Your information, protected.
Plain-language version: we collect only what we need to help you, we use it only for that, and we never sell it.
What we collect
When you fill out a form on this site — applying for help, volunteering, subscribing, or contacting us — we collect the information you provide: your name, email, phone number, and details about your business.
If we go on to do work for you, we collect what that work requires. That typically includes your formation documents, and your EIN and IRS confirmation letter (the CP 575 or 147C). Filings, bank onboarding, and carrier verifications all require the legal name to match the IRS record exactly, which is why we need the documents and not just the numbers.
We work hard not to hold your Social Security number. Where an application requires one, we'd rather sit with you while you enter it than take it and store it.
How we use it
We use your information to respond to you, provide the help you've asked for, make filings and submissions on your behalf, coordinate volunteers, and send updates you've opted into. Nothing beyond what the work needs.
What we don't do
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We share it with the service providers that help us operate — our form, email, and hosting tools, our bank, and our accountant — and only as much as they need. When you give us permission, we share what you've told us with a volunteer attorney or CPA if your situation needs one; the consent checkbox on the application form is where you grant that. We would also disclose information where the law required it, and we'd tell you unless legally barred from doing so.
Form & email tools
Form submissions are processed through our website host's form service, and email updates through our email provider. These providers process data on our behalf under their own security and privacy terms.
Your choices
You can unsubscribe from emails at any time using the link in any message, and you can ask us to delete the information we hold about you by emailing c.williams@startedblack.org.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Email c.williams@startedblack.org.
You can ask us to delete what we hold about you at any time. See also our trust & security page.
Last updated: August 11, 2026.