Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

CounselMe Inc. (“CounselMe,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) provides SENTINEL, an automated IOLTA trust account reconciliation and audit-readiness platform for licensed attorneys. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our website and services.

2. Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, bar number, and a hashed password. We never store passwords in plain text.

Financial Data

To perform reconciliations, you upload bank statements and practice management ledger exports. These documents are processed, analyzed, and stored securely. We do not sell, share, or use your financial data for any purpose other than providing the SENTINEL service.

Usage Data

We automatically collect information about how you interact with our service, including pages visited, features used, browser type, and IP address. This data is used solely to improve the product and diagnose issues.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To provide, maintain, and improve the SENTINEL service
• To perform automated IOLTA reconciliations and generate findings
• To send transactional emails (verification codes, reconciliation results, account notices)
• To respond to your inquiries and support requests
• To detect and prevent fraud or misuse of the service

4. Data Retention

Your reconciliation data is retained for as long as your account is active. Upon account deletion, all associated data is permanently removed within 30 days. Audit packets and reports you generate are stored for the duration of your subscription.

5. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data, including encryption in transit (TLS 1.3), encryption at rest (AES-256), secure session management, and regular security audits. Access to production systems is restricted to authorized personnel with multi-factor authentication.

6. Third-Party Services

We use a limited number of third-party services to operate SENTINEL. These include cloud hosting, email delivery, and AI-powered document analysis. All third-party providers are contractually bound to process your data only as directed by us and in accordance with this policy.

7. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access your personal data
• Correct inaccurate information
• Delete your account and associated data
• Export your reconciliation data
• Opt out of non-essential communications

8. Cookies

We use a session cookie to keep you signed in. We do not use tracking cookies or third-party advertising cookies.

9. California Privacy Rights

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), including the right to know what personal information we collect and the right to request deletion. We do not sell personal information.

10. Children’s Privacy

CounselMe is designed for licensed attorneys and is not intended for use by individuals under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect information from children.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by email or by posting a notice on our website. Your continued use of the service after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact us at privacy@counselme.ai.