// privacy policy

PRIVACY POLICY

Effective October 14, 2026

This policy explains how Ascendant Finance ("RetroDeck", "we", "us") handles personal information when you use retrodeck.ai, the RetroDeck dashboard at dashboard.retrodeck.ai, the RDK command-line tool and desktop app, and the RDK Central network service (together, the "Services").

THE SHORT VERSION

  • Files in your local vault stay on your machine. RDK reads them locally.
  • Embeddings are computed on your device. Chunk text is served live from your own node, not stored on RDK Central (paid pins are the exception, described below).
  • Private content is encrypted with AES-256-GCM using your vault key, which we do not hold. Some metadata about private chunks, such as titles and source paths, is not encrypted. See RDK Central.
  • Public chunks are readable by anyone on the network and cannot be made private again.
  • We don't sell personal information, and we don't use your content to train AI models.

WHAT WE COLLECT

Account information

When you create an account we collect your email address, a display name, and your password, which we store only as a bcrypt hash. We also keep whether your email is verified, referral codes (yours, and the code you signed up with), and the session tokens that keep you signed in.

Node registration

When you run an RDK node we store a hash of its API key and a short key prefix, the owner email, a display name, the knowledge domain, the node's MCP endpoint (if you publish one), the wallet address and chain you register for tips, and when the node was last seen online.

Indexed chunks

For each chunk you index, your node sends RDK Central a title, the document title, the source path (a file path or URL), the domain and categories, an embedding vector, a document hash, and a risk score. For public chunks it also sends a summary. For private chunks it does not send a summary.

Queries and usage

We don't store the full text of network queries. For each query we keep the query embedding, which node asked, which chunk matched, the latency, any tip paid, and a timestamp. We also keep retrieval, tip, balance, withdrawal and daily usage records so we can pay node operators and bill customers.

If you turn on share query terms for a node, individual search terms from its queries are recorded to build aggregate network statistics. Email addresses, phone numbers and wallet addresses are removed first, and the raw terms are deleted after 30 days. Published statistics only include terms seen across at least 5 different nodes and 20 queries, and are delayed by 24 hours.

Payments

Card payments are processed by Stripe. We never see or store your card number. We keep Stripe customer, payment and subscription IDs along with amounts and status. For crypto subscriptions, tips and withdrawals we keep wallet addresses, amounts and transaction hashes.

Emails you send us

If you contact us, we keep the message and your email address so we can reply.

RDK CENTRAL AND YOUR CONTENT

Content has three states. Local files stay in your vault on your machine and are never sent to us. Privatechunks are encrypted with AES-256-GCM using your vault key. RetroDeck can't decrypt them, but anyone you share the vault key with can. Public chunks are plaintext and can be read by every node on the network.

The metadata listed under Indexed chunks is stored unencrypted for private chunks too. It lets the network route queries to your node. If a title or file path is itself sensitive, rename it or keep that file local.

Publishing is permanent.A public chunk can't be made private again. If you unpublish it, we stop serving it, but we can't recall copies that other nodes or agents have already retrieved. Its earnings history is kept.

If you pay to pin a document so it stays available when your node is offline, we store its content on RDK Central: as plaintext for public documents, or as ciphertext for private ones.

BLOCKCHAIN TRANSACTIONS

Tips and some payments are paid in USDC on the Base network. Blockchain transactions are public and permanent. Anyone can see the wallet addresses, amounts and timestamps, and we can't change or delete them. If you don't want your activity linked to an address you use elsewhere, register a separate wallet.

HOW WE USE INFORMATION

  • To run the Services: route queries, serve chunks, and pay tips.
  • To manage your account, sign-in and billing, and to provide support.
  • To keep the network secure, prevent abuse, and fix errors.
  • To publish aggregate, de-identified network statistics.
  • To send service emails (verification, password reset, receipts) and, unless you unsubscribe, product emails about your account activity.
  • To meet legal, tax and accounting obligations.

WHO WE SHARE IT WITH

We don't sell or rent personal information. We share it only with:

  • Infrastructure providers: DigitalOcean (servers and databases), Vercel (web hosting) and our email provider (sending email).
  • Stripe to process card payments.
  • Koryo, Ascendant Finance's CRM. When you sign up we send it your email, display name, user ID, referral code, IP address and browser user agent, plus account events such as checkouts and subscriptions. We use it to manage customer relationships.
  • OpenAI, to draft personalized product emails. We send activity counts (queries, chunks indexed, tips earned) and trending network topics. We don't send your content.
  • SubZero, our incident tracker, which receives error reports.
  • Other network participants: your public chunks, your node's display name and domain, and anything recorded on a blockchain.
  • Authorities, when the law requires it, or to protect the rights and safety of our users and the public.
  • A buyer or successor, if our business is reorganized or sold. This policy would continue to apply to your information.

Optional AI reranking.If you turn on the Anthropic reranker in RDK, your query and the candidate chunk text are sent from your device straight to Anthropic, after redaction. They don't pass through RetroDeck. The reranker is off by default.

COOKIES AND ANALYTICS

The RDK command-line tool and desktop app send no telemetry. Where our websites use analytics, they set first-party cookies only after you accept them in the cookie banner:

  • koryo_aid: an anonymous visitor ID, kept for 13 months.
  • koryo_sid: the current session, which ends after 30 minutes of inactivity.
  • rd_analytics_consent: your cookie choice, kept for 13 months.

With your consent we record pages viewed, scroll depth, time on page and clicks on key buttons. If you're signed in, this is linked to your account. You can withdraw consent at any time from Cookie settings, and withdrawing deletes the analytics cookies. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we don't track you and we don't ask. Signing in also uses cookies, which are needed for the dashboard to work.

HOW LONG WE KEEP IT

We keep account and node information while your account is active. Raw query terms are deleted after 30 days. Deleting a node deletes its chunks and query terms. Payment, tip and withdrawal records are kept for as long as tax and accounting law requires. Blockchain records can't be deleted by anyone.

YOUR CHOICES AND RIGHTS

  • Keep any file local by not indexing it, or index it privately instead of publicly.
  • Delete nodes, chunks, documents, pins and wallets from the CLI or dashboard.
  • Turn query-term sharing on or off for each node.
  • Unsubscribe from product emails using the link in any of them.
  • Accept or refuse analytics cookies, and change your choice at any time.

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete or export your personal information, to object to or restrict how we use it, and to withdraw consent. We don't sell or "share" personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, as California law defines it. To delete your account or to use any of these rights, email hello@retrodeck.ai. We'll verify the request comes from you and reply within 30 days. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

SECURITY

Private content is encrypted on your device before it leaves. Passwords and API keys are stored only as hashes, and connections to our services use TLS. No system is perfectly secure, so keep your vault key and API keys safe. If you lose your vault key, we can't recover your private content.

INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

We and our providers may process information in the United States and other countries. Wherever it is processed, we protect it as this policy describes.

CHILDREN

The Services are not meant for anyone under 16, and we don't knowingly collect their personal information. If you think a child has given us information, contact us and we'll delete it.

CHANGES

If we change this policy we'll update the effective date above. If a change is significant, we'll also tell account holders by email or in the dashboard before it takes effect.

CONTACT

Questions or requests: hello@retrodeck.ai