Privacy Policy

Overview

We collect the data we actually need to run MeritWorkX, we don't sell your personal data, and you can request deletion of your account at any time. This policy explains what we collect, why, and how it's protected.

1. Information We Collect

Information you give us directly:

• Account information: name, email address, password (or Google sign-in token), role (Client or Freelancer), country/city.
• Profile information: bio, skills, portfolio projects, company name, avatar image.
• Verification information: phone number (for OTP verification), business email, and a government ID document if you choose to upload one for identity verification.
• Project & communication data: project postings, proposals, cover letters, messages, timesheet entries, and files exchanged between Clients and Freelancers.
• Payment information: transaction records (amounts, dates, status) and payout details (bank account/IFSC for India-based Freelancers, PayPal/Wise email for international Freelancers). We never see or store full card numbers — card payments are processed entirely by Razorpay.

Information collected automatically:

• Basic authentication metadata (IP address, device/browser type, sign-in timestamps) captured by our authentication provider (Supabase) as a normal part of securing your login sessions.

We don't currently run third-party analytics or advertising trackers on MeritWorkX.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To operate your account and connect Clients with Freelancers.
• To generate AI match scores, proposal rankings, fit/gap analysis, and AI-assisted proposal drafts, using your profile, skills, and portfolio content against project requirements.
• To process payments, calculate platform fees, and handle Freelancer withdrawal requests.
• To send transactional emails (payment confirmations, withdrawal notifications, account verification, notifications about your projects/proposals).
• To verify identity and reduce fraud on the platform.
• To improve MeritWorkX's matching quality and platform features.

We do not use your content to train AI models that are shared with or used for other users' benefit.

3. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with:

• Service providers who help us run the platform (listed in the next section) — each only receives what they need to do their job.
• Other users, where the platform is designed to show it — e.g. a Client can see a Freelancer's profile and portfolio once that Freelancer has applied to one of their projects, and vice versa.
• Legal or law enforcement authorities, only when required by law.
• A successor business, if MeritWorkX is ever acquired or merged — you'd be notified if that changes how your data is handled.

4. Third-Party Services We Use

• Supabase — database, authentication, and file storage.
• Razorpay — payment processing, escrow-style fund holding, subscription billing, and withdrawal payouts. PCI-DSS compliant for card data.
• OpenAI — AI-generated match scores, proposal writing assistance, fit/gap analysis, and timesheet evidence review, based on project/profile text and files you provide.
• Resend — transactional email delivery.
• Google — optional Google Sign-In authentication.

5. Cookies

MeritWorkX uses essential cookies only, to keep you signed in and maintain your session. We don't use marketing, advertising, or third-party tracking cookies.

6. Data Retention

We keep your account data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we remove your profile and content within a reasonable period, except where we're required to keep transaction/payment records longer for accounting, tax, or legal compliance purposes.

7. Security

Data is protected in transit via HTTPS/TLS. Your profile and project data is stored in a managed Postgres database with row-level security rules that restrict who can access what — for example, a Client can only see a Freelancer's profile once that Freelancer has actually applied to one of their projects. Passwords are handled by Supabase Auth's built-in secure hashing; we never see or store your plaintext password. Payment credentials are handled entirely by Razorpay's PCI-DSS compliant infrastructure.

8. Your Rights

You can review and update most of your profile information directly from Settings at any time. You can request:

• Access to the data we hold about you.
• Correction of inaccurate data.
• Deletion of your account and associated data.
• A copy of your data in a portable format.

Send these requests via our Contact page. We aim to respond within a reasonable timeframe. We may retain certain transaction records after account deletion where required for accounting, tax, or legal compliance.

9. Children's Privacy

MeritWorkX is not intended for individuals under 18. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the "Last updated" date above.

11. Contact

Questions about this Privacy Policy can be sent via our Contact page.