Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Forward Future is a tech-focused media company based in San Francisco, California. We operate The Future Today daily newsletter, The Future Live weekly show, and related digital media properties. Our primary contact for privacy matters is:

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

When you subscribe to our newsletter or sign up through our platform, we may collect:

• Email address
• First and/or last name
• Job title or professional role
• Company or employer name
• City, state, country, or region

You are not required to provide all of these fields, but some are necessary to deliver our services.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you interact with our emails or website, we may automatically collect:

• IP address at the time of signup or consent
• Timestamp of subscription or opt-in
• Email open and click data (through our email service provider)
• Browser type and device information
• Referring URL or source of signup

This data helps us understand how our content is performing and lets us verify and record the consent you gave at signup.

2.3 Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from newsletter partners with whom you have opted in to share your data. See Section 5 (Data Sharing) for details.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Deliver The Future Today newsletter and related communications you have subscribed to
• Personalize content based on your professional role or interests
• Analyze readership and improve our editorial product
• Comply with legal obligations
• Fulfill our obligations under data processing agreements with newsletter partners
• Communicate with you about changes to our service or this Policy

We do not use your data for automated decision-making, profiling for advertising purposes, or any purpose materially different from those listed above without your prior consent.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data on the following legal bases:

• Consent: You affirmatively opted in to receive our newsletter and, where applicable, to have your data shared with partner newsletters. You may withdraw consent at any time.
• Legitimate interests: We process certain technical data (e.g., open rates, IP at signup) to operate and improve our service, where this does not override your rights.
• Legal obligation: We retain certain records as required by applicable law.

5. Data Sharing with Newsletter Partners

5.1 How Partner Data Sharing Works

During our signup flow, we may offer you the option to also subscribe to partner newsletters. If you check the opt-in box for a partner newsletter, we will share the following data with that partner:

• Email address
• First and/or last name
• Job title or role
• Company or employer name
• Location (city, state, country, or region)

This opt-in checkbox is always unchecked by default. Checking it constitutes your affirmative consent to that specific data transfer.

5.2 Current Partners

As of the effective date of this Policy, we have a data sharing relationship with the following newsletter partner:

Alpha Signal, LLC (alphasignal.ai) — an AI and technology newsletter

This partnership is governed by an executed Data Processing Agreement between Forward Future and Alpha Signal. Under that agreement, Alpha Signal may only use your data to send you the newsletter you opted in to receive. They may not sell, rent, or transfer your data to any third party.

5.3 Consent Logging

At the moment of opt-in, we record and store the following:

• Timestamp of consent
• IP address
• The exact checkbox language and form version presented to you

This record constitutes your consent audit trail and is retained for the duration of your subscription and as required by applicable law.

5.4 Limits on Partner Use

Partner newsletters that receive subscriber data through our signup flow are contractually prohibited from:

• Selling, renting, licensing, or transferring your data to any third party
• Using your data for any purpose other than sending the newsletter you opted in to receive
• Retaining your data beyond the term of our agreement without a legal basis to do so

6. Data We Do Not Share

We do not sell your personal data. We do not share your data with advertisers, data brokers, or any third party for commercial purposes not described in this Policy. We do not share your data with Forward Future Capital or Forward Future Consulting without a separate disclosure and consent.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your subscription is active or as needed to provide our services. If you unsubscribe, we will retain your email address on a suppression list to honor your opt-out and prevent re-subscription without your consent.

Data shared with newsletter partners will be subject to their own retention policies, which are governed by our Data Processing Agreements. Upon termination of a partner agreement, the partner is required to delete or return your data within 30 days and certify in writing that they have done so.

8. Your Rights and Choices

8.1 Unsubscribe

You may unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email we send or by emailing nick@forwardfuture.ai. Unsubscribing will stop future emails. It will not automatically remove data already transferred to a partner newsletter — you will need to unsubscribe from that newsletter separately.

8.2 Access, Correction, and Deletion

You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data at any time by contacting us at nick@forwardfuture.ai. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law (typically 30–45 days).

8.3 Opt-Out of Data Sharing

If you have opted in to a partner newsletter and later wish to request that the partner delete your data, contact us and we will notify the relevant partner of your request in accordance with our Data Processing Agreement.

8.4 California Residents (CCPA)

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

• Know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, or sell
• Delete personal information we hold about you (subject to certain exceptions)
• Opt out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell personal information)
• Non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights

To exercise these rights, contact us at nick@forwardfuture.ai. We will verify your identity before processing the request.

8.5 Other U.S. State Privacy Laws

Residents of Colorado, Virginia, Texas, and other states with applicable privacy laws have similar rights to access, correct, delete, and opt out of certain uses of their personal data. We honor these rights on request. Contact us at nick@forwardfuture.ai.

9. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:

• Encryption of data in transit and at rest
• Access controls limiting data access to authorized personnel
• Regular review of our security practices

In the event of a data breach involving your personal information, we will notify you and any relevant partners as required by applicable law, and in any event within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach.

10. Email Communications and CAN-SPAM Compliance

All commercial emails we send comply with the CAN-SPAM Act. Specifically:

• Every email includes a clear and conspicuous unsubscribe mechanism
• We honor unsubscribe requests promptly (within 10 business days)
• Our emails identify Forward Future as the sender
• We do not use deceptive subject lines

Partner newsletters that receive subscriber data through our signup flow are also required to identify the source of the subscription in their first email to you.

11. Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to individuals under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child under 13 without parental consent, we will delete it promptly.

12. Third-Party Links and Services

Our emails and website may contain links to third-party websites or services. This Policy does not apply to those sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services you visit.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes — particularly to how we share data with third parties — we will notify you by email prior to the change taking effect. The “Last Updated” date at the top of this document reflects the most recent revision.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your rights, or want to report a concern, contact us at: