Privacy Policy

Last Updated: January 21st, 2025

Welcome to Aemula (“we,” “us,” or “our”). We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our platform (the “Platform”), which may include any related websites, web applications, and services provided by Aemula LLC (Services).

By accessing or using the Platform, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please discontinue use of the Platform immediately.

1. Scope and Applicability

a. U.S. Users Only

Our Platform is intended for Users located in the United States. We do not knowingly serve individuals outside of the U.S. If you reside outside of the U.S., please refrain from using our Platform.

b. Age Restrictions

The Platform is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent. If you are under 13, please do not use or access our Platform.

c. Incorporation by Reference

This Privacy Policy should be read in conjunction with our Terms of Service (“Terms”). Any capitalized terms not defined here have the meaning given to them in the Terms.

2. Information We Collect

We collect or receive limited personal information in connection with your use of the Platform, which may include:

a. Email Address

When creating an ERC-4337 "smart account" wallet (Account) via our third-party authentication provider, you may provide an email address for authentication. Although our third-party authentication provider primarly collects and stores this information, we may have the ability to access it if needed for troubleshooting, User account support, communication, or upon User election.

b. Blockchain & Decentralized Data

When you create an Account, register an Account, publish an Article, interact with Articles (support, disagree, report, publish), contribute to the community moderation process, and perform similar actions on the Platform, you are emitting events via our smart contracts on the Base blockchain, which are subsequently indexed by a Graph Protocol subgraph (Subgraph). Inherently, with blockchains and decentralized technologies, these events are public and immutable once recorded on the blockchain (on-chain). This may include your Account address, transaction IDs, timestamps, interaction/event types, the content identifier (CID) of Article data on the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), and similar data and metadata necessary to record the event for the purpose of providing Platform Services.

c. Session IDs & Cookies

We (or our third-party service providers) may place a session cookie or token (e.g., a JWT) to manage your authenticated session on the Platform.
Our third-party authentication provider may set a cookie or similar technology for managing a User’s smart account.
We do not use analytics or advertising cookies that track you across websites.

d. IP Addresses & Device Identifiers

Our cloud service provider, as part of the routine management of our servers and databases necessary to provide the Platform Services, may collect IP addresses, device identifiers, access timestamps, navigation paths, and activity on a page or screen for basic server logs and security monitoring. We do not actively use this data to profile or market to you. This data is stored in the logs of our cloud service provider primarily for operational purposes to maintain the integrity of our servers.

e. Payment Information

We use a third-party payment service provider (PSP) to handle subscription payment details and payouts to Users on the Platform. We do not collect or store payment card or bank details on our servers. Payment and bank data provided to the PSP is subject to the PSP's own privacy policies.
User Accounts, which are ERC-4337 smart contract wallets on the Base blockchain, are capable of transacting in and holding digital assets and currencies. Aemula does not manage the assets of a User's smart contract wallet and does not have the authority to restrict transactions of digital assets and/or currencies, but we do collect the public wallet address of these accounts to perform the Platform Services as outlined in this Privacy Policy and the accompanying Terms.

f. Additional Information

We may collect or generate non-personal, anonymized data (e.g., User interactions, Article popularity) for the purposes of improving the Platform, providing recommendations, and supporting the community moderation process.

3. How We Use Your Information

a. Service Provision & Account Management

To provide access to our Platform Services.
To authenticate your account and manage session data.

b. Customer Support

To respond to your inquiries, troubleshoot issues, and provide technical support as necessary.

c. Platform Improvements

To understand usage patterns and maintain or improve the performance, functionality, and security of the Platform.

d. Safety, Security, & Legal Compliance

To detect, investigate, or prevent activities that may violate our Terms or be fraudulent or illegal.
To comply with applicable laws, regulations, or legal processes.

e. Community Moderation

To enable and support the community moderation process.

We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. However, we may share limited information in the following circumstances:

a. Service Providers

We use trusted third-party providers for authentication, payment processing, IPFS node services, and similar services necessary to perform Platform Services. Third-party providers have access to limited information only as necessary to perform services on our behalf and are obligated to protect the limited information as outlined in their respective privacy policies and terms, as well as our contracts.

b. Business Transfers

If we undergo a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will ensure any recipient of your information agrees to honor the commitments in this Privacy Policy.

c. Legal Compliance & Protection

We may disclose your information if required by law, subpoena, or court order, or if we believe it is necessary to protect our rights, property, or safety, or that of others.

d. Blockchain Interactions

Any data written to the Base blockchain and indexed by the Subgraph (e.g., wallet addresses, transaction details) is by definition public and immutable and can be viewed by anyone with access to the blockchain or Subgraph. By design, we have no ability to delete or alter this on-chain data once written.

e. IPFS Data

We upload Article data on your behalf to IPFS via our gateway as managed by our third-party IPFS node service provider. Article data includes the contents of the Article, the timestamp of publishing, the Account address of the publishing account, estimated read time of the Article, and similar data necessary to provide the Platform Services.

5. Data Retention

a. Retention Periods

We do not have a defined retention period for the minimal personal data we collect.
Email addresses (if retained by us) are typically kept as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with Services or comply with legal obligations.

b. Blockchain Data

Blockchain records (such as those on the Base blockchain or indexed by the Subgraph) are immutable and cannot be erased or modified by design. This may affect your ability to exercise your rights such as your right to erasure ("right to be forgotten"), or your rights to object or restrict processing, of your personal data. Although smart contracts may be used to revoke certain access rights, and some content may be made invisible to others, it is not deleted.
If you want to ensure your privacy rights are not affected in any way, you should not transact on blockchains as certain rights may not be fully available or exercisable by you or us due to the technological infrastructure of the blockchain.

c. IPFS Data

IPFS is a peer-to-peer network that we do not own or control. Article data may continue to be available on IPFS even if it is removed or delisted from our Platform via our third-party IPFS node service provider.

d. Account Deletion

If you request deletion of your account, we will remove the platform-specific data (such as your Account "alias", email address - if applicable, etc.) under our control. However, any historical transaction data or published content on the blockchain will remain publicly accessible, and any Article data stored on IPFS may persist beyond the termination of your account and may remain permanently available to the public.

6. Your Rights and Choices

a. Access, Correction, Deletion

You may contact us at support@aemula.com to request access to, correction of, or deletion of the limited personal information we hold about you. We will make reasonable efforts to comply, except where the data is stored on the blockchain, peer-to-peer networks, decentralized technologies, or otherwise required to be retained by law.

b. Cookies

You can adjust your browser settings to refuse or delete cookies. However, certain features of the Platform may become unavailable or not function properly if cookies are disabled.

c. Do Not Track

We do not respond to “Do Not Track” signals as we do not track Users across third-party websites or services.

d. U.S. Privacy Laws

We aim to comply with relevant U.S. state privacy laws. If you are a resident of a state providing additional privacy rights, please contact us to exercise any rights you may have.

7. Security Measures

We employ a number of technical, organizational and physical safeguards designed to protect the limited personal information we collect. However, security risk is inherent in all internet and information technologies and we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information.

a. Encryption

We use HTTPS to protect data transmitted between your device and our servers.
Data stored on our servers may be encrypted at rest using encryption solutions of our cloud service provider.

b. Anonymized Data

Most of our stored User data is linked to blockchain wallet addresses rather than real-world personal identifiers.
We do not store full payment or billing data as this data is handled by our PSP.

8. Children’s Privacy

a. Under 13

We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete that information as soon as feasible.

b. COPPA Compliance

We comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Please contact us at support@aemula.com if you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information to our Platform.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

a. Updates

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be effective immediately upon posting the updated policy, with a new “Last Updated” date at the top.
Your continued use of the Platform after any such change constitutes your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.

b. Material Changes

If we make significant changes, we will notify you by posting a notice on the Platform or by sending you an email (if you have elected to share your email address).

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise any applicable rights, please email us at support@aemula.com.