Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

We collect information in three ways:

• Information you provide directly: your name, email address, phone number, location, work history, career goals, target roles and compensation, resume and other documents you upload, work samples, interview and community post text, and your responses to the Market Reality Assessment.
• Information others provide about you: if you request a reference, the person you name will submit ratings and written feedback about their experience working with you.
• Information collected automatically: standard technical data such as IP address, browser type, and device information, collected via our hosting infrastructure, a session cookie used to keep you signed in, and, once you have an account, a one-year cookie that tells our public pages you are a member, and another that holds your first name, so we can take you to your account and greet you by name. We do not use advertising or third-party tracking cookies.

2. Connected Accounts (Gmail, Calendar, and LinkedIn)

You can optionally connect your Gmail, Calendar, and LinkedIn to turn on your networking and job application CRM — automatically tracking your outreach, application replies, interview invites, calls, and networking contacts instead of you logging each one by hand. These connections are optional, and every one of them can be disconnected at any time from Dashboard → Privacy.

Google permissions we request

Depending on how you use NextChapter, we may ask Google for the permissions ("scopes") below. Google shows you exactly which ones are being requested before you agree, and you can revoke access at any time from Dashboard → Privacy or your Google Account's security settings.

• openid — lets you sign in to NextChapter with your Google account, and lets us confirm which Google account is connected.
• email — reads your Google account's email address so we can create or match your NextChapter account, send you service emails, and show which address is connected.
• profile — reads your name to set up your NextChapter profile. Google also includes your profile picture with this permission; we do not use or display it.
• gmail.readonly — reads your Gmail messages so we can automatically find job search activity, such as outreach you send, application replies, interview invites, and recruiter emails, and log it in your application and networking tracker. We also use it to check recruiter and interview emails for signs of a fake job or recruiter scam (see "Scam watch" below). This permission cannot send, edit, or delete email. Unrelated messages are not used for any other purpose. We also use gmail.readonly to recognize emails from job boards and learning platforms you use (for example, an application confirmation from a job board or a course-completion email), so we can show which platforms you're active on.
• calendar.events.readonly — reads your calendar events so we can automatically log interviews, networking calls, and coaching sessions in your tracker. This permission cannot create, change, or delete events.
• gmail.send — used only by NextChapter team members, on their own NextChapter work accounts, to send outreach and follow-up emails they write and choose to send from our internal tools. We never request this permission from members, and it gives no access to any member's Gmail.
• calendar.events — used only by NextChapter team members, on their own NextChapter work accounts, to create and manage meetings and webinars, including video conferencing links. We never request this permission from members, and it gives no access to any member's Calendar.
• documents.readonly — used only by NextChapter team members, on their own NextChapter work accounts, to read the meeting notes Google Meet attaches to their own calls so the notes can be saved with the meeting record. We never request this permission from members, and it gives no access to any member's documents.

We never write to your Google account

Your Google connection is read-only. Through it, we never create, change, send, or delete anything in your Gmail or Calendar: we never send email from your address, and we never add, edit, or remove events on your calendar. The permissions we ask members for cannot do those things, and we never ask members for permission to write to Google. When a feature suggests something that belongs on your calendar, such as a conference deadline, we show it to you or give you a file to download, and you choose whether to add it yourself. The one calendar message you may receive is an invitation when you book a session with a coach: your coach's own calendar sends it, as any meeting invitation, and we do not use your Google connection to do it.

What Google data we keep

We read message content only to classify it, and we don't store email bodies or attachments. For each email we check in your inbox and sent mail, we keep the other person's email address, the subject, the date, the Gmail message and thread IDs, whether a resume was attached, and what we detected (for example, "interview invite from Acme"), or "needs review" when we couldn't tell. For emails from job boards and learning platforms, we also keep which platform sent it. For each calendar meeting you had with at least one other person, we keep the event title, time, duration, the other attendee's name and email address, and what we detected. We don't keep event descriptions. Your Google access tokens are encrypted at rest and deleted when you disconnect. This information is shown only to you. If you have a coach and choose to share with them, your coach sees counts of this activity and the applications on your list, never email subjects, senders, or contents.

Scam watch

If you connect Gmail, we automatically check incoming recruiter and interview emails for signs of a fake job or fake recruiter, such as a sender or link that doesn't belong to the company named, or requests for ID, bank details, or money. This check runs automatically, and no person reads your email for it. When an email looks fake, we keep only its sender, subject, date, and the reasons we flagged it, so we can show them to you on your Scam watch page and email you a warning. We don't keep the full message. You can mark an alert as legitimate, and you can stop scam watch at any time by disconnecting Gmail.

NextChapter's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

We use Google user data only to provide and improve the features described above, and we share it only with service providers that process it on our behalf to deliver those features, as needed for security, to comply with the law, or as part of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets (with your consent where required). We do not sell it, use it for advertising, or use it to train generalized AI models, and no person at NextChapter reads it unless you give us permission, it is needed for security or to comply with the law, or it has been aggregated and anonymized for internal operations. We don't send your emails or calendar events, or their text, subjects, or senders, to any AI provider. Activity we detect from them, such as an interview at Acme or the name of a course you completed, may be included in the AI-generated reports we create for you (see Section 4). If we add features that need additional Google permissions, Google will ask for your consent before they are granted, and we will update this Policy.

Disconnecting and deleting your Google data

You can disconnect Gmail and Calendar at any time from Dashboard → Privacy. Disconnecting stops all syncing immediately, revokes NextChapter's access in your Google Account, and deletes your stored Google tokens. You can also remove access at myaccount.google.com/connections. To delete the data we created from your Gmail and Calendar, use "Delete my Google data" on Dashboard → Privacy, or email support@launchyournextchapter.com. The button revokes our access and deletes your stored Google tokens, email and calendar records, scam alerts, and platform email records right away. If you email us, we delete them within 30 days of your request. Copies in our database backups are deleted within 90 days. Applications, contacts, and the list of platforms you use stay, because they are your own records and are no longer linked to any email or event; you can remove them yourself at any time. If you ask us to delete your account, we delete all of it.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn connections are imported by you, not accessed by us. To build your networking list, you export your own connections file from LinkedIn and upload it to NextChapter — we never log into your LinkedIn account or access it directly. If you separately choose to connect LinkedIn to publish posts through NextChapter, that connection only allows us to publish content you write and submit yourself — it does not grant access to read your LinkedIn messages, connections, or activity.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To generate your Market Reality Assessment, personalized action plan, resume feedback, and job-fit analysis.
• To operate features you use directly, such as reference requests, work samples, and the Community Board.
• To show your profile to employers on the Service, strictly according to the privacy setting you choose (see Section 5).
• To send you service emails — your report, reference requests, and reminders about finishing your account (you can opt out of reminder emails at any time via the unsubscribe link).
• To maintain, secure, and improve the Service.

4. How We Use AI to Process Your Information

We use Claude, an AI model provided by Anthropic, to analyze your resume, generate your Market Reality Assessment narratives, action plan, and job-fit feedback. Your resume text and profile details are sent to Anthropic's API solely to generate these results for you — Anthropic processes this data as our service provider and does not use it to train its models under our commercial agreement with them.

AI assistants and our public MCP server

Our public MCP server (launchyournextchapter.com/api/mcp) lets an AI assistant you use, such as ChatGPT or Claude, search jobs, look up layoff notices and programs, and score a resume. It needs no account. When the assistant sends us resume text to score, we read it once with fixed rules to produce the score and fixes, return the result to the assistant, and do not store the text or send it to Anthropic or any other AI model. We record that a tool was called, with the tool name, the score and band, and the state or goal when one was asked for, but not the text you sent. What the assistant company does with your conversation is governed by its own privacy policy.

5. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal data. We do not share it with data brokers or advertisers. We share information only in these circumstances:

• With employers on NextChapter — exactly as much as your chosen privacy tier allows. New profiles start fully Locked (invisible to everyone) while you build them out. You choose when and how much to reveal: full identity (Public), first name and last initial (Semi-Public), fully anonymized signal (Private), or visible only to specific companies you pre-approve (Stealth).
• With service providers who process data on our behalf under contract — Anthropic (AI analysis, described above), Supabase (database hosting and authentication), Resend (transactional email delivery), and Vercel (application hosting). We also query aggregate, non-personal labor market data from Adzuna and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; no candidate-identifying information is sent to them.
• If required by law — to comply with a legal obligation, protect our rights, or respond to a valid legal request.
• In a business transfer — if NextChapter is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this Policy.

6. Your Choices & Rights

• Change your visibility setting at any time from Dashboard → Privacy.
• Update or correct your profile information at any time.
• Deactivate your account at any time, immediately and without contacting support, from Dashboard → Privacy → Danger Zone — this makes your account unusable but keeps your data intact. For a permanent deletion of your profile, resume, references, work samples, and reports, email support@launchyournextchapter.com.
• Unsubscribe from reminder emails via the link in any reminder email.

If you are located in a jurisdiction that grants additional rights over your personal data (such as the right to access, correct, or restrict processing of your data), you can exercise those rights using the controls above, or by contacting us at the address in Section 13.

7. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as your account is active. When you ask us to delete your account (see Section 6), your profile and associated data are deleted from our production database within 30 days of your request. Google data you delete yourself with "Delete my Google data" is deleted right away (see Section 2). Some information may be retained where required by law or for legitimate business purposes, such as fraud prevention or resolving disputes.

8. Data Security

We use industry-standard technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including encryption in transit and access controls on our production systems. No method of storage or transmission is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Children's Privacy

The Service is intended for individuals who are at least 18 years old and legally eligible to work. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided us information, contact us and we will delete it.

10. No Guarantee of Employment Outcomes

Your Market Reality Assessment, action plan, and any AI-generated feedback are provided for informational and self-improvement purposes only. NextChapter is not an employment agency or recruiter, does not guarantee an interview, offer, or job placement of any kind, and is not responsible for the hiring decisions of employers who use the Service.

11. $500 Hired Bounty Program Terms

Candidates who report landing a job through NextChapter may be eligible for a one-time $500 bounty. Eligibility requires submitting real role details and a genuine offer letter or equivalent written confirmation of employment (e.g. an official offer email from the hiring company) for review. We may verify the details you submit, including contacting the listed employer to confirm the offer is genuine.

Submitting a false, altered, or fraudulent offer letter, or misrepresenting role details, disqualifies the claim and may result in account termination. Approval, rejection, and payment of any bounty is at NextChapter's sole discretion; submitting a claim does not guarantee payment. Payment, once approved, is issued manually via the payment method and handle you provide — NextChapter is not responsible for delays or errors caused by incorrect payment information.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we'll update the effective date above and, where appropriate, notify you directly.

13. Contact Us

Questions about this Policy or your data? Email contact@launchyournextchapter.com.