Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 2026

Legal entity: Orange Zest Inc., Ontario, Canada

Website: https://trove.is

Full Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Trove ("we," "our," or "us") refers to Orange Zest Inc., based in Ontario, Canada. We operate the Trove platform, accessible at https://trove.is and its associated applications.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your information when you use Trove. By using our service, you agree to the practices described here.

2. Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect:

• Your display name
• Email address
• Pronouns (if provided)
• Authentication data through our identity provider (Google or Apple sign-in, or email/password)

Behavioral and Interaction Data

When you play through Trove scenarios ("Tangles"), we collect:

• Every choice you make within a scenario
• Your written responses in interactive conversations
• The sequence and pattern of your decisions
• We may also collect interaction signals such as response timing and revision patterns

This behavioral data is the core of how Trove works — it's what allows us to generate personalized insights about your patterns.

Automatically Collected Information

When you use Trove, we automatically collect:

• Device and browser information
• IP address (used for approximate location and analytics)
• Pages visited and actions taken within the app
• Session data and interaction events
• Error and performance data

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Generate and adapt interactive scenarios in real time based on your choices
• Produce personalized behavioral insights and results
• Maintain your account and allow you to access your results over time
• Understand how people use Trove and improve the experience
• Study patterns in how people engage with Trove — both for our own product work and, sometimes, for research outputs like papers, talks, or academic collaborations. This always uses anonymized, aggregated data — see Section 7 below for the full breakdown
• Communicate with you about the service (e.g., updates, support)
• Detect and prevent misuse of the platform

4. How AI Powers Trove

Trove uses artificial intelligence to create interactive experiences and generate personalized insights. Here's how it works:

What AI does in Trove:

Trove uses large language models (LLMs) from Anthropic and OpenAI to generate scenario content, adapt stories based on your choices in real time, and synthesize personalized behavioral insights from your decisions.

What data is sent to AI providers:

When you play a scenario, the following data is sent to our AI providers for processing:

• Your display name and pronouns
• Your choices and responses within the current scenario
• The conversation history within the current scenario

What is NOT sent to AI providers:

• Your email address
• Your authentication credentials
• Data from other scenarios you've played (each scenario is processed independently)

AI provider data practices:

• Anthropic: Does not train models on API customer data. Retains API inputs/outputs for up to 30 days for safety monitoring, then automatically deletes them.
• OpenAI: Does not train models on API customer data (default since March 2023). Retains API inputs/outputs for up to 30 days for abuse monitoring, then automatically deletes them.

Neither provider uses your Trove interactions to improve or train their AI models.

5. Third-Party Services We Use

We use the following third-party services to operate Trove:

We do not share your behavioral data with advertisers, data brokers, or marketing partners.

6. Analytics and Tracking

We use PostHog for product analytics to understand how people use Trove. This includes tracking events like page views, scenario completions, and feature usage. When you are logged in, analytics data may be associated with your account email.

We use cookies and similar technologies to maintain your login session and enable core functionality. We do not use advertising cookies or tracking pixels from ad networks.

7. Research Use

From time to time, we publish or present what we learn from how people use Trove — for example, in research papers, conference talks, blog posts, or collaborations with academic researchers. We think the patterns Trove surfaces are interesting beyond just our own product, and sharing what we learn helps both Trove and the broader field of behavioral research.

When this applies: the research-use approach in this section covers data collected from February 2026 onwards (when this privacy policy was first established).

Trove is a Canadian company, so we follow Canada's privacy rules here. The short version: we only use anonymized data for research. "Anonymized" means the strong sense — processed into a form that can't be linked back to you, even by us.

If we ever wanted to use data that could be linked back to you for a research project, we'd ask you first — for that specific study, not buried in this policy.

Here's exactly how the anonymized-research process works:

What we use:

• Aggregated patterns from gameplay — for example, the distribution of how groups of people responded to a particular scenario
• Anonymized excerpts of free-text or chat responses, where they help illustrate a finding
• Anonymized scoring outputs

What we strip out before any of this leaves our systems:

• Your name, display name, and pronouns
• Your email address and account ID
• Any internal database IDs we use to tie records to your account
• Any direct identifiers you wrote into a free-text response (for example, a real person's name) — we either redact these or exclude the response entirely
• Combinations of fields that could plausibly re-identify someone (for example, very rare scenario-completion patterns from a small subgroup)

What we never share externally:

• Your account record or raw account data
• Full transcripts of your gameplay tied to you
• Anything that could reasonably be used to re-identify you

Quoted free-text responses:

If we ever quote something you wrote, we apply two checks first: (1) the response contains no direct identifiers (names, emails, phone numbers, employers, schools, addresses), and (2) the response isn't so specific that it could re-identify you when combined with publicly known facts. If a response fails either check, we either redact the identifying parts or leave it out entirely.

Academic collaborations:

When we work with academic researchers, they have to follow their own institution's research-ethics rules — that's a real review process with a board that signs off on the study. If a specific study ever asks for more from you than what's described here (for example, participation in a separate study, or use of data that could be linked back to you), we'll come to you directly first.

Live in Quebec?

Quebec has its own privacy law (Law 25) that gives you extra rights around how your information is used for purposes beyond running the service. The opt-out below works for you the same way — same email, same process. If you'd like us to confirm exclusion in writing, just ask in your email and we will.

Opting out:

Anything we've already published stays out there — but it only ever used aggregated, anonymized data. Going forward, you can opt out of research use of your data at any time by emailing support@trove.is with the subject line "research opt-out." Opting out won't affect your account, your results, or your ability to use Trove. Once you opt out, we exclude your data from any future research output.

8. How We Store and Protect Your Data

Your data is stored using Convex, a cloud database service. We use industry-standard security practices including encrypted connections (TLS) and access controls to protect your information.

Your behavioral data (scenario choices and results) is stored in our database for as long as you maintain your account, so you can access your results over time.

9. Data Retention

• Account data: Retained for as long as your account is active.
• Behavioral data (choices and results): Retained for as long as your account is active.
• AI provider data: Automatically deleted by Anthropic and OpenAI within 30 days of processing.
• Analytics data: Retained by PostHog in accordance with their data retention policies.
• Research datasets: Anonymized, aggregated datasets used for research are kept separately from your account and may be retained for the life of the research project, even if you later delete your account. These datasets do not contain identifying information. If you opt out of research use, your data is excluded from any new research datasets going forward.
• Deleted accounts: When you request account deletion, we will remove your personal information and behavioral data from our active systems. Some data may persist in backups for a limited period.

10. Your Rights and Choices

Access and Deletion:

You can request access to or deletion of your personal data at any time by emailing us at support@trove.is. When you request deletion, we will remove your account, profile information, scenario choices, and behavioral results from our active systems.

Opt Out of Analytics:

You can block analytics tracking by using browser privacy settings or ad-blocking extensions that block PostHog.

Opt Out of Research Use:

You can opt out of having your data used in research outputs (papers, talks, academic collaborations) by emailing support@trove.is with the subject "research opt-out." This won't affect your account, your results, or your ability to use Trove. See Section 7 for details on what research use involves.

11. Age Requirements

Trove is intended for users aged 16 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 16. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 16 has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will take steps to remove that information.

12. Data Transfers

Trove is operated by Orange Zest Inc. in Ontario, Canada. Our service providers (including database, AI, and analytics services) may process your data in the United States or other countries. By using Trove, you consent to the transfer and processing of your information in these jurisdictions.

13. California Residents (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose
• Request deletion of your personal information
• Not be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights

We do not sell your personal information.

To exercise these rights, contact us at support@trove.is.

14. European Users (GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area, you have additional rights including the right to access, correct, delete, or port your data, and to object to or restrict certain processing. To exercise these rights, contact us at support@trove.is.

Our legal basis for processing your data is your consent (by using the service) and our legitimate interest in operating and improving Trove.

15. Canadian Users (PIPEDA and Quebec Law 25)

Trove is operated from Canada (Orange Zest Inc., Ontario) and complies with Canada's federal privacy law (PIPEDA) as well as provincial privacy laws including Quebec's Law 25 where applicable. You have the right to access your personal information, request corrections, withdraw consent for its use, and request deletion. To exercise these rights, contact us at support@trove.is.

Research use. Section 7 describes how we use your data for research. If we ever wanted to use information that could be linked back to you for research, we'd ask you first — for that specific study, not buried in this policy.

Quebec residents. Quebec's Law 25 gives you additional rights, including the right to know when a decision about you is made by an automated system, the right to get a copy of your data to take elsewhere, and the right to give or withhold consent separately for distinct purposes. Section 7 (Research Use) describes how we handle research-specific consent for Quebec residents.

16. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes through the service or by email. Continued use of Trove after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

17. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, contact us at:

Email: support@trove.is

Entity: Orange Zest Inc., Ontario, Canada