Privacy Notice

1. Introduction

Welcome to StartEase. This Privacy Notice explains how VentureEase Academy ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, shares, and protects your information when you visit our website https://www.startease.app (the "Site") and use the ETI assessment, the Training Hub and training programs, games, and related services, including when you use StartEase through a partner organization's portal (collectively, the "Service").

By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this notice. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

2. Information We Collect

We collect several types of information to provide and improve our Service:

• Account Information: When you register, we collect your first and last name, your email address, and a securely hashed password. If you register or sign in through a partner organization's portal, we store that association. If your email address ends in ".edu", we record you as a student; this is used for education pricing. We also store your choices about analytics and partner offers once you make them (both stay off until you turn them on: partner offers with the box on the sign-up form or in Settings, analytics with the cookie banner or in Settings), and when you last signed in.
• Optional Profile Information: If you choose to provide it, in Settings → Profile or in the survey that follows your results, we collect your role/title, organization, location (city/state) and industry.
• Assessment Data: Your answers to the ETI assessment questions and your calculated results, including subtypes, disciplines, leans, tensions, knowledge-check calibration, readiness profiles, your readiness answers, your results history, and associated timestamps. While you take the assessment, each answer is also recorded with a random identifier your browser creates for that attempt, the time you spent on the question, and how many times you changed your answer. If you take the assessment without signing in, your result is not saved to an account. It is kept in your browser until you sign in or register and then open the assessment, at which point it is saved to your account.
• Training Program Information: When you register for a training program, join its waitlist, or apply to one, we collect the details you give: your name and email address, a phone number if you provide one, and, for programs that need an application, your answers to its questions (including veteran status and business name if you give them). If you have a completed ETI result, your latest result is linked to the application. As a participant, we store your milestone submissions and the files you upload, your attendance, your progress toward a certificate, and, with a registration, its payment status and the amount paid.
• User Generated Content (Comments): If you are signed in, you can comment on training articles. We store your comment with your account. It is shown to other visitors with your first name and the date.
• Feedback Data: After your results, we ask whether they describe you, and we store your Yes/No vote. If you go on to the short survey, we collect four 1–5 ratings, an optional comment, and, if you ask us to follow up, the email address you give for that. On a "Yes" survey you can also let us publish your comment as a testimonial. To do that, we require your first name, role/title and industry, and you may add your last name, organization, city/state and a link to your website or social profile. The identity details in the survey are pre-filled from your profile and stored with your feedback; any you type there are also saved to your profile. If you are not signed in, your vote and feedback are linked to your assessment attempt's random identifier instead of an account.
• Transaction Information (for Pro / Training): Payments are made on PayPal's site, so we do not receive your card or bank details. PayPal sends us a payment notification, and we store it in full with the transaction record. It includes the transaction ID, amount and status, and the payer's name and email address as PayPal provides them. We use it to grant Pro access, confirm training enrollment, or add seats to a partner's portal. If you buy a gift Pro membership for someone, we store the email address you give, set up a reserved Pro account for that address, and email them an invitation to claim it.
• Contact Form / Support Ticket Data: When you use the "Contact Us" form in our website footer or the Support tab in Settings, we collect and store your name, your email address (your account's address if you are signed in), your message, the subject and category you choose in the Support tab, and your IP address in our support ticket system to manage and respond to your inquiry.
• Game Mode Data: When you play games (Guess Who? and Business Boo), we collect your game scores, the details of each round (such as how many questions you asked and which subtypes were involved), whether you won, and timestamps. If you are logged in, this data is associated with your account. If you are not logged in, we generate an anonymous identifier stored in your browser's Local Storage to track your scores on leaderboards. If you later play while signed in on the same browser, those earlier scores are added to your account. If you join the Fantasy League waitlist, we store your email address and your notification preference.
• Leaderboard Information: If you appear on a game leaderboard, the first name on your account and your scores are publicly visible. If you were not logged in, you appear as "Player_" followed by a six-character code derived from your anonymous identifier; the identifier itself is never shown. The Business Boo leaderboard shows your first name and how many of your predictions were right. You can change your first name in Settings → Profile.
• Business Boo Partner Predictions: If you play "Do You Know Your Business Boo?" (you must be signed in), we store the email address of the person you invite and their name if you enter it, your prediction of their entrepreneurial type, and the unique link we email them along with your first name. If that email address has no StartEase account, we set up a reserved account for it so their result can be connected to your invitation. When they complete the assessment after following your link, we record their actual subtype on the invitation and whether your prediction was correct, and we email you the result.
• Badges and Achievements: We track your progress toward earning badges, including assessment completions, games played and won, article reads, comments, result shares, login streaks, feedback submissions, and account age. This activity data is stored with your account.
• User Activity Data: To support badges and your dashboard, we log certain activities associated with your account: the days you open your dashboard, articles you read, when you view or compare your results, when you share them, the games you play, and updates to your readiness answers.
• Security Records: When you sign in, register, request or use a password-reset link, ask for a new verification email, change your email address, enter your current password in Settings, send a support message, or submit a program application, we record your IP address, the email address involved (if any), and whether the attempt succeeded, so that we can limit repeated attempts. We also record the time of each sign-in.
• Sponsor Messages: If you are signed in when a sponsor message appears on the screen shown while your results are calculated, we record when it was shown, so that we show you one at most once every 90 days. We count how many times each sponsor message is shown and clicked, without recording who clicked.
• Cookie Consent Preferences: We store your choice about optional cookies in your browser's Local Storage. If you are signed in when you make it, or you make it in Settings, we also save it to your account.
• Analytics Data (With Your Consent): If Google Analytics is switched on and you consent, we may use it to collect data about your visit, such as the pages you view, how long you stay, and certain actions, such as completing the assessment (including the subtype you received), starting a checkout, or sharing your results. These requests pass through our own server, which forwards your IP address and browser details to Google.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for various purposes:

• To provide, operate, and maintain the Service.
• To manage your account, including registration, login, verification, and password resets.
• To save your assessment progress and results history.
• To process transactions and grant Pro or training program access.
• To let signed-in members comment on training articles.
• To run training programs, including registrations, waitlists, applications, milestones, attendance and certificates, and to help program administrators review applications.
• To provide reporting and analytics to our Partners and Sponsors (see "How We Share" below).
• To collect and display feedback and testimonials (only with your explicit consent for display, and after our review).
• To respond to your support tickets and contact form submissions.
• To send you emails about your account, purchases, programs, support requests and games.
• To operate game features including scoring, leaderboards, and win/loss tracking.
• To track and award badges for achievements and engagement milestones.
• To facilitate partner predictions in Business Boo and connect prediction outcomes.
• To provide access to workbook materials for registered training participants.
• To sign you in to other VentureEase sites when you ask us to (see "How We Share").
• To prevent fraud and abuse.
• To comply with legal obligations.

4. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. However, we share data based on the partnership model associated with your account or global sponsorship agreements:

A. For All Users

• Service Providers: With our payment processor (PayPal) and our hosting services. If a training program you apply to uses application scoring, your application may be processed by Anthropic, the provider of the Claude AI model, to produce a score and summary that only the program's administrators see. The application sent for scoring includes your name, email address, phone number, answers, and your linked ETI results. If we switch on Google Analytics (see Section 6), or spam protection on the support form (Google reCAPTCHA, which checks your IP address), Google receives the data described there.
• Sponsors: Our sponsors can see how many times each of their messages was shown and clicked. These are totals, not information about you.
• Sponsors (Partner Offers): We will only share your email address with carefully selected partners offering relevant products or services if you opt-in. You can opt in, or out, at any time in Settings under Marketing Preferences.
• Other VentureEase Sites: When you are signed in and follow our link to LaunchEase, we send your email address and name to VentureEase.org, the VentureEase Academy site that signs you in to the VentureEase sites, so that it can sign you in (and create an account for you there if you do not have one). If you arrive at StartEase from another VentureEase site that signs you in, we create or sign in to your StartEase account using the verified email address and name that site sends.

B. If You Join via a Partner Organization's Portal

Some organizations, such as colleges and community partners, have their own portal on StartEase, with their own administrators.

• Aggregated Data: The partner's administrators receive aggregated statistics about the users in their portal to track general engagement: numbers of users, completed assessments, program registrations, game plays, payments and support tickets. Unless the partner is an enterprise partner (see C), they cannot see your individual results or your personal details, except for the programs you choose to join, described next.
• Programs a Partner Runs: If you register for, join the waitlist of, or apply to a training program run by a partner, that partner's administrators can see the details needed to run it. That means your name and email address, your registration and payment status and the amount paid, and your application (your phone number, your answers, any score produced for it, and your latest ETI result if you applied through StartEase). They can also see your milestone submissions and uploaded files, your attendance, and your progress toward a certificate. If the program includes an "ETI Check" milestone, the program's administrators can record your latest ETI result (your subtype and type percentages) against it. They can download this information for their program.

C. If You Join via an Enterprise Partner (an organization that pays for its members' seats)

• License Management: Because the partner pays for your seat/license, its enterprise administrators can see a list of their portal's members. For each member, the list shows name, email address, Pro status, whether the email address is verified, and when the account was created and last signed in. It also shows your student status and your consent choices. They can change a member's name and Pro status, and view certification status for their programs.
• Results You Choose to Share: They can ask to see your assessment results. We email you the request, and your results (your latest result and your results history) are shared with that administrator only if you approve on your results page. You can decline, or revoke an approval at any time.
• Support Tickets: They can read support tickets sent by members of their portal.

D. General Sharing

• Legal Requirements: If required by law or to protect our rights and safety.
• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale.
• Testimonials: If you provide feedback, explicitly consent, and our team approves it, we publicly display your comment on our About page with your first name, role and industry, and a "Visit Website" button if you gave a website.
• Public Leaderboards: If you play games and achieve a ranking, your first name and score will appear on public leaderboards visible to anyone. If you are not logged in, you appear as "Player_" followed by a six-character code derived from your randomly generated identifier, never the identifier itself.
• Business Boo Sharing: When you invite someone to Business Boo, we email them with your first name. When they complete the assessment after following your link, their subtype is shared with you, by email and in your list of invitations. If you follow a Business Boo link you received and complete the assessment during that visit, your subtype is shared with the person who invited you, even if you are not signed in, and we show you whether their prediction was right.
• Comments: Comments you post on training articles are visible to other visitors, with your first name.

5. Data Storage and Security

Your account information, assessment results, feedback, comments, training program records, payment records, and support tickets are stored in our database. Files you upload for program milestones are stored on our server and scanned for viruses. We use industry-standard security measures, including password hashing and secure protocols (HTTPS).

6. Cookies and Local Storage Choices

We use cookies and your browser's storage to keep you signed in and to remember settings. We ask for your choice about optional analytics cookies with a banner on your first visit to any page. Our Cookie Policy lists every cookie and storage entry by name, what it is for and how long it lasts; the summary below is the same information in short.

• Strictly Necessary: We use cookies and Local Storage for essential functions:
  • a session cookie that keeps you logged in and remembers the partner portal you arrived through;
  • a "remember me" cookie (se_rm) that keeps you signed in for up to 14 days, set only if you tick "Remember me" when you sign in;
  • a portal cookie (startease_portal) that returns you to a partner's portal for 30 days after you visit it;
  • Local Storage entries that save your cookie choice (se_cookie_consent), your assessment progress (se_quiz_session, se_quiz_answers, and se_quiz_progress, which keeps your place, the follow-up questions chosen for you, your result's identifier and, if you are signed in, your account number, so you can resume in this browser), and, if you were not signed in, your finished result (se_quiz_result).
  These are necessary for the site to work and cannot be disabled.
• Session Storage: Within a single visit (cleared when you close the tab), we also use your browser's session storage to hold a Business Boo invitation you arrived with, any unsaved answers to a program milestone, and whether we have already shown you a Pro upgrade offer.
• Anonymous Game Identifier: If you play games without logging in, we store a randomly generated anonymous ID in your browser's Local Storage (se_game_anonymous_id) to track your scores on leaderboards. This ID is not linked to any personal information unless you later play while signed in on the same browser, when your earlier scores are added to your account.
• Analytics & Performance (Optional): If you choose "Accept All", or turn Analytics on under "Customize", and Google Analytics is switched on, we use it as described in Section 2. You can change your choice at any time with the "Cookie preferences" link in the footer of any page. If you are signed in, Settings under Analytics Preferences does the same and saves it to your account, so it follows you to your other devices.

7. Your Data Rights and Choices

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information:

• Access & Correction: In Settings → Profile you can view and update your first and last name, role, organization, location and industry, and change your email address (we email a confirmation link to the new address).
• Your Results: You can delete an archived (past) result from your results history on your dashboard.
• Password & Account Management: You can change your password in Settings, on the Settings tab, and delete your account there too (see "Deleting Your Account" below). Partner and staff administrator accounts cannot be deleted this way; contact us instead.
• Opt-Out & Consent Management: In Settings, on the Settings tab, you can withdraw your consent for partner offers at any time under Marketing Preferences, and your consent for testimonial use under Testimonial Preferences; withdrawing removes your testimonials from the About page. You can change your analytics choice there too, under Analytics Preferences (see Section 6).
• Deleting Your Account: When you delete your account in Settings, on the Settings tab (you will need your current password), we delete:
  • your assessment results and results history, your readiness answers, and your result-sharing settings;
  • your feedback and testimonials;
  • your support tickets;
  • your article comments and your activity log;
  • your sign-in sessions, saved logins, password-reset links and records of your sign-in attempts;
  • your training-waitlist and Fantasy League waitlist entries;
  • the Business Boo invitations you sent. On an invitation someone else sent you, your email address and name are removed.
  Your account itself is anonymized: we clear your email address, name, role, organization, industry, location and all of your consent choices, and it can no longer be used to sign in. We keep your payment records, training registrations, program applications, milestone submissions and uploaded files, attendance, badges and game scores, linked to the anonymized account. These records keep their own copies of details you entered in them, such as the name and email address on a registration or application, and the payer details PayPal sent us with a payment.

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the "Contact Us" form in the footer of our pages, the Support tab in Settings, or by email at info@ventureease.org. We will need to verify your identity before processing certain requests.

8. Children's Privacy

The Service is not intended for individuals under the age of 13 (or a higher age threshold if required by applicable law). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child, please contact us immediately so we can take steps to delete it.

9. Third-Party Links and Services

The Service may contain links to third-party websites or services, such as partner resources, payment processors, sponsors, and other VentureEase sites. Some training articles include videos played from YouTube (in its privacy-enhanced mode) or Vimeo. If you use a share button on your results, what you share is sent to the service you choose (such as LinkedIn, Facebook, X or WhatsApp). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing any information.

10. Changes to This Privacy Notice

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the new notice on the Site and updating the "Last updated" date. Your continued use of the Service after changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised notice.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice, please contact us using the "Contact Us" form in the website footer or by email at info@ventureease.org. If you are signed in, you can also use the Support tab in Settings.