Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Effective October 29, 2026 (replaces the policy adopted August 16, 2019)

This Privacy Policy explains how FT1, Inc., a New York corporation doing business as Fund the First ("Fund the First," "we," "us") collects, uses and shares personal information when you use fundthefirst.com and related services, including Fallen First Reserve (the "Services"). It is part of our Terms of Service.

The short version: we collect what we need to run fundraisers, verify Beneficiaries, process Donations and pay out funds. We may sell or share limited personal information, and you can opt out (Section 4). We never sell payment, bank, identity-verification or text-message data.

1. Information we collect

Information you give us

Account information: name, email address, password, phone number, and the community you serve (for example law enforcement, fire, EMS, military, healthcare or education).

Campaign information: the story, photos, videos, goal, location, department or unit, and the Beneficiary's name and email. Campaign content may include sensitive details someone chooses to share, such as an injury, illness or death.

Donation information: name, email, billing ZIP or address, Donation and Tip amounts, any comment you leave, and whether you chose to be anonymous. Card details go directly to Stripe; we never see or store your full card number.

Payout information: Beneficiaries give bank and tax details directly to Stripe to set up payouts. We receive the account status and limited details, such as the last four digits of a bank account.

Messages: what you send us by email, forms or support chat, and fraud reports.

Identity verification (Beneficiaries)

We use Plaid Inc. to verify each Beneficiary's identity before payout. For Someone Else Campaigns, this verification is not a condition of Campaign activation or continued acceptance of Donations. Plaid may collect a photo of a government-issued ID, your name, date of birth, address and phone number. Selfies are not currently used. Plaid processes this under its End User Privacy Policy. We receive the result (verified or not) and the identity details needed to confirm a match. We do not receive or store your ID images or any biometric data. We may also ask for proof of service, such as a department letter or ID card, and review it manually.

Information collected automatically

Device and usage data: IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, links clicked, referring site, and the approximate location derived from your IP address.

Cookies and similar technologies: used to keep you signed in, remember preferences, prevent fraud and measure how the Services are used. See Section 6.

Information from others

An Organizer may give us a Beneficiary's name and email to invite them.

Payment and verification partners send us transaction and verification results.

Public sources, such as news reports and public social media, when we review a Campaign for accuracy or fraud.

2. How we use information

To create and run accounts and Campaigns, and to show Campaigns publicly.

To process Donations and Tips, send receipts, and pay out funds to verified Beneficiaries.

To verify identity and eligibility, and to prevent, detect and investigate fraud, chargebacks and misuse.

To send service messages: receipts, Campaign updates, verification and payout reminders, and notices required by law or our Terms (including notices about unclaimed funds). Beneficiary verification reminders are reminders only, not penalties; their schedule is described in Section 6 of our Terms of Service.

To send news and marketing about Fund the First, which you can opt out of at any time.

To understand and improve how the Services work, fix errors and keep them secure.

To comply with law, respond to legal requests, and enforce our Terms.

3. What is public

Campaign pages are public and may be indexed by search engines. They show the Campaign content, the Organizer's name, the Beneficiary's name, and Donations. A donor's name and amount appear publicly unless the donor chooses to be anonymous. Think carefully before posting private details in a Campaign.

4. How we share information

Sale and sharing of personal information. Fund the First may sell, license or share limited personal information with selected third parties, such as organizations that serve first responders, military members, healthcare workers and educators, and marketing partners, who may use it to send you their own offers. This may include your name, email address, mailing address and the community you serve, and general information about your activity on the Services (for example, that you donated or started a Campaign).

We never sell or share for these purposes:

payment card, bank account or payout information;

identity-verification information, including anything received from Plaid;

mobile phone numbers or text-message opt-in data;

sensitive details in Campaign stories (for example health information); or

information about anyone we know to be under 18.

How to opt out. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information at any time by using the "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" link at the bottom of every page, or by emailing [email protected] with the subject "Do Not Sell." We will honor your request within 15 business days and tell partners who received your information within the prior 90 days.

We also share information:

With Organizers and Beneficiaries: only what appears on the public Campaign page, which is your name and Donation amount (or "Anonymous" and the amount if you chose to donate anonymously) and any comment you post there. Organizers and Beneficiaries never see your email address, your payment details or any Tip amount.

Between an Organizer and a Beneficiary: the information needed to run their shared Campaign. The Organizer sees the Beneficiary's verification status on their dashboard, not the verification details.

With service providers who work on our behalf under contracts that limit their use of the information:

Provider

What they do for us

Stripe

Processes Donations and Tips; holds and pays out funds to Beneficiaries

Plaid

Verifies Beneficiaries' identities

Amazon Web Services and Cloudflare

Host the Services, protect them from attacks, and deliver content

Google (Tag Manager, Analytics, reCAPTCHA, Maps)

Measure site use, block spam bots, and look up addresses

PostHog

Measures how people use the Services so we can improve them

Honeybadger

Detects and reports site errors and outages

Mailchimp and Mandrill (Intuit)

Send newsletters and transactional emails

Twilio

Sends text messages and alerts

Pusher

Delivers real-time updates on the site

Slack and Google Workspace

Internal team communication and records

For legal and safety reasons: to comply with law, a subpoena or court order; to respond to law enforcement; to enforce our Terms; or to protect the rights, property or safety of users, Beneficiaries, the public or Fund the First.

In a business transfer: as part of a merger, acquisition, financing or sale of assets, subject to this Policy.

With your consent or at your direction.

5. Text messages

If you give us your mobile number and opt in, we may text you about your Campaign, verification, payouts and account. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out or HELP for help. No mobile information, including phone numbers and text-message opt-in data and consent, will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Sharing with service providers that deliver our messages, such as Twilio, is permitted.

6. Cookies and analytics

We use cookies and similar tools to keep you signed in, secure the site, remember choices and measure usage, through Google Tag Manager, PostHog and Cloudflare. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; some features may then stop working. Our site does not currently respond to "Do Not Track" signals. Where state law requires it, we honor Global Privacy Control signals as a request to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information.

7. Your choices and rights

Update your information in your account settings, or ask us to.

Marketing emails: use the unsubscribe link in any marketing email. You will still get service messages.

Text messages: reply STOP.

Delete your account: email [email protected]. We will delete or de-identify your information, except what we must keep (Section 8).

State privacy rights. Depending on where you live (including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia and other states), you may have the right to know, access, correct or delete your personal information, to receive a copy, and to opt out of sale, sharing, targeted advertising or profiling. To opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information, use the "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" link or email [email protected]. To make a request, email [email protected]. We will verify your identity before acting, respond within the time the law requires, and not discriminate against you for using these rights. You may use an authorized agent. If we deny your request, you may appeal by replying to our decision.

8. How long we keep information

We keep information as long as your account is active and as long as needed to provide the Services. After that, we keep certain records for as long as the law or legitimate business needs require: Donation, payout and tax records for at least seven years; Campaign and verification results for fraud prevention and dispute resolution; and records of notices about unclaimed funds. Then we delete or de-identify them.

9. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards, including encryption in transit, access controls and two-factor authentication for administrators. Card and bank data is handled by Stripe, which is PCI DSS Level 1 certified. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your information, we will notify you as required by law.

10. Children

The Services are not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. Campaigns may describe a minor child of a Beneficiary with a parent's or guardian's permission; such Campaigns are managed by an adult. If you believe a child under 13 gave us information, contact [email protected] and we will delete it.

11. Where information is processed

We operate in the United States and store information in the United States. If you use the Services from elsewhere, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States.

12. Changes to this Policy

We will post any update here with a new effective date. If a change is material, we will notify registered users by email or on the Services before it takes effect.

13. Contact us

FT1, Inc. d/b/a Fund the First, 2009 Decker Avenue, Merrick, New York, 11566

Privacy requests and questions: [email protected]

General: [email protected]