Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Job Application Tracker ("we", "our", or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy and personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our job application tracking service.

This policy complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), UK Data Protection Act 2018, and other applicable data protection laws.

2. Data Controller

The data controller responsible for your personal data is Job Application Tracker. For any questions about this policy or your data, please contact us at the details provided in Section 11.

3. Information We Collect

3.1 Information You Provide

• Account Information: Name, email address, password (encrypted)
• Profile Data: Professional designation, phone number, LinkedIn profile, portfolio URL, professional summary
• Resume Information: Work experience, education, skills, projects, interests, achievements
• Job Application Data: Job titles, company names, locations, salaries, application dates, job descriptions, requirements, custom notes
• Documents: Resumes, cover letters, supporting statements that you create or upload

3.2 Automatically Collected Information

• Usage Data: How you interact with our service, features used, time spent
• Device Information: Browser type, operating system, IP address
• Cookies: See our Cookie Policy for detailed information

3.3 Third-Party Data

• Job Board Scraping: When you provide a job posting URL, we extract publicly available information
• AI Processing: Your data may be processed by Google Gemini AI to generate or refine documents

4. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

We process your personal data under the following legal bases:

• Consent: You provide explicit consent when creating an account and using our services
• Contract Performance: Processing necessary to provide you with our job tracking services
• Legitimate Interests: To improve our services, prevent fraud, and ensure security
• Legal Obligation: To comply with applicable laws and regulations

5. How We Use Your Information

• To create and manage your account
• To provide job application tracking functionality
• To generate AI-powered resumes, cover letters, and supporting statements
• To scrape and classify job posting information from URLs you provide
• To send verification emails and password reset codes
• To improve our services and develop new features
• To ensure security and prevent unauthorized access
• To comply with legal obligations

6. Data Sharing and Disclosure

6.1 Third-Party Service Providers

• MongoDB: Database hosting for storing your data
• Google Gemini AI: AI model for document generation and job data classification
• Email Service (SMTP): For sending verification and password reset emails

6.2 Data Transfers

Your data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside your country of residence. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and adequacy decisions where applicable.

6.3 We DO NOT:

• Sell your personal data to third parties
• Share your data with advertisers or marketing companies
• Use your data for purposes other than providing our service

7. Your Rights Under GDPR

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right to Access: Request a copy of your personal data
• Right to Rectification: Correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): Request deletion of your data
• Right to Restrict Processing: Limit how we use your data
• Right to Data Portability: Receive your data in a machine-readable format
• Right to Object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent at any time (doesn't affect prior processing)
• Right to Lodge a Complaint: File a complaint with your data protection authority

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 11.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy:

• Account Data: Retained until you delete your account or request erasure
• Application Data: Retained as long as your account is active
• Verification Codes: Deleted after 24 hours or upon successful verification
• Password Reset Codes: Deleted after 1 hour or upon successful reset
• Logs and Analytics: Retained for up to 90 days for security purposes

After account deletion, we may retain certain data for legal compliance, dispute resolution, and enforcing our agreements for up to 7 years.

9. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data:

• Passwords are encrypted using industry-standard hashing algorithms
• JWT tokens with 7-day expiry for authentication
• HTTPS encryption for data transmission
• Access controls and authentication mechanisms
• Regular security assessments and updates
• Database encryption at rest

While we strive to protect your data, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password.

10. Children's Privacy

Our service is not intended for individuals under 16 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe we have collected data from a child, please contact us immediately.

11. Contact Information

For questions, concerns, or to exercise your rights, please contact:

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority:

• EU: Your national Data Protection Authority
• UK: Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) - ico.org.uk

12. International Data Transfers

If you are accessing our service from outside the country where our servers are located, your data may be transferred across international borders. We ensure adequate protection through:

• European Commission approved Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs)
• Adequacy decisions for countries with equivalent data protection laws
• Privacy Shield certification where applicable

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. Material changes will be notified via email or a prominent notice in our service. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance of the new policy.

14. AI-Powered Features

Our service uses Google Gemini AI for document generation and job data classification. When using these features:

• Your profile data and job descriptions are sent to Google's AI service for processing
• We instruct the AI to never fabricate information and only use provided content
• AI-generated content is returned to you for review before saving
• Google's AI Privacy Policy applies to data processed through their service
• We implement retry logic and fallback models to ensure reliability

15. Web Scraping Disclaimer

When you provide a job posting URL, we use automated tools to extract publicly available information. This feature:

• Only accesses publicly available job postings
• Respects robots.txt and website terms of service
• Is used solely to assist you in tracking your applications
• Does not store job board credentials or private data