Privacy policy.

Cortex Influence is operated from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Our public contact is desk@cortexinfluence.com. For privacy-specific requests, use the same address with “Privacy” in the subject line.

We collect personal information in three ways:

• —Contact form submissions. If you fill in the brand contact form on /brands, the brand-or-creator form on /contact, or the creator application on /creators, we collect every field you submit (e.g., name, work email, company, role, budget range, channel URL, follower count, audience geo, free-text message). We use this only to respond to your inquiry.
• —Server logs. Our hosting provider records standard request data (IP address, user agent, requested URL, timestamp). These are retained for security and debugging and are not joined to any other data set.
• —Cookies, only if you accept. If you click “Accept” on the cookie banner, we store one localStorage entry recording your choice (so we don’t ask again). We do not run advertising pixels, fingerprinting, or cross-site trackers. If you decline, we still store the “decline” preference so you aren’t re-asked.

Form submissions are used to evaluate the inquiry, respond, and (for brand inquiries) shortlist creators against your stated parameters. For creator applications, we use the data to assess fit against our roster criteria. Server logs are used for site reliability and security.

Our legal basis under PIPEDA is implied or express consent (you submitted the form). Under the GDPR, the lawful bases are: consent (cookie acceptance, marketing replies if requested), legitimate interest (responding to your inquiry), and contract (where the inquiry leads to an executed agreement).

We share personal information only as follows:

• —Service providers who help us run the business: email delivery (e.g., Resend, SendGrid, or a similar provider) and our hosting provider. These parties process information on our behalf and are bound by their own privacy commitments.
• —Brand partners, when we shortlist creators on the roster for them. Creator information shared with brands is limited to what creators have explicitly authorized and only shared with brands relevant to that creator’s niche.
• —Legal authorities, only if compelled by valid legal process or to protect rights, property, or safety.

We do not sell personal information. We do not share contact form data with advertising networks or data brokers.

Our site and form data may be processed and stored in Canada, the United States, or the European Union, depending on the service provider. We use providers that offer standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards for cross-border transfers.

• —Brand inquiries that lead to a deal: kept for the duration of the engagement plus seven years (Canadian record-retention norms).
• —Brand inquiries that don’t lead to a deal: kept for up to two years, then deleted.
• —Creator applications, signed or not: kept for up to two years to re-evaluate against new brand briefs.
• —Server logs: rotated by our host on a rolling 30-day window.

Under PIPEDA (Canada) and the GDPR (UK / EU), you can ask us to:

• —Access the personal information we hold about you.
• —Correct anything inaccurate.
• —Delete it (subject to legal retention requirements).
• —Withdraw consent for marketing communications at any time.
• —Receive a portable copy of your data in a machine-readable format.

Email desk@cortexinfluence.com to exercise any of these rights. We respond within 30 days.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (priv.gc.ca) or, for EU/UK residents, your local supervisory authority.

This site is intended for adults and creators 18+. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has submitted information to us, contact desk@cortexinfluence.com and we will delete it.

We use industry-standard transport encryption (TLS) for data in transit, and access controls on data at rest. No system is perfectly secure, but we treat your data like we’d want our own treated.

We may update this policy as the business or applicable law changes. We’ll update the effective date at the top, and material changes will be flagged on the homepage for 30 days.