Privacy notice

Founders Circle Philippines ("Founders Circle", "we", "us") runs an application-based annual membership for founders, business owners, leaders and entrepreneurial professionals in the Philippines. We operate this website and the member app, and we are the personal information controller for the data described in this notice.

We process personal data in line with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173), its Implementing Rules and Regulations, and the issuances of the National Privacy Commission (NPC).

We only collect what we need to run the membership. Depending on how you use Founders Circle, this includes:

• Application details: full name, email, mobile number, LinkedIn and website or social links, company, position, industry, business stage, years in business, referral code, what you are looking for and why you want to join, your chosen tier and the description that best fits you.
• Account details: your login email and password. Passwords are stored only as a one-way hash; we cannot read them. If you log in with an email code, we store the code temporarily until it is used or expires.
• Payment records: for bank transfers, the transfer reference and the receipt screenshot you upload; for online payments, the transaction identifiers returned by HitPay, our payment provider. Card and e-wallet details are entered on HitPay's pages and handled by HitPay, not by us.
• Membership activity: event RSVPs, door check-ins with your QR pass, benefits you redeem, member offers you post, and Founder Services requests (concierge, business assessments, introductions and Business Suite interest), with the notes our staff add while handling them.
• Profile details you add: headline, what you offer, what you need, and your directory and business card settings.
• Messages and forms: contact messages, membership preview requests and partner inquiries sent through this website.
• Basic technical data: IP addresses used for rate limiting and security, and the data your browser stores to keep you logged in.

• To review applications, decide on them and tell you the outcome.
• To create and secure your account, activate your membership and confirm payments.
• To deliver the membership: events and check-in, benefits, the member directory, member offers and Founder Services.
• To answer messages, send the membership preview and contact partners who write to us.
• To send service emails (activation links, login codes and payment confirmations) and, where you agreed, membership updates.
• To keep the service safe, prevent abuse and meet our legal and accounting obligations.
• To understand, in aggregate, which benefits and events members use, so we can improve them.

We do not sell personal data, and we do not share it with advertisers.

When you apply, we ask for two separate consents:

• Contact consent: lets us process your application and contact you about it, about events and about your membership.
• Member sharing consent: if you are approved, lets us show your name, company, industry and LinkedIn link to other active members. Being listed in the member directory is your choice and you can turn it off at any time in the app.

Your email and phone number appear on your shareable member business card only if you switch that option on. You can withdraw any consent by changing your settings or by writing to us. Withdrawing does not affect processing that already took place, and some features (such as introductions) may stop working without it.

Members can ask the AI advisor questions about the membership. To generate an answer, the conversation and a summary of relevant benefits are sent to Anthropic, which provides the Claude model behind the advisor. We do not keep a copy of advisor conversations on our servers. Please avoid including sensitive personal information in your questions.

Verification is optional. Members who want the "Verified" badge can send us a photo of one government ID and a selfie holding it (identity, or KYC), and members with a registered business can send their DTI, SEC or CDA registration and business permit (business, or KYB). We ask for your separate consent for each, and you can withdraw it at any time from your profile.

• Why: only to confirm that you are who you say you are, and that your business is registered, so other members can trust the badge.
• Sensitive information: government IDs are sensitive personal information under the Data Privacy Act. A selfie is treated with the same care. We do not use face recognition or any automated matching; a trained staff member compares the photos by eye.
• Storage: documents are encrypted and stored in our own database, never on a public file host. Only our Super and Master Admins can open them, files are never cached on their devices, and every view is logged.
• How long: we delete the documents within 30 days of our decision, or straight away if you withdraw consent. We keep only the outcome: the type of document, the last four characters of the ID number if you gave them, the ID's expiry date, who reviewed it and when.
• Tax numbers: you may cover your TIN on any BIR document. We don't need it.

"Verified by Founders Circle" means our team checked the documents you sent. It is not a government verification, a credit check or an anti-money-laundering check, and it is not a guarantee about any member or business.

We share personal data only with service providers who help us run Founders Circle, under agreements that limit their use of it:

• Email delivery provider, to send activation links, codes, confirmations and replies.
• HitPay, to process online payments.
• Anthropic, to generate AI advisor answers.
• Hosting and database providers, to run the website, app and data storage.

Some of these providers process data outside the Philippines. Where that happens, we rely on contractual and organisational safeguards that give comparable protection. Benefit partners receive only what is needed to fulfil a benefit you choose to redeem. We may also disclose data where the law requires it.

• Applications that are declined or withdrawn: up to 12 months after the decision, then deleted.
• Member accounts and activity: for as long as you are a member, and up to 24 months after your membership ends, so you can renew easily.
• Payment records: for the period required by Philippine tax and accounting rules.
• Verification documents (ID, selfie, business registration): deleted within 30 days of our decision, or at once if you withdraw consent. The outcome is kept while you are a member.
• Contact messages, preview requests and partner inquiries: up to 24 months after our last exchange.

You can ask us to delete your data sooner, subject to records we must keep by law.

We use encrypted connections, hashed passwords, access limited to staff who need it, separate staff and member logins, and rate limits on public forms. No system is perfectly secure. If a personal data breach occurs that is likely to put you at risk, we will notify you and the NPC as the law requires.

Under the Data Privacy Act, you have the right to:

• be informed about how your data is processed;
• access the personal data we hold about you;
• correct inaccurate or incomplete data (most profile details can be edited in the app);
• object to processing, or withdraw consent, including for membership updates;
• ask for erasure or blocking of your data;
• receive your data in a portable electronic format;
• claim damages for inaccurate, unlawfully obtained or misused data; and
• file a complaint with the National Privacy Commission.

For any privacy request or question, email hi@founderscircleph.com with the subject "Privacy request". We may ask you to confirm your identity before acting on a request, and we aim to respond within 15 working days. You can also reach us through our contact page.

We may update this notice as the membership changes. We will post the new version here and tell members about material changes.