Privacy policy
Effective February 24, 2026
At Backgrounder, we built this platform for one simple reason: scams create confusion, pressure, and fear. People deserve clarity before they act. Backgrounder helps individuals, families, executives, and small businesses verify suspicious messages, profiles, websites, payment requests, and other interactions that don’t feel right. We combine fast AI analysis with experienced human security researchers so you can make informed decisions with confidence.
Backgrounder, Inc. (“Backgrounder,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your information responsibly. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, how we protect it, and the choices you have when using our website, platform, and related services (the “Services”).
We believe privacy, transparency, and user control should be standard, especially in moments when trust feels uncertain. If you ever have questions about how your information is handled, we encourage you to reach out.
1. What Information We Collect
We collect Personal Data relating to you through your interaction with our Services and information we may receive from Other Sources, such as our trusted security and safety partners to protect safety and prevent fraud, abuse, and other threats to our Services, and from marketing or advertising vendors who provide us with information about potential customers of our business services.
| Categories of Personal Information We Collect | Categories of Sources of Personal Information | Business Purpose for Collection of Personal Information |
|---|---|---|
| Identifiers. For example: Name, Date of Birth, Social Media Account Information, Profile Data, IP Address. | Directly from You or Your use of the Service; Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies; Third Parties (such as affiliates, agents, service providers and other users) | Developing, Improving, and Providing the Service, Identification, Communications, Marketing, Analytics, Security, Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Obligations. |
| Account Profile Information. For example: Email Address, Home Address, Billing Address, Phone Number. | Directly from You or Your use of the Service; Third Parties (such as affiliates, agents, service providers and other users) | Developing, Improving, and Providing the Service, Identification, Communicating with You, Marketing, Analytics, Security, Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Obligations. |
| Commercial Information. For example: Transaction Data including services offered, considered, or purchased. | Directly from You or Your use of the Service. | Developing, Improving, and Providing the Service, Identification, Communications, Marketing, Analytics, Security, Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Obligations. |
| Sensitive Personal Information. For example: health related data, or biometric data to assist with scam detection. | Directly from You or Your use of the Service. | Providing the Service. |
| Financial Data/Payment Information. For example: Credit card or other financial account information. | Directly from You or Your use of the Service; Third Parties (such as affiliates, agents, service providers and other users) | Improving and Providing the Service, Identification, Communications, Security, Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Obligations. |
| Internet or Device Activities. This may include Information from Cookies. For example: IP address, Browser type, Operating system, Access dates and times, Interaction logs. | Directly from You or Your use of the Service; Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies; Third Parties (such as affiliates, agents, service providers and other users) | Developing, Improving, and Providing the Service, Identification, Communications, Marketing, Analytics, Security, Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Obligations. |
| Geolocation Information. Your approximate or precise location. | Directly from You or Your use of the Service; Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies; Third Parties (such as affiliates, agents, service providers and other users) | Developing, Improving, and Providing the Service, Identification, Communications, Marketing, Analytics, Security, Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Obligations. |
| Customer Support Interactions. | Directly from You or Your use of the Service; Service Providers; Third Parties (such as affiliates) | Providing and Improving the Service, Identification, Communications, Marketing, Security, Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Obligations. |
| Platform Communications. Communication Information (e.g., your name, contact information, and the contents of any communications). | Directly from You, Your use of the Service, and Users with whom you communicate | Developing, Improving, and Providing the Service, Security, Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Obligations. |
2. How We Use Data
Backgrounder uses personal data only to operate, secure, and improve the service, and not for advertising, resale, or AI model training.
Provide and Maintain the Service. Backgrounder uses the personal data you submit (e.g., screenshots, links, descriptions, contact details) to analyze suspicious activity and deliver scam assessments. We also use identifiers (name, email, phone) and conversation history to run your account and communicate with you.
To Detect and Prevent Scams and Fraud. Backgrounder uses both your case submissions and scammer-related data to detect fraud patterns and prevent malicious activity. This includes using scammer names, emails, phone numbers, domains, and communications.
To Improve the Service (But Not Using Your Personal Data). Backgrounder improves its systems using: Scammer data only, for model training, aggregated or de-identified information, not personal data.
To Communicate With You About Your Account or Case. Backgrounder uses your identifiers (name, email, phone) and conversation data to send: Case status updates, Service-related communications, account notices.
To Process Payments Securely (via Stripe). If you subscribe, your payment information is used only to complete the transaction.
To Comply With Legal Requirements. Backgrounder may use or disclose personal data only when legally required, such as in response to a court order or subpoena.
To Respond to Your Requests. If you direct Backgrounder to report a scam, your conversation data may be shared with authorities or partners at your request.
3. When We Disclose Personal Data
We disclose your Personal Data in the following circumstances:
Vendors and Service Providers. To assist us in meeting business operations needs and to perform certain services and functions, we disclose Personal Data to vendors and service providers, including providers of hosting services, customer service vendors, cloud services, content delivery services, support and safety services, email communication software, web analytics services, payment and transaction processors, search and shopping providers, marketing service providers, and information technology providers. We also work with service providers who help us with age and identity verification. Based on our instructions, these parties will access, process, or store Personal Data only in the course of performing their duties to us.
Business Transfers. If we are involved in strategic transactions, reorganization, bankruptcy, receivership, or transition of service to another provider (collectively, a “Transaction”), your Personal Data may be disclosed in the diligence process with counterparties and others assisting with the Transaction and transferred to a successor or affiliate as part of that Transaction along with other assets.
Government Authorities or Other Third Parties. We may share your Personal Data, including information about your interaction with our Services, with government authorities, industry peers, or other third parties in compliance with the law (i) if required to do so to comply with a legal obligation, or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, (ii) to protect and defend our rights or property, (iii) if we determine, in our sole discretion, that there is a violation of our terms, policies, or the law; (iv) to detect or prevent fraud or other illegal activity; (v) to protect the safety, security, and integrity of our products, employees, users, or the public, or (vi) to protect against legal liability.
Business Account Administrators. When you subscribe, the administrators of that account may access and control your Backgrounder account, including being able to access your content. In addition, if you create an account using an email address belonging to your employer or another organization, we may share the fact that you have an account and certain account information, such as your email address, with your employer or organization to, for example, enable you to be added to their business account.
Other Users and Third Parties You Interact or Share Information With. Certain Services allow you to interact or share information (like scam reports) with other users or third parties. Information you share with third-party partners is governed by their own terms and privacy policies, and you should make sure you understand those terms and policies before sharing information with them.
4. What Data We Retain
We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including providing our Services, complying with legal obligations, and resolving disputes.
We retain information related to suspected scammers (such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, domains, and associated communications) only for as long as needed to provide the service or as required by applicable law.
Backgrounder does not store payment card information. All payment information is processed and retained by Stripe in accordance with its PCI-compliant security practices.
We do not train AI models on your personal data or personal details contained in your submissions. Any model training is limited to confirmed scammer data.
5. Your Rights
Users have the following rights regarding their personal information, which they may exercise by contacting support@backgrounder.com.
Depending on where you live, you may have certain statutory rights in relation to your Personal Data. For example, you may have the right to:
- Access your Personal Data and information relating to how it is processed
- Rectify or update your Personal Data
- Transfer your Personal Data to a third party (right to data portability)
- Withdraw your consent where we rely on consent as the legal basis for processing
- Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority
6. How We Interact with Children
Our Services are not directed to, or intended for, children under 13. We do not knowingly collect Personal Data from children under 13 in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). If you have reason to believe that a child under 13 has provided Personal Data to Backgrounder through the Services, please email us at support@backgrounder.com. We will investigate any notification and, if appropriate, delete the Personal Data from our systems. Users between 13 and 18 must have permission from their parent or guardian to use our Services.
7. How We Protect Your Data
We implement commercially reasonable technical, administrative, and organizational measures designed to protect Personal Data from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, no Internet or email transmission is ever fully secure or error free. Therefore, you should take special care in deciding what information you provide to the Services. In addition, we are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Service, or third-party websites.
8. Additional U.S. State Disclosures
The following table provides additional information about the categories of Personal Data we collect and how we use and disclose that information. You can read more about the Personal Data we collect, where we collect it, how we use Personal Data, when we disclose Personal Data, and how we retain Personal Data in the Sections above.
Depending on where you live and subject to applicable exceptions, you may have the following privacy rights in relation to your Personal Data:
- The right to know information about our processing of your Personal Data, including the right to access your Personal Data, often in a portable format;
- The right to correct your Personal Data; and
- The right to be free from retaliation relating to the exercise of any of your privacy rights.
We do not “sell” Personal Data or “share” Personal Data for cross-contextual behavioral advertising, and we do not process Personal Data for “targeted advertising” purposes (as those terms are defined under state privacy laws).
Global Privacy Control. We recognize the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal as a valid opt-out request under California, Colorado, and Connecticut privacy laws. When we detect a GPC signal from your browser, we automatically disable analytics tracking and data sharing for your session. You can enable GPC in your browser settings or by installing a GPC-compatible browser extension. Learn more at globalprivacycontrol.org.
Exercising Your Rights. You can exercise privacy rights described in this section by submitting a request through support@backgrounder.com.
Verification. In order to protect your Personal Data from unauthorized access, change, or deletion, we may require you to verify your credentials before you can submit a request to know, correct, or delete Personal Data. If you do not have an account with us, or if we suspect fraudulent or malicious activity, we may ask you to provide additional Personal Data for verification. If we cannot verify your identity, we will not be able to honor your request.
Authorized Agents. Depending upon where you reside, you may also submit a rights request through an authorized agent. If you do so, the agent must present authority to act on your behalf, such as signed written permission, and you may also be required to independently verify your identity with us. Authorized agent requests can be submitted to support@backgrounder.com.
Appeals. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to appeal a decision we make relating to requests to exercise your rights. To appeal a decision, please send your request to support@backgrounder.com.
| Category of Personal Data | Use of Personal Data | Disclosure of Personal Data |
|---|---|---|
We collect the following information, as described above:
| We use this information for the following purposes, as described above:
| We may disclose this information in the following circumstances, as described above:
|
9. Information for Canadian Users
If you are located in Canada, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and applicable provincial privacy legislation provide you with rights regarding your Personal Data. In addition to the rights described in Section 5, you have the right to:
- Be informed of the existence, use, and disclosure of your Personal Data and be given access to it;
- Challenge the accuracy and completeness of your Personal Data and have it amended;
- Withdraw consent to the collection, use, or disclosure of your Personal Data;
- Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.
Cross-Border Data Transfers. Backgrounder is based in the United States, and your Personal Data is stored and processed on servers located in the United States. By using our Services, you acknowledge and consent to the transfer of your Personal Data to the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in Canada. We apply the same security safeguards described in Section 7 regardless of where data is stored, including encryption at rest and in transit, access controls, and regular security assessments.
Commercial Electronic Messages. We comply with Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). We will only send you commercial electronic messages if you have provided express consent. You may withdraw consent at any time by using the unsubscribe mechanism in our emails or by updating your preferences in your account settings.
10. Changes to the Privacy Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will publish an updated version and effective date on this page, unless another type of notice is required by applicable law.
11. How to Contact Us
If you have questions or wish to exercise your privacy rights, contact us at:
Email. Send us a message at support@backgrounder.com.
Address. 901 N. Glebe Road, 5th Floor, Arlington, VA 22203