Privacy Policy
How we collect, use, and protect your information. What we do. What we never do.
1. Who we are
Ayiti Bèl is operated by JRICKSS Financial Services LLC, a New Jersey limited liability company. For privacy purposes we are the data controller. You can reach our privacy contact at privacy@ayitibel.com.
2. What we collect
| Category | Examples | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Name, email, preferred language, role, profile bio | To authenticate you and credit your work |
| Submission | Uploaded photos/videos, EXIF metadata (GPS, camera, timestamp), captions, stories | Verification, publication, and editorial review |
| Payment | Billing name, country, last 4 digits of card (Stripe handles the full number) | Subscription and Founding Patron processing |
| Communications | Emails you send us, moderation notes you add | Support and record-keeping |
| Usage | Pages viewed, approximate location (city-level from IP), device and browser type, referrer | Security, abuse detection, product improvement |
| Cookies | Session, language preference, consent choice | Keep you logged in and remember preferences |
3. What we don't collect
- We do not store full credit card numbers. Stripe does.
- We do not run third-party advertising trackers.
- We do not sell or rent personal data. Period.
- We do not use your Submissions to train any AI model.
4. How we use your data
- To verify the authenticity of Submissions (EXIF analysis, AI-image detection, duplicate check);
- To publish articles with proper photographer credit;
- To process payments and calculate revenue share;
- To send transactional emails (receipts, publication notices, legal notices);
- To send newsletters if you subscribe (unsubscribe in every message);
- To investigate abuse, fraud, and security incidents;
- To comply with tax, accounting, and legal obligations.
5. Who processes data on our behalf
We use the following vendors ("sub-processors") under strict data-processing agreements:
| Vendor | Purpose | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Authentication and database | United States |
| Cloudflare R2 | Media file storage | Global edge |
| Stripe | Payment processing | United States + EEA |
| Resend | Transactional email | United States |
| Vercel | Web hosting and CDN | Global edge |
| Anthropic | AI content analysis (no training on your data) | United States |
6. International transfers
Your data may be processed in the United States and other countries where our sub-processors operate. For users in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses and supplementary measures to safeguard transfers.
7. Your rights
Regardless of where you live, you may request any of the following by emailing privacy@ayitibel.com:
- Access: a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
- Correction: fix inaccurate data;
- Deletion: delete your account and personal data (subject to legal retention obligations);
- Export: receive your data in a portable format;
- Objection: stop certain processing;
- Withdraw consent: at any time, for any processing based on consent.
We respond within 30 days. EU/UK residents may also lodge a complaint with their local data protection authority. California residents have the rights described in the CCPA; we do not sell personal information.
8. Retention
- Submissions: retained as long as the associated article remains published, or until you request removal;
- Account data: retained while the account is active and for 30 days after closure;
- Financial records: retained 7 years to comply with US tax law;
- Security logs: retained up to 180 days.
9. Security
We protect data with TLS in transit, encryption at rest, role-based access control, multi-factor authentication for staff, and audit logging. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your data we notify affected users and regulators where required by law.
10. Children
The platform is not directed to children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 16. If you believe a child has given us data, contact privacy@ayitibel.com and we will delete it.
11. Changes
We will post updates to this policy on this page with a revised "Effective" date. For material changes, we will email registered users at least 14 days before the change takes effect.
12. Contact
Privacy questions: privacy@ayitibel.com
General: hello@ayitibel.com
Mail: JRICKSS Financial Services LLC, Attn: Privacy, New Jersey, USA