Privacy Policy

What do we collect, and why?

We collect information to run pools, take payments, deliver gifts and keep KadoPool safe.

Who sees what in a pool?

Inside a pool, people see different things:

A Partner Organization sees totals only, except on a Donation Pool (Section 6).

How much people give: the Privacy Shield

The Privacy Shield keeps amounts private, and our servers apply it, not only the app. The pool's total stays hidden until a minimum number of people have paid and a minimum amount is collected; then the Organizer sees the exact total and the other members see it rounded down. To close the pool and send the gift, the Organizer sees the total collected and the fees. The KadoBook and the KadoClip name the people who gave, never what each person gave.

Contributing anonymously

In the app, you can contribute anonymously: your name and message then don't appear in the KadoBook, the KadoClip or anywhere the other contributors or the Recipients can see them. The Organizer can still see that you paid, never how much, and KadoPool keeps a record of every payment. If you already gave to the pool under your name, a new contribution is under your name too. Donation Pools don't offer anonymity: the charity receives each donor's name, and on a pool given in honor of someone, your name appears in their KadoBook.

Messages for the Recipient

Only you and the pool's Recipients can read the message you write. You can change or delete it until the Organizer closes the pool. It then becomes part of the Recipient's KadoBook, and of any KadoClip the Organizer orders, which only the Recipients receive. If the Recipient reports a message or their KadoClip to us, we keep a copy, apart, while we look into it (Section 8).

What happens to the photos?

Except on Donation Pools, everyone who contributes, in the app or on our website, can add one photo for the Recipient's KadoClip. An Organizer who contributes can add one too. You can replace or remove your photo until the pool closes.

• On your device. Your phone or browser makes the photo smaller if needed and removes its location and camera details. We store it privately, under a random name.
• The automatic check. Google's automated service checks each photo for inappropriate content, without keeping it or using it to train AI. A photo it finds likely inappropriate is deleted at once; one it isn't sure about is shown blurred to the Organizer, who looks at it and decides.
• The Organizer's review. The Organizer sees each photo with the first name and initial of who added it, not their message, and decides whether to use it. If they ask you for another photo, we e-mail you their note; they don't see your e-mail address. The Organizer can also report a photo to us; it is then left out of the KadoClip, and we keep it, apart, while we look into the report (Section 8).
• In the KadoClip. If the Organizer orders a KadoClip with photos, the Recipients see each kept photo with its contributor's message and name (no name for someone anonymous). They can save the KadoClip to their phone, and we ask them to keep it personal, because the photos belong to the people who shared them.
• AI. Photos never go to the AI services that make KadoClips, and we don't use them to train AI.
• When it is deleted. At once when its contributor removes or replaces it, when the automatic check refuses it, when the Organizer leaves it out, when its contributor's payment is refunded, when the pool is cancelled, or when the pool closes without a KadoClip with photos. Otherwise, with the KadoClip, 90 days after the gift is sent to the Recipient. If you delete your account, your photos are deleted, except one already in a KadoClip, which goes with that KadoClip. A photo someone reports is kept apart instead (Section 8).

Photos of children: see Section 10.

How do we use AI?

We use AI services to:

• suggest a message when you ask the AI Draft Helper;
• answer questions in KadoBot;
• help us answer the e-mails you send us; and
• make KadoClips from the messages, never the photos.

Our AI providers don't use what we send them to train their models.

AI assistants you connect. If you connect an AI assistant, such as Claude, to your KadoPool account, it can read for you the pools you organize, what you gave and received, your messages, your Gift Vibe and your account details, including the ZIP codes you gave us. It can't pay, change anything or send e-mails, and it never sees card or payout details, or what anyone else gave. That assistant's own privacy policy also covers what it reads. You can stop it at any time by disconnecting KadoPool in the assistant.

Who else do we share information with?

We don't sell your personal information, and we don't share it for advertising. We share it only:

• with the service providers that run KadoPool for us:
  • Stripe, for payments, and for payouts to organizations and Connectors, with the identity checks these require;
  • our gift card and prepaid card providers;
  • hosting, e-mail delivery and website analytics;
  • a customer relationship (CRM) tool, where we may keep some of your contact details and our exchanges with you;
  • the AI services in Section 4, and Google's automated check for photos;
  • security checks on our sign-up and web forms;
  • a crash-reporting service, which receives the app's crash reports;
  • the services that deliver notifications to your phone, if you allow them; and
  • Google and Apple, if you choose to sign in with them;
• with the charity of a Donation Pool (Section 6);
• with our payment processor, to prevent fraud; and
• where the law requires it.

What do partner organizations and charities see?

When a gift pool is linked to a Partner Organization, the Organization receives a report after each quarter with activity and a yearly statement: the number of linked pools, the amount contributed in them, KadoPool's fees on them and its share. It receives no details about the pools themselves, and no names or contact details of Organizers, Contributors or Recipients.

Donation Pools, including pools given in honor of someone

Contributions to a Donation Pool are charitable donations to its charity, which uses its donors' details to thank them, send them tax receipts and keep in touch with them. The contribution page tells Contributors this before they pay, and anonymity isn't offered. A gift pool with a limit can also let people give to its Partner Organization once the gift is full: such a payment is a donation to that organization in honor of the Recipient, and the rules below apply to it.

• While the pool is open, each donation is paid to the charity's own Stripe account as it is made. The charity sees in Stripe each donation's amount, date and time and KadoPool's fee on it, but not the Contributor's name, e-mail address or card.
• When the pool closes, we send the charity each Contributor's name, e-mail address, ZIP code and contribution amount, only to the charity's e-mail address verified with Stripe. If the charity has no verified address, it receives the totals only.
• A charity that is a KadoPool partner is also told the pool's title, the Organizer's name and, for a pool given in honor of someone, that person's name.
• When the charity asks us to, we e-mail its tax receipts to Contributors in its name, using these details.

The Organizer never sees individual amounts, on any pool.

What e-mails do we send, and do we use cookies?

We send receipts and pool updates by e-mail and, if you allow them, as notifications on your phone. People an Organizer invites get the invitation and reminders about that pool. We also send occasional news and gift ideas; outside the United States, only to people who agreed to receive them. Each of these has a one-click unsubscribe that doesn't stop the e-mails about your pools, and we don't send them to the people of a sympathy or get-well pool for 60 days.

We don't use advertising cookies. We count website visits with an analytics service that uses no cookies and doesn't follow you across sites. The app and the website keep your sign-in on your device.

How long do we keep your information?

Periods start when the gift is sent to the Recipient: the e-mail telling them it's ready, which can come later than the day the Organizer closes the pool.

We can recover a deleted photo or KadoClip for 7 days after it is deleted; then it is gone.

How do I delete my account?

What happens when you delete your account:

• Deleted: your profile, e-mail address, display name and avatar; your Gift Vibe; the KadoClips you received; and the photos you added (a photo already in a KadoClip stays in that video until the KadoClip is deleted, and a reported photo is kept as Section 8 describes).
• Kept without your name: your messages, signed "Anonymous" in the Recipient's KadoBook until it is deleted; the pools you organized; and your payment records (amounts and dates), which we must keep for tax reporting and fraud prevention. Your pool memberships are unlinked from you.

What about children?

You must be 18 or older to use KadoPool (Terms §2). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13; if we learn we have, we delete it. A photo added for a KadoClip may show children: it is added by an adult, who confirms they have the consent of everyone in it, and of the parent for any child who isn't theirs.

What are my rights?

Depending on where you live (for example New Jersey, California, Quebec, or the UK or EU), you may have the right to access your personal data, correct it, delete it, object to how we use it and receive a copy to take elsewhere.

To use these rights, write to lifeguard@kadopool.com.

If you live in the UK or the EU, you can also complain to your data protection authority.

If you live in the UK or the EU: we use your information to run the service you ask for, to meet our legal obligations (payments, taxes, reports), in our legitimate interest in keeping KadoPool safe and working well, and with your consent where we ask for it, such as photos and phone notifications.

Where is my information processed?

KadoPool is based in the United States. If you use KadoPool from another country, your information is sent to and processed in the United States. The companies that help us run KadoPool (hosting, payments, e-mail, notifications, gift cards and printing) receive only what each needs to do its part.

Will this policy change?

We may update this policy periodically. We will notify you of significant changes via email or an in-app notification.

Do you represent a Partner Organization?

When you register an organization, we collect its name, ZIP code and a contact e-mail. When you claim it, we collect your name, role and phone number, its EIN, and the verification Stripe performs on the organization and its bank account. We use them to verify the organization (KYB) and pay it.