Who handles your information
WhaleSharks, LLC operates Surge Apply and is responsible for the personal information we process to provide our website and application-assistance service. This policy describes that processing, including accounts, resumes, AI assistance, job applications, and support.
For privacy questions or requests, email support@whalesharks.io. Employers, sign-in providers, and other third-party services may also handle your information under their own policies.
Information you give us
We process the information you add to your account or send to support. Depending on what you provide and the applications you choose, this can include:
- Account and contact details: your name, email, phone number, address, and sign-in account identifiers.
- Resume and experience: uploaded resume files, text extracted from them, employment and education history, qualifications, and edited versions.
- Search preferences: desired roles, cities or ZIP codes, search radius, remote-work preferences, and saved searches. We may use these to estimate a location for matching; they are not a reading of your device’s GPS location.
- Application answers: your reusable profile information, work authorization and sponsorship answers, and answers to employer- or job-specific questions.
- Voluntary demographic details: where you choose to provide them, gender, race or ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, and similar answers requested in applications.
- Support and purchase information: messages, attachments, billing contact details, and information needed to identify a payment or respond to a request.
Please do not send unnecessary sensitive documents, account passwords, full payment card numbers, or government identification numbers to support or include them in a resume.
Information from sign-in and service activity
When you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive account information made available through that sign-in, such as an identifier, name, and email address. Those providers handle your sign-in credentials under their own policies.
We create records of the jobs you select, application status and history, prepared answers, and the information attached to a particular application run. If an application uses an email verification step handled by Surge Apply, we may process the related message, sender and recipient details, verification code, and delivery information.
Our hosting and service infrastructure may process technical information such as IP addresses, browser and device details, request timestamps, errors, and security logs. This helps deliver pages, diagnose problems, and protect the service.
What we use it for
We use information to create and secure your account, match jobs to your preferences, prepare and submit applications you authorize, reuse relevant answers, provide resume assistance, show application progress, and send service messages or enabled summaries. We also use it to provide support, handle purchases and refunds, prevent misuse, resolve disputes, and meet legal obligations.
Saved answers can be used again for later applications. Employer-specific answers retain their context so that an answer about one company can be distinguished from an answer about another. Application records can preserve the resume and answers prepared for that particular run, even when you later change a saved answer.
How AI processes your resume and answers
Surge Apply uses AI service providers, including Google’s Gemini service, to understand job questions, prepare answers, and assist with resumes. Inputs can include the resume document itself or its extracted text, profile information, previously saved answers, employer context, and the questions for a job. This may include sensitive information you have chosen to provide if it is part of those inputs.
AI outputs and the answers you confirm may be saved and reused to help with future applications. AI can make mistakes; review available prepared answers and keep your information current. AI-assisted preparation is not an employer’s hiring decision.
AI providers process inputs under the terms and privacy protections applicable to the services we use. Do not submit information you do not want processed for this purpose. Contact support if you want to discuss removing information or stopping further processing; doing so may limit the application assistance we can provide.
Your choices about sensitive answers
Some employers ask voluntary demographic or equal-opportunity questions. Where offered, you can choose a “prefer not to answer” or equivalent response. If you supply an answer, it may be stored, used in AI-assisted preparation, and sent with the applications you authorize.
Review these answers carefully. You can update saved information for future applications or ask us to remove it. A later update does not recall an answer already submitted to an employer. We use these details to help complete your chosen applications, not to make hiring decisions for employers.
Retention and account deletion
We keep information for as long as reasonably needed to provide your account and application history, fulfill the purposes described here, and meet legal, security, accounting, or dispute-resolution needs. Retention depends on the type of information and why it is needed; there is not one fixed period for every record.
You can edit saved information in the app and request account deletion through support. Email us from the address associated with your account so we can verify the request. If you have an active Pro subscription, include a request to cancel it when asking us to delete your account.
Deletion may not remove limited records we must retain for legitimate legal or security reasons, and backup copies may remain until their normal retention period ends. It also does not remove information already received by employers or other independent services.
Your privacy requests and controls
Depending on where you live and which laws apply, you may have rights to access, correct, obtain a copy of, or delete your personal information, or to object to, restrict, or withdraw consent for certain processing. Contact support@whalesharks.io to make a request. We may need to verify your identity before releasing or changing account information and will respond as required by applicable law.
You can change saved answers and search preferences, pause application activity, and manage available summary-email preferences in the app. Essential account, security, and transaction messages may still be sent. Withdrawing permission for information needed to apply may mean we cannot continue an application. Where applicable, you may also raise a concern with your local privacy regulator.
Security and international processing
We use reasonable technical and organizational measures designed to protect personal information, including access controls and restricted resume storage. No system can guarantee absolute security. Keep your sign-in account secure and contact us if you suspect unauthorized access.
Information may be processed in the United States and other countries where our service providers operate. Privacy laws in those countries may differ from those where you live. Where applicable law requires protections for international transfers, those requirements apply to our processing.
Age requirements and policy updates
Surge Apply is intended for adults age 18 and older, not children. Contact us if you believe a child has provided personal information so we can investigate and take appropriate action.
We may update this policy as the service or our practices change. We will update the date on this page and provide notice of material changes as appropriate. You can always contact WhaleSharks, LLC at hello@whalesharks.io or use the support address for privacy help.