SelfBadge (the website and app at selfbadge.com) gives people one verified, public profile that AI assistants, search engines and other systems can read. This policy explains what information SelfBadge collects, what we publish, what we keep private, and the choices you have.
SelfBadge is operated by Buzz Dealer (Cyprus) Ltd, Agias Filaxeos 122A, Limassol 3087, Cyprus ("SelfBadge", "we", "us"), which is responsible for your information. For privacy questions, write to [email protected].
The short version
- A SelfBadge profile is public by design. You choose what goes on it, and every field has a public or private switch.
- When you sign in with LinkedIn or Google we receive your name, email address and profile photo. We never receive your password.
- Your sign-in email is used to verify you and to contact you about your account. It is never shown on your profile.
- We never collect phone numbers, home addresses or information about your family.
- We count visits to each profile so its owner can see who and what found it. People who visit are only counted, never identified.
- We do not sell personal information and we do not show ads.
- You can edit or delete anything on your profile, and anyone can ask us to remove a profile about them.
Information we collect
When you sign in
You can sign in with LinkedIn (using "Sign In with LinkedIn using OpenID Connect") or with Google. The provider sends us:
- your name (and first and last name when available),
- your email address and whether the provider has confirmed it,
- your profile photo address, if you have one,
- an account identifier from the provider.
We do not receive your LinkedIn or Google password, your connections, your messages or your posts, and we do not post anything on your behalf. We do not keep the provider's access tokens after sign-in is complete.
What you add to your profile
Anything you enter in the editor: for example your job title, employer, education, credentials, awards, topics, languages, links to your accounts, articles and mentions, and a photo you upload or link to. Some optional fields (birth date, birthplace, nationality, gender and home city) are private unless you switch them on.
When you verify a fact
When you connect an account or verify a website, a work email or a credential, we record how and when it was verified (for example "work email verified on a date"). We keep the account's identifier, handle and profile address. For a work email we send a one-time code and keep only a secure hash of it.
Accounts you connect
When you press Connect next to an account, you log in on that platform and it tells us only what proves the account is yours. We use the access it gives us once, during that request, and never store it. What we read:
- ORCID: your ORCID iD and name.
- YouTube (read-only access): the ID, title and handle of the channel you own.
- Google Search Console (read-only access): the list of sites you verified as owner. We keep only the sites you choose to show.
- Facebook: your app-scoped account ID and name. Facebook does not share your profile address, so the address on your profile stays "added by you".
- Instagram (Business and Creator accounts): your user ID and username.
- TikTok: your account ID and username.
- X, GitHub and LinkedIn (through our sign-in provider): your account ID and, for X and GitHub, your handle.
SelfBadge's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. We never use data from connected accounts for advertising and never sell or share it. Google access is revoked right after the check.
Profiles created from public sources
Some profiles are created from openly licensed public sources, starting with Wikidata (public domain, CC0) and later public-domain government filings. These profiles show where each fact came from, are public and open to search engines like every other profile, and never include birth dates, gender, any special category of data (such as political party, religion or trade union membership), or anything taken from LinkedIn. We read the birth year only to leave out people born before 1940, and never keep it. Photos on these profiles come only from Wikimedia Commons, with credit and license. If a profile about you was created this way, you can claim it, correct it, or have it removed (see "Removal" below). Profiles from public sources explains exactly who is included, which fields we take and never take, why, and how to claim, correct or remove a profile.
When you send a report
The report form asks for the profile, a reason, your email address (needed to remove a profile or report impersonation, optional otherwise) and any details you give. We use them only to handle that report: for removal and impersonation we email you a one-time link to confirm it is you, and keep only a secure hash of that link. To stop abuse we count reports per network address for an hour, keeping only a keyed hash of the address, in memory.
When you join the Pro waitlist
The Pro waitlist asks only for your email address. We keep it with the words you agreed to and the date, and use it for one email: to tell you when SelfBadge Pro opens. We do not add it to any other list or share it. To stop abuse we count sign-ups per network address for an hour, keeping only a keyed hash of the address, in memory.
When you use the AI check
The AI check ("What does AI say about you?") needs no account. It sends the name you type, as the question "Who is" followed by that name, to the AI services that are switched on (Anthropic's Claude, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, Perplexity). Each service searches the web for that name with its own search, as it does in its app, and we show its answer word for word, with its formatting and the pages it cited. We keep the name, the answers and the cited links for 24 hours, so the result page can be shared, and then delete them. To limit use to one new check per visitor a day, we set a cookie with a random number and keep a keyed hash of your network address, in memory, for 24 hours.
When you use the API or the MCP server
The lookup API and MCP server return only public profile information. If you create an API key, we keep its name, the first characters, a secure hash of it (never the key itself), and when it was created and last used. To apply rate limits we count calls per key, or per keyed hash of the network address, in memory, for an hour.
Profile activity
So that the owner of a profile can see that it is being found, we count, per profile and per day, who and what opens it. This applies to every profile, including profiles created from public sources (so a person who claims one later can see what happened before).
- People who visit a profile are only counted. We add 1 to that day's count, with where the visit came from (a search engine, an AI assistant, direct, or another site) and that site's host name, such as www.google.com, or the utm_source an AI assistant added to its link. We never store the visitor's address, browser, the full address they came from, or the time of their visit, and we set no cookie for it. To count a person once a day per profile we keep a keyed hash of their network address, browser and the profile, in memory, for that day only.
- AI services, search engines and other programs (for example GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Googlebot and Bingbot) are recognized by the name they send and, where the crawler's operator publishes the addresses it uses, by checking the address against that list. We keep each such visit (which program, what it read, when, and whether the address matched) for 30 days. We do not keep the address.
- Lookups of a profile through our API and MCP server, and AI checks run on the profile's name, are counted and kept the same way.
Only the profile's owner sees this activity, in their editor. The daily counts are kept as long as the profile exists.
Activity emails
If you own a claimed profile, we may email your sign-in address about its activity: once the first time something happens (for example "For the first time, ChatGPT read your SelfBadge"), a weekly summary when there was activity, and a reminder that your profile is still working if you have not opened it for 30 days. You get at most one weekly summary or reminder a week. Every one of these emails has a link that turns that type off with one click, without signing in. Profiles created from public sources that nobody has claimed never get these emails.
The organization plan
An organization claims its organization page by confirming a code sent to a work email on its domain; we keep only the email's domain, and who the admins are. The organization can edit its public facts and invite team members by name, title and work email.
Until a member accepts, the organization is the controller of the name, title and work email it enters, and we process them on the organization's behalf, only to send the invitation and show the organization its draft. Nothing about an invited member is public. When the member accepts (through the link sent to their work email, which also verifies it), they own their profile, and we delete the email address; the organization then manages only the title of that position and the team membership. Invitations nobody accepts are deleted 44 days after they were sent. When a member leaves or is removed, the position stays on their profile as a past role, and it is theirs to edit or delete.
Payments for the organization plan go through Stripe. Stripe holds the card and billing details; we keep the Stripe customer and subscription ids, the plan's status and the number of seats.
Technical information
Our hosting and security providers process technical information such as IP addresses, browser type and request logs to deliver pages, stop abuse and keep the service secure. The profile activity described above counts visits to profiles and identifies nobody.
Cookies and your choice
The cookie banner asks for your choice the first time you visit. Optional cookies are set only with your permission, and you can change your choice at any time with "Cookie settings" at the bottom of every page.
- Necessary (always on): to keep you signed in, to keep the site secure, to count the one free AI check a day, and to remember your cookie choice (6 months).
- Measurement (with your permission): if you arrive from one of our campaigns, a cookie on selfbadge.com remembers which campaign and page brought you, for 30 days; and Google Analytics, to count visits and how the site is used (see Site analytics below).
Site analytics (Google Analytics)
With your permission for measurement cookies, we use Google Analytics 4, from Google Ireland Limited, to count visits and understand how the site is used: which pages are visited and whether someone starts an AI check, signs in, publishes or claims a profile, or starts or completes a Pro purchase. We do not send Google your name, email address or profile. Google sets its own cookies (_ga) on selfbadge.com for this. Advertising features and Google signals are switched off. Google Analytics is never loaded before you choose, if you refuse measurement, or on the editor, account and admin pages. Google acts as our processor under its data processing terms; data may be processed in the United States under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Legal basis: your consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR), which you can withdraw at any time with "Cookie settings".
How we use information
| Purpose | Information | Legal basis (EU and UK) |
|---|---|---|
| Create and run your account and profile | Sign-in details, profile content | Performing our agreement with you |
| Publish your profile for people and machines | Only the fields you make public | Performing our agreement with you |
| Verify facts about you | Verification records | Performing our agreement with you |
| Send account and verification emails | Sign-in email | Performing our agreement with you |
| Create profiles from open public sources | Public facts from Wikidata and similar sources | Legitimate interests (accurate public information), balanced by removal on request |
| Handle reports, corrections and removal requests | The report, your email address, the profile concerned | Legal obligations (your data protection rights) and legitimate interests (preventing impersonation and keeping profiles accurate) |
| Tell you when SelfBadge Pro opens | Your email address and your consent | Consent, which you can withdraw at any time |
| Show what AI services say about a name (the AI check) | The name you type, the answers, for 24 hours | Legitimate interests (helping people see and correct how AI describes them), with a short retention and one check per visitor a day |
| Answer API and MCP requests; API keys | Public profile information; key names and hashes | Legitimate interests (letting AI services identify people correctly); performing our agreement with key holders |
| Run the organization plan | Admins, organization facts, team invitations, billing ids | Performing our agreement with the organization; for invited members, processing on the organization's behalf until they accept, then performing our agreement with the member |
| Show owners who and what found their profile (profile activity) | Daily counts of visits, where people came from (a site's host name), machine visits and lookups for 30 days | Legitimate interests (letting people see how their profile is found), with visitors only counted and never identified |
| Send activity emails to profile owners | Sign-in email, the profile's activity counts | Legitimate interests (keeping owners informed about their profile), with a one-click opt-out in every email |
| Count visits and how the site is used (Google Analytics) | Pages visited, six events (such as starting an AI check), browser and device details, with no name, email or profile | Consent (Measurement in the cookie banner), which you can withdraw at any time |
| Security and abuse prevention | Technical information | Legitimate interests |
What we publish
The public fields of your profile appear on your page at selfbadge.com/your-handle and in machine-readable versions of it (structured data in the page, a JSON file, a text file for AI systems, and sitemaps). AI assistants, search engines and other services can read, copy and index this information. Once information is public, copies may remain in other services after you change or delete it here; we tell search engines when a page changes or is removed, but we cannot control copies others have made.
How each fact was verified is shown next to it. Your sign-in email, private fields and verification codes are never published.
Who we share information with
We use these service providers to run SelfBadge. They process information only on our instructions:
- Supabase: database, sign-in and photo storage, in Frankfurt (EU).
- DigitalOcean: application hosting, in Frankfurt (EU).
- Cloudflare: DNS only. Cloudflare does not process visitor traffic for selfbadge.com. If the report form's bot check (Cloudflare Turnstile) is switched on, Cloudflare processes technical information about people who open that form.
- Resend: sending account and verification emails. Resend stores the email address and message in the United States, covered by the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses in Resend's data processing agreement.
- LinkedIn and Google: only when you choose to sign in with them.
- ORCID, Google (YouTube, Search Console), Meta (Facebook, Instagram), TikTok, X and GitHub: only when you choose to connect an account.
- Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Perplexity: only the name typed into the AI check, as a question to their AI services, when that service is switched on. They process it in the United States under their API terms.
- Google (Google Analytics): visit counts and how the site is used, only if you accept measurement cookies.
- Stripe: payments for the organization plan and, later, identity checks. Stripe processes billing details in the United States and the EU.
We may also disclose information when the law requires it, or to protect people from impersonation, fraud or harm.
International transfers
Our main database and servers are in the European Union. Some providers may process information in other countries, including the United States: for example Resend, which sends our emails from the United States, the AI services the AI check asks, Google Analytics, and Stripe under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses in its data processing agreement. Where information leaves the European Economic Area we rely on such safeguards: an adequacy decision (the Data Privacy Framework), or the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses in each provider's data processing agreement.
How long we keep information
- Your profile and account: until you delete them.
- Verification records: while the verified fact is on your profile, and up to 12 months after, as an audit trail.
- Removal requests: we keep a minimal record of removed people permanently so that automated imports never recreate their profile.
- Reports and the email address sent with them: up to 24 months after the report is closed. Unused confirmation links expire after 24 hours (removal links after 48 hours).
- AI check names and answers: 24 hours.
- Team invitations: the work email until the member accepts or the invitation is removed; invitations nobody accepts, 44 days.
- API keys: until you revoke them or delete your account (only a hash of the key).
- Organization plan billing ids: while the subscription exists, and invoices as long as tax law requires (Stripe keeps them).
- Pro waitlist addresses: until we send the email announcing Pro, then deleted within 30 days; earlier if you ask to be removed.
- Profile activity: visits by AI services, search engines and other programs, and lookups, 30 days; daily counts as long as the profile exists; the in-memory key that keeps a person from being counted twice, one day.
- Google Analytics: its cookies up to 2 years; the data in Google Analytics at most 14 months.
- Server logs: up to 30 days.
Your choices and rights
- Edit any field, switch it between public and private, or delete it, at any time in the editor.
- Unpublish your profile, or delete your account and profile.
- Ask for a copy of your information, or ask us to correct or erase it.
- Object to how we use information, or ask us to restrict it.
- Complain to a data protection authority: our lead authority is the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection (Cyprus) (www.dataprotection.gov.cy), and you can also complain to the authority where you live or work.
Self-service export and account deletion arrive in settings shortly after launch. Until then, email [email protected] and we will act within 30 days.
Removal and impersonation
Anyone, including people who do not use SelfBadge, can ask us to remove a profile about them with "Remove it" on the profile (also "Remove this profile" at the foot of every profile). Removal of a profile created from public sources needs only an email confirmation: when you open the link we send and press the button, the profile is removed and added to our suppression list, so it is never created again. If you report impersonation and confirm your email, a person reviews the report; a profile created from public sources is hidden meanwhile, and a profile someone has claimed stays up until we decide.
Children
SelfBadge is not for anyone under 16. We do not knowingly create or keep profiles of children.
Security
Access to data is limited by database rules on every table, the keys that can bypass them stay on our servers, connections are encrypted, and administrative actions are logged. No system is perfectly secure; if we learn of a breach that affects you, we will tell you as the law requires.
Changes to this policy
We will post any change here and update the date at the top. If a change is significant, we will also email account holders before it takes effect.
Contact
Buzz Dealer (Cyprus) Ltd, Agias Filaxeos 122A, Limassol 3087, Cyprus. Email: [email protected].