Privacy Policy

Effective date: June 9, 2026

1. Information We Collect

Depending on how you use ASN, we may collect the following categories of information:

• Account and profile information: name, username, email address, password credentials, public/private profile visibility settings, blocked-user settings, account settings, display preferences, and related login/session information.
• Profile connector information: Skills, Resources, Knowledge, Interests, and related notification preferences that you choose to add to your profile.
• Group and membership information: groups you create, join, leave, manage, or are invited to, including public groups, private groups, regions, group descriptions, creator information, member lists, and group-management actions.
• User content: posts, service requests, collaborations, events, giveaways, voting boards, message threads, direct messages, comments, replies, likes, suggestions, contact submissions, and other content you choose to submit or interact with.
• Location-related information: addresses, map points, latitude/longitude, or event/giveaway locations that you choose to submit. If you allow browser or app location access, your device may provide your current location to help select a map point or address.
• AI Assist inputs and outputs: descriptions, profile background text, connector categories, requested suggestion counts, generated suggestions, and related technical records needed to provide AI-assisted suggestions and rate limiting.
• Device and notification information: mobile device tokens, platform type, notification environment, notification delivery preferences, notification records, and related technical information needed to send alerts.
• Technical, security, and usage information: IP address, browser or device type, cookies, selected group cookies, session identifiers, request logs, diagnostic information, audit records, security rate-limit records, login-attempt records, and similar records used to operate and protect ASN.

2. How We Use Information

We use collected information to:

• Create, authenticate, and manage user accounts.
• Operate groups, posts, comments, replies, likes, message threads, direct messages, voting, events, giveaways, and collaboration tools.
• Match posts with profile connectors and send user-selected notifications.
• Show selected groups, saved groups, public or private profile status, display preferences, and account settings.
• Support map and address selection for location-based posts.
• Provide AI Assist suggestions for profile connectors and post connector tags.
• Respond to support requests, contact submissions, bug reports, and suggestions.
• Support account, group, post, comment, reply, notification, and content-management tools.
• Detect abuse, spam, profanity, suspicious activity, security issues, unauthorized access, and policy violations.
• Maintain, debug, improve, and protect ASN and its users.
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce applicable terms.

3. Cookies, Sessions, and Local Storage

ASN uses cookies, session identifiers, local storage, and app-side storage to keep users signed in, remember selected groups, preserve display preferences, store local notification state, and support app or website functionality. Blocking cookies or clearing local/app storage may prevent parts of ASN from working correctly or may reset local preferences.

4. Notifications and Device Tokens

If you enable notifications, ASN may store a device token and related platform information so we can send alerts such as matching posts, comments, replies, likes where supported, direct messages, group-related activity, account or content-management activity, and administrative alerts when applicable. You can manage notification permissions in your device or browser settings, and you can adjust ASN notification preferences where available.

5. How Information Is Shared

We may share information in the following limited ways:

• With other users: content you post in a group may be visible to members or visitors who can access that group, depending on group type, profile settings, blocking settings, and platform settings. Direct messages are intended for the conversation participants, though authorized platform operators or administrators may access records when needed for support, moderation, security, or legal reasons.
• With service providers: hosting, infrastructure, database, notification delivery, app platform, maps/geocoding, AI assistance, security, diagnostics, and technical providers may process information only as needed to provide ASN functionality.
• With authorized administrators: authorized owner or admin users may access account, group, post, comment, reply, message, notification, contact, suggestion, moderation, and audit information as needed to operate, support, moderate, secure, or improve ASN.
• For safety and legal reasons: we may disclose information if needed to comply with law, protect rights or safety, investigate abuse, prevent fraud, or enforce terms.
• Business or platform transfers: if ASN, the platform, or its operation is reorganized, transferred, merged, or assigned to another operator, information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this policy or a successor policy.

ASN does not sell personal information and does not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.

6. Public Profiles, Groups, Blocking, and Messages

Public groups and public posts may be visible to other ASN users or website visitors. Private group content is intended for authorized group members, but users should avoid posting sensitive information they do not want others in that group to see.

Users may be able to make their profile public or private. Public profiles may appear in user searches or member lists where supported. Private profiles are intended to be hidden from user searches, but private users may still be visible to recipients when they initiate conversations or otherwise interact with the platform. Blocking another user may limit that user's ability to find, view, or interact with you or your content, but blocking may not remove all previously visible records or copies from logs, backups, moderation tools, or conversations where records must be retained.

Direct messages and multi-person messages are intended for the selected participants. Users should not send highly sensitive information through ASN messages. ASN may retain message records and may allow users to delete eligible messages, subject to technical, moderation, backup, and legal limitations.

7. Data Retention

We keep information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide ASN, maintain records, resolve disputes, enforce terms, protect security, debug issues, preserve audit trails, and comply with legal obligations. Users may be able to delete certain content, clear local notifications, delete eligible messages, or request account deletion, but some records may remain in backups, logs, moderation records, audit records, database archives, or legal/security records for a limited period.

8. Your Choices and Rights

You may be able to access, update, or delete account information through your account page. You can adjust notification preferences, disable device notifications, update profile connectors, change profile visibility, block users, leave groups, delete eligible content, delete eligible messages, manage display settings, or request account deletion where available. Depending on where you live, you may have additional privacy rights, such as the right to know, access, correct, delete, or receive information about certain data practices.

To make a privacy request, use the ASN contact page and include enough information for us to identify your account and process the request.

9. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect information, including account authentication, session controls, rate limits, audit records, and other security measures where appropriate. No online service can guarantee complete security, and users are responsible for keeping their login credentials confidential.

10. Children

ASN is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information, contact us so we can review and take appropriate action.

11. Third-Party Links and Services

ASN may link to third-party websites or use third-party services, such as hosting, app platform services, maps and geocoding, notification delivery, AI assistance, diagnostics, or security services. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The effective date above reflects the current version. Continued use of ASN after changes are posted means the updated policy applies.

13. Contact

Questions or privacy requests can be submitted through the ASN contact page.