Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Innovator Lens is a product of Tinker Playground LLC ("Tinker Playground," "we," "us," or "our"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data responsibly. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal data when you use our website, sign up for an account, subscribe to a paid plan, or otherwise interact with our platform and related offerings.

Innovator Lens is based in the United States, and we may process data globally, in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable laws.

2. Updates to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in legal obligations, technologies, or business practices. Updates will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. We encourage you to review it regularly.

3. What We Do

Innovator Lens is a research and market-intelligence platform. We aggregate publicly available U.S. federal data — including SBIR/STTR grant awards (SBIR.gov), federal spending records (USAspending), securities filings (SEC EDGAR), and patents (USPTO) — into research-ready company profiles and market signals.

We surface the names and roles of people named in those public records — such as grant principal investigators, patent inventors, and publication authors. We do not provide personal contact details (such as email addresses or phone numbers), sell or make available contact or marketing lists, or facilitate outbound marketing.

4. What Personal Data We Collect

We collect the following types of personal data depending on your interaction with us:

4.1 Identity and Contact Data

• Name
• Email address (including the Google account you sign in with)
• Organization or employer (optional)
• Role or title (optional)

4.2 Account and Authentication Data

• Sign-in identifiers from Google OAuth
• Preferences and profile settings
• Plan, entitlements, and account role

4.3 Billing Data

• Subscription plan, billing interval, and status
• Country and other billing details you provide at checkout (collected and processed by Paddle — see Section 6)

We do not collect or store full payment card numbers. Card and payment details are handled directly by our payment provider, Paddle.

4.4 Technical and Device Data

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Operating system and device type
• Location (approximate, based on IP)

4.5 Usage Data

• Pages visited and time spent
• Search queries, filters, and saved searches
• Navigation behavior
• Referring URL

4.6 Communication and Feedback

• Emails and messages sent to us
• Feedback, support requests, or feature requests
• Responses to surveys or forms

4.7 Publicly Available Professional Data

• Names, roles, and professional affiliations drawn from government and public databases, patent filings, publications, and funding disclosures
• This data is displayed as part of company research profiles; see Section 12 for how to request removal or correction.

5. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following lawful purposes:

6. Payment Processing (Paddle)

When you purchase a paid plan, your payment is processed by Paddle.com Market Limited and its affiliates (collectively, "Paddle"), which act as our Merchant of Record. Paddle collects and processes your payment information — such as your card or PayPal details, billing name, address, and country (used to calculate applicable taxes) — directly, as an independent data controller under its own privacy policy.

We do not receive or store your full card number. From Paddle we receive only the transaction and subscription information needed to manage your account, such as your plan, billing interval, subscription status, customer and transaction identifiers, and the email associated with the purchase. For details on how Paddle handles your data, please review Paddle's privacy policy at paddle.com.

7. Marketing Communications

We may send you service updates, newsletters, or product announcements related to Innovator Lens. You can opt out of marketing at any time by:

• Clicking the "unsubscribe" link in the email
• Adjusting preferences in your account (where available)
• Contacting us at hello@innovatorlens.com

You may still receive critical service-related notices (such as billing or security messages) regardless of your marketing preferences.

8. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell or rent your personal data. We may share it under limited conditions:

• Payment processing: With Paddle, our Merchant of Record, to process purchases, billing, taxes, and refunds (see Section 6).
• With trusted service providers: For platform hosting, authentication, email delivery, analytics, and support, under confidentiality obligations.
• Within our organization: With our team and contractors on a need-to-know basis under confidentiality.
• With legal authorities: If required to comply with a court order or law, or to protect our rights.
• As part of a business transaction: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
• With your consent: When explicitly requested or agreed to by you.

9. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Maintain login sessions
• Analyze traffic and usage
• Enhance your experience

Our payment provider, Paddle, may also set cookies during checkout to process your transaction securely and help prevent fraud. You can control cookie settings through your browser.

10. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational safeguards to protect your personal data:

• TLS encryption in transit and encryption at rest
• Role-based access control and row-level security
• Routine security reviews and updates
• Logging and anomaly detection

Despite our best efforts, no system is 100% secure. We recommend using a strong, unique password on your sign-in account and monitoring your account activity.

11. International Data Transfers and Retention

Your personal data may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your own, including the United States. Where we transfer data internationally, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses or adequacy decisions. We retain your personal data only as long as necessary to provide the Service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements; when there is no ongoing need, we delete or anonymize it.

12. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights:

• Access: Obtain a copy of your personal data
• Rectification: Correct incomplete or inaccurate information
• Erasure: Request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten")
• Restriction: Limit how your data is processed
• Portability: Receive your data in a machine-readable format
• Objection: Object to processing (e.g., for direct marketing)
• Withdraw consent: If you previously provided consent

If you appear in a public research profile and wish to request correction or removal of your information, or to exercise any of the rights above, email us at hello@innovatorlens.com. We may request verification before processing your request.

13. Children's Privacy

Our platform is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If we discover that we have inadvertently collected such data, we will take steps to delete it promptly.

14. Anonymous and Aggregate Data

We may anonymize personal data for internal analysis and research to improve our platform. This data is no longer personally identifiable and is not subject to this Privacy Policy.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, your data, or our practices, please contact:

Innovator Lens — a product of Tinker Playground LLC
Email: hello@innovatorlens.com