Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to Lonnskart. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring transparency about how we collect, use, and protect your personal data.

This Privacy Policy explains how Lonnskart ("we", "our", or "us") collects, uses, shares, and protects your information when you use our mobile application and services (collectively, the "Service"). This policy applies to all users in and outside the European Economic Area (EEA), starting from Norway.

By using Lonnskart, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

2. Data Controller

3. What Information We Collect

3.1 Information You Provide Directly

When you use Lonnskart, you may provide us with the following information:

Account Information:

• Email address
• Password (stored securely using industry-standard encryption)

Salary Data Submissions:

• Institution type
• Job category
• Specific job title
• Salary amount and currency
• Highest level of eduction
• Years of experience
• Sector
• Location (city/country)
• Employment type (full-time or part-time)

Interaction Data:

• Salaries you contribute and manage
• Upvotes,comments, and reports on salary entries
• Feedback and user requests you submit

3.2 Information We Collect Automatically

Technical Information:

• Crash reports and error logs
• Login sessions

Location Detection:

• We use GeoJS, a third-party geolocation service, to determine your approximate country based on your public IP address when you first open the app. This helps us automatically pre-select your country in the app interface for a better user experience. Your IP address is sent to GeoJS solely for this purpose and is not stored by us. GeoJS processes this data in accordance with their privacy policy, available at geojs.io/privacy/.

3.3 Information We Do Not Collect

We do NOT collect:

• Your real name
• Government identification numbers
• Payment information (Lonnskart is free to use currently)
• Precise geolocation data beyond the city/region you manually specify

4. Initial Seed Data and Sources

To launch Lonnskart with meaningful salary insights, we collected initial seed data from publicly available sources. We believe in complete transparency about where this data comes from and how we collected it.

4.1 Overview of Initial Dataset

Our initial database contains 151 verified salary entries collected from publicly shared salary information on platforms where professionals voluntarily disclosed their salaries. This seed data provides:

• 27 countries represented across 5 continents
• 21 currencies including NOK, USD, EUR, GBP, and more
• 13 job categories from technology to healthcare to education
• Norwegian focus: 34 entries (22.5% of dataset) from Norway covering Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, and Stavanger
• Time period: 2020-2025, with most entries from 2024-2025

4.2 Data Sources

We collected salary data only from publicly available sources where professionals voluntarily shared their salary information:

• Reddit: Salary transparency communities including r/cscareerquestions, r/nursing, r/teachers, r/norge, and other career-focused subreddits
• Levels.fyi: Public tech salary data shared by professionals
• Glassdoor: Verified employee salary reports
• Blind: Anonymous professional community salary discussions
• Norwegian platforms: Kode24 (tech salary discussions), Norwegian Reddit communities, and tech Slack communities
• LinkedIn Salary Insights: Publicly available salary ranges

4.3 Collection Methodology

Our approach to collecting seed data was designed with privacy and accuracy as top priorities:

• Public sources only: We only collected salaries that people chose to share publicly on salary transparency platforms
• Full anonymization: All data was anonymized during collection—no names, company names, email addresses, or other identifying information was collected
• Manual verification: Each entry was manually reviewed and cross-referenced against market data for reasonableness
• Geographic limitation: Location data is limited to city level only
• Quality control: We removed outliers and entries that couldn't be verified against multiple sources

4.4 Verification Process

Every entry in our seed dataset underwent rigorous verification:

• Cross-referenced against market salary data for each role and location
• Validated that job titles match our standardized categories
• Confirmed currencies align with countries and regions
• Verified years of experience correlate reasonably with salary levels
• Removed statistically unlikely entries (outliers more than 30% above/below market averages)
• Ensured compliance with our job category taxonomy (35 categories) and industry classification (114 sectors)

4.5 Privacy Protection for Seed Data

4.6 Norwegian Market Coverage

We paid special attention to collecting comprehensive Norwegian salary data:

• 34 verified entries from Norway (2020-2025)
• Cities covered: Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger
• Primary sectors: Technology, Healthcare, Education
• Example salary ranges:
  • Junior Software Engineers: ~655,000 NOK
  • Software Engineers: 650,000 - 970,000 NOK
  • Senior Software Engineers: 720,000 - 920,000 NOK
  • Registered Nurses: 510,000 - 630,000 NOK
  • Teachers: 450,000 - 510,000 NOK

4.7 Limitations and Disclaimers

We believe in honest communication about the limitations of our seed data:

• Sample size: 151 entries is our foundation—some roles and locations have limited representation
• Self-reported data: All salaries are self-reported by individuals; we verify for reasonableness but cannot independently confirm every submission
• Time periods: Data spans 2020-2025; older entries may not reflect current market rates
• Geographic bias: Heavy concentration in US (36.4%) and Norwegian (22.5%) markets
• Role coverage: Tech roles are overrepresented due to active online salary discussions on platforms like Reddit

4.8 Ethical Data Collection

Our approach respects individual privacy and follows the spirit of salary transparency movements:

• We only use publicly shared information where individuals voluntarily disclosed their salaries
• We don't scrape private company data or require unauthorized access
• We respect GDPR and Norwegian data protection laws
• We prioritize quality over quantity—manually reviewing each entry rather than scraping thousands of unverified entries

4.9 Growing the Database

The 151 seed entries are just our foundation. Lonnskart's true value comes from community contributions—your salary submissions. Every verified salary you add:

• Helps professionals in your field make informed decisions
• Increases transparency in the Norwegian and global job markets
• Creates better negotiation power for everyone
• Is completely anonymous and secure

We will not continue to add seed data from external sources. All future data growth comes from users like you.

4.10 Transparency Updates

We maintain a detailed Data Transparency Statement that provides complete information about our methodology, verification process, and data sources. This statement is regularly updated and available for review.

5. How We Use Your Information

5.1 Primary Services

• Salary transparency: To create an anonymous database of salary information for market insights
• User authentication: To verify your identity and secure your account
• Data accuracy: To prevent spam, fraud, and duplicate submissions through rate limiting
• Market insights: To generate aggregated statistics and trends about salary data
• User positioning: To show you how your salary compares to market averages

4.2 Service Improvement

• To improve app functionality and user experience
• To develop new features based on user needs
• To fix bugs and technical issues

4.3 Communications

• To send important service updates and notifications
• To respond to your inquiries and support requests

4.4 Legal Compliance

• To comply with legal obligations
• To protect our rights and prevent fraud
• To enforce our Terms of Service

5. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we process your personal data based on the following legal grounds:

• Consent: When you create an account and submit salary data, you provide explicit consent for us to process this information (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR)
• Legitimate Interests: We have a legitimate interest in preventing fraud, ensuring data quality, and improving our services (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR)
• Legal Obligations: In some cases, we may need to process data to comply with legal requirements (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR)

You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by deleting your account or contacting us.

6. How We Protect Anonymity

Lonnskart is designed with privacy as a core principle:

6.1 Anonymous Contributions

• Salary submissions are not directly linked to your account in our database
• We use cryptographic hashing to create pseudonymous contributor identifiers
• Other users cannot see who submitted specific salary data

6.2 Aggregation and Privacy Protection

• We aggregate data to prevent identification of individuals
• In cases where salary data might identify someone (e.g., unique job titles in small companies), we may exclude or generalize that data
• We do not share raw individual submissions with third parties

6.3 Limitations of Anonymity

7. Data Retention

We retain your data for different periods depending on the type:

• Account data: Retained as long as your account is active. The account is deleted immediately after deletion
• Salary contributions: Retained indefinitely to maintain the integrity of our salary database, unless you manually delete them before deleting your account
• Analytics data: Aggregated and anonymized data is retained indefinitely; individual session data is retained for 7 days. Revoked sessions are deleted daily
• Logs and technical data: Retained for 90 days for security and troubleshooting purposes

You can request deletion of your data at any time (see Section 11).

8. How We Share Your Information

We do NOT sell your personal data to third parties. We may share your information only in the following limited circumstances:

8.1 Service Providers

We use trusted third-party service providers to help us operate Lonnskart:

• Supabase (Database hosting): Stores your account and salary data. Supabase is GDPR-compliant and processes data on our behalf.
• GeoJS (Geolocation service): Determines your approximate country from your public IP address to pre-select your country in the app. Your IP address is sent to GeoJS only for this purpose and is not stored by us.
• Render (API hosting service): For hosting and data delivery to the mobile client.

All service providers are contractually obligated to protect your data and use it only for the purposes we specify.

8.2 Aggregated Public Data

We may publicly share aggregated, anonymized salary statistics that cannot identify individuals (e.g., "Average software developer salary in Oslo is X").

8.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or governmental authority, or if necessary to:

• Comply with legal processes
• Protect our rights and property
• Prevent fraud or security issues
• Protect the safety of our users or the public

8.4 Business Transfers

If Lonnskart is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your data may be transferred. We will notify you before your data becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

9. Your Rights Under GDPR

As a user in the EEA, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

9.1 Right of Access

You can request a copy of all personal data we hold about you. You can export your salary submissions directly from the app or contact us for a complete data export.

9.2 Right to Rectification

You can update or correct your account information and salary submissions at any time through the app settings.

9.3 Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten")

You can request deletion of your account and associated data. To do this:

1. Go to Settings → Profile → Delete Profile in the app, or
2. Contact us directly at support@lonnskart.com

Please note: After deletion, we may retain certain anonymized salary data to maintain database integrity, as this data can no longer be linked back to you.

9.4 Right to Restrict Processing

You can request that we limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.

9.5 Right to Data Portability

You can export your data in a structured, machine-readable format (JSON or CSV).

9.6 Right to Object

You can object to our processing of your data for direct marketing purposes or based on legitimate interests.

9.7 Right to Withdraw Consent

You can withdraw your consent for data processing at any time by deleting your account.

9.8 Right to Lodge a Complaint

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at support@lonnskart.com

10. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data:

• Encryption: All data transmitted between your device and our servers is encrypted using TLS/SSL
• Password protection: Passwords are hashed using bcrypt with salt
• Access controls: Strict internal access controls limit who can access and change user data
• Regular security audits: We regularly review our security practices
• Secure infrastructure: Our hosting provider (Supabase) maintains SOC 2 Type II compliance

However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. International Data Transfers

Your data is primarily stored and processed within the European Economic Area (EEA). If we transfer data outside the EEA, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as:

• Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission
• Service providers with adequate data protection certifications

12. Children's Privacy

Lonnskart is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If we become aware that a child under 18 has provided us with personal data, we will take steps to delete such information.

13. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Lonnskart uses minimal cookies and tracking technologies:

13.1 Essential Cookies

• Authentication tokens: To keep you logged in and for user authentication/authorization
• Session management: To maintain your app sessions

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal, operational, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of any material changes by:

• Posting the new Privacy Policy in the app
• Updating the "Last Updated" date
• Sending you a notification (for significant changes)

Your continued use of Lonnskart after changes become effective constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

15. Contact Us