment information

Paid memberships are processed by Apple App Store, Google Play, and our subscription infrastructure partner RevenueCat. We do not store your full payment card numbers. We receive subscription status, entitlements, and related billing metadata needed to unlock membership features.

Contact and marketing site

If you email us or use the website contact form (for example via hello@herstemisphere.com or support@herstemisphere.com), we collect the name, email, and message you submit so we can respond. Transactional emails (such as one-time passcodes) may be sent through our email provider (currently Resend).

We use personal information to:

• Create and manage your account, profile, and membership
• Operate community features, mentorship, messaging, events, and Growth Hub content
• Review and process required HERStem verification requests
• Personalize your experience (for example state-based communities and career stage)
• Provide HER AI Career Coach and related recommendations
• Send transactional messages and optional push notifications you enable
• Respond to support requests and enforce Community Safety standards
• Improve, secure, and troubleshoot the Services
• Comply with law and protect the rights and safety of members and HER-STEMisphere

If you are in a region that requires a legal basis for processing (such as the EEA or UK), we generally process information based on: performance of our contract with you; your consent (for example optional notifications); our legitimate interests in operating a safe community and improving the Services; and legal obligations where applicable. The Services are directed primarily to users in the United States.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not “share” personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are defined under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA). We share information only as described below:

• Service providers. We use trusted vendors to host and operate the Services, including Google Firebase (authentication, database, file storage, and related backend services), Apple and Google for sign-in and app distribution, LinkedIn for optional LinkedIn Sign-In, RevenueCat for subscription management, OpenAI for AI assistant responses, Google Places for location autocomplete (city/region suggestions), Resend for transactional email, NewsAPI and similar sources for STEM news aggregation, cloud video processing for certain media, and infrastructure needed for push notifications (for example Expo / FCM).
• Other members. Profile information and content you choose to share (posts, comments, messages, mentor directory details) are visible to other members according to product settings. HERspace posts marked anonymous hide your identity from other members; authorized admins may still see author information to moderate safety issues.
• Administrators. Authorized HER-STEMisphere admins may access account, content, verification, and support data to operate and moderate the community.
• Legal and safety. We may disclose information if required by law, legal process, or to protect people from harm, fraud, or abuse, including reports to appropriate authorities where required.
• Business transfers. If HER-STEMisphere is involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this Policy’s protections.

• Account and profile data are kept while your account is active and for a reasonable period afterward if needed for backups, disputes, or legal compliance.
• Government ID images submitted for verification are permanently deleted from file storage after admin review (approve or reject). Pending images are held only for review and may be purged after a limited hold if review cannot be completed.
• Verification status, timestamps, and admin notes may be retained for safety and fraud prevention.
• Messages, posts, and other community content remain until you delete them (where available) or we remove them under our policies.
• Support tickets and safety reports may be retained as needed to handle disputes and protect the community.
• Subscription records are retained as needed for billing reconciliation and membership access. Deleting your HER-STEMisphere account does not automatically cancel App Store or Google Play subscriptions — cancel those in the store settings.

We use industry-standard safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the data, including encrypted transit, access-controlled storage for verification files, and role-based admin access. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure; we encourage strong passwords and careful sharing within the community.

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to:

• Access, correct, or update your account and profile information in the app
• Delete your account in Settings (self-serve) or request deletion of personal information
• Opt out of non-essential push notifications in Settings
• Request a copy of personal information we hold about you

To exercise these rights, use in-app account deletion where available, follow the instructions at herstemisphere.com/delete-account, or contact support@herstemisphere.com. We may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests. You may also manage Google, Apple, or LinkedIn account permissions through those providers.

If you are a California resident, you may have the right to know what personal information we collect, delete or correct personal information, and opt out of sale or sharing. We do not sell personal information and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. Categories we may collect include identifiers (name, email), commercial information (subscription status), internet or device information, professional or education-related profile data, user content (posts, messages, photos, video), and sensitive personal information such as government ID images (processed for community trust and security). We retain information as described in Section 6. To submit a request, email support@herstemisphere.com or use in-app deletion. We will respond within 45 days (or as otherwise required by law), may extend once where permitted, and will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights. You may use an authorized agent as permitted by law; we may require proof of authorization and identity verification.

The Services are for adults only. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use HER-STEMisphere. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided us information, contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

HER-STEMisphere primarily serves users in the United States and may process and store information on servers located in the United States or other countries where our service providers operate. If you access the Services from outside those locations, you understand that your information may be transferred to and processed in those jurisdictions, which may have different data-protection laws.

The Services may link to third-party sites, scholarship listings, news articles, or store pages. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies. Payment and identity sign-in handled by Apple, Google, LinkedIn, or other providers are also subject to those providers’ terms and privacy notices.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the revised version on this page and update the effective date. For material changes, we may provide additional notice in the app or by email. Continued use of the Services after changes become effective means you accept the updated Policy.

Questions about privacy or this Policy:

• Support: support@herstemisphere.com
• General: hello@herstemisphere.com
• Operator: HER-STEMisphere
• Website: https://herstemisphere.com
• Account deletion help: /delete-account