Privacy · EQ Artists

Who we are

This policy explains what The EQ Company (eq.company) ("EQ", "we", "us") collects when you use EQ Artists, why, and the choices you have.

What we collect

We collect what you give us and what the product records as you use it.

Account details: your name, email address, Google sign-in details if you use them, and your time zone.
Your application: your answers, the writing samples you share and any portfolio link.
Your work: drafts, submissions, revisions, idea board notes, journal notes, reflections and the passages you flag.
Your writing process: the studio records edits, timing, pauses and active time while you write, so a piece can be replayed and confirmed as human.
Community activity: posts, comments, upvotes and messages.
Payment and tax details: payouts run through Stripe, which collects your bank details directly. We keep payout status and the tax details the law requires, encrypted.
Phone number, only if you sign up for text updates.
Technical details: device and browser type, IP address, pages visited, and error reports. During onboarding we also record how the pages are used (clicks and scrolling) to find where people get stuck.

How we use it

To run your account, review your application and show your work in the studio.
To confirm that submitted work is human and original.
To share your work with other writers for close reading and review.
To pay you for paid work and meet tax and legal duties.
To send account emails and, if you choose, news and text updates.
To keep EQ Artists secure, fix problems and understand how it is used.
For any other use set out in the agreements you sign with EQ, which describe how your submitted work may be used.

Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with services that help us run EQ Artists, under agreements that limit how they use it:

Hosting and database: Vercel and Supabase.
Payments and tax forms: Stripe.
Email: Resend. Text messages: Twilio.
Originality and AI-detection checks: Copyleaks and Pangram, which receive the text of submitted work.
AI services that help us review applications and check work: Anthropic, with request logging through Langfuse.
Error reporting and product analytics: Sentry, PostHog and Vercel Analytics.
Research partners: we may share submitted writing and writing-process records with research partners, only after removing anything that identifies you. Each writer appears only as a random ID.

Other writers

Work you submit can be shown to other writers on EQ Artists for reading and review. It is shown without your name, under an anonymous ID. Community posts and comments are visible to other members.

Cookies and local storage

We use a session cookie to keep you signed in, and your browser's storage for preferences such as light or dark mode and studio layout. Analytics tools set their own cookies to measure how pages are used. You can block or clear cookies in your browser settings; EQ Artists still works without analytics cookies, and you can ask us to stop analytics for your account by writing to writing@eqartists.com.

How long we keep it

We keep your account and work while your account is open. When you close your account, we delete or de-identify your personal information within 6 months. De-identified data, stored under a random ID with nothing that identifies you, may be kept indefinitely. Tax and payment records are kept for as long as the law requires.

Your choices and rights

You can update your profile and email preferences in account settings, turn off news emails, and reply STOP to end text updates. You can ask us for a copy of your personal information, to correct it, or to delete your account by writing to writing@eqartists.com. Depending on where you live, you may have further rights, including the right to complain to a data protection authority.

Security

We use encryption in transit, encrypt tax details at rest, and limit staff access to what each role needs. No system is perfectly secure, so please tell us at once if you think your account has been misused.

Age

EQ Artists is not for anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their information.

International transfers

We are based in California, in the United States, and most of our service providers are in the United States, so your information may be processed there and in other countries with different data protection laws.

Changes and contact

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will tell you by email or in the dashboard. Questions about privacy? Write to writing@eqartists.com.