Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how STARTUP FORTUNE LTD, a company registered in England and Wales (company no. 17485737), the data controller ("Metropolix", "the Company", "we", "us" or "our"), collects, uses, shares and protects information in connection with Metropolix at https://metropolix.io (the "Service").
1. Information we collect
Account and startup information you give us: your name, email address, startup name and website, your password (stored only as a salted hash), and the details you add to your profile: logo, tagline, descriptions, tags, products, services, updates, offers and building choices.
Activity: the space you hold, likes you give and receive, reviews you write, visit counts, and what you do in Account.
Payment information: handled by Stripe. We receive your Stripe customer and subscription identifiers, plan, status and renewal dates, never your full card number.
Communications: messages you send through the Contact page or by email, and the emails we send you (confirmation, password reset, welcome, payment notices).
Automatically collected: IP address, browser and device type, referring page, pages and time of access, and approximate location from your IP address, through server logs and cookies.
Explorers, names and the Metropolix board
When you explore Metropolix on foot or by car you get an explorer name (one you choose, or a random two-word one) and a figure. While you explore, other explorers nearby see your name, your figure and where you are in Metropolix, and can open a small card with your time exploring and the number of places you have visited. Nothing outside Metropolix is used: no real location. Your name and your numbers are kept in your own browser. They are sent to us only if you choose to save your progress, which creates an account from your email: we email you a username and a generated password, and an account that is not confirmed by email within 30 minutes is removed; once saved, your numbers are stored with the account.
The Metropolix board is public and temporary: messages are kept in memory for at most 60 minutes and are then gone, and nothing is private on it. Links, rude words and spam are not allowed and messages that break this may be removed. Explorer numbers are for fun; they are not checked and are not used for rankings.
2. Cookies
We use only essential cookies: a session cookie that keeps you signed in (30 days), a visitor cookie that lets us count a like or visit once (1 year), a short visitor cookie that counts people online and keeps one live-explorer connection per visitor (30 days), and, for invited testers, a preview cookie (7 days). We do not currently use advertising or analytics cookies. See the Cookies page for details. If that changes, we will ask for your consent where the law requires it.
3. How we use information
We do not sell your personal information.
- To run the Service: create and secure your account, place and show your space, and keep Metropolix consistent.
- To process payments and manage your subscription.
- To send service emails: confirmation, password reset, receipts, payment notices and the details we need for your Startup Fortune feature.
- To respond to your enquiries and requests.
- To prevent fraud, abuse and security incidents, and to comply with the law.
- To understand usage and improve the Service.
4. Legal bases (UK and EU GDPR)
We process personal data to perform our contract with you (your account and plan), for our legitimate interests in running, securing and improving the Service and promoting member startups in Metropolix, to comply with legal obligations, and with your consent where required.
5. What is public
Your startup profile is public by design: startup name, logo, tagline, descriptions, tags, website, products, services, updates, offers, address in Metropolix, visit and like counts, and reviews you write (shown with your company name). Your email, name and billing details are never shown publicly.
6. Who we share it with
We share limited information with service providers who help us run the Service, under their own terms: Stripe (payments and billing portal), Google (email delivery through Google Workspace) and our hosting provider. We may also disclose information where required by law or legal process, or to protect our rights, safety or property. The Startup Fortune team uses your startup details to produce the feature included in your plan.
7. Your rights
If you are in the UK or EEA you can ask to access, correct, erase, restrict or object to our use of your personal data, to receive it in a portable form, to withdraw consent, and to complain to your data protection authority (in the UK, the ICO). California residents can ask what we collect and how it is used, request deletion or correction, and opt out of any sale or sharing; we do not sell personal information. To exercise a right, use our Contact page or write to [email protected]. We will respond as the law requires.
8. Retention
We keep account information while your account is open and for as long as needed afterwards to meet legal, accounting and tax obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements. If you release your space, your profile, likes and reviews on it are deleted. We then delete or anonymise information we no longer need.
9. Security
We use HTTPS, hashed passwords, secure session cookies, restricted access to payment and email credentials, and keep card data with Stripe. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
10. International transfers
Our providers may process data outside the UK and EEA. Where they do, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses or equivalent mechanisms.
11. Children
The Service is for businesses and is not directed to anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.
12. Changes
We may update this policy. Changes take effect when posted, with a revised effective date, and we will email members about material changes.
13. Contact
For questions or requests about this policy or your data, use our Contact page or write to [email protected].