OpenWater Group
Last Updated: April 2026
OpenWater Group Inc., a Delaware corporation (“OpenWater Group,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), operates OpenWater, a curated professional community for experienced business professionals. This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) explains how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal information when you:
Visit our website at openwater.group (the “Site”)
Use our members-only community platform hosted on Circle, including through the Circle mobile app (together, the “Platform”)
Use Beacon, our AI-powered member intelligence and networking platform (the “Beacon Service”), as described in Section 11 of this Policy
Register for or attend OpenWater events through Luma, Eventbrite, or other registration services
Participate in OpenWater programs, including AI Bootcamps, Mastermind Forums, AI Office Hours, workshops, and local chapter gatherings
Communicate with us by email, phone, or through the Platform
Apply for or hold a Membership in OpenWater
We do not sell your personal information.
This Policy is incorporated into the OpenWater Membership Agreement by reference. By using the Site, the Platform, or participating in OpenWater, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Policy and consent to the practices described in it. If you have questions, contact us at help@openwater.group.
We collect personal information you voluntarily provide when you interact with OpenWater. What we collect depends on how you engage with us and the features you use.
Membership application and profile information: name, email address, phone number, LinkedIn profile URL, job title, company name, professional background, industry, geographic location, and other information you include in your application or member profile.
Account credentials: username and password for your Platform account on Circle.
Member Contributions: content you post, share, or upload on the Platform, including text, comments, photos, videos, and other materials. See Section 10 of the Membership Agreement for the license you grant us regarding Member Contributions.
Event registration information: name, email, dietary preferences, accessibility requirements, and other information collected when you register for events.
Payment information: processed by Stripe, Luma, or Eventbrite depending on the transaction. OpenWater Group does not store your full credit card number or sensitive payment details.
Communications: information you provide when you contact us, respond to surveys, or participate in community programs. This includes messages sent through the Platform (Circle). OpenWater Group does not routinely access or monitor direct messages between Members on the Platform. However, we may request access from Circle in connection with a Code of Conduct investigation, safety concern, or legal requirement, to the extent Circle’s terms permit.
Event media: photographs, audio, video recordings, and livestreams captured at events, which may include your image, voice, and likeness.
When you visit the Site or use the Platform, we and our service providers may automatically collect:
Device and browser information: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type, device identifiers, mobile advertising identifiers, and language preferences. If you access the Platform through the Circle mobile app, additional device-specific data may be collected by Circle, including push notification tokens and app usage data, subject to Circle’s privacy policy and your device settings.
Usage information: pages viewed, features used, links clicked, search queries, session duration, and other interaction data.
Location information: approximate geographic location based on your IP address.
Cookies and similar technologies: see Section 8 for detail.
We may receive information about you from:
Circle, including your profile activity, engagement data, and content interactions on the Platform.
Luma and Eventbrite, including your event registration details and attendance records.
Stripe, including transaction confirmations and payment status.
LinkedIn or other social platforms, if you link your account or if we verify your professional profile as part of the curation process.
Other Members, if they refer you or provide information about you in connection with the nomination and curation process.
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
To provide and manage your Membership: processing your application, setting up your account, providing access to the Platform and events, and processing payments.
To operate and improve OpenWater: administering programs, facilitating networking, managing local chapters, organizing events, improving the Platform, and analyzing community engagement.
To operate the Beacon Service: as described in Section 11 of this Policy.
To communicate with you: sending service-related communications (account updates, billing, renewal notices, security alerts), newsletters, event announcements, program updates, and promotional materials as described in Section 15 of the Membership Agreement.
To curate the community: reviewing applications, verifying professional backgrounds, and maintaining membership standards.
To create anonymized and aggregated data: as described in Section 14 of the Membership Agreement, we may anonymize, de-identify, and aggregate Member Data for research, reports, marketing, presentations to corporate partners and investors, benchmarking, and other business purposes. Once anonymized, this data is no longer personal information and may be used without restriction.
To enforce our agreements and policies: investigating potential violations of the Membership Agreement, Code of Conduct, or Terms of Service.
To protect our rights and safety: detecting and preventing fraud, security incidents, and unauthorized activity.
To comply with legal obligations: responding to legal process and fulfilling regulatory requirements.
To support corporate partnerships: sharing anonymized and aggregated community data (never individual personal information without your consent) with current or prospective corporate sponsors and partners.
We do not sell your personal information. We share your information only in the following circumstances:
Your profile information is visible to other Members on the Platform. Your Member Contributions are visible to other Members and, depending on context, may be visible to guests or the public. You control what you post.
We share your information with third-party service providers who help us operate OpenWater, including:
Circle: hosts the Platform, stores your profile and content, and processes your Platform interactions.
Stripe: processes Annual Fee and event registration payments.
Luma and Eventbrite: manages event registration, ticketing, and attendee communications.
HubSpot: manages our contact database, sends newsletters and email communications, and tracks engagement.
Google Analytics 4: helps us understand Site and Platform usage through anonymized, aggregate data. Google Analytics 4 does not log IP addresses.
Anthropic (Claude API): processes member content for Beacon’s AI-powered matching, classification, search, and conversational features. See Section 11.
Voyage AI: generates vector embeddings of member profiles and community content for Beacon’s semantic search. See Section 11.
Supabase: hosts Beacon’s database, where member profile data and Beacon-specific content are stored.
Vercel: hosts the Beacon application.
Resend: handles transactional email for Beacon, including magic-link authentication.
Our service providers are authorized to use your information only as necessary to provide services to us and are contractually required to protect your information. A current list of key service providers is available upon request at help@openwater.group.
We may disclose your information if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable law, enforce our agreements, protect the rights or safety of OpenWater Group or its members, or address fraud, security, or technical issues.
If OpenWater Group is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or asset sale, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you if required by applicable law.
We may share your information with third parties when you give us explicit consent to do so.
We may share anonymized, de-identified, or aggregated data with corporate partners, sponsors, investors, researchers, and the public. This data does not identify you personally.
We retain your personal information for as long as your Membership is active and for a reasonable period afterward:
Active Membership: we retain your account data, profile information, Member Contributions, and associated records throughout your Membership.
After Membership ends: we deactivate your account and may retain your data for legal compliance, tax and accounting obligations (typically 3–7 years), dispute resolution, and internal record-keeping.
Member Contributions: content you posted on the Platform may be retained as permitted by the Member Contribution License in Section 10 of the Membership Agreement.
Beacon data: see Section 11.5 for Beacon-specific retention and deletion terms.
Anonymized and aggregated data: may be retained and used indefinitely.
If you request deletion of your personal information, we will delete or anonymize it to the extent required by applicable law, subject to the retention exceptions described above.
We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include encryption, access controls, secure data storage, and regular review of our security practices.
No method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee the absolute security of your information. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for notifying us promptly if you suspect unauthorized access.
Regardless of where you are located, you may:
Access and update your profile information through the Platform at any time.
Opt out of marketing communications by following the unsubscribe instructions in any marketing email. You cannot opt out of service-related communications.
Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you by emailing help@openwater.group.
Request deletion of your personal information by emailing help@openwater.group or using the self-service tools described in Section 11.5 for Beacon data. We will process your request within 30 days, subject to the retention exceptions in Section 5.
Close your account by canceling your Membership as described in Section 7 of the Membership Agreement.
If you are a California resident, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):
Right to know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell (we do not sell personal information).
Right to delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
Right to correct inaccurate personal information.
Right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
Right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights.
To exercise these rights, email help@openwater.group. We will verify your identity before processing your request. You may designate an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf.
California “Shine the Light” Law: we do not disclose personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.
If you reside in a state with a comprehensive consumer privacy law (including Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, and Utah), you may have rights to confirm, access, correct, delete, and obtain a portable copy of your personal data, and to opt out of targeted advertising or profiling. We do not engage in targeted advertising or profiling. To exercise these rights, email help@openwater.group.
OpenWater is based in the United States. If you access the Site or Platform from outside the United States, you understand and consent to the transfer, storage, and processing of your personal information in the United States. If you are located in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland and believe you have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or equivalent law, contact us at help@openwater.group.
We use cookies and similar technologies on the Site and Platform to recognize you, remember your preferences, and analyze usage patterns. For a full list of cookies, see our Cookie Policy at openwater.group/cookie-policy/.
Essential and functional cookies: required for the Site and Platform to function properly. These include HubSpot cookies for form tracking and visitor identification, and Google reCAPTCHA cookies for spam protection on application forms. You cannot opt out of essential cookies.
Analytics cookies: we use Google Analytics 4 for anonymized, aggregate usage data. Google Analytics 4 does not log IP addresses.
We do not use advertising or retargeting cookies. You can control cookies through your browser settings. Blocking essential cookies may prevent use of certain features.
OpenWater is designed for professionals aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If we learn that we have collected information from a person under 18, we will delete it promptly. Contact us at help@openwater.group if you believe we have collected information from a minor.
The Site and Platform may contain links to third-party websites and services. This Policy does not apply to those services. Key third-party services used by OpenWater include:
Circle (Platform): https://circle.so/privacy. When you create a Circle account to access the Platform, you are also subject to Circle’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Stripe: https://stripe.com/privacy
Luma: https://luma.com/privacy-policy
Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/privacypolicy
HubSpot: https://legal.hubspot.com/privacy-policy
Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/privacy
Voyage AI: https://www.voyageai.com/privacy
Contact us at help@openwater.group for a current list of service providers.
This section describes how Beacon collects, uses, and stores your data. By activating Beacon, you consent to the data practices described in this section.
Beacon is an AI-powered member intelligence and networking platform available to OpenWater members. Beacon helps members find each other based on expertise, interests, and goals; discover potential collaboration opportunities; and be discoverable to other members through AI-assisted search and matching. Beacon is currently in private beta. You may experience bugs, feature changes, or service interruptions. OpenWater Group does not guarantee the availability, accuracy, or continuity of Beacon or any feature within it.
Beacon is a separate service from the OpenWater Platform (Circle) but is connected to it. Beacon accesses content you have posted in the OpenWater Circle community through Circle’s API, which OpenWater is licensed to use under its agreement with Circle.
Beacon collects only data that you have explicitly authored. It does not scrape public web data, enrich profiles from external databases, purchase third-party data, or infer information beyond what you explicitly provide. The categories of data Beacon collects are:
Beacon profile data: information you provide directly in your Beacon profile, including your headline, professional narrative, expertise narrative, interests, and what you are seeking (“curiosity” and “intent” narratives), tags, and structured fields.
Circle community content: posts and comments you make in OpenWater Circle community spaces, and profile field updates you make in Circle. Beacon receives this content via Circle’s API and stores classified excerpts for matching purposes.
Signals: statements you draft and explicitly approve within Beacon describing what you are offering or seeking (for example, “I am looking to learn more about X” or “I am offering expertise in Y”). Signals go live only after you approve them through Beacon’s draft-and-approve workflow.
Conversations with Beacon: search queries you type into Beacon and conversational exchanges with Beacon’s AI interface. Note: search query text is not retained in long-term usage logs. Only metadata such as timestamp and result count is retained for operational purposes.
Derived embeddings: vector representations of your profile data and community content, computed for semantic similarity matching. These are derived from your authored content. When your source content is deleted, associated embeddings are also deleted.
Beacon uses your data for the following purposes:
Member-to-member discovery: when a member searches for collaborators, mentors, or expertise, Beacon uses semantic similarity matching to surface relevant member profiles.
Proactive matching: Beacon evaluates new community activity against members’ active signals and surfaces potential matches in their inboxes.
Profile classification: Beacon uses AI classification to categorize community content to improve matching quality. Classification results are stored alongside the source content.
Conversational search: members can interact with Beacon through a conversational interface to refine searches, articulate signals, and explore the network.
Beacon uses the following third-party AI services to process member data. By activating Beacon, you consent to your authored content being sent to these services for the purposes described:
Anthropic (Claude API): processes member content for LLM-powered classification, search response generation, conversational interface, and signal consolidation.
Voyage AI: generates vector embeddings of member profiles and community content for semantic search.
Both services have their own data handling policies and process member content as service providers under contract with OpenWater Group. Links to their privacy policies are in Section 10. Member content sent to these services is used only for the purposes described above and is not used to train their general AI models under our service agreements.
You have the following controls over your Beacon data:
Self-service deletion: you can delete your Beacon profile data, narratives, signals, and profile fields directly through the Beacon interface at any time.
Embedding deletion: when you delete member-authored content in Beacon, associated vector embeddings derived from that content are also deleted.
Deletion requests: you may also submit a deletion request by emailing help@openwater.group. We will process deletion requests within 30 days.
Membership departure: when your OpenWater membership ends, your Beacon access is automatically revoked. Your Beacon profile data and associated embeddings will be deleted within 30 days of your departure. Circle community content retained under the Member Contribution License in Section 13 of the Membership Agreement will no longer be used for active Beacon matching.
What is not deleted: anonymized or aggregated data derived from your content, which no longer identifies you, is not subject to deletion and may be retained indefinitely. Community content retained under the Member Contribution License may be retained in accordance with OpenWater’s standard retention practices.
Data export: you may request a copy of your Beacon profile data by emailing help@openwater.group.
Your Beacon profile is visible to other OpenWater members through Beacon’s search and discovery features. Only current OpenWater members with Beacon access can search for and view member profiles in Beacon.
Future external discovery: OpenWater may, in the future, introduce a feature that allows authorized external parties (such as investors or HR professionals) to discover OpenWater members through Beacon. This feature will not be activated without advance notice to members and the implementation of opt-out controls. Any such expansion will require an update to this Policy before it is launched.
Beacon’s matching algorithms produce suggestions based on semantic similarity and member-authored content. Beacon results are not verified facts, endorsements, or professional recommendations. OpenWater Group makes no representation as to the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any match, classification, or profile representation generated by Beacon. Members and any third parties who may in the future access Beacon results should conduct their own independent verification before relying on Beacon’s output for any business, employment, or investment decision.
Members access Beacon via a magic link sent to their OpenWater email address. Authentication requires both active Beacon beta access and a current OpenWater Circle membership, verified at each login. No passwords are stored. Session cookies are HMAC-signed and time-limited. All Beacon code runs server-side; no member data is exposed to client-side JavaScript. Database access is restricted to backend services with row-level security enabled on all sensitive tables.
Some browsers send a “Do Not Track” signal. There is no uniform standard for responding to such signals. At this time, we do not respond to Do Not Track signals. If a standard is adopted in the future, we will update this Policy accordingly.
We may update this Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, services, or legal requirements. When we make changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this Policy. If we make material changes, we may notify you by email or through the Platform. Your continued use of the Site, Platform, or Beacon after the effective date of any update constitutes your acceptance of the updated Policy.
If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, contact us at:
OpenWater Group Inc.
131 Continental Dr. Suite 305, Newark, DE 19713
Email: help@openwater.group
Web: https://openwater.group
This Privacy Policy is part of the OpenWater Membership Agreement. Please review both documents to understand your rights and obligations as a Member.