Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly

• Account information: Your name, email address, and password when you create an account.
• Payment information: When you subscribe to a paid plan, payment is processed by Stripe. We do not store your full credit card number, CVV, or bank account details. We receive only a partial card number (last 4 digits), card brand, and billing address from Stripe for record-keeping purposes.
• Debate documents:The .docx files you upload to the Service, including debate evidence, cases, blocks, and other preparation materials (“Your Documents”).
• Communications: Emails or messages you send to us at hello@backfile.app, including feedback, support requests, and feature suggestions.

Information collected automatically

• Usage telemetry: We collect anonymous, aggregated usage data including: features accessed, number of documents parsed, number of searches performed, number of advisor analyses run, and general interaction patterns. This telemetry does not include the content of your documents, the text of your searches, the names of your files, or any personally identifiable information.
• Device information: Device type, operating system, and application version (for the desktop app).
• Log data: IP address, browser type, referring page, and access timestamps (for the website).

Information we do NOT collect

• The text content of your debate cards, tags, cites, or analytics for telemetry purposes
• Your search queries
• Your file names or folder paths
• Your opponents' document content (beyond the transient processing required to provide advisor results)
• Biometric data
• Precise geolocation data

2. How We Process Your Documents

Local-first architecture. The Backfile desktop application processes and stores your documents locally on your device. Your knowledge base (the indexed database of your cards and analytics) is stored locally.

AI processing.When you use features that require AI analysis (such as the response advisor), portions of your document content are sent to Anthropic's Claude API for processing. Specifically, we send: card tags, short citations, and highlighted text — not full document bodies. This data is transmitted via encrypted connection (HTTPS/TLS) and is processed in accordance with Anthropic's data processing terms.

No training on your data.Neither Backfile nor our AI providers use Your Documents or their content to train machine learning models. Anthropic's API terms provide that API inputs and outputs are not used to train their models.

No cross-user sharing. Your Documents and their indexed content are never shared with, accessible to, or visible to other users of the Service. Team plan users may share a knowledge base with designated team members only with explicit configuration.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve the Service
• Process your subscription payments
• Send you important service-related communications (billing confirmations, security alerts, feature updates)
• Analyze anonymous, aggregated usage patterns to improve the product
• Respond to your support requests and communications
• Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, or violations of our Terms of Service

We do not:

• Sell your personal information to third parties
• Use your personal information for advertising purposes
• Share your document content with other users
• Use your data to build competitive intelligence products
• Send marketing emails without your consent

4. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate the Service:

We select third-party providers that maintain appropriate security practices and data protection standards. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party services, and we encourage you to review their privacy policies.

5. Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)

Backfile is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Users aged 13–17: Many of our users are high school students between 13 and 17. We collect only the minimum personal information necessary to provide the Service (name, email, and payment information). We do not serve targeted advertising to any users, including minors. We do not sell or share the personal information of minors with third parties for commercial purposes.

Parental rights: Parents or legal guardians of users under 18 may:

• Review the personal information we hold about their child
• Request deletion of their child's personal information
• Request that we cease collecting personal information from their child
• Withdraw consent for their child's use of the Service

To exercise these rights, contact us at hello@backfile.app with verification of your parental relationship.

If we discover a user under 13: We will promptly delete their account and all associated data, and notify the parent or guardian if contact information is available.

6. Data Security

We implement commercially reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information and Your Documents, including:

• Encryption of data in transit (TLS/HTTPS)
• Encryption of stored payment information (via Stripe)
• Local storage of document content on your device (not on our servers)
• Anonymous device identifiers for telemetry (no PII in telemetry data)
• Access controls limiting employee access to user data
• Regular review of security practices

No guarantee of absolute security. No method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security and are not liable for unauthorized access resulting from circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

7. Data Retention

• Account information: Retained for as long as your account is active, plus 30 days after account deletion to allow for account recovery.
• Payment records: Retained for 7 years as required for tax and financial compliance.
• Your Documents: Stored locally on your device. If you use any cloud sync features (future), cloud copies are deleted within 30 days of your deletion request or account closure.
• Telemetry data: Anonymous usage telemetry is retained for up to 24 months for product improvement purposes. Because this data is anonymized, it cannot be linked back to individual users.
• Support communications: Retained for up to 36 months for quality assurance and dispute resolution.

8. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate personal information.
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information and account. We will delete your data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.
• Portability: Request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Withdrawal of consent: Withdraw consent for data processing at any time (note: this may affect your ability to use the Service).
• Objection: Object to processing of your personal information for certain purposes.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@backfile.app. We will respond to requests within 30 days.

9. State-Specific Privacy Rights

California residents (CCPA/CPRA): You have the right to know what personal information we collect, request deletion of your data, and opt out of the sale of personal information. We do not sell personal information. To make a request, contact hello@backfile.app.

Texas residents: Under the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (effective July 1, 2024), you have rights to access, correct, delete, and port your personal data. Contact hello@backfile.app to exercise these rights.

Other states: If you reside in a state with applicable data privacy legislation (Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Oregon, Montana, etc.), you may have additional rights. Contact us to exercise any applicable rights.

10. International Users

The Service is operated from the United States. If you access the Service from outside the United States, your information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in the United States. By using the Service, you consent to such transfer. We do not specifically target users outside the United States, but we do not restrict access based on geography.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. We will notify you of material changes by:

• Posting the updated policy on backfile.app/privacy with a revised “Last updated” date
• Sending an email notification to the address associated with your account (for material changes)

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

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

Backfile LLC
Email: hello@backfile.app
Location: Houston, TX

For privacy-specific inquiries, please include “Privacy” in your email subject line for faster routing.