This Privacy Policy applies to Inkbound, available at inkbound.ai and through our iOS mobile application. The canonical URL of this policy is https://inkbound.ai/privacy and is publicly accessible without a login.
Inkbound, operated by Inkbound AI LLC ("Inkbound," "Company," "we," "us," or "our"), is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your rights regarding your data.
1. Information We Collect
1.1 Information You Provide
- Account information: name, email address, phone number, date of birth
- Athletic profile information: position, dominant foot, height, weight, club team, league level, nationality, achievements, athletic stats
- Academic information: high school or college, graduation year, GPA, SAT and ACT scores, intended majors
- Recruiting preferences: dream schools, division, location, school size, recruiting goals, and prior coach contact history
- Location information you enter, such as your hometown city and state
- Uploaded content: video clips, images, and documents
- Communications: messages sent through the recruiting chat, email content, coach outreach drafts, and images shared in chat
- Payment information: processed securely by Stripe (we do not store full card details)
- Referral payout details you choose to provide, such as a Venmo, Zelle, or Cash App handle
- Parent or guardian information when a parent account is created or a parent is invited
- Ambassador application information, including a photo, college details, and availability, if you apply to our ambassador program
1.2 Information Collected Automatically
- Device and browser information
- IP address and approximate location
- Usage data: pages visited, features used, actions taken, timestamps
- Marketing attribution data such as UTM parameters and ad click identifiers present in the link you used to reach us
- Email engagement data from coach outreach campaigns: opens (via a tracking pixel), highlight video link views and watch duration, and replies
- Push notification device tokens, if you use our iOS app and enable notifications
1.3 Third Party Lookup Services
Some search fields in the Service query external data sources to help you fill out your profile. College name searches use the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard API, and hometown city searches use OpenStreetMap. Only the text you type into these search fields is sent to those services.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use your information to:
- Provide, maintain, and improve the Service
- Generate personalized school lists and recruiting recommendations
- Send coach outreach emails and manage follow up campaigns on your behalf
- Generate highlight videos from your uploaded clips
- Connect you with college athlete ambassadors
- Process payments and manage subscriptions
- Send transactional emails (account updates, campaign notifications, recruiting alerts, weekly summaries, and parent updates) and text messages containing login verification codes
- Send in app and push notifications about recruiting activity, such as coach replies, email opens, and video views (push notifications only if you enable them on iOS)
- Train and improve our AI models and algorithms using non Google data only
- Analyze usage patterns to improve the product
- Prevent fraud, abuse, and maintain security
- Comply with legal obligations
3. Google User Data and Gmail Integration
Inkbound offers an optional Gmail integration that student athletes can connect to send recruiting emails to college coaches directly from their own Gmail account and to track coach replies. This section describes, in detail, how we handle Google user data in compliance with the Google API Services User Data Policy.
3.1 Google OAuth Scopes Requested
When you connect your Google account, we request the following OAuth scopes:
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.send(gmail.send)https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email(userinfo.email)
3.2 Google User Data We Access
- Basic profile (userinfo.email): your Google account email address, used to identify the connected account.
- Gmail outgoing content (gmail.send): the email content you compose and send through Inkbound, including recipients, subject, body, and any attachments you choose to include.
3.3 How We Use Google User Data
- gmail.send: used solely to send recruiting emails to college coaches on behalf of the authenticated student athlete, and only when the user explicitly initiates sending through the Inkbound interface. We do not send any email from your Gmail account without an explicit user action. Each outbound email includes a Reply-To address on a domain we operate so that coach replies route to an Inkbound operated mailbox rather than back into your Gmail inbox. We do not read, list, or otherwise access messages in your Gmail account.
- userinfo.email: used to confirm which Google account is connected and to display it in your Inkbound settings.
Google user data is used only to provide and improve the core user facing features described above. We do NOT use Google user data for advertising. We do NOT use Google user data to train generalized or non personalized AI or ML models. We do NOT use Google user data for any purpose outside the functions stated in this section.
3.4 How Google User Data Is Stored
- Google OAuth access tokens and refresh tokens are stored in our Supabase backend database, encrypted at rest.
- Metadata about sent outreach emails (recipient, subject, send timestamp, reply status) is stored in Supabase, encrypted at rest, so that users can view their campaign history inside Inkbound. Coach replies are received at an Inkbound operated mailbox and stored alongside the originating outreach campaign.
- All data in transit is protected using TLS 1.2 or higher.
- Access to the production database is restricted to a small number of engineering personnel who require it to operate and support the Service, enforced through role based access controls, audit logging, and multi factor authentication.
3.5 How Google User Data Is Shared, Transferred, or Disclosed
We share Google user data only with the following categories of service providers, and only to the extent necessary to operate Inkbound:
- Supabase: database and backend hosting provider that stores OAuth tokens, sent email metadata, and cached outreach messages.
- Vercel: hosting provider for the Inkbound web application.
- Google: to make the Gmail API calls that send emails on your behalf as described in Section 3.3. We do not read messages in your Gmail inbox.
We do NOT sell Google user data to any third party. We do NOT share, transfer, or disclose Google user data to any third party for advertising, resale, or any purpose other than providing the core Inkbound functionality described in this Privacy Policy. We do NOT share Google user data with our analytics providers. Coach email addresses and profile content that you compose are delivered only to the coach recipients you explicitly choose.
3.6 Retention and Deletion of Google User Data
- OAuth tokens and sent email metadata are retained for as long as you keep your Google account connected to Inkbound.
- You can disconnect your Google account at any time by contacting us at support@inkbound.ai. Upon disconnection we revoke our OAuth tokens with Google and delete the stored access and refresh tokens within 30 days.
- You may revoke Inkbound access directly from your Google Account at myaccount.google.com/permissions.
- When you delete your Inkbound account, all Google user data associated with your account (tokens and email metadata) is deleted within 30 days, except where retention is required for a narrowly defined legal obligation.
- To request deletion of Google user data at any time, email support@inkbound.ai and we will process the request within 30 days.
3.7 AI and Machine Learning Disclosure
Inkbound does NOT use Google Workspace user data (including Gmail content, Gmail metadata, or any other data obtained through the gmail.send or userinfo.email scopes) to develop, improve, or train generalized or non personalized AI or ML models. Google user data is used exclusively to deliver the user facing features described in Section 3.3 of this policy. Any AI features applied to outreach email drafts (such as draft suggestions) operate on the content you are composing inside Inkbound at your explicit direction and do not feed Google user data into model training pipelines.
3.8 Google API Services User Data Policy Compliance
Inkbound's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
4. Coach Outreach and Email Data
When you use our coach outreach feature, we send emails to college coaches using your name, profile information, and athletic details. To provide you with engagement insights and optimize your campaigns, we track email opens using a small tracking pixel, track views and watch duration of your highlight video through trackable video links, and track coach replies. Replies are routed to an Inkbound operated mailbox through the Reply-To address on each outreach email and are shown to you inside the Service.
Coach email addresses are sourced from publicly available information. We do not sell coach contact information to third parties. If you have connected your Gmail account under Section 3, outreach emails are sent from your own Gmail address; otherwise they are sent through our transactional email delivery provider on your behalf.
5. Video and Media Content
Uploaded videos and images are used to generate your highlight videos and are stored securely on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Supabase infrastructure. Video clips are processed by our automated video pipeline, which uses computer vision to detect and tag players, running on AWS servers we control. By using the highlight video feature, you consent to your videos being uploaded to our YouTube channel and potentially shared on other social media platforms for promotional and showcase purposes.
See our Terms of Service for full details on content licensing and publication rights.
6. AI Processing and Training
We use third party AI providers, including OpenAI, to power features such as the recruiting chat, email drafting, campaign generation, school matching, and reply suggestions. When you use these features, relevant profile information and the content you provide (such as chat messages or email drafts) is sent to the AI provider via API to generate the output. We access these providers through their business APIs, which per their terms do not use API data to train their publicly available models.
By using the Service, you acknowledge that your uploaded content and interactions (excluding Google user data as described in Section 3) may be used in anonymized and aggregated forms to train, improve, and develop our own AI models and features. This helps us enhance the quality and accuracy of school matching, email generation, video processing, and other AI features.
Google Workspace data is never used for model training. We implement reasonable safeguards to protect your content during processing.
7. Information Sharing
We do not sell your personal data. We may share information with:
- Service providers: hosting and backend infrastructure (Vercel, Supabase), payments (Stripe), transactional email delivery, SMS delivery for login verification codes (Twilio), AI processing (OpenAI), video storage and processing (Amazon Web Services), image storage (Cloudflare), and push notification delivery (Apple). Google user data is shared only with the subset of providers listed in Section 3.5.
- College coaches: your name, profile, and athletic information as part of outreach emails you authorize
- YouTube and social media: highlight videos and associated profile information as described in Section 5
- College athlete ambassadors: limited profile information necessary to facilitate connections
- Legal compliance: when required by law, regulation, or legal process
- Business transfers: in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. Any successor entity will be bound by the commitments in this policy, including the Google Limited Use commitments in Section 3.
8. Cookies and Tracking
We use cookies and similar technologies to maintain sessions, remember preferences, and collect analytics data. You can manage cookie preferences through your browser settings, though disabling cookies may limit Service functionality.
9. Mobile App (iOS)
If you use the Inkbound iOS app, the following also applies:
- Phone number sign up: creating an account requires a phone number, which we verify by sending a one time code by text message through our SMS provider.
- Push notifications: if you grant permission, we register your device with Apple Push Notification service and store a device token linked to your account so we can deliver recruiting notifications (such as coach replies, video views, and campaign updates). You can disable push notifications at any time in iOS Settings. Your device token is removed when you sign out.
- Photo library: the app requests permission to save finished highlight videos to your photo library only when you choose to save a video. We do not read the contents of your photo library.
- Payments: subscription purchases from the iOS app are completed through Stripe in your device browser, not through in app purchases.
- Tracking: we do not use the iOS advertising identifier (IDFA) and we do not track you across apps or websites owned by other companies.
10. Data Retention
We retain your data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. After account deletion, we may retain certain data as required by law or for legitimate business purposes (such as fraud prevention). Uploaded videos may persist on YouTube or social media platforms after account deletion. Google user data is retained and deleted according to the specific rules in Section 3.6.
11. Data Security
We use industry standard technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including encryption in transit (TLS 1.2 or higher), encryption at rest for our Supabase database, role based access controls, audit logging, and regular security reviews. Access to production systems requires multi factor authentication and is limited to authorized engineering personnel. However, no system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute data security.
12. Children's Privacy
The Service is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Users between 13 and 18 must have parental consent. If we learn we have collected data from a child under 13, we will delete it promptly.
13. Your Rights and Choices
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you
- Correct inaccurate information
- Request deletion of your data
- Object to or restrict certain processing
- Request data portability
- Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
To exercise these rights, including account deletion and data export requests, contact us at support@inkbound.ai. We will respond within 30 days.
You can opt out of non essential product emails at any time using the email preferences link included in our emails. Transactional emails required to operate your account (such as payment receipts) may still be sent.
14. California Residents (CCPA)
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act, including the right to know what personal information we collect and how it is used, the right to request deletion, and the right to opt out of the sale of personal information. We do not sell personal information.
15. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make a change, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. If we make a material change (including any change that affects how Google user data is collected, used, stored, shared, or retained) we will provide advance notice by email to the address on file for your account and by an in app notification before the change takes effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance.
16. Contact
Questions about this Privacy Policy? Contact us at support@inkbound.ai