Privacy Policy

Last updated: March 10, 2026

Background ("we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our project management application and website (collectively, the "Service").

1. Information We Collect

Information You Provide

• Account information: When you sign up, we collect your name, email address, username, and password.
• Profile information: You may optionally provide a phone number, job title, and profile photo.
• Organization data: Organization name, team member information, and workspace settings.
• Project data: Project details, time entries, invoices, contacts, comments, and files you upload to the Service.
• Payment information: If you subscribe to a paid plan, payment details are processed by our third-party payment processor. We do not store full credit card numbers.

Information Collected Automatically

• Usage data: Pages visited, features used, and interactions with the Service.
• Device information: Browser type, operating system, IP address, device identifiers, and screen resolution.
• Error and performance data: We use Sentry, a third-party error monitoring service, to collect information about errors, crashes, and performance issues in the Service. This may include stack traces, browser console logs, user actions leading up to an error (breadcrumbs), and session replay data such as anonymized recordings of user interactions. This data is used solely to diagnose and fix bugs and improve Service reliability.
• Cookies: We use essential cookies for authentication and session management. See Section 6 for details.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve the Service
• Create and manage your account
• Process transactions and send related information
• Send transactional communications (password resets, verification emails and SMS, account notifications)
• Respond to your requests and support inquiries
• Monitor and analyze usage trends to improve user experience
• Detect, prevent, and address technical issues and security threats

3. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share information in the following circumstances:

• Within your organization: Other members of your organization can see your name, email, position, and profile photo as part of normal Service functionality.
• Service providers: We use third-party services to help operate the Service, including:
  • Cloud hosting and data storage (DigitalOcean)
  • Email delivery (Resend)
  • SMS delivery (Twilio)
  • Error monitoring and session replay (Sentry)
  • DNS and email routing (Cloudflare)
  • Payment processing
  These providers only access your data as needed to perform their services and are bound by their respective data processing agreements and privacy policies.
• Legal requirements: We may disclose your information if required by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request.
• Business transfers: In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

4. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data, including:

• Encryption of data in transit (TLS/SSL)
• Hashed passwords using bcrypt
• JWT-based authentication with token expiration
• Hashed verification codes for phone verification
• Organization-scoped data access to ensure multi-tenant isolation

While we strive to protect your information, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, and we cannot guarantee that your data will not be lost, altered, or destroyed. You are responsible for maintaining your own copies and backups of any data you consider important.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. If you delete your account, we will delete or anonymize your personal data within 30 days, except where we are required to retain it for legal or legitimate business purposes.

Project data, time entries, and other content you create within an organization are retained as part of the organization's data and are subject to the organization administrator's policies.

6. Cookies

We use the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies: Required for authentication and core functionality. These cannot be disabled.
• Preference cookies: Remember your settings and preferences within the application.

We do not use third-party advertising or tracking cookies.

7. Your Rights

General Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Access and receive a copy of your personal data
• Correct inaccurate personal data
• Request deletion of your personal data
• Object to or restrict processing of your data
• Data portability (receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format such as CSV or JSON)
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent

To exercise these rights, contact us at the address below. We will respond within 30 days of receiving your request.

California Residents (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

• Right to Know: You may request details about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you
• Right to Delete: You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights

We do not sell personal information as defined by the CCPA, and we have not sold personal information in the preceding 12 months.

European Residents (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom, we process your personal data under the following legal bases:

• Performance of a contract: To provide and maintain the Service you have signed up for
• Legitimate interests: To improve the Service, ensure security, and communicate with you about your account
• Consent: Where you have provided consent for specific processing activities, such as non-essential cookies
• Legal obligation: To comply with applicable laws and regulations

8. Data Controller and Processor

With respect to personal data you provide about yourself (account information, profile data), Background acts as the data controller.

With respect to data you or your organization store in the Service about third parties (client contacts, project stakeholders), you and your organization are the data controller and Background acts as a data processor, processing such data only as necessary to provide the Service and in accordance with your instructions.

9. Data Breach Notification

In the event of a data breach that affects your personal data, we will notify affected users and, where required by law, the relevant supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach. Notification will include the nature of the breach, the data affected, and the steps we are taking to address it.

10. Children's Privacy

The Service is not intended for children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If we learn that we have collected such information, we will promptly delete it.

11. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States and other countries where our service providers operate. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable data protection laws.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. For significant changes, we may also notify you via email. Your continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Background
Email: support@onbackground.app