Privacy policy
What LaidOffCircle collects, why we collect it, who can see it, who processes it for us, how long we keep it and the choices you have.
Last updated 7 November 2026Overview
This policy explains how LaidOffCircle (“we”, “us”) collects, uses, shares and protects personal information when you use our website and related services at laidoffcircle.com. It applies to members and to visitors who browse public pages.
In short: we collect the information needed to run a community, we use it to operate, secure and moderate it, we do not sell it, and we do not show advertising. The rest of this page gives the detail so that you can decide what to share.
Information we collect
Information you give us
- Account details: your name, email address and, if you sign up with a password, the password. Passwords are stored only as a one-way hash, never in readable form.
- Profile details: optional information such as your role, an “about” section, your skills, what you are looking for next, your location, links to your website or LinkedIn profile, whether you are open to work, and your profile photo and cover image.
- Content you create: posts, polls and poll votes, photos, comments and replies, reactions, reposts, bookmarks, hashtags, and reports you submit about other content.
- Referral information: referrals you list, and when you request one, the answers you give and any documents you upload, such as a résumé or CV.
- Messages: the content of direct messages and related status such as read receipts.
- Network activity: people you follow and your connection requests and connections.
- Community data: companies and layoff reports you add to shared catalogues, and ratings you give to referrers.
- Correspondence: messages you send to us, and appeals or reports you make by email.
Information from Google sign-in
If you choose “Continue with Google”, Google confirms your identity to us through Firebase Authentication. We receive your name, verified email address, profile picture and a Google account identifier. We do not receive your Google password and we do not access your Google contacts, mail or files.
Information collected automatically
- Technical and security data: IP address, browser and device type, request time, the pages and interface actions you use, and error information. We use it to keep the service working, to detect abuse and to apply rate limits.
- Session data: a sign-in session so that you stay signed in, with its creation and expiry time and last login time.
- Email delivery records: which service emails we sent to you and whether they were delivered.
Location and map searches
Locations are text that you type (for example a city on a referral or profile). When you use place suggestions, the text you type is sent to Google Maps Platform to return matching places. We do not track your device’s location.
How we use information
We use personal information to:
- create and secure your account, sign you in, and confirm your email address;
- operate the features you use: showing your posts and profile, delivering messages, handling referral requests, building your network and personalising suggestions such as people you may want to connect with;
- send service emails: verification links and reminders, a welcome message, and notices about activity or about your content (see “Email”);
- keep the community safe: review reports, apply our Community guidelines, record warnings and enforcement actions, and prevent spam, fraud and abuse;
- produce aggregate statistics, such as layoff trends and platform usage, which do not identify individual members;
- maintain, debug and improve the service, and keep audit records of administrative actions; and
- comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests.
Where the law requires a legal basis, we rely on: performing our agreement with you (running your account and the features you ask for); our legitimate interests in securing, moderating and improving the service; your consent where we ask for it (for example, when you choose to upload a document); and legal obligation.
What other people can see
| Information | Who can see it |
|---|---|
| Name, role, photo and other profile details | Your public profile can be seen by other members and may be visible to visitors. Edit it at any time. |
| Posts, polls, photos and comments | Public, together with your name, unless you post anonymously. Reactions and reposts may be visible to others. |
| Anonymous posts | Your name is hidden from other members. Our moderation team can still identify the author to enforce the guidelines, and details you include in the text can still identify you. |
| Direct messages | The people in the conversation. Messages may be accessed by us only to investigate a report, to resolve a technical problem or where the law requires. |
| Referral requests and uploaded documents | The member offering that referral. Documents are stored privately and are not displayed publicly. |
| Follows and connections | The people involved. Your follower, following and connection counts may be shown on your profile. |
| Email address | Not shown publicly. Visible to our administrators for support and moderation. |
| Technical logs and warnings | Our administrators and engineers only. |
Anything you post publicly can be copied, quoted or screenshotted by others, and search engines may index public pages. Deleting content from LaidOffCircle does not remove copies that others have already made.
We send emails that are part of running your account: a message to confirm your address and, if it is still unconfirmed, a small number of reminders; a welcome message; and notices about activity or about your content, including a reminder or warning if a post does not follow the Community guidelines. These are service messages, not marketing, and some cannot be switched off while you hold an account.
Messages come from donot-reply@laidoffcircle.com, which is not monitored. To reach us, write to admin@laidoffcircle.com. We will never ask for your password by email.
How long we keep information
- Account and profile information is kept for as long as your account is open.
- Content you post stays until you delete it or your account is removed. Content that was reported may be kept for a limited time to resolve the report.
- Sessions expire automatically after a fixed number of days, and end immediately when you sign out.
- Security logs, audit records and email delivery records are kept only as long as needed for security, troubleshooting and accountability, and are then deleted or anonymised.
- Records of moderation actions, including warnings, may be kept after content is removed, so that we can apply the guidelines consistently and respond to appeals.
When we delete information from our live systems, copies in backups are overwritten on a regular cycle rather than removed immediately.
How we protect information
We use measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the data. These include encrypted connections (HTTPS) between your browser and our servers, one-way hashing of passwords, HTTP-only session cookies, rate limiting and request validation, separate private storage for documents sent to referrers, restricted administrator access with an audit trail, and verification of email addresses.
No system is completely secure. Use a strong, unique password, keep your devices up to date, and tell us promptly at admin@laidoffcircle.com if you think your account has been compromised or you notice a security issue.
Your choices and rights
You have control over much of your information directly in the app:
- edit your profile, photo and cover image;
- edit or delete your own posts and comments;
- withdraw a referral request or delete a referral you listed;
- remove connections, unfollow people, and sign out of your account.
Depending on where you live, for example under the EU and UK GDPR or India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you may also have the right to:
- access the personal information we hold about you;
- correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
- ask us to delete your account and personal information, subject to what we must keep by law or for safety;
- receive a copy of your information in a commonly used format;
- object to or ask us to restrict certain uses, and withdraw consent where we rely on it; and
- complain to your data protection authority if you believe we have not handled your information properly.
To make a request, email admin@laidoffcircle.com from the address on your account so that we can verify it is you. We aim to respond within 30 days. We may ask for more detail to locate your information, and we will explain if we cannot fully act on a request.
Where information is processed
Our servers are primarily located in India. Some of our service providers, such as Google, operate globally, so your information may be processed in other countries, including countries whose data protection laws differ from those where you live. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as contractual commitments from those providers.
Age requirement
LaidOffCircle is intended for working-age adults and is not directed to anyone under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the service and the law change. We will revise the date at the top of this page and, for significant changes, tell you in What’s new or by email. Continuing to use LaidOffCircle after a change means you accept the updated policy. Our Community guidelines and About page describe how the community operates.
Contact us
For any question about this policy or about your information, write to admin@laidoffcircle.com.