Privacy Policy

1. Personal information we collect

The information we collect depends on how you interact with the Service. It may include the categories described below.

Information you provide to us

• Contact, account, and profile information, such as your name, email address, phone number, mailing address, city, state, neighborhood, account identifiers, profile details, interests, preferences, and other information you choose to add. Our authentication provider processes sign-in credentials and account-recovery information; Motherlist does not receive your password.
• Transaction and membership information, such as your membership plan and status, checkout status, subscription details, transaction history, and related references. Our payment processor collects payment-card information directly; Motherlist does not store full payment-card numbers.
• Communications and preferences, including information you provide when you contact us, request support, exercise a privacy right, provide feedback, respond to a survey, or choose how you would like to hear from us.
• User content, such as posts, replies, comments, questions, messages, photos, and other content you submit, together with associated information such as when the content was created or posted.
• Referral and application information, including information submitted about caregivers or other people, such as contact and location information, experience, qualifications, training, vaccination information, photos, relationship or referral details, and free-form notes. Do not submit information about another person unless you have permission to do so.
• Other information you choose to provide or that we identify at the time of collection.

Information from other sources

We may receive personal information from service providers that help us provide the Service, including authentication, payment, hosting, security, communications, and support providers. We may also receive information from other members or users, social media and other public sources, partners, professional advisers, and parties involved in an actual or prospective business transaction.

Information collected automatically

We and our service providers may automatically collect information about your device and use of the Service, such as IP address, device and browser type, operating system, language settings, general location derived from IP address, referring page, pages or features used, navigation paths, access times, and interactions with the Service. We collect this information through server logs and technologies described below.

2. Cookies and other technologies

We and our service providers may use cookies, local storage, pixels, and similar technologies to operate and secure the Service, authenticate users, remember preferences, understand use, troubleshoot problems, and improve performance. Some of these technologies are necessary for features such as member login and cannot be disabled without affecting how the Service works.

We do not currently use third-party product analytics or advertising cookies. If we introduce non-essential analytics or similar technologies, we will update our disclosures and provide any notice or choices required by law. Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies, although doing so may prevent some features from working. Because there is no consistent industry standard for Do Not Track signals, we do not currently respond to them.

3. How we use personal information

We may use personal information to:

• provide, operate, maintain, and support the Service;
• create and manage accounts, memberships, subscriptions, and payments;
• provide community, referral, application, directory, and content features;
• review submissions, moderate content, and enforce our rules and agreements;
• personalize the Service and remember your settings and preferences;
• communicate with you about the Service and respond to requests and feedback;
• send marketing communications where permitted, subject to your choices;
• understand use of the Service, improve it, and develop new features and offerings;
• protect the rights, privacy, safety, and property of Motherlist, our users, and others;
• detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, security incidents, and unlawful activity;
• comply with applicable law, lawful requests, and legal process; and
• evaluate or complete a business transaction such as a financing, reorganization, or sale.

We may create aggregated, de-identified, or anonymized information and use it for lawful business purposes. We maintain de-identified information in de-identified form and do not attempt to reidentify it, except to test whether our de-identification processes comply with applicable law. We do not use personal information to train AI models or to make automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects. If we want to use personal information for a materially different purpose, we will provide additional notice and obtain consent when required by law.

4. How we disclose personal information

We may disclose personal information to the following categories of recipients:

• Service providers, including providers of hosting, databases, authentication, security, payments, communications, customer support, and, if enabled, analytics. Current providers include Cloudflare, Clerk, and Stripe.
• Payment processors. Payment information is collected and processed directly by the payment processor under its own privacy policy.
• Other users. Information you submit to community or directory features may be visible to other members as described in Section 5.
• Parties you designate, when you direct us or consent to a disclosure.
• Partners, when we jointly offer a service, event, or promotion and tell you about the disclosure at the time information is collected.
• Professional advisers, authorities, and others, when reasonably necessary to comply with law, respond to legal process, enforce our agreements, or protect rights, privacy, safety, or property.
• Business transaction participants, in connection with an actual or prospective financing, merger, acquisition, reorganization, sale of assets, insolvency, or similar transaction.

We may also disclose aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you. Motherlist does not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

5. User content and visibility

Motherlist is designed as a private member network. Community posts and replies are intended for logged-in members. The blank caregiver application form is publicly accessible, but a submitted application remains available only to authorized reviewers while it is under review. If an application is approved, its profile may be shown to logged-in members and may include the caregiver's name, email, phone number, city and state, experience, vaccination information, specialized training, notes, photo, and referral information. Your member name, neighborhood, and other information you choose to include may appear with content you submit.

No online sharing environment can prevent another person from copying, screenshotting, or redistributing information. Please share thoughtfully and obtain permission before submitting information about someone else.

6. Your choices

• Account information. You may review or update certain information through your account or contact us for assistance.
• Communications. If you receive marketing emails from us, you may opt out using the unsubscribe instructions in the message or by contacting us. You may still receive non-marketing messages about your account, transactions, security, or the Service.
• Cookies. You may control cookies and similar technologies through your browser or device settings, subject to the limitations described in Section 2.
• Privacy requests. You may ask to access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of personal information, close your account, or appeal a decision about a privacy request by emailing support@joinmotherlist.com.

Some information is required to provide the Service. If you do not provide required information, we may not be able to create an account, process a transaction, review an application, or provide a requested feature. Privacy rights are not absolute, and we may retain or decline to act on information where permitted or required by law.

7. Retention

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, including to provide the Service, maintain account and transaction records, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, and satisfy legal, accounting, security, and fraud-prevention obligations. The retention period depends on the nature and sensitivity of the information, the reason it was collected, the risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure, and applicable law. When information is no longer needed, we may delete it, anonymize it, or isolate it from further use.

8. Security

We use technical, organizational, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information. However, security risk is inherent in internet and information technologies, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of personal information.

9. Other services and international processing

The Service may link to or integrate with websites, applications, social media platforms, and other services operated by third parties. Some pages may also load externally hosted content, such as images from Unsplash. Those services may receive request information directly from your browser, including your IP address and referring page. We do not control third-party services, and their privacy practices are governed by their own policies.

Motherlist is based in the United States. We and our service providers may process information in the United States and other countries where privacy laws may differ from those where you live.

10. State privacy rights and notice at collection

To the extent applicable, privacy laws in California and other U.S. states may give residents rights to know about our information practices, access personal information, correct inaccuracies, delete personal information, obtain a portable copy, appeal a request decision, and exercise these rights without unlawful discrimination. Not every right applies in every state or circumstance.

Motherlist does not sell personal information, share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, or use personal information for profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects. We do not use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about individuals. If these practices change, we will update this Policy and provide any rights required by law.

To exercise a right, email support@joinmotherlist.com. We may need information reasonably necessary to verify your identity, understand your request, and confirm your residency. Where permitted, an authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf, and we may request proof of the agent's authority and verify your identity directly. You may appeal a decision by replying to our response or emailing the same address with the subject line "Privacy Appeal."

Notice at collection

The table below summarizes our current practices and practices during the 12 months before this Policy's effective date, including the categories of personal information we may collect, the sources and purposes of collection, and the categories of recipients to whom information may be disclosed. Our practices may vary based on how you use the Service.

We retain these categories under the criteria in Section 7. We do not sell or share these categories for cross-context behavioral advertising. California residents may also request information under California's Shine the Light law about certain disclosures for third parties' direct-marketing purposes; Motherlist does not currently make disclosures covered by that law.

11. Children

Member accounts are intended for adults, and the Service is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, please contact us. If we learn that we collected a child's personal information in a manner prohibited by law, we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

12. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version, revise the effective date, and provide additional notice of material changes when appropriate. The updated Policy applies when it becomes effective.

13. Contact us

For questions about this Policy or our privacy practices, or to exercise a privacy right, contact: