Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes Circit LLC's policies and procedures on the collection, use, and disclosure of your information when you use Aethyl (the "Service") and tells you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

We use your personal data to provide and improve Aethyl. By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Data Linked to You

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

• Contact Info. Your email address (used for authentication via a one-time code), display name, and chosen handle.
• User Content. Photos and videos you upload, and comments, votes, accuracy reports, and scan reports you submit while using the Service.
• Scan History. Which URLs you submitted for analysis and which photos and videos you uploaded, and when. The public posts behind those URLs and our analysis of them are covered under "Submitted Content and Analysis Results" below; uploads are covered under "Uploads".
• Identifiers. User ID (created to identify your account), device identifiers, push notification tokens, and IP address.
• Usage Data. App and website usage information such as features used, screens viewed, and interaction patterns.
• Diagnostics. Crash reports, performance metrics, and other diagnostic information used to improve reliability.

How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

• Create and maintain your account
• Run AI-generated content detection on URLs you submit and on photos and videos you upload
• Display detection results, comments, and community activity
• Send transactional email (one-time sign-in codes) and push notifications you've opted in to
• Enforce quota limits on free and paid tiers
• Provide customer support
• Analyze and improve the Service
• Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and attempts to exploit the Service
• Moderate user-generated content (comments, reports)
• Comply with legal obligations

Data Storage and Security

Your information is stored with secure cloud database and storage providers. We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access or disclosure, including TLS encryption in transit, access controls, and authentication tokens. We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of your data through rigorous security protocols and best practices.

Submitted Content and Analysis Results

When you scan a post, the link you submit, the post's public media and details (platform, uploader name, caption, and similar metadata), and our analysis of it (Trust Scores, verdicts, per-model results, and explanations) make up "submitted content". Submitted content comes from posts that were publicly viewable when submitted and is not your personal information once it is separated from your account. Which posts you submitted is part of your scan history, which is personal information.

• How we use it. We may use submitted content, including the post's media, to run and improve detection, to show results in Aethyl and on scan pages, for research, and to train AI models.
• Sharing and licensing. We may publish, share, and license links, post details, and analysis results — for example as datasets of public posts and their AI-detection results. Rights in the posts themselves, including their media, remain with their owners.
• Datasets leave you out. Datasets we share or license leave out your email address, handle, user ID, and scan history.

Uploads

Photos and videos you upload are private: only you can see an upload and its analysis until you share its link. Anyone with a shared link can see the upload and its analysis until you stop sharing it or delete it. Uploads are not "submitted content": we don't show them in public feeds, and we don't publish or license them.

• Before analysis. We read the file and its metadata, then remove location and other metadata from the copy we keep and send for analysis. We may check uploads with automated tools to keep prohibited content out.
• Deleting. You can delete an upload at any time, which removes the file and its analysis from Aethyl. Deleting your account deletes your uploads.
• Records. We keep a record of each upload (the account, when, and a fingerprint of the file) and of who opened shared uploads (the account if signed in, the IP address, and when), to enforce our Terms and comply with the law. We keep these records after an upload or account is deleted.

AI Detection Processing

When you submit a URL or upload a photo or video, the media (or frames extracted from it), and for a URL the post's public details, are sent to third-party AI providers for analysis, and may be used to train and improve AI models. We do not send AI providers your email address, handle, or other information that identifies you.

Data Retention and Account Deletion

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active. You can delete your account at any time through the app's Settings menu. When you delete your account:

• Your profile, handle, email address, push notification tokens, and notification history are permanently removed from our systems within 7 days
• Comments you've posted and scans you've submitted are anonymized — identifying fields are removed and your handle is replaced with "[deleted]" — but the content itself may remain visible so other users can keep thread and scan context intact
• Photos and videos you uploaded, and their analysis, are deleted
• Accuracy votes and comment votes you cast may remain as anonymous counts to preserve community signals, but are not linked to your identity
• We may retain certain information in anonymized form for analytics, or retain some information if required by law or for legitimate business purposes such as fraud prevention and enforcing our Terms (including the upload records described under "Uploads")

Once you initiate account deletion, the process cannot be reversed. You will need to create a new account if you wish to use our services again.

Third-Party Services

Aethyl uses third-party services, each with its own privacy policy, that may collect and process information about you. They include providers of:

• Cloud hosting, databases, media storage, and content delivery
• Sign-in, analytics, crash reporting, and push notifications
• Email delivery
• Subscriptions and payments
• AI detection

These third-party services may collect information sent by your device such as device identifiers, IP address, and app usage data. This information is used primarily to monitor app performance, analyze user behavior, and improve our services.

Sharing Your Information

We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. (Submitted content and analysis results shared without anything that identifies you are not personal information; see "Submitted Content and Analysis Results".) Your handle, public profile, and comments are visible to anyone. Otherwise, we may share your personal information only in the following circumstances:

• With service providers who help operate Aethyl and have agreed to maintain confidentiality
• For business transfers, such as a merger, acquisition, or asset sale
• As required by law, such as to comply with legal processes
• When necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or investigate potential fraud or abuse
• With your consent

Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request deletion of your personal data
• Object to or restrict the processing of your data
• Export your data in a portable format

To exercise these rights, please contact us at support@aethyl.ai.

Children's Privacy

Our Service is not intended for anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at support@aethyl.ai.

Child Safety

We do not tolerate child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or child exploitation. We remove it and report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), as the law requires. To report it, contact us at support@aethyl.ai.

Changes to This Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time at our discretion. When we make changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this policy. Your continued use of our services after any changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our practices, please contact us at support@aethyl.ai.