Who we are
GuardCircle helps families watch over money together, with the owner in charge.
GuardCircle ("we," "us") is a financial-safety platform operated by [LEGAL ENTITY NAME, e.g. GuardCircle LLC], [ADDRESS]. GuardCircle is not a bank. Account monitoring uses read-only connections; during the pilot, money-movement features operate in a controlled test environment. This policy covers the GuardCircle application and website.
What we collect
Your name and contact details, and — only if you connect an account — its transactions. Never your bank password.
- Account information: name, email address, phone number, and your role in a circle (owner, guardian, approver).
- Financial activity: if you link a bank account, we receive transaction data (merchant, amount, date, category) and balances through our aggregation provider, Plaid, via a read-only connection. We never see or store your bank username or password; Plaid provides us a secure token.
- Safety actions: approvals, declines, rule changes, sign-ins, and freezes — recorded in a tamper-evident log so the account owner can always see who did what.
- Messages you submit: if you paste a suspicious text into ScamCheck, we process that message to analyze it. We do not read your inbox, listen to calls, or access anything you don't paste in.
How we use it
One purpose: protecting the owner's money. Learning what's normal so we only speak up when something isn't.
We use this information to operate the service: learning a member's normal financial patterns, detecting unusual or high-risk activity, routing safety checks to the trusted circle the owner chose, sending the alerts described below, providing support, and meeting legal obligations. We do not use your data to build advertising profiles.
Text messages & calls (SMS consent)
We only text people who said yes, only about safety, and STOP always works.
Safety alerts are sent by SMS and automated voice call only to the account owner and the trusted contacts they designate, each of whom provides their own number and explicit consent during onboarding. Message frequency varies with account activity; message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to any message to opt out, or HELP for help. We do not share mobile phone numbers or SMS consent with third parties or affiliates for their marketing purposes. No mobile information is sold.
What we never do
We don't sell your data. Not "opted-out by default" — the product simply doesn't work that way, on purpose.
- We never sell personal information, transaction data, or any indicator that a person may be vulnerable.
- We never share data with advertisers or data brokers.
- We never give one family member secret access to another's actions — every action is visible to the owner in the audit record.
Who we share with
Only the companies that make the service run — and the people you put in your own circle.
We share data only with: (a) service providers who process it to run GuardCircle — currently Plaid (account connections), Twilio (SMS/voice delivery), and our hosting and database providers — each bound to use it only to provide their service; (b) your trusted circle, exactly as configured by the account owner; and (c) authorities where the law requires it, or where we in good faith report suspected elder financial exploitation to bodies such as Adult Protective Services as permitted by law. If GuardCircle is ever acquired, this policy's promises follow the data.
How we protect it
Encrypted, access-controlled, and every sensitive action leaves a permanent fingerprint.
Data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Access is role-based: each circle member has their own credentials, and approvals are individually attributed. Safety-critical history is kept in a cryptographically chained, tamper-evident log. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your data, we will notify you as required by law.
Retention & deletion
Leave whenever you like, take your data's deletion with you — except records the law makes us keep.
We keep data while your account is active. When you close your account, we delete personal information within [30/60] days, except records we must retain for legal, audit, or dispute purposes. Disconnecting a linked bank account stops all further collection from it immediately.
Your choices & rights
See it, fix it, download it, delete it — and the owner can change their circle at any time.
You may access, correct, export, or delete your information by contacting [privacy@yourdomain.com] or in-app. Account owners can add or remove trusted contacts and change what each one sees at any time (removals may include a short security review). Depending on your state, you may have additional rights; we honor verified requests regardless of state.
Children
Built for adults. Teen accounts, when they arrive, will require a parent.
GuardCircle is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data. Future teen features will require verified parental consent.
Changes & contact
If this policy changes in a way that matters, we'll tell you before it takes effect — in plain words.
We'll post any changes here and, for material changes, notify account holders directly before they take effect. Questions, requests, or concerns: [privacy@yourdomain.com] · [MAILING ADDRESS].