Ctrl+Alt+Connect — Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 30, 2026

Ctrl+Alt+Connect ("we", "our", "the app") helps people have intentional, in-person professional conversations at events. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the controls you have over it.

Information you provide

• Account information: name, email address, and password (managed by our authentication provider, Clerk). If you continue with Google or Apple instead, we receive your name and email address from them (with Apple, this can be a private relay address that forwards to you), and no password is created.
• Profile information you choose to add: role, company, industry, location, bio, skills, education, certifications, professional interests, what you're working on, what you need, what you can offer, and a LinkedIn URL.
• Optional contact methods (email, phone, social links) that you control separately from your public profile.
• An optional profile photo you choose from your photo library. It's stored by us, and people you meet see it only if you choose to show it before connecting, or after you've both confirmed a Dot. The app never uses your microphone. It uses your camera only if you choose to scan another attendee's pairing code on the Connect screen; nothing is recorded or saved.
• An optional resume file, which you can review and edit before any extracted information is added to your profile.
• Event intent you enter when checking into an event (what you're hoping to get out of that specific event).
• Private notes you write about people you've met through the app. These notes are visible only to you.

Information collected automatically

• Bluetooth and local-network signals used only while you have the "Connect the Dot" feature open, to detect other nearby app users at the same event. Only a temporary, event-scoped identifier is broadcast during this process — your profile and contact information are never transmitted directly over Bluetooth or the local network.
• Basic app usage information (such as event check-ins and confirmed connections) needed to operate the app's core features.
• A record of your consent: when you accepted the Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy (and which version), and when you turned sharing settings such as AI use on or off. It's deleted with your account.

How your information is shared with other users

We use three separate visibility tiers, which you control in the app's privacy settings:

• Discoverable — a limited preview (such as first name, photo, role, and a short bio) that may be shown to another attendee before you've confirmed a connection.
• AI-usable — professional details used to generate recommendations and conversation context. When you create your account, this and the discoverable preview are turned on, and the last setup screen shows both so you can turn them off before you start. Your name and contact details are never sent to the AI. This information is not made public just because it's AI-usable.
• Mutual-connection only — contact details such as email, phone, and social links. These stay hidden until both people independently choose to reconnect after meeting. If only one person expresses interest, the other person is never notified and nothing is revealed.

Sharing with an event's host

When you check in to an event, we ask whether to share your details with that event's host. This is off unless you say yes. If you do, the event's hosts (the organizer named on the event and any co-hosts they add to help run it) can receive your sign-in email (or another email you choose for that event, or none), role, company and industry in a guest list for that event (an emailed spreadsheet), so they can follow up with you about it. We never share who you met, your notes, your Dots, or anything else in your profile with hosts. Hosts always see counts only (how many people checked in and connected).

You can change your answer from the event screen at any time. Turning it off keeps you out of guest lists sent afterwards; a list a host already received is theirs, and their use of it is covered by their own privacy practices. Hosts agree in our Terms of Use to use guest lists only to follow up about their event.

How we use your information

• To operate core features: profile, event check-in, nearby discovery and connection confirmation, your connection history, and reconnect requests.
• To generate optional AI-assisted recommendations ("People Worth Meeting") and conversation context, using only the professional information you've marked as AI-usable. These requests are filtered on our servers before any information is sent for processing — private or restricted fields are never included.
• To send notifications you allow, such as when a Dot connects or when you and someone you met both choose to reconnect. We store a device token for this, and remove it when you sign out or delete your account. Notification text never includes names or profile details.
• To give event hosts aggregate counts for their event (how many people checked in, how many Dots were made). Hosts never see who attended or who met whom.
• To extract structured information from a resume you upload, so you can review and approve it before it becomes part of your profile. We never apply resume-derived data to your profile automatically.

Third-party service providers

We use a small number of service providers to operate the app, each of which processes data only as needed to provide their service to us:

• Clerk — authentication and account management.
• OpenAI — generates recommendations and conversation context from the professional information you allow for AI use.
• Google Cloud Storage — stores uploaded profile photos and resume files securely.
• Resend — delivers internal email alerts to our team when a report is filed. Alerts contain the report's reason and an ID, not your name, profile, or what was written in the report.
• Sentry — receives crash and error reports (what failed, the device model and OS version, and the app version) so we can fix problems. Reports don't include your account, profile, notes, or contact details, and aren't linked to you.

We do not sell your personal information.

Your controls

• You choose what's discoverable, AI-usable, and reserved for mutual connections only, per field, in your profile settings (You → Edit). You can turn AI use off there at any time; the AI-generated notes on your connections are then rebuilt without your details.
• You can opt out of "People Worth Meeting" recommendations at any time.
• You choose, for each event, whether its host receives your email, role, company and industry; change it from the event screen.
• You can block or report anyone you encounter in the app. Blocked people can't see you in recommendations, nearby discovery, or your connection history, and you can't see them. Reports are private and reviewed within 24 hours.
• You can permanently delete your account at any time in the app under You → Delete account. This removes your profile, check-ins, event intent, notes, profile photo, resume file, AI-generated context derived from your information (including copies shown to people you met), and your sign-in. People you met keep their own private notes, but your details are removed from their connection history. Reports other people filed about your conduct are retained for safety review. If you can't access the app, email ctrl.alt.connect.atl@gmail.com and we'll delete your account for you.

Our website

On ctrlaltconnect.co you can join our community email list, request beta access, or ask to host an event. We keep what you enter there (your email, and your name, phone type, organization or event details if you give them) to reply to you and to tell you about Ctrl+Alt+Connect events and releases. It isn't connected to an app account, and the website uses no tracking cookies or analytics. To be removed, email ctrl.alt.connect.atl@gmail.com.

Children's privacy

Ctrl+Alt+Connect is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 16.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app changes. Material changes will be reflected by updating the "Last updated" date above.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data can be sent to ctrl.alt.connect.atl@gmail.com.