Information you provide
Email and contact enquiries
The email briefing form asks for one item: your email address. We use it to record your request for Risefinder updates. The hidden anti-spam field is ignored for genuine submissions.
If you subscribe while viewing a page with campaign labels in its URL, such as source, medium or campaign, we store those labels with your signup to understand which links lead to subscriptions. We do not require an analytics cookie for this. With JavaScript enabled, we keep the most recent valid labels in memory for up to 30 minutes while you navigate the open site. We set no visitor identifier or browser storage for this. Reloading or leaving the site clears that memory. With scripts blocked, labels must be present on the signup page. Missing labels remain unknown; they are not proof of a referral. These labels are separate from X ad-click measurement described below.
If you use the contact form, we collect your name, email address, selected topic and message. We store the enquiry in a private support queue with an owner, status and update history so it can be handled and followed up. Resend may also process these details to notify our operator inbox. A direct email to our support address is handled in that inbox; it is not automatically imported into the website support queue.
If you suggest a business, we collect your name and email, the business name and website, any public evidence link you provide, and your explanation. We keep the tip in the private support queue for editorial review and may contact you about it. A suggestion does not subscribe you, verify ownership, change a score, or trigger a ranking, interview or social-media tag. Suggestion details are not emailed automatically to the operator inbox.
If you answer the one-question feedback form, we store your answer with the email address you enter as a private, self-reported lead record. We do not verify that address, connect the answer to a newsletter subscription, or use the form to subscribe you. A source link opening is only a possible first-value signal; the feedback form does not prove you read a source.
If you answer the written riser interview, we store the name, email, project name and six answers you submit in a private record. We use them to review a possible Q&A and contact you about it. The new interview form asks for explicit permission to publish your name, project and answers, edit for length and clarity without changing their meaning, and share attributed excerpts on LinkedIn, X, Instagram and Threads after editorial approval. Your email stays private. Earlier submissions keep their original draft-approval terms. Interviews do not create a newsletter subscription. Identity and factual claims still need review before publication.
If you answer the written reader research form, we save your email, self-described role and three answers about use, missing features and willingness to pay in a private research record. You confirm you have used RiseFinder and agree to private review and contact about your answers. Your email and use are self-reported, not verified. This does not subscribe you, book a meeting or publish your answers. Earlier volunteer requests remain in the private support queue.
If you separately agree to a reader research conversation, our team may keep brief private notes under a study code about your work task, what you found useful or missing, and whether checking an original source helped. The note form does not ask for your name, email, recording or browsing history. Scheduling details and any recording permission are handled separately. A research note does not subscribe you, trigger a follow-up, or publish your answers.
All forms are voluntary. Without your email address we cannot send the briefing or link a feedback answer to its private record. Without the required contact-form details we cannot receive or answer an enquiry through that form.
Your shortlist choices
Saved risers
Without signing in, Saved stores public riser identifiers in this browser’s local storage. When signed in with Google, your Saved identifiers and save times are stored privately against your verified account identifier so you can access the list on another device. Saves are not sent as analytics events or used to create email alerts. The Saved page matches identifiers to the current published catalog.
Your browser list is never automatically uploaded when you sign in. The explicit import button merges it into your current account without deleting the browser list or changing existing save times. Import only a list that belongs to you. You can remove individual account or browser saves on the Saved page. Clearing site data removes the browser list, not your account list. Account records remain until removed or your account is deleted; contact us to request account deletion.
Optional account
Your startup portfolio
If you choose Google sign-in, Google and Supabase authenticate your account. We receive an account identifier and email address. The authentication record can also include your Google profile name and image. Necessary session cookies keep you signed in. We store your selected company identifiers, fictional allocations and selection times against that account so you can access your private portfolio on another device. Signing in does not subscribe you to the email briefing or enable optional analytics.
You can remove individual positions from your portfolio and sign out. Contact us to request deletion of your account and associated records. Your browser-local Saved list remains separate unless you explicitly import it into your account.
Information handled automatically
Usage and performance
Hosting and security systems may process standard request information, such as an IP address, requested page, browser and time of access. Vercel Web Analytics stores anonymized page-view data without cookies. It also counts when a visitor opens an original source from a Risefinder result, entity history or field note. This source-open event includes only the part of the site where the click happened; it does not include your email address, search text, an entity name or the destination URL. It also counts clicks on the homepage Explore link and successful briefing signups; neither count includes your email address or anything you typed. Speed Insights records anonymous performance data such as route, device type, browser, country and web-vital measurements.
If you choose “Allow analytics,” Google Analytics 4 loads and may set first-party analytics cookies. It receives page paths and campaign tags, plus events when someone clicks the homepage Explore link or successfully joins the briefing. We do not send email addresses, form text, search queries or advertising identifiers in these events. Declining leaves the site fully usable and keeps the Google tag unloaded. You can change your choice using Analytics settings in the footer.
The X pixel loads across the site to measure visits and advertising performance. X may receive the page URL, browser and network information and use cookies or advertising identifiers. When X server tracking is configured, a successfully saved newsletter signup also sends X a SHA-256 hash of your trimmed, lowercase email, the conversion time, the source page URL without query parameters and a deduplication identifier. When an X ad supplies a click ID in the landing-page URL, we retain that ID in a host-only, secure first-party cookie for up to 30 days and send it with the signup conversion to help X associate it with the ad. Navigation does not extend the original expiry. If cookies are blocked, the open page can keep the ID in memory until you reload or leave. X's own pixel may also store a first-party click cookie, which the signup server can use for the same purpose. We do not create a click ID for a visit that has none. The hash can be matched to information X already holds. The plain email address is not sent in this conversion request. This X measurement operates separately from the Google Analytics and returning-reader choices.
If you separately allow returning-reader measurement, our site sets a host-only, secure, HttpOnly cookie containing a random browser token for up to 45 days. When that browser opens an original evidence link, our server stores only a one-way hash of the token and the UTC day; repeated opens on the same day count once. We do not put your email, IP address, source URL, search, entity or page history in this record. We use it to count how many opted-in browsers opened evidence in consecutive weeks. The result describes only this opt-in group, not all visitors or whether an individual found value. Google Analytics permission does not enable this measurement.
Public-source information
Published entities
Risefinder publishes information gathered from public sources about websites, products, repositories, apps and companies. This usually concerns organizations or products, but a public listing may sometimes contain a person’s name or professional profile.
What we do not ask for
No payment details
Risefinder does not accept payments or ask visitors for telephone numbers, postal addresses, Google passwords or payment-card details. Google handles your sign-in credentials. Do not include passwords, payment details or other sensitive information in a contact message.
These providers may process information in countries outside your own. We may also disclose information when required by law, to protect rights or safety, or as part of a business transfer. X receives the advertising measurement information described above under its own privacy notice. Our email delivery and storage providers process subscriber information to provide those services.
Links from Risefinder lead to independent websites. Their privacy practices are governed by their own notices, not this one.
Retention
Subscriber email addresses are kept while the briefing list is active. If you unsubscribe, we stop sending updates but retain your address as an unsubscribed record so we can respect your choice. You can separately ask us to delete it. We do not keep personal information longer than needed for these purposes, except where limited retention is reasonably required for security, dispute resolution, backups or legal compliance.
Contact messages and their handling history are kept in the private support queue, and a notification may also be kept in the operator mailbox, only for as long as needed to respond, maintain an appropriate business record, resolve disputes or meet legal obligations. They are not added to the subscriber list unless the sender separately subscribes.
Feedback responses and their self-reported email addresses are kept only for as long as needed to understand product usefulness, respond to a request, or maintain an appropriate business record. They are not added to the subscriber list by this form.
Written reader answers, their contact email and earlier private research notes are kept only as long as needed to understand and improve the product. For written answers, contact us using the email you submitted or enough detail to find the record. Earlier notes use study codes, with their contact and scheduling details kept separately.
The opt-in reader cookie expires after at most 45 days. Its hashed daily evidence records are removed when you use Reader measurement settings to turn it off. Scheduled cleanup is currently paused; older records may remain stored until you withdraw or request removal. If immediate removal cannot be confirmed, the setting stops future recording and offers a retry. We do not use these records to contact or identify you. After withdrawal we keep the token hash solely to prevent a delayed click from restoring removed records. That protection expires after one day, although its stored hash may remain while scheduled cleanup is paused.
Security
We use access controls, encrypted connections and service providers with security measures intended to protect information. No internet service can guarantee absolute security, but we limit collection and access to reduce risk.