Privacy Policy

1. Scope

This policy applies to Goldon Market's website and Founding Beta member service. The beta helps adults discover and track surveys, scholarships, grants, fellowships, competitions, and other opportunities. It does not replace the privacy policy of an organization that sponsors an opportunity or receives an application.

2. Information we collect

We collect the information you provide to create and operate an account: first and last name; verified email address; password; mobile number; city, state, ZIP code; age range; opportunity interests; format preference; email/SMS-consent choices; confirmation that you are at least 18; and acceptance of this policy and the Terms of Use. Providing a mobile number does not consent to text messages; SMS consent is a separate optional choice.

Approved members may separately choose to save optional profile details such as race categories, ethnicity, gender identity, education, enrollment, employment status, household size, languages, and participation-device access. Each field may be skipped or marked “Prefer not to answer.” These optional answers are encrypted at rest and are not shown in administrator member lists.

We also collect account administration information, including referral or invite status, approval status, opportunity records you view or save, optional workflow status, support messages, consent and authorization records, and limited technical and security information such as request metadata, sessions, rate-limit records, and human-verification results.

When an approved member creates or shares a referral link, we record limited referral-control information such as an opaque or hashed code, its expiration and revocation status, use count, and the resulting account relationship. A referring member may see aggregate pending and approved referral counts, but not another person's email address, profile answers, password, or account activity.

We only retain minimal metadata for future message features. We do not keep full email or SMS message content unless a feature is explicitly enabled and consented in this or a later version. If enabled, only operational metadata (for example, delivery timestamp, processing status, and opt-in record) is stored by default.

Please do not provide detailed medical diagnoses, Social Security numbers, banking information, government identification, or passwords for an application or another service. Goldon Market does not need those to run the beta.

Referral browser handoffs expire after 15 minutes. Expired or consumed handoff records become eligible for bounded cleanup after seven days; the limited referral relationship and aggregate counts may remain until an associated account or referral is deleted.

3. How we use information

We use this information to authenticate members, administer referral-based or administrator-issued beta access and approval, provide basic opportunity organization and matching, display saved records, respond to support requests, send permitted account/opportunity notifications, prevent fraud and abuse, and maintain security and audit records.

When a member gives the separate preparation authorization on the optional profile-details page, Goldon Market may reuse only the selected saved fields to prepare a draft for an opportunity that member chooses. Saving the profile does not send information to an outside organization, authorize submission, accept outside terms, or permit Goldon Market to guess or convert an answer when the outside wording differs. The member must review the proposed answers and provide any missing answer.

We do not sell personal information, make eligibility decisions for sponsors, invent or guess a member's answers, or promise eligibility, selection, payment, or acceptance.

4. Service providers and external links

Goldon Market uses Cloudflare Pages, D1, and Turnstile for website delivery, server processing, database storage, and abuse protection. Better Auth software provides the account-session implementation. Cloudflare D1 is the service's operational database.

When email is enabled, Goldon Market sends verification, password-reset, support, and opted-in opportunity-notification messages from a verified Goldon Market sender only. If optional SMS is enabled, a third-party messaging provider processes the mobile number, consent record, and delivery metadata needed to deliver the text after separate consent and phone verification. Consent and opt-out controls are managed in the account workflow.

Goldon Market does not sell, rent, or share mobile numbers, SMS opt-in data, or SMS consent with third parties or affiliates for their marketing or promotional purposes.

Goldon Market keeps original source and application locations in administrator-only records. Member cards do not link to outside application pages.

5. Retention and account deletion

We keep account and profile information while a beta account is active. A member can clear all optional profile details and withdraw the related preparation authorization from the profile-details page. Those encrypted answers are removed immediately when they are cleared, when the account is suspended or closed, or when account deletion is requested. Limited consent-history metadata may remain after the reusable answers are removed.

When a verified deletion request is received, we close access and disable optional notifications immediately. We aim to delete or de-identify the account profile and associated member records within 30 days, except where a longer period is reasonably necessary for security, fraud prevention, disputes, backup integrity, or legal obligations.

During this beta, automated maximum-age purging is not active, so we do not promise a fixed automated deletion deadline for limited security, consent-history, or audit records. We review those records through controlled retention and deletion procedures and will update this policy before an automated schedule is activated. You can request deletion from Account or, once support is configured, through the contact form. We may need to verify a request before acting.

6. Email and text preferences

You can manage opportunity-email preference in Account, and each optional account/opportunity email includes an unsubscribe link or preference link. Required security or account messages may still be sent when permitted or necessary to operate an account.

If optional SMS is enabled later, it is a recurring service for separately opted-in, phone-verified members. Message frequency varies. Up to 1 daily opportunity summary, plus up to 10 question or status messages on days the member actively uses the service. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out and HELP for help. Consent is not required for account access or purchase.

Managed participant alias mailboxes, inbound email handling, and automated application features are not active in the current beta. If activated, we will publish a new authorization with separate consents and updated terms.

7. Security limitations

We use reasonable safeguards for this beta, including HTTPS, protected sessions, server-side access controls, rate limits, and server-verified human-verification checks. No internet service can guarantee absolute security. If a security incident affects message routing or consent records, you may lose access privileges immediately if risk is detected.

Use a unique password and contact support promptly if you believe an account has been accessed without permission.

8. Questions or requests

For privacy questions, use the contact form once it is enabled. A public support email address will appear only after a monitored mailbox is configured. Goldon Market's listed business location for this beta is Montgomery, Alabama.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the beta changes or legal requirements evolve. If a material change affects how we handle information, we will post the updated policy with a revised effective date and, when appropriate, provide additional notice.