Effective: September 27, 2026 · Last updated: October 6, 2026
This policy explains what Startups Science collects when you visit the site, sign in, add a startup, earn points, sponsor the wall, click a listing, or claim blocks on the earlier walls; why; who it's shared with; and how long it's kept. We keep it small: the only account is an optional Google sign-in for the Evolution Wall, and there are no cookies and no advertising trackers. It sits alongside our Terms.
The site is run by Parthiv, an indie hacker, as a sole proprietorship based in India. Parthiv is responsible for the personal data described here. Contact: @Parthivv13 on X.
When you claim blocks. The name, link, optional tagline, and category you enter, the position and size of your blocks, and the image we look up for your link — all of which are shown publicly — plus your email address, which is private (see §4). We also keep a record of each checkout (what you selected, the amount, and its status) and of each payment (amount, status, and Dodo Payments' reference) for our accounts.
When you sign in to the Evolution Wall. Adding a startup, voting, reviewing, and sending suggestions and bug reports need a Google sign-in (nothing else on the site does). We receive your Google account's ID, name, email address and profile photo from Google. Your photo and name are shown only to you, in the page header. Your email address is private. We use the account to give each person one startup, to stop anyone from voting for or reviewing their own startup, to stop repeat votes and reviews, and to keep the points they earn.
When you add a startup to the Evolution Wall. The name, website, one-line pitch, and category you enter, and the logo we look up for that website — all shown publicly — plus your account and this browser's visitor ID (see below), which are private and stored with it. It's free, so no payment is involved.
Votes, reviews, suggestions and bug reports. What you write, the star rating, which startup it is for, who sent it (your account) and when. The text and who sent it are private: only we can read them, and the startup's public page shows only counts (for example “3 reviews”). The founder of the startup you wrote to can read what you sent it (and, for a bug report, your test cases), together with the name of your own startup, so they can answer a bug report; they never see your email address. Points earned by each action are recorded for both startups. The daily login bonus is recorded too: which startup took it, on which day, and how many points, so that it is given only once a day. A level-up you buy is recorded with the levels, the amount and the payment reference, which only you and we can see.
Sponsor widgets. If you buy sponsor widgets we keep the phase, quantity, name, website, tagline and logo you gave us, your account, and the payment reference. The name, logo, tagline and website are shown publicly on the wall while the widgets are showing, which has no time limit: until newer sponsors replace them or they are removed. Your email address is not shown. The record of the purchase, including the payment reference, is kept afterwards (see §7).
Payment details. Your card and billing details are collected by Dodo Payments, not by us. We send Dodo your email address and the amount; Dodo tells us whether the payment succeeded.
Identifiers stored in your browser. We don't use cookies. Instead the site keeps a few random values in your browser's storage — none of them contain your name or email:
These stay until you clear your browser's site data (the session key is cleared when you close the tab).
IP address. To stop abuse, our server counts requests per IP address. The IP address is stored in plain form for this purpose and automatically deleted after one to two hours. We don't store your browser's user agent or the page you came from.
Messages with us. If you message us (we're reachable on X), we keep the conversation as long as needed to help you and to keep a record. X's own privacy policy covers messages sent through it.
We don't sell your personal data, and we don't use it for advertising.
Everything shown with a listing is public, including to search engines: its name, link, tagline, category, image, position, size, claim date, and click count. The same goes for a startup on the Evolution Wall: its name, website, pitch, category, logo, stage, and the date it was added. Don't list anything you don't want shown publicly.
Your email address is private. It is never shown to other visitors, and it is not available through the public data the site's pages load. Only we can see it, to send your receipt and to deal with support and disputes.
We run the site from India, and the services above operate in other countries, so your data may be processed outside the country where you live. Where the law requires it, we rely on the safeguards those providers offer for such transfers, such as standard contractual clauses.
You can ask us to delete your data sooner — see §8.
Depending on where you live — for example under the EU/UK GDPR, India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, or California privacy law — you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of your personal data, to object to or restrict how we use it, and to complain to a data-protection authority. Message @Parthivv13 on X and include the email address you used at checkout; we may need enough detail to find your data. We'll delete what we can, except records the law requires us to keep, such as payment and tax records. Deleting your listing's data removes the listing from the wall.
The site is for adults. We don't knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has claimed blocks, contact us and we'll delete what we can identify.
Personal data is reachable only through server functions we control; the public site can read only what's shown on listings. No system is perfectly secure, but we limit what we collect so there's less to protect.
We'll update this policy when the site or the law changes, and change the date at the top when we do.
Privacy questions or requests: @Parthivv13 on X.