1. Introduction

ProofThis ("we," "our," or "us") is a community-driven validation platform where solopreneurs and indie hackers submit SaaS ideas, gather votes from potential users, and validate market demand before building. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our website and services. By using ProofThis, you agree to the practices described here.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information you provide and data generated by your use of the platform:

Account data: When you sign up (via GitHub OAuth or email), we receive your email, name, and profile information from the authentication provider (Clerk). GitHub verification is required to submit ideas.
Profile data: Username, avatar, bio (if you set one), and optional LinkedIn URL for verification.
Ideas and engagement: Ideas you submit (title, tagline, problem, solution, category, etc.), comments you post, and whether you upvote or downvote ideas. Votes are stored but displayed anonymously (we do not show who voted).
"I'd pay for this" commitments: If you use this feature, we store your commitment and the price tier you selected. Your email may be shared with the idea creator so they can notify you when the product launches, as described in our product experience.
Usage and analytics: We use analytics tools (e.g., PostHog or Mixpanel) to understand how the product is used (pages visited, features used). This helps us improve the service.
Payment data: If you subscribe to Premium, payment is processed by Stripe. We do not store your full card number; we receive billing-related data (e.g., subscription status, billing email) from Stripe.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

Provide, operate, and improve ProofThis
Display your public profile, ideas, and vote counts (votes themselves are anonymous)
Share your email with idea creators only when you commit "I'd pay for this" so they can notify you at launch
Send transactional emails (e.g., launch notifications for ideas you committed to, account-related messages)
Process payments and manage Premium subscriptions
Prevent abuse (e.g., rate limiting, spam detection, enforcing submission limits)
Comply with legal obligations and protect our rights

4. Who Sees Your Data

Votes are anonymous. We do not display which users voted on which ideas. Idea creators see aggregate vote counts and, for Premium users, demographic insights—not individual voter identities. Your email is only shared with idea creators when you use "I'd pay for this" and opt in to launch notifications; this is necessary to build the waitlist feature. Your public profile (username, avatar, bio, verification badges, ideas you've submitted) is visible to other users. Premium users may set ideas to "private" for testing before making them public.

5. Data Retention

We retain your account and profile data for as long as your account is active. Ideas, votes, comments, and commitments are retained to operate the platform and provide history to creators and voters. If you delete your account, we will remove or anonymize your personal data in line with our data deletion procedures, except where we must retain data for legal or legitimate operational reasons.

6. Your Rights (including GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area or another region with similar privacy laws, you have rights including:

Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Correction: Request correction of inaccurate data.
Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal and operational needs.
Portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format where applicable.
Object / restrict: Object to certain processing or request restriction in certain circumstances.

You can manage your account and much of your data through your profile and authentication provider (Clerk). For other requests, contact us using the details at the end of this policy.

7. Security

We use industry-standard measures to protect your data. We support optional two-factor authentication (2FA) for accounts. We use rate limiting and other technical and policy measures to reduce manipulation and abuse (e.g., on voting and submissions). No system is completely secure; we encourage you to use a strong password and enable 2FA where available.

8. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies for authentication (so you stay signed in), security, and analytics. You can control cookies through your browser settings; disabling certain cookies may affect how the site works (e.g., staying logged in).

9. Third-Party Services

We rely on trusted third parties to operate ProofThis:

Clerk: Authentication (sign-in, sign-up, profile)
Stripe: Payment processing for Premium
Neon: Database (storing ideas, votes, commitments, etc.)
Vercel: Hosting and file storage (e.g., mockup images)
Resend / SendGrid: Transactional email
PostHog / Mixpanel: Product analytics

Each provider has its own privacy policy. We choose providers that support compliant and secure data handling.

10. Children

ProofThis is not intended for users under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe we have collected data from a child, please contact us so we can delete it.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version on this page and update the "Last updated" date. For material changes, we may notify you by email or through the platform. Continued use of ProofThis after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

You can submit access, correction, or deletion requests from our Support page. For other privacy-related questions, requests, or complaints, contact us at privacy@proofthis.app. We will respond in line with applicable law.