NOVUMSTARTUP

Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 25, 2026

1. Introduction

EdenClay LLC ("EdenClay," "we," "us," or "our") operates the NovumStartup platform at novumstartup.com. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have.

2. Information We Collect

Account information

When you sign up we collect your name, email address, and profile image via your OAuth provider (e.g. GitHub, Google). We do not store your OAuth password.

Contribution data

To calculate equity attribution scores we process time entries, task completions, IDE heartbeat events, and Git commit metadata (author, timestamp, lines changed) that you or your team members submit.

Usage & analytics

We collect anonymous page-view and session data to improve the product. This includes browser type, operating system, and pages visited. We do not use third-party advertising trackers.

Payment information

Paid subscriptions are processed by Stripe. We never see or store your full credit card number. Stripe's privacy policy governs how they handle payment data.

3. How We Use Your Information

  • Provide, maintain, and improve the NovumStartup platform
  • Calculate contribution scores and equity attribution for your projects
  • Generate responses in the optional AI assistant, where it has been enabled for your pod (see section 5)
  • Send transactional emails (invitations, password resets, billing receipts)
  • Monitor for abuse, fraud, and security incidents
  • Comply with legal obligations

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

4. Data Sharing

We share data only when necessary to operate the platform:

  • Service providers — hosting (Hetzner, where our application and its PostgreSQL database run), payment processing (Stripe), AI assistant responses (Anthropic — see section 5), and email delivery services that process data on our behalf.
  • Your team — contribution scores and project activity are visible to members of the pods and projects you belong to, in accordance with your role and permissions.
  • Legal requirements — we may disclose information if required by law, regulation, or valid legal process.

5. AI Assistant (Novum AI)

NovumStartup includes an AI assistant, Novum AI. It is on for pods by default, and your pod owner can turn it off at any time in Pod Settings (each project has its own off-switch too). While it is off for your pod, nothing in this section applies to you and none of the data described here is sent anywhere.

Who processes your conversations

Novum AI generates its responses using Anthropic's API. Anthropic PBC ("Anthropic") acts as a service provider and sub-processor to EdenClay LLC for this feature, processing the data described below on our behalf and under our instructions.

What we send to Anthropic

To produce a reply, we send Anthropic the content of your conversation together with the platform data the assistant needs to act on it:

  • The messages you write, and earlier turns in the same conversation — including AI-generated summaries of earlier turns in long threads.
  • Your display name and the names of the pod and project you are working in.
  • Platform data the assistant reads or writes on your behalf — for example initiative titles and descriptions, time-entry descriptions, pod and project member names, email addresses you ask it to invite, roles and permissions, scoring configuration, and company-plan content. This can include text your teammates wrote, where the assistant needs it to answer you.

We do not send Anthropic your password or OAuth credentials, your two-factor authentication secret, your API keys, or payment card details.

Retention

Anthropic retains API inputs and outputs for a limited period — currently up to approximately 30 days — for trust-and-safety and abuse monitoring, after which they are deleted, except where Anthropic must retain them longer to comply with law. We do not have a zero-retention arrangement with Anthropic for this feature.

Separately, we store your conversation in your account so you can return to it. Message content is encrypted at rest. Deleting a conversation deletes its transcript; account deletion is handled as described in section 6.

Who can see your conversations

Conversations are private to you by default, and you can choose to share one with your pod. A pod owner or a platform administrator can open a private conversation only through an explicit last-resort override, and every such access is recorded in an audit log.

Your choices

Using Novum AI is optional — you can simply not use it, and a pod owner can turn it off for an entire pod or for an individual project. You must be 18 or older to use it; see the AI assistant section of our Terms of Service.

6. Data Retention

We retain your account and contribution data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal information within 30 days, except where retention is required by law or necessary to resolve disputes.

7. Security

We use industry-standard measures to protect your data, including encryption in transit (TLS), encryption at rest, and role-based access controls. For more details, see our Security page.

8. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or export your personal data. You can manage most of this from your account settings. For requests we can't handle in-app, email us at privacy@novumstartup.com.

9. Cookies

We use essential cookies to keep you signed in and remember your preferences. We do not use cookies for advertising or cross-site tracking.

10. Children's Privacy

NovumStartup is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can delete it.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy on this page and updating the effective date. Continued use of NovumStartup after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us at privacy@novumstartup.com.