Privacy Policy | Rival Shark

Rival Shark Technologies LLC ("Rival Shark," "we," "us," or "our") operates the competitive intelligence platform and websites available at rivalshark.ai and rivalshark.com (collectively, the "Service").

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use and disclose it, how long we retain it, and the choices you have. It applies to visitors to our websites, users of the Service and business contacts we reach out to about Rival Shark.

Where applicable law requires your consent for particular activities, including certain analytics or advertising technologies, we will request that consent separately. You can exercise your choices as described below.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide

We collect information you provide when you register for or use the Service, including:

Account registration: your name, email address and authentication information. If you register using email and a password, we process the credentials needed to authenticate you. If you choose Sign in with Google, we receive the information described in Section 1.3.
Billing and payment: billing contact information, billing address and payment information submitted through our payment processor. Stripe processes payment transactions. We do not store full payment card numbers on our systems.
Business inputs: company name, competitor names, industry categories, geographic markets, strategic objectives and other information you enter to configure or generate reports.
Communications: emails, support requests, feedback and other messages you send to us.
Preferences and acceptance records: communication preferences, privacy choices and records of your acceptance of our Terms of Service.

1.2 Information We Collect Automatically

When you visit our websites or use the Service, we and our technology providers may collect:

Usage information: pages visited, features used, report types generated, interactions with the Service, timestamps and session activity. In the app, this includes actions such as signing in, adding competitors, creating actions and requesting reports, and technical information about report generation, such as processing time and usage volume. See Section 7.9.
Device and connection information: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring pages and approximate location derived from technical information.
Cookie and similar identifiers: information used to maintain sessions, remember preferences, record your cookie choices, measure website activity and support advertising measurement.
Advertising and conversion information: information about visits and actions associated with our advertising, such as registrations or subscription purchases, depending on the events configured.
Diagnostic information: error reports and performance information used to maintain the reliability and security of the Service.

The information collected varies by technology and configuration. Collection through optional analytics and advertising technologies is subject to applicable consent requirements and your privacy choices. See Section 7.

1.3 Information From Third Parties

Publicly available web information. When you configure a competitor or other research topic, our systems use publicly accessible sources to generate intelligence reports. This information is processed to provide the Service and is not independently sold or redistributed.

Payment processors. Our payment processor provides information such as transaction status, subscription status and billing confirmations.

Business contact information. We obtain business contact information about professionals in the United States who may be interested in Rival Shark from business data providers, including Apollo. This information includes name, work email address, company name and industry.

We use it to send business outreach emails about Rival Shark. Our outreach emails record whether they are opened and whether links in them are clicked, which we use to manage follow-up and measure our outreach.

Sign in with Google. If you choose Sign in with Google, we receive your email address, email verification status, name, profile photo URL, Google account identifier and technical information identifying Google as the issuer of the authentication information.

We use your email address and Google account identifier to create, identify and authenticate your Rival Shark account. We use your name to personalize your account experience and communications. Your profile photo URL is stored in your account information but is not currently displayed or otherwise used.

We use Google sign-in information for account administration, customer support, billing-related communications, security and other functions necessary to provide the Service. We also maintain records of your acceptance of our Terms of Service.

Signing in with Google does not provide us with your Google password. Our Google sign-in integration does not request access to your Gmail messages, Google Drive files or contacts.

We do not sell information received through Google sign-in or share it with advertising platforms, and we do not use it for advertising audience creation or advertising identity matching. Our separate use of website analytics and advertising technologies is described in Section 7.

Choosing Google sign-in does not constitute consent to optional advertising technologies. As with any registration, the email address you sign up with receives our customer emails as described in Section 2, and you can unsubscribe from them at any time.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use information for the following purposes:

Providing the Service: creating and managing accounts, authenticating users, generating intelligence reports and delivering requested features.
Managing subscriptions: processing payments, administering subscriptions and sending billing communications.
Communicating with you: responding to inquiries and sending account notices, security alerts, service updates and support communications.
Improving the Service: understanding usage, evaluating performance, diagnosing errors and developing features.
Measuring our marketing: understanding how people find Rival Shark and evaluating the effectiveness of our advertising, subject to applicable choices and consent requirements.
Business outreach: sending business contacts emails about Rival Shark using information described in Section 1.3. Every outreach email includes a way to opt out of further outreach.
Customer emails: after you register for the Service, sending you emails about using Rival Shark, such as product tips, feature updates and announcements, subject to applicable consent requirements. Every such email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out at any time.
Newsletter: sending our newsletter only to people who have subscribed to it. This is separate from the business outreach described above.
Protecting the Service: detecting fraud, preventing unauthorized access, addressing abuse and maintaining security.
Meeting legal and contractual obligations: maintaining required records, recording Terms acceptance and privacy choices, resolving disputes and enforcing our agreements.

We do not use customer business inputs, strategic objectives or report contents for advertising targeting or advertising audience creation. We do not use these materials to train AI models or share them with other customers. We disclose them to service providers as needed to provide the Service, subject to the other disclosures described in this policy.

Our analytics and advertising disclosures, including applicable choices concerning sale, sharing or targeted advertising, are explained in Sections 3, 5 and 7.

3.1 Service Providers

We disclose information to service providers that support the operation of Rival Shark. Categories of providers we work with include:

AI inference providers: process your business inputs to generate intelligence reports.
Database and authentication providers: store account data and report data and manage user authentication.
Payment processors: handle subscription billing and payment transactions. We do not store full payment card numbers.
Cloud hosting and infrastructure providers: host and deliver the Service.
Email communication providers: deliver account, transactional and marketing emails.
Error monitoring and analytics providers: support operational diagnostics, performance and cost monitoring, website analytics and product analytics within the app.
Security and bot-prevention providers: help protect our websites, forms and Service from spam, automated abuse and malicious traffic.
Consent management providers: present cookie choices on our website and keep records of the choices made.
Business contact data and outreach providers: supply business contact information and send business outreach emails.
Customer relationship management providers: manage business contacts, sales pipeline status and marketing communications.

Some providers are named elsewhere in this policy because their role affects you directly: Google for Sign in with Google (Section 1.3), Apollo as a source of business contact information (Section 1.3), Google, Meta and Plausible for analytics and advertising (Sections 3.2 and 7), Cloudflare Turnstile for bot prevention (Section 7.2) and CookieYes for consent management (Section 7.7).

We limit disclosures to information needed for the relevant function and use contractual protections appropriate to each provider's role. Some providers also process certain information under their own privacy policies, including for security, compliance and payment-related obligations.

Our error-monitoring configuration is designed to exclude personal information and authentication credentials from diagnostic reports.

A current list of our service providers is available by contacting privacy@rivalshark.com.

3.2 Analytics and Advertising Partners

We use Google Analytics and Plausible to understand website activity. We use Google Ads to measure and improve our advertising on Google, including showing ads to people who have visited our website. We use Meta Pixel to measure and improve our advertising on Meta platforms such as Instagram, including showing ads to people who have visited our website.

Google Analytics, Google Ads and Meta Pixel may transmit online identifiers, device and browser information, pages visited and configured interaction or conversion events to Google or Meta, subject to applicable consent requirements and privacy choices.

Depending on the service and configuration, these companies may process information under their own privacy policies and combine it with other information they hold. Their role may differ from that of a provider processing information solely on our instructions.

We do not provide information obtained through Google sign-in, customer business inputs or report contents to advertising partners for advertising targeting or identity matching.

Ad click measurement. When you reach our website through one of our ads, the link includes an ad click identifier. If you have allowed advertising technologies, we store that identifier with your account when you register. When you start a trial or begin a paid subscription, our servers send Google or Meta the click identifier, the type of action, the time it occurred, technical information such as IP address and browser type, and for paid subscriptions the amount charged. We do not send your name, email address, phone number or other contact details. If you have not allowed advertising technologies, we do not store the identifier or send these events. We delete the stored identifier after your first paid subscription charge, or 30 days after you register, whichever comes first. To stop these events at any time, turn off Ad measurement in your account settings, which deletes the identifier from your account. You can also contact privacy@rivalshark.com.

3.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose information if required by law, court order or governmental authority, or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of Rival Shark, our users or the public.

3.4 Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of all or a portion of our assets, information may be transferred to the acquiring entity, subject to applicable law and restrictions on the information involved.

We will provide notice before your information becomes subject to a materially different privacy policy and obtain consent where required.

3.5 Data Processing Agreements

Business customers with contractual requirements for a Data Processing Agreement may request one by contacting legal@rivalshark.com. We will work with eligible customers to execute appropriate agreements on a case-by-case basis.

4. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including providing the Service, meeting legal obligations, resolving disputes and enforcing agreements.

Account and Google sign-in information: retained while your account remains active. Following account deletion or termination, this information is deleted or anonymized from our live systems within 30 days and expires from backups as described below, except where retention is necessary for legal, security or dispute-resolution purposes.
Report data: retained during your active subscription and deleted from our live systems within 30 days after account deletion or termination, then expires from backups as described below, subject to applicable retention obligations.
Billing records: retained for seven years for tax and accounting purposes.
Terms acceptance and privacy-choice records: retained as necessary to document your choices and meet applicable legal obligations.
Ad click identifiers: deleted from our live systems after your first paid subscription charge, or 30 days after you register, whichever comes first, and then expire from backups as described below.
Business contact information: kept in our outreach lists for up to one year, or until you opt out or ask us to remove it, whichever comes first. Apollo maintains its own business contact database under its own privacy policy. To have your information removed from Apollo's database, contact Apollo directly.
Opt-out records: if you opt out of business outreach, we keep your email address on a suppression list so we do not send you further outreach. If you previously unsubscribed, we will resume customer marketing emails only after you affirmatively choose to receive them again. Creating an account does not change your prior unsubscribe choice. If you unsubscribe from customer emails, we keep a record so we do not send them again. Opting out does not stop necessary account and service emails.
Product analytics information: in-app product analytics information is retained for up to 12 months.
Analytics information: we set Google Analytics to retain user-level event data for 14 months. Plausible does not use cookies or store raw IP addresses, and keeps website visit statistics until we delete our site data.
Backup copies: we back up our database daily and keep each backup for 14 days. Information deleted from our live systems is removed from backups when those backups expire, subject to applicable legal requirements.
Aggregated or de-identified information: may be retained for analytics and service improvement where it cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

Subscription cancellation stops renewal in accordance with our Terms of Service. It is separate from a request to delete your account.

Google and Meta may retain information they receive through their services according to their applicable terms, privacy policies and settings.

5. Your Rights and Choices

5.1 Access, Correction and Deletion

You may review and update available account information through your account settings at rivalshark.ai.

To request deletion of your account and associated personal information, contact privacy@rivalshark.com. We may verify your identity before completing a request. We generally process deletion requests within 30 days, subject to applicable legal requirements and permitted retention exceptions.

If you use Sign in with Google, you can manage or remove your connection to Rival Shark through your Google Account connections.

Removing that connection does not automatically delete your Rival Shark account, erase information already held by Rival Shark or cancel your subscription.

5.2 Data Portability

Upon written request to privacy@rivalshark.com, we will provide a copy of the personal information you have provided to us in a machine-readable format, such as JSON or CSV, within 30 days of a verified request, to the extent technically feasible and subject to applicable law.

5.3 Marketing Communications

If you previously unsubscribed, we will resume customer marketing emails only after you affirmatively choose to receive them again. Creating an account does not change your prior unsubscribe choice. Necessary account and service emails continue either way.

You may turn off customer emails in your account settings at rivalshark.ai. You may also unsubscribe from customer and newsletter emails using the unsubscribe link in the email or by contacting marketing@rivalshark.com.

If you receive a business outreach email from us, you can opt out using the link or instructions in that email, or by contacting privacy@rivalshark.com. You can also ask us to delete the business contact information we hold about you.

Unsubscribing from marketing does not prevent us from sending necessary account and service communications, such as receipts, security alerts and subscription notices.

5.4 Cookie and Advertising Choices

You can manage optional analytics and advertising technologies through Cookie settings.

Where consent is required, we do not set cookies for these technologies or use them for ad personalization or remarketing until you provide consent. Before you make a choice, or if you decline, Google tags may send limited signals that do not use cookies, as described in Section 7.4. You may change or withdraw your choice through the same control. Cookie settings apply to the technologies on our website. They do not control product analytics in the app, which is described in Section 7.9. To stop the account-linked ad measurement described in Section 3.2, turn off Ad measurement in your account settings.

You may also manage cookies through your browser settings. Blocking essential technologies may affect sign-in or other Service functions.

Choices may apply to the browser or device you are using. You may need to renew your choices after clearing cookies or using another browser or device.

Where applicable law requires, we recognize supported opt-out preference signals, including Global Privacy Control, as requests to opt out of covered sale, sharing or targeted advertising activities. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal while you use the Service, we treat it as turning off Ad measurement for your account, and we do not collect product analytics in that browser.

5.5 State Privacy Rights

Depending on your state of residence and whether the relevant law applies to our processing, you may have rights to:

Know about and access the personal information we collect, use and disclose.
Correct inaccurate personal information.
Request deletion of personal information.
Obtain a portable copy of personal information.
Opt out of targeted advertising or certain sale or sharing activities.
Appeal a decision concerning a privacy request.

Disclosures of online identifiers and website activity to advertising partners may constitute "sharing" for cross-context behavioral advertising or a "sale" under certain state privacy laws, even when no money is exchanged.

To exercise applicable advertising opt-out rights, use Cookie settings for the technologies on our website and turn off Ad measurement in your account settings for account-linked ad measurement. For other privacy requests or appeals, contact privacy@rivalshark.com.

We may need to verify your identity or an authorized agent's authority before processing certain requests. We will respond within the time required by applicable law and will not unlawfully discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

5.6 International Users

The Service is operated from the United States and is primarily intended for users based in the United States.

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have rights to access, correct, delete or obtain a copy of your personal information, restrict or object to certain processing, withdraw consent, or complain to a relevant data protection authority.

To exercise applicable rights, contact privacy@rivalshark.com. We will respond within the time required by applicable law.

Information about international transfers appears in Section 10.

6. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. These measures include:

Encryption of data in transit using TLS.
Encryption of data at rest within our database infrastructure.
Access controls that limit employee access to personal information on a need-to-know basis.
Periodic security reviews of our infrastructure and application code.

No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable safeguards, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

In the event of a data breach, we will notify affected individuals and authorities as required by applicable law.

7. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies, pixels, tags and similar technologies for the purposes described below. Not every technology described in this section uses cookies.

Google Analytics, Google Ads and Meta Pixel run on our marketing website at rivalshark.com. They do not run inside the Rival Shark app at rivalshark.ai.

The app does not use advertising cookies or pixels. It may send trial and subscription events from our servers to Google and Meta as described in Section 3.2. The app uses first-party product analytics as described in Section 7.9.

7.1 Essential Technologies

These technologies support authentication, session management, security and core Service functions. They include technologies needed to maintain your Rival Shark session after signing in with email or Google.

Blocking these technologies may prevent sign-in or affect other essential functions.

7.2 Security and Bot Prevention

We use Cloudflare Turnstile to help protect our websites and forms from automated abuse, spam and malicious activity.

Turnstile may process technical information such as IP address, browser information, connection characteristics and interaction signals for security and bot detection.

For more information, see the Cloudflare Turnstile Privacy Addendum.

7.3 Functional Technologies

These technologies remember preferences and settings to improve your experience.

7.4 Google Analytics, Google Ads and Google Tags

We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how visitors find and interact with our websites, measure activity and improve the Service.

Google Analytics uses cookies and similar identifiers to collect information about visits and interactions, such as pages viewed, referral sources, device and browser characteristics and configured events. Google may process IP addresses to derive approximate location and provide its services.

We use Google Ads to measure whether our ads on Google lead to visits, registrations or subscriptions, to help optimize our campaigns and, where you have allowed advertising technologies, to show our ads to people who have visited our website (remarketing).

Google tags support the deployment and operation of our configured measurement tools. The information collected depends on the tags and features enabled.

We use Google Consent Mode, which adjusts how Google tags behave based on your cookie choices. Google tags load on our website before you make a choice. Until you consent, or if you decline, they do not set or read Google analytics or advertising cookies, but they may send Google limited signals without cookies, such as the page visited, the time, technical information about your browser and device, and your consent status. Google uses these signals to model aggregate measurement. They are not used to show you personalized ads or add you to remarketing audiences.

Learn more about how Google uses information from sites and apps that use its services, review Google's Privacy Policy and manage your Google ad settings in My Ad Center.

7.5 Plausible Analytics

We use Plausible to understand website traffic and activity, including visits, page views, referral sources and interactions we configure for measurement.

We use this information to evaluate website performance, understand which content is useful and improve the visitor experience.

For more information about Plausible's data practices, see Plausible's Data Policy.

7.6 Meta Pixel

We use Meta Pixel to measure the effectiveness of advertising on Meta platforms, including Instagram, help optimize our campaigns and show our ads to people who have visited our website (remarketing).

Meta Pixel does not send page or conversion events to Meta unless advertising technologies are allowed under your cookie choices.

Meta Pixel may collect or receive information about your browser, device, online identifiers, pages visited and configured actions, such as registrations or purchases.

Meta may associate this activity with information it holds about you and use it in accordance with its policies and your settings.

Learn more in Meta's Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy.

7.7 Consent Management

We use CookieYes to present cookie choices on our website and to apply them. CookieYes stores a cookie on your device to remember your choices and keeps a record of the choices made so we can demonstrate compliance.

7.8 Your Choices

We use optional analytics and advertising technologies subject to applicable consent and opt-out requirements.

You can manage these technologies through Cookie settings. Additional information about your choices appears in Section 5.

Signing in with Google, accepting our Terms or purchasing a subscription does not by itself constitute consent to optional advertising technologies.

Additional details are available in our Cookie Policy.

7.9 Product Analytics in the App

Inside the Rival Shark app at rivalshark.ai, we use a product analytics provider to understand how the Service is used, diagnose problems and improve performance and reliability. It records pages viewed, features used, actions you take, errors you encounter and technical information about report generation, such as processing time and usage volume. This information is linked to a random account identifier, not your name or email address.

Product analytics does not record the content of your reports, your business inputs or the text you type, and it does not record your screen. Our provider does not store your IP address. We do not use this information for advertising, share it with advertising partners or sell it.

Product analytics uses a first-party cookie and similar browser storage to keep that identifier. It runs as part of operating and improving the Service and is not controlled by Cookie settings on our marketing website.

If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signal, we do not collect product analytics from that browser. We continue to record operational information about report generation, such as processing time and usage volume, because it is needed to run the Service and manage its costs. You can also opt out of product analytics for your account by contacting privacy@rivalshark.com.

8. Third-Party Links and Integrations

The Service may contain links to third-party websites or integrate with third-party services.

This Privacy Policy describes Rival Shark's information practices. Third parties may process information under their own privacy policies when you interact with their services.

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of third-party websites and services you use.

9. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18.

If we become aware that a user under 18 has provided personal information, we will delete that information promptly.

If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact privacy@rivalshark.com.

10. International Data Transfers

Rival Shark is based in the United States. We and our providers may process and store personal information in the United States and other countries where our providers operate.

These countries may have data protection laws that differ from those in your location. Where applicable law requires safeguards for international transfers, we use the required transfer mechanisms and protections.

To request information about the locations or safeguards applicable to your personal information, contact privacy@rivalshark.com.

Jurisdiction-Specific Information

European Economic Area and United Kingdom. Where applicable data protection laws apply, we will comply with their requirements for processing personal information and transferring it internationally, including using an appropriate transfer mechanism where required.

Australia. Personal information may be disclosed to overseas recipients, including providers operating in the United States. Where the Australian Privacy Principles apply, we take reasonable steps required by those principles in connection with overseas disclosures.

Canada. We handle personal information in accordance with applicable Canadian privacy laws. Our Privacy Officer can be reached at privacy@rivalshark.com.

Sanctioned jurisdictions. The Service is not available where providing it would violate applicable sanctions or trade restrictions.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

When we make material changes, we will notify you by email at the address associated with your account and by posting the updated policy on rivalshark.com with a new effective date.

Where applicable law or platform requirements require consent to a new use of information, we will obtain that consent before beginning the new use.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our information practices, contact:

Rival Shark Technologies LLC
Attn: Privacy Officer
Privacy requests: privacy@rivalshark.com
Legal inquiries: legal@rivalshark.com
Website: rivalshark.com
Registered Address: 202 N Cedar Ave Ste 1, Owatonna, MN 55060-2306, USA

We will respond to privacy-related inquiries within 30 days of receipt, or within another period required or permitted by applicable law.