Privacy Requests FAQ

Privacy requests are the most common messages aVenture receives. This page answers them in plain language: how to delete an account, where public research profiles come from, what we will and will not remove, and how to ask. It summarizes the Privacy Policy — the policy is the controlling document.

The short version:

• Delete your user account at any time in Settings > Security or by emailing [email protected]. No justification needed.
• Correct a public research profile through the request data updates form. Anyone can submit a correction, and we update the record when public sources support it.
• Report non-public information through the same form or by email. We investigate every claim, and we remove information we cannot trace to a public source.

I want my personal profile deleted from the public aVenture website and research dataset. How do I do so?

Start with the distinction that decides what happens next: an aVenture user account and a public research profile are different things, handled under different rules.

• We remove user accounts on request. If you have an aVenture account, delete it at any time in Settings > Security, in the aVenture apps under Settings > Manage or delete your account, or by emailing [email protected]. Section 10 of the Privacy Policy lists exactly what is deleted, deidentified, and kept after account deletion.
• A user account is not the same as a public research profile. Most people who ask us to delete "their profile" have never had an aVenture account. The page they mean is a public research record about a person acting in a professional or organizational capacity — a founder, executive, investor, or director — built entirely from public sources.
• Public research profiles are supported by public records. Sources can include any publicly accessible web page, government or regulatory filing, news article, blog article, or public social media account. Because these profiles restate information that is already public, we do not delete accurate public-record information on request. We explain why in the next answers.

So, concretely:

1. If you have an aVenture account, delete it in Settings or email us — we honor every account deletion request.
2. If information on a research profile about you is inaccurate, outdated, or misleading, submit a correction with the public sources that support it. We review every request and update the record when independent sources corroborate the change.
3. If you believe specific information about you is not actually public, report it with the page address and the exact field or text. We investigate, and we remove anything we cannot trace to a public source.

The reasoning behind this policy is in Section 9 of the Privacy Policy and in our post on the distinction between Public Research Data and User Data.

Where does the information on aVenture profiles come from?

Exclusively from public sources: government and regulatory records; company, fund, accelerator, and professional websites, including profiles that people publish about themselves; news coverage, blogs, and other publications; and public social media accounts. Web research and crawling services retrieve these public pages for us, and we record where each fact came from.

It is not our intention to ever hold or use confidential, non-public information. If material we publish cannot be traced to a public source, we remove it — see "What if I find non-public information about me on aVenture?" below.

Section 3 of the Privacy Policy describes the sources in full, and Why Provenance Is the Foundation of Trustworthy Company Data explains how source provenance works in the research dataset.

Why doesn't aVenture remove accurate public-record information on request?

Because we believe people have a fundamental right to obtain and view public records about companies and the people who act on their behalf.

The people who found, lead, fund, and represent organizations are a vital part of those organizations' provenance — the historical record of who did what, on behalf of which company, and when. That record is a vital part of trust in public and private dealings: investors researching a company, partners evaluating a firm, and journalists and the public checking claims all rely on it. Removing accurate, lawfully public information from the record would obstruct freedom of information, disclosure, and the historical record about companies.

So our commitment is to accuracy, not erasure: we correct errors, add missing context, and remove anything that was never public — but we do not delete accurate public-record information because the subject prefers it private.

There are narrow exceptions. We limit or remove specific information when publishing it creates a credible safety risk, when the law requires it, or when it is materially false or misleading and cannot be corrected. See Section 9 of the Privacy Policy.

Is aVenture subject to the CCPA or GDPR?

At its current size and level of activity, aVenture does not believe it is a "business" subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act as that law defines the term — the CCPA applies to for-profit entities doing business in California that meet specific revenue or data-volume thresholds (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.140(d)). aVenture is based in the United States, does not direct its services to people in the European Union or the United Kingdom, and does not distribute its apps in EU or UK app storefronts, so it does not believe it is a data controller or processor within the GDPR's territorial scope (Article 3).

Separately, the CCPA's definition of "personal information" excludes "publicly available" information — information lawfully made available in government records, or lawfully made available to the general public by the person or from widely distributed media (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.140(v)(2)). Public research profiles are built from exactly those sources.

Regardless of jurisdiction, we honor user account deletion requests from anyone, and we investigate any claim that information on our website is incorrect or non-public — correcting a personal or organizational profile whenever a claim is substantiated. You do not need to establish that a particular law applies to you to make a request.

How do I delete my aVenture account?

Three ways, whichever is easiest:

• On the web: Settings > Security.
• In the aVenture apps for macOS, iPhone, and iPad: Settings > Manage or delete your account.
• By email: [email protected], or through the contact form. We may verify your identity before acting.

Deletion removes your profile details, sign-in identifiers, saved lists, saved views, notifications, organization memberships, and subscription. Section 10 of the Privacy Policy lists what is deleted, what is kept without your name or account link, and what is kept for legal and accounting purposes.

Deleting your account does not change public research profiles — those are not part of your account, as explained in the first answer above.

How do I correct inaccurate information on a company or person profile?

Submit the correction through the request data updates form. Anyone can submit a correction — the subject, a colleague, a user, or a third party — and no account is required.

A request a researcher can act on includes:

• The profile link (or enough detail to identify the company or person).
• The specific change — what the record says now and what it should say.
• Public sources that support the change, such as a funding announcement, an about page, a filing, or coverage in a publication. A link turns a request into something verifiable.

The research team reviews every submission and updates the record when independent sources corroborate the change. This walkthrough shows the form and what happens after you send it.

What if I find non-public or confidential information about me on aVenture?

Report it immediately through the request data updates form or to [email protected], and include:

• The specific information you believe is not public.
• Where it appears — the page address and the field or text.
• Why you believe it is not public.

We investigate every claim. We remove information we cannot trace to a public source, and we also limit or remove specific information when publishing it creates a credible safety risk or when the law requires it. This commitment is stated in Section 9 of the Privacy Policy.

Does aVenture sell personal information or act as a data broker?

No. aVenture does not sell User Data, and it does not believe it is a "data broker" as California law defines the term (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.99.80). Public Research Data is compiled from public sources and displayed publicly as part of our research products; it is not a sale of personal information.

If your situation is not covered here, reach us at [email protected] or through the contact form.