The Contract, in plain terms.

Who We Are

This Privacy Policy explains how The American Contract, operated by Silus (“we,” “us”), collects, uses, and protects information when you visit cross-hug.com, sign the Contract, subscribe to a membership tier, or use the CrossHUG platform. By using the platform you agree to this Policy. Questions: privacy@cross-hug.com.

Information You Give Us

When you sign the Contract or create an account we collect your name, email address, and the seal number assigned to you. If you subscribe to a paid tier we collect billing details through our payment processor (we do not store full card numbers — see “Payments”). If you post on CrossHUG, send messages, join caucuses, or participate in True Town Square, we store that content and the metadata around it (timestamps, your seal, engagement). If you apply for verification you may submit organizational or identity documents, which are processed for that purpose and described in “Verification.”

Information Collected Automatically

Like most websites, we collect technical data when you visit: IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, referring page, and approximate location derived from IP. We use first-party cookies for sign-in and preferences, and analytics (Google Analytics 4) to understand which content is read and how the funnel performs. You can block cookies in your browser; sign-in and some features may not work without them. See the Cookie Policy for the full inventory.

Advertising

Free-tier members and signed-out visitors may be shown ads served by Google AdSense, which may use cookies to show relevant ads. Paid members (Commitment, Frontier and Covenant) are not shown ads. A member under 18, or a member whose age we have not established, is never shown ads and the ad script is not loaded for them — the same rule that decides whether a member may be profiled. You can manage ad personalization at google.com/settings/ads. We do not sell your personal information.

How We Use Your Information

To create and maintain your account and seal; to deliver the content, curriculum, and social features of your tier; to process payments and send transactional email (welcome, receipts, security, and covenant notices); to operate, secure, and improve the platform; to enforce our Terms and Speech Rules; to respond to legal requests; and, where you have not opted out, to send occasional updates about the platform. We rely on your consent, our contract with you, and our legitimate interest in running a safe civic platform as the bases for this use.

Payments

Subscriptions, donations, Stakes, standing support between members, and other payments are processed by our third-party payment processor (e.g. Stripe). Your card details are handled and stored by the processor under PCI-DSS standards; we receive only limited information such as the card brand, last four digits, and payment status. We never store full card numbers on our servers.

Verification and Sensitive Data

If you submit documents for citizen or organization verification, we use them solely to confirm eligibility, retain them only as long as needed for that purpose and our legal obligations, and protect them with access controls. We do not undertake government-database identity checks except through a vetted, compliant verification vendor where you have been told so. Do not submit sensitive documents through public posts or messages.

Sharing

We share information only with: service providers who run the platform on our behalf (hosting, database, email delivery, analytics, payments, verification) under contracts that limit their use of it; institutional partners only in aggregate or where you have explicitly engaged with them; and authorities when required by valid legal process or to protect rights, safety, and the integrity of the platform. We do not sell personal information.

Children

The platform is for signers age 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. The Youth Empowerment Toolkits are licensed to schools and operated under those institutions’ supervision and consent, not through individual child accounts on this platform.

Your Choices and Rights

You may access, correct, export, or delete your account information, and object to or restrict certain processing, by emailing privacy@cross-hug.com or using in-product settings. Depending on where you live (including under California’s CCPA/CPRA and similar U.S. state laws), you may have rights to know what we collect, to delete it, to correct it, and to opt out of “sharing” for cross-context advertising — we honor these and do not discriminate against you for exercising them. We answer requests within 30 days, sooner where required by law.

Data Retention

We keep account and seal records for as long as your account is active and as needed to provide the service and meet legal, tax, and accounting obligations. Public Roll entries are part of the permanent civic record by design; you may make your Roll listing private in settings. Verification documents are deleted when no longer needed. Backups are purged on a rolling schedule.

Security

We protect information with encryption in transit, access controls, and least-privilege practices, and we limit who can reach member data. No system is perfectly secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security, and you use the platform understanding that risk. If a breach affects your data, we will notify you and regulators as the law requires.

Where Data Is Processed

The platform operates from the United States and your information is processed here. If you access it from outside the U.S., you consent to that transfer and processing.

Changes

We may update this Policy as the platform evolves or the law changes. We will post the new effective date here and, for material changes, notify members by email or in-product notice. Continued use after an update means you accept the revised Policy.

Contact

Privacy questions and rights requests: privacy@cross-hug.com. Data requests are answered within 30 days.