Privacy Policy

IMPORTANT: This document is provided for informational purposes and is a template intended to describe CleanFade's data practices. It does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with a qualified attorney for legal advice specific to your situation.

CleanFade ("we," "us," or "our") operates the CleanFade website and platform (the "Service"), a national directory for discovering Black-owned barbershops across the United States. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal information when you use the Service. By accessing or using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information in the following categories:

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

• Account Information: When you create an account through our authentication provider (Clerk), we collect your name, email address, and any other information you provide during registration. Clerk may also collect authentication credentials on our behalf
• Business Listing Information: If you are a shop owner claiming or managing a listing, we collect your barbershop name, street address, phone number, hours of operation, services offered, business description, and photographs you upload
• Community Submissions: When you submit a barbershop for inclusion in the directory, we collect the shop name, address, contact information, and your submitter email address
• Payment Information: If you purchase paid services (Verified, Featured, or Sponsored City tiers), your payment information is collected and processed directly by Stripe, our third-party payment processor. We do not store your full credit card number, CVV, or other sensitive payment card data on our servers. We may receive and store limited payment details from Stripe, such as the last four digits of your card, card brand, expiration date, and billing address, for record-keeping and customer support purposes
• Communications: When you contact us via email, feedback forms, or other channels, we collect the content of your communications and any information you choose to provide

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Usage Data: We automatically collect information about how you interact with the Service, including pages visited, search queries entered, filters applied, links clicked, date and time of visits, and referring URLs
• Device and Browser Information: We collect information about the device and browser you use to access the Service, including device type, operating system, browser type and version, screen resolution, and language preferences
• Location Data: When you use our search features, we may collect your approximate geographic location based on your IP address. If you grant permission through your browser, we may also collect your precise geolocation to provide nearby barbershop search results. You can revoke location permissions at any time through your browser settings
• Log Data: Our servers automatically record information including your IP address, access times, pages viewed, and the page you visited before navigating to the Service

1.3 Information from Third-Party Sources

• Public Business Data: We may collect barbershop information from publicly available sources, including Google Places, Yelp Fusion, and other public business directories, to populate and enhance our listings
• Authentication Data: If you sign in using a third-party provider through Clerk (such as Google or email), we may receive your name, email address, and profile information from that provider, subject to your privacy settings with that provider

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Providing the Service: To operate, maintain, and deliver the core features of the Service, including displaying barbershop listings, powering search and discovery features, rendering maps, and showing search results
• Account Management: To create and manage your account, authenticate your identity, and provide customer support
• Listing Management: To process shop owner claims, manage verification, and display accurate business listing information
• Moderation: To review community submissions, moderate content, and maintain the quality and integrity of the directory
• Payment Processing: To process payments for paid services and manage subscriptions and billing
• Communications: To send you transactional emails related to your account, listing, or submissions, and to respond to your inquiries and requests
• Improvement and Analytics: To analyze usage patterns, measure the effectiveness of features, diagnose technical issues, and improve the overall user experience
• Personalization: To personalize search results based on your location and search preferences
• Safety and Security: To detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, security incidents, and other harmful activity
• Legal Compliance: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, legal processes, and enforceable governmental requests

3. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal information under the following legal bases:

• Contractual Necessity: Processing necessary to perform our contract with you (these Terms of Service), including providing the Service, managing your account, and processing payments
• Legitimate Interests: Processing necessary for our legitimate business interests, including improving the Service, ensuring platform security, preventing fraud, and conducting analytics, where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms
• Consent: Where you have given consent for specific processing activities, such as enabling precise geolocation or opting in to marketing communications. You may withdraw consent at any time
• Legal Obligation: Processing necessary to comply with applicable laws and regulations

4. Information Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell your personal information. We share your information only in the following circumstances and with the following categories of recipients:

4.1 Service Providers

We share information with third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf. These providers are contractually obligated to use your information only for the purposes we specify and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Our current service providers include:

• Clerk (authentication): Processes your account registration, login credentials, and session management. Clerk's privacy policy is available at clerk.com/legal/privacy
• Vercel (hosting and infrastructure): Hosts the Service and processes server-side requests, including your IP address and usage data. Vercel's privacy policy is available at vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy
• Neon / PostgreSQL (database): Stores and manages listing data, account information, and other Service-related data
• Algolia (search): Processes your search queries and location data to deliver search results. Algolia's privacy policy is available at algolia.com/policies/privacy
• Mapbox (maps): Processes location data to render maps and provide geographic search features. Mapbox's privacy policy is available at mapbox.com/legal/privacy
• Cloudinary (image hosting): Stores and delivers business photographs uploaded to listings. Cloudinary's privacy policy is available at cloudinary.com/privacy
• Stripe (payment processing): Processes payments for paid services. Stripe collects and processes your payment information directly. Stripe's privacy policy is available at stripe.com/privacy

4.2 Public Information

Business listing information (shop name, address, phone number, hours, services, and photographs) is displayed publicly on the platform and may be indexed by search engines. This is a core function of the directory service. If you are a shop owner, you acknowledge that your business information will be publicly accessible.

4.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) comply with a legal obligation, subpoena, court order, or governmental request; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of CleanFade; (c) prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service; (d) protect the personal safety of users of the Service or the public; or (e) protect against legal liability.

4.4 Business Transfers

If CleanFade is involved in a merger, acquisition, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of assets, your personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you via email and/or a prominent notice on the Service of any change in ownership or uses of your personal information.

5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to operate and improve the Service. The types of cookies we use include:

• Essential Cookies: Required for the basic operation of the Service, including session management, authentication (managed by Clerk), and security. These cookies cannot be disabled without affecting the functionality of the Service
• Functional Cookies: Used to remember your preferences, such as search filters, location settings, and display preferences, to provide a more personalized experience
• Analytics Cookies: Used to collect information about how you use the Service, including pages visited, time spent on pages, and navigation patterns. This information helps us understand usage trends and improve the Service
• Third-Party Cookies: Our service providers (including Vercel, Algolia, and Mapbox) may set their own cookies to provide their respective services. These cookies are governed by the respective providers' privacy policies

Managing Cookies. Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can typically set your browser to refuse all cookies, accept only first-party cookies, or delete cookies when you close your browser. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the Service, particularly authentication and search features.

Do Not Track. Some browsers transmit a "Do Not Track" (DNT) signal. Because there is no industry standard for how to respond to DNT signals, the Service does not currently respond to DNT signals. We will update this policy if a standard for responding to DNT signals is established.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. Our general retention practices are as follows:

• Account Information: Retained for as long as your account is active. If you request account deletion, we will remove or anonymize your personal account information within thirty (30) days, except where we are required to retain it for legal, tax, or compliance purposes
• Business Listing Information: Business listing data (name, address, phone, hours, services) may be retained even after account deletion or termination, as this information serves the public directory function of the Service. Non-public information associated with a listing will be removed upon request
• Community Submissions: Retained indefinitely as part of the directory database. Submitter email addresses are retained for moderation purposes and may be deleted upon request
• Payment Records: Transaction records are retained for a minimum of seven (7) years as required for tax and accounting compliance
• Usage Data and Logs: Server logs and analytics data are retained for up to twenty-four (24) months, after which they are aggregated or deleted
• Communications: Records of your communications with us are retained for up to three (3) years from the date of the communication

7. Data Security

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

• Encryption of data in transit using TLS/SSL (HTTPS) for all communications between your browser and our servers
• Encryption of sensitive data at rest in our database systems
• Authentication and access controls managed through Clerk, including support for secure session management
• Regular security assessments of our infrastructure and third-party service providers
• Access to personal information restricted to authorized personnel who need it to perform their job functions
• Payment processing handled entirely by Stripe, a PCI DSS Level 1 certified payment processor, ensuring that sensitive payment data is never stored on our servers

While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, and you use the Service at your own risk. If we become aware of a security breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you in accordance with applicable law.

8. Your Rights

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Right of Access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Right to Correction: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information we hold about you
• Right to Deletion: You have the right to request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions (such as legal retention requirements or information necessary to complete a transaction)
• Right to Portability: You have the right to request a copy of your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format
• Right to Object: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal information where we rely on legitimate interests as our legal basis
• Right to Restrict Processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Where we rely on your consent to process personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing that occurred before the withdrawal

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at hello@cleanfade.xyz. We will respond to your request within thirty (30) days. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing your request. If we are unable to fulfill your request, we will explain the reason.

9. California Privacy Rights (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):

• Right to Know: You have the right to request that we disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources from which it was collected, the business or commercial purpose for collecting it, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it
• Right to Delete: You have the right to request that we delete any personal information we have collected about you, subject to certain exceptions
• Right to Correct: You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you
• Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing: CleanFade does not sell your personal information as defined by the CCPA. We do not share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising purposes
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. We will not deny you services, charge you different prices, or provide you with a different level of service for exercising your rights

Categories of Information Collected. In the preceding twelve (12) months, we have collected the following categories of personal information: identifiers (name, email, IP address), commercial information (transaction records for paid services), internet or other electronic network activity information (browsing history, search queries, interactions with the Service), geolocation data, and professional or employment-related information (for shop owner accounts).

To submit a CCPA request, please contact us at hello@cleanfade.xyz with the subject line "CCPA Request." You may also designate an authorized agent to make requests on your behalf by providing written authorization.

10. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child under the age of 13 has provided personal information to us, please contact us immediately at hello@cleanfade.xyz. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information from our servers promptly.

Users must be at least 18 years of age to create an account on CleanFade. Users between the ages of 13 and 18 may browse the public directory without creating an account, but may not submit information or use features that require an account.

11. International Users

CleanFade is operated from the United States, and the Service is designed for users located in the United States. If you access the Service from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country of residence.

By using the Service, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States and the processing of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not consent to such transfer and processing, you should not use the Service.

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with data protection laws that provide you with specific rights regarding your personal information, you may exercise those rights as described in Section 8 (Your Rights) of this Privacy Policy. For EEA and UK users, the legal bases for our processing of your personal information are described in Section 3 (Legal Basis for Processing).

12. Third-Party Links and Services

The Service may contain links to third-party websites, services, or content that are not owned or controlled by CleanFade. This includes, but is not limited to, links to barbershop websites, social media profiles, and map provider pages. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these third-party services. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services you visit through links on our platform.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For material changes that significantly affect how we collect, use, or share your personal information, we will endeavor to notify you by email (at the address associated with your account) or by posting a prominent notice on the Service at least thirty (30) days before the changes take effect.

Your continued use of the Service after the revised Privacy Policy becomes effective constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

CleanFade
Email: hello@cleanfade.xyz

For CCPA-related requests, please include "CCPA Request" in the subject line of your email. We will respond to all privacy-related inquiries within thirty (30) days.