Happenstance Privacy Summary

The one thing to know: the company's words on your data disagree

The security page says user data is never used to train AI models. The privacy policy does not mention AI training and allows use to improve the service and products. The policy also says the company may have sold personal information in the last twelve months, while its general statement says it does not sell information as the term is commonly understood. ^{[2] [1]}

Both are company documents, and they disagree. That is enough reason to get the answer in writing before you connect sensitive contacts. ^{[1] [2]}

What it reads, and what each source is used for

Gmail gives Happenstance headers only, not message bodies or attachments, and it uses them to find people you emailed and rank them by contact history. Calendar and Contacts data feed the shared-connection and ranking features. From a LinkedIn export it reads connections and work histories, but not message content; only optional message headers, which show who and when, rank relationship strength. Outlook appears on the home page without any description of its data. ^{[1] [3] [4] [5]}

The policy names the providers that process data: Google and Microsoft for sign-in, PostHog and Grafana for analytics, Loops and Resend for email, AWS and Vercel for hosting, and Stripe for payments. Stripe handles payments, and the company does not store payment details. ^[1]

Other members can see more than the policy suggests

Visibility is limited to you, your accepted friends and the groups you join. A public profile shows named connections unless you turn that setting off, and the default is on. Groups pool connections into one searchable network, so anything you add to a group is visible to its members. ^{[2] [6]}

Sale of data: the policy says two different things

The policy says the company does not sell personal information as the term sell is commonly understood. Its California section says it may sell and may have sold personal information in the last twelve months, in several categories. It also says analytics and advertising use may count as a sale under California law. The policy does not say which categories were actually sold. ^[1]

AI and your data: get the answer in writing

The site's statement on training is stronger than the policy, so the site's words are the ones to hold the company to. Ask whether any contact data, including LinkedIn messages' headers and Gmail metadata, is used to train its models, and ask for the answer in writing. ^{[2] [1]}

How to delete your data

1. Open your account settings and look for the account deletion option. The policy names settings as the route.
2. If you cannot find it, email info@happenstance.ai and ask for deletion in writing.
3. Disconnect Google first. Disconnecting stops new collection and deletes imported data that is not needed for legal or security purposes.
4. Check that the imported data is gone. The policy gives no retention period to measure against, so this check is the only proof you get. ^[1]

Verdict: connect the minimum, and wait on the open questions

Connect Gmail, Calendar and Contacts, since the policy describes those. Hold off on Outlook, LinkedIn and the other listed sources until the company says what it takes. Ask in writing about AI training and about the sold categories, and treat the answers as the deciding factor before you connect a sensitive contact list. ^{[1] [2]}