Privacy Notice

1. Information We Collect

• Account information: username and email address — collected directly from you at signup. If you sign in with Google, we receive your email address and display name from Google. Sellers also provide a contact email and phone number for their shop.
• Plant photographs: images you upload of plants or yards — collected directly from you.
• Approximate location: the location you give during onboarding — a postcode, a city, or a point you place on a map — and its coordinates. Sellers may additionally choose to show a shop address; that is off by default.
• Transaction data: purchases and sales made through Bazaar — generated automatically through use of the Service.
• Usage data: device and browser information, log data, pages visited — collected automatically. We also record the IP address and time at which you accept our terms, so that acceptance is evidenced.
• Cookies and similar technologies: essential only — see Section 7.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To operate core features of the Service (plant matching, listings, member profiles).
• To analyze plant photographs using an AI service provider, OpenAI, for the purpose of identifying plant species and describing their care, and to generate growing guidance for your region.
• To facilitate Bazaar transactions between members, including payment processing and payouts.
• To communicate with you about your account, transactions, and (if you opt in) marketing.
• To maintain the security and integrity of the Service and prevent fraud.
• To comply with legal and tax obligations.

3. Sharing With Third Parties

AI Provider

Plant photographs are sent to OpenAI to identify the plant and describe its care. Your approximate location is sent to OpenAI to generate growing guidance for your region. We do not send your name, email address or account identifier with either request.

[Whether OpenAI retains this data, for how long, and whether it is used to train their own models must be stated here and must match our agreement with them]

Payment Processor

Transaction information is shared with PayPal to process Bazaar purchases, and with Authorize.Net to process Premium subscriptions. Card and PayPal account details are handled by them and are not stored on our systems.

[Payout arrangements, identity verification (KYC) and tax reporting — such as who issues 1099-K forms in the United States — are not settled and must be described here once they are]

Other Service Providers

Photographs you upload are stored with Cloudinary, our media host, and served from there. Account emails — verification and password reset codes — are sent through our email provider.

Sale of Personal Information

We do not sell your personal information.

4. Data Retention

• Plant photographs: retained for [period to be decided] or until you delete them or close your account, whichever comes first.
• Approximate location data: retained for [period to be decided]. Note: the AI provider’s own retention period for this data may differ from ours — see the AI provider’s terms.
• Account and transaction data: retained for [period to be decided], including as needed to comply with tax and financial recordkeeping laws.
• Data associated with closed or banned accounts: [retention and deletion approach to be decided].

5. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• Access, correct, or delete your personal information.
• Object to or restrict certain processing.
• Request a copy of your data in a portable format.
• Withdraw consent, where processing is based on consent.

If you are in the EEA/UK

Our legal basis for processing includes [performance of a contract, consent, or legitimate interests — to be specified per category above]. You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

If you are a California resident

You have rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including the right to know, delete, and correct your personal information, and to opt out of “sharing” if applicable.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@heartyouryard.com.

6. International Data Transfers

Because our AI provider and/or payment processor may process data outside your country of residence, your information may be transferred internationally.

[If Standard Contractual Clauses or another transfer mechanism is relied on for EU/UK data, it must be stated here and confirmed against those vendor contracts]

7. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:

• Essential: required for the Service to function — the cookie that keeps you signed in.
• Analytics: none in use.
• Advertising: none in use.

[If any advertising or tracking pixels are added, this section must describe the choices available to users and may trigger additional CCPA/GDPR obligations]

8. Marketing Communications

We send marketing emails, such as news, offers and feature announcements, only to members who choose to receive them. Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out at any time.

Emails about your account and activity are not marketing and are sent as needed: for example, verification codes, password resets, order receipts, and alerts you have turned on.

9. Data Security and Breach Notification

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your information. No system is completely secure. In the event of a data breach affecting your personal information, we will notify affected users and relevant authorities as required by applicable law.

10. Children’s Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under 15 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under that age.

11. Changes to This Notice

We may update this notice from time to time. We will post the updated version on this page.

12. Contact Us

Heart Your Yard LLC
3520 66th Avenue N., Pinellas Park, FL 33781
privacy@heartyouryard.com

You can also send us a message from our contact page.

This notice sits alongside our Terms of Use and Seller Agreement.