1. Overview and who we are
ArcForge (“ArcForge,” the “Service,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a welding education and skills-practice platform operated by Forge Nova Labs, based in the State of North Carolina, USA. Forge Nova Labs is the controller responsible for the personal information described in this policy. ArcForge is currently an invite-only pilot.
This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, the legal bases on which we rely, how the information is used and shared, how long we keep it, how we protect it, and the choices and rights you have. It applies to the public website at arcforgepro.com and to the signed-in application.
The short version: we collect what the product needs to work; your weld photos are analyzed and discarded by default — stored only if you choose to save a photo to your private record, and you can remove it anytime; we don’t sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising; we don’t train models on your photos; and you can access, correct, export, or delete your data.
ArcForge is for educational and practice purposes only. It is not weld inspection, testing, qualification, or certification, and nothing in the Service should be relied on for any real-world acceptance, structural, safety, hiring, or compliance decision. See our AI Analysis Disclaimer for details.
2. Information we collect
We collect the following categories of information:
- Account information. Email address, display name, and authentication data when you create an account.
- Profile and training details. Optional information such as your experience level, learning goals, preferred processes, qualification-tracking entries you record, and unit preferences.
- Weld photos and analysis inputs. Photographs you submit for analysis are processed in memory and discarded by default; a photo is stored only when you switch on “Save this photo to my record (private)” at submission (see section 3). The details you attach (process, joint type, position, material, machine settings, practice objective) and your weld log entries are kept as part of your practice record.
- Learning activity. Lesson completions, quiz attempts and answers, practice scores, streaks, achievements, and saved content.
- Class and organization data. If you join a class or school, your membership, assignment submissions, and instructor feedback.
- Billing information. Plan, subscription status, and usage counts. Card details are handled by our payment processor and never touch our servers.
- Usage and device data. Log and diagnostic data such as pages visited, feature usage, approximate region, browser type, and error reports.
- Support communications. Messages you send through the contact form or support channels.
3. Weld photos
Weld photos are analyzed and discarded by default. When you submit a photo for analysis, it is held in memory only long enough to be validated and processed by the AI provider, and it is discarded when the analysis completes. What persists by default is the structured analysis result and the settings you entered — never the image.
Saving a photo is your choice, per photo. If you switch on “Save this photo to my record (private)” when you submit, that photo — and only that photo — is stored in private storage linked to your analysis. Saved photos are visible to you alone, and you can remove a saved photo from its analysis page at any time; removal deletes the stored image. Analyses that fail or need a better image never store the photo, even when you asked to save it.
We do not use your weld photos for marketing, and we do not train our own models on them. Instructors and school administrators see your submitted results and settings through class membership — never your photos, saved or otherwise.
4. How we use information
- To provide the Service: lessons, analyses, progress tracking, and class tools.
- To produce AI analysis results from the photos and details you submit.
- To enforce plan limits and prevent abuse of analysis allowances.
- To process subscriptions and payments.
- To respond to support requests.
- To maintain security, debug problems, and improve the product.
- To send service notifications you can manage in your preferences.
- To comply with our legal obligations and enforce our terms.
We do not sell personal information and we do not use it for third-party or cross-context behavioral advertising.
5. AI processing
When you request an analysis, your photo and the details you attached are sent to the AI vision provider configured for the Service, which processes them to produce a structured result. The photo exists only in memory for the duration of that request and is discarded afterward, unless you chose to save it to your private record (see section 3); the validated result and your settings are what we always store. The result is validated before it is shown to you, and every result carries a fixed educational disclaimer. AI output is educational guidance only — see our AI Analysis Disclaimer for the full statement of what analysis results can and cannot mean.
We record technical metadata about each analysis job (provider, model identifier, timing, and failure reasons) to operate the pipeline reliably.
6. Legal bases for processing
Where data-protection law requires a legal basis (for example, under the EU/UK GDPR), we rely on the following, depending on the activity:
- Performance of a contract — to create and operate your account, deliver lessons and analyses, track progress, and provide class tools you have signed up for.
- Consent — for example, when you choose to save a weld photo to your private record, or where consent is otherwise required. You can withdraw consent at any time, without affecting prior processing.
- Legitimate interests — to keep the Service secure, prevent abuse, debug and improve the product, and operate our business, balanced against your rights and expectations.
- Legal obligation — to meet billing, tax, security, and other legal requirements, and to respond to lawful requests.
7. How information is shared
We share information only with:
- Service providers and sub-processors that host our infrastructure, database, and storage, perform AI processing, deliver email, and process payments — each bound by contract to use the data only to provide those services to us and to protect it.
- Your instructors and school, to the limited extent described in section 8.
- Authorities, where we are legally required to do so, or where reasonably necessary to protect the rights, safety, or security of users, the public, or the Service.
- A successor entity in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, subject to the protections of this policy.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are used under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA) and similar laws. We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of anyone under 16.
8. Classes, instructors, and schools
Instructor access is scoped by class membership: instructors see assignment submissions, attached analyses, and progress information for students in their own classes only. Practice you do not submit to a class remains private to your account. School administrators manage seats and view aggregate usage and engagement reporting for their organization. As noted in section 3, instructors and administrators never see your weld photos.
Where a school or instructor account is used, the school or instructor acts as the party responsible for its students’ records and for obtaining the consents the law requires (see section 12).
9. International and US processing
We are based in the United States, and the information we collect is processed and stored in the United States and in other locations where our service providers operate. If you access the Service from outside the United States, you understand that your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States and elsewhere, where data-protection laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction. Where required, we use appropriate safeguards (such as standard contractual clauses) for cross-border transfers, to the fullest extent required by applicable law.
10. Cookies and analytics
We use a small number of cookies and similar technologies that are necessary to sign you in, keep your session secure, and remember your preferences. For product measurement we use privacy-respecting analytics that help us understand feature usage and fix problems; we do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies, and we do not share analytics data for behavioral advertising. You can control cookies through your browser settings, though disabling necessary cookies may affect how the Service works.
11. Retention and deletion
We keep your information while your account is active. Weld photos are not retained by default — they are discarded when each analysis completes. A photo you chose to save is kept until you remove it, delete its analysis, or delete your account. You can delete individual analyses and weld log entries from the app at any time. If you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal data within a reasonable period, except where limited records must be retained for legal, billing, or security purposes, or to resolve disputes. Class records your instructor created (such as feedback they wrote) may be retained by their organization.
12. Security
We use industry-standard measures designed to protect your information, including encrypted connections, row-level access controls in our database, private storage buckets with signed URLs, scoped service credentials, and audit logging of sensitive administrative actions. However, no method of transmission over the Internet and no method of electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you use the Service understanding that risk. If a breach affecting your personal data occurs, we will notify you and the appropriate authorities as required by applicable law.
13. Your rights and choices
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access the personal information we hold about you, correct inaccuracies, delete it, receive a portable copy (export), restrict or object to certain processing, and opt out of any sale or sharing (we do not sell or share, as explained in section 7). You can exercise most of these directly in the app — through your profile, settings, and analysis history — and all of them by contacting us at support@arcforgepro.com. We will verify your request as the law requires, and you may use an authorized agent where permitted. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights. If you have an unresolved concern, you may also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority.
14. Minors and schools
The Service is intended for welding students, apprentices, instructors, and professionals, and the minimum age to use it is 16. Self-registration requires you to be 18 or older. Users who are 16 or 17 may use the Service only through a school or instructor account.
The Service is not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16 outside a school context. Where a school or instructor enrolls students who are minors, the school or instructor is the party responsible for those students’ records and for obtaining all parental or guardian consents the law requires before adding them to a class. We acknowledge that, consistent with laws such as FERPA and COPPA, schools control their students’ education records and may act on a student’s behalf with respect to the data described in this policy. If you believe a child under 16 has provided us personal information outside a school context, contact us at support@arcforgepro.com and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.
15. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the product evolves. Material changes will be announced in the app or by email before they take effect, and the “Last updated” date above will always reflect the current version. Your continued use of the Service after an update takes effect means you accept the revised policy.
16. Governing law
This policy and any dispute relating to it or to your privacy are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Nothing in this policy limits any non-waivable statutory privacy rights you may have under the laws of your jurisdiction.
17. Contact
Questions or requests: support@arcforgepro.com or the contact form.