Privacy Policy
Last Updated: May 10, 2026
EarnDrift ("we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and the measures we take to keep it secure. EarnDrift is available exclusively to United States residents.
1. Information We Collect
When you create an EarnDrift account, we collect your email address and optional profile information (username, avatar). When you connect a bank account via Plaid, we receive transaction data including amounts, dates, merchant names, and categories. We never receive or store your bank login credentials — Plaid handles that securely on their end.
2. How We Use Your Data
Your financial data is used exclusively to power EarnDrift's financial tracking features: categorizing income, estimating potential tax deductions, generating financial reports, and providing informational tax estimates. We do not sell, rent, or share your personal or financial data with third parties for marketing purposes — ever.
3. Plaid Integration
EarnDrift uses Plaid Inc. to securely connect to your financial institutions. When you link an account, Plaid acts as the intermediary between your bank and our platform. Your bank credentials are encrypted and stored by Plaid — EarnDrift never has access to them. Plaid's use of your data is governed by their own privacy policy, available at plaid.com/legal.
4. AI Document Processing
When you upload a 1099-NEC PDF, the document is routed through the Lovable AI Gateway to a third-party large-language-model provider — currently Google (Gemini API) — to extract structured contractor data (legal name, Tax Identification Number, payment amount, tax year). Processing occurs server-side via enterprise API endpoints whose terms prohibit retention of submitted content beyond the processing window and prohibit use of submitted content to train foundation models. After extraction, the PDF binary itself is NOT persisted to EarnDrift storage; only the parsed structured fields and a metadata record of the upload (file name, parse status, timestamp, owner) are stored in EarnDrift's database and are governed by this Privacy Policy and the standard retention and deletion rules below. The current list of subprocessors (including AI providers and the Lovable AI Gateway) is published at earndrift.com/legal/subprocessors and you may object to specific subprocessors under the DPA at earndrift.com/legal/dpa.
5. Data Security & Encryption
All data transmitted to and from EarnDrift is encrypted in transit using TLS. Full Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) — both contractor TINs from W-9s and your business TIN — are encrypted at rest using PostgreSQL pgcrypto symmetric encryption, with the encryption key stored separately from the database and accessible only to privileged backend functions. Plaintext TIN columns have been removed from the database; only the encrypted ciphertext and the last four digits (for display) are stored. All other sensitive fields are protected by strict access controls and Row-Level Security (RLS) policies, ensuring your data is only accessible to your authenticated account; no other user can access your financial records through the application. Administrative access to production systems is restricted to authorized personnel for operational purposes only (e.g., debugging, compliance obligations) and is logged. We do not access customer data for marketing or commercial purposes.
5a. Breach Notification
In the event of a data breach affecting your personal information, we will notify affected users without undue delay and within the timeframes required by applicable law (including, where applicable to your data, the California Consumer Privacy Act, Colorado Privacy Act, Virginia CDPA, Connecticut Data Privacy Act, and — where it applies — GDPR Article 33's 72-hour rule). Notifications will describe the nature of the incident, the categories of data affected, the steps we are taking in response, and any actions you may need to take. We maintain an internal incident response process that includes detection, containment, forensic review, regulator notification where required, and post-incident remediation.
6. Data Retention & Deletion
You may delete your account and all associated data at any time from the Settings page. Upon deletion, all contractor records, payment data, uploaded documents, and profile data are permanently removed from our servers within 30 days. Backups containing your data are purged within 90 days.
7. Cookies & Analytics
EarnDrift uses essential cookies to maintain your login session. We do not use third-party advertising trackers, retargeting pixels, marketing cookies, or third-party product analytics SDKs. We do not share usage data with analytics vendors.
8. Geographic Restrictions
EarnDrift is designed exclusively for use by individuals residing in the United States of America. All tax calculations, deduction categories, and compliance features are based on U.S. federal tax law. By using this service, you represent and warrant that you are a current U.S. resident. EarnDrift does not support, and makes no representations regarding, the tax laws of any other country, state, or jurisdiction beyond what is explicitly described in the application.
9. No Tax or Legal Advice
EarnDrift is 1099 and W-9 software for businesses that hire independent contractors. It does NOT provide tax advice, legal advice, financial advice, or accounting services. All calculations, projections, threshold estimates, and readiness scores are for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional guidance. Users should always consult with a licensed CPA, Enrolled Agent, tax attorney, or other qualified professional regarding their specific tax and filing obligations.
10. Your Rights
You have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal data at any time. You may also request a full export of your data in a machine-readable format. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@earndrift.com.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page and, for material changes, notify you via email or an in-app banner.
EarnDrift — pay 1099 contractors, collect W-9s, and stay 1099 ready all year. Questions about this Privacy Policy? Contact privacy@earndrift.com or write to EarnDrift, 5900 Balcones Drive STE 100, Austin, TX 78731. EarnDrift is software for paying contractors and tracking compliance — not a licensed CPA, tax preparer, or tax attorney. Payment processing is provided by Stripe. All estimates are for informational purposes only. © 2026 EarnDrift. All rights reserved.