Privacy Policy

1. The short version

• We collect what we need to connect neighbors: your sign-in email, what you post, the messages you send, and records that keep the service safe.
• We do not sell your data, show ads, or share your data with advertisers. Our code contains no analytics or ad-tracking tools.
• Listings, approved store pages, and ratings are public. Your email is never shown to other users.
• A listing's handoff pin is shown on the map at the precision the seller picks. If a seller picks exact, the exact spot is public.
• You can't delete your account inside the app yet. Email us and we will scrub it by hand, as described in Section 8.

2. What we collect

• Account and sign-in data — your email address and how you sign in (email link, Apple, or Google). If you use Apple or Google, they send us a sign-in ID and basic profile details, which our sign-in provider keeps with your account. Our sign-in provider also keeps login sessions and a sign-in log that includes your email and IP address.
• Profile fields — your account has fields for a display name, a picture, and a home area. The website does not ask you for any of these today. If your account has a display name, the people you chat with see it; otherwise they see "Patchstand user". We also record when your account was created.
• Seller application — if you apply to sell: your store name, bio, the ZIP code where you grow or make your goods, and your default handoff settings. You can add a store cover photo later. During review we record notes, the outcome, and who approved it.
• Listings — title, description, category, tags, quantity, price, photos, handoff method, and a handoff pin on the map. Photos are re-encoded in your browser to remove hidden data such as GPS location, and our server refuses photos that still carry that data.
• Handoff pin and precision — when you drop a pin (or tap "Use my location" while creating a listing), we store that exact point. You choose how precisely it is shown to others: exact (the exact point), street (rounded to about 110 meters), neighborhood (about 550 meters, the default), or city (about 5.5 km). Sellers must place pins inside our six-county Kansas City service area.
• Messages — the text of chats you send and receive, when they were sent, and when they were read. Our system can store message attachments, but the website does not send attachments today.
• Handoff confirmations and ratings — who handed off what to whom, quantities, and when each side marked it complete (if one of you marks it complete and the other doesn't within 7 days, it completes automatically). After a handoff, ratings record who rated whom, thumbs up or down, and whether they would deal with that person again.
• Reports — if you report a listing, person, or message: who reported, what, the reason, and any details you add. When a message is reported, we save a copy of its text at that moment, so it can be reviewed even if the conversation changes.
• Moderation and suspension records — automatic review flags (for example, several reports on one listing), and if an account is suspended or restored, a private record of when, by whom, and why.
• Consent records — which version of the Terms and this policy you accepted, and when.
• Basic technical data — like any website, your browser sends your IP address and device details with each request. Our hosting, database, and bot-protection providers process these (see Section 5). If you tap "near me" on the map, your browser's location is put in the page address so we can center the map; it reaches our servers and host but is not saved to your account. It also stays in your browser history, and in the link if you share it.

We do not collect payment details. Patchstand never handles money.

3. What is public and what is private

Public (anyone, even without an account):

• Active listings, including their photos and the handoff pin at the chosen precision.
• Approved stores: store name, bio, cover photo, and approval status.
• Ratings: each rating's thumbs up or down, "would deal again" answer, and date, linked to the internal account IDs of both people. Because store pages are public, this shows which accounts rated a given store and when. Store pages show the totals.
• Photos: anyone who has a photo's web address can open it, so please don't photograph anything you want kept private.

Shared only with the other person: chat messages, handoff confirmations, and your display name (if you have one).

Private (you and Patchstand only): your email, your seller application ZIP code, review notes, the exact handoff pin of listings set to less than exact precision, the reports you file, and your consent records. Moderation and suspension records are visible only to Patchstand's admins. Today the only admin is the founder (checked October 20, 2026). Any admin can see the data described here to run, fix, and moderate the service.

4. How we use it

Only to run Patchstand: signing you in, showing listings and stores, letting two people chat to arrange a handoff, recording handoffs and ratings, reviewing seller applications, keeping sellers in the service area, handling reports, and moderating (for example, a listing is hidden automatically if two different people report it as a food-safety concern). Beyond what is public or shared with the other person in a chat or handoff (Section 3), we share data only with the service providers in Section 5, or when the law requires it. We do not sell or rent your data, show ads, or share it with advertisers or data brokers.

5. Who processes your data for us

• Cloudflare — hosts the website and sees every request, including your IP address. On the sign-in page, Cloudflare Turnstile runs a check in your browser to confirm you are a person, and we send Cloudflare your IP address to verify it.
• Supabase — our database, sign-in, photo storage, and live chat updates. Everything in Section 2 is stored there. Your browser also connects to Supabase directly to load photos and live chat updates, so Supabase sees your IP address. Today Supabase also sends sign-in link emails.
• Apple and Google — only if you choose to sign in with them. They see that you signed in to Patchstand.
• OpenFreeMap (and, if it is down, the MapLibre demo map server) — supplies the map. Your browser fetches map pieces directly from them, which reveals your IP address and the area you are looking at.
• Google Fonts — supplies the website's fonts. Your browser loads them from Google on every page, which reveals your IP address to Google.
• picsum.photos — sample (demo) listings, where present, load placeholder images from this service.

New with this version — we are adding notifications. When they are turned on:

• Resend will send our emails, such as sign-in links, notices about new messages, handoff and rating reminders, and decisions on your seller application. Resend receives your email address and the email's content.
• Browser notifications are optional. If you allow them, we store your browser's push address and keys so we can send to it, and your browser maker's push service (for example Apple, Google, or Mozilla) receives that push address and delivers the notification. The message content is encrypted for your browser. You can turn them off in your browser at any time, which stops them.
• We keep a record of the notifications we send and of your notification settings.
• Some emails go to Patchstand itself (for example, about a new report or seller application), and they can include the details of that report or application.

These providers store and process data on their own systems, which may be in the United States or elsewhere, under their own policies.

6. Cookies and browser storage

• Sign-in cookies — Patchstand sets these, through our sign-in provider's software, to keep you signed in. They are the only cookies Patchstand sets. On the sign-in page, Cloudflare's bot check runs in your browser and may use its own cookies. We use no advertising or tracking cookies.
• Your browser's local storage — your light/dark theme choice, and the dashboard's "Email digest" switch. That switch is saved only in your browser today and does not send anything.
• Session storage — which map style loaded, cleared when you close the tab.

7. How long we keep it

We have no fixed retention periods yet. We keep your data while your account exists and after it is closed as described in Section 8. Expired, hidden, and sold-out listings stay in our records. Our providers keep their own logs (such as request and sign-in logs) according to their own practices.

8. What you can change or delete

In the app today: sellers can edit store details and listings, hide a listing, mark it sold out, and relist it, and can delete a draft listing that was never published. When you remove a photo while editing a listing, we ask our storage provider to delete it; if that fails, the photo can stay reachable at its old web address until we clean it up. You can't yet delete a published listing (hide it instead), a message, a chat, a rating, a report, or your account from inside the app, and there is no profile editor yet.

To close your account, email us at the address in Section 11. We do this by hand, and first confirm the request came from the email on your account. We:

• replace your email and remove your display name, picture, home-area fields, and sign-in provider;
• remove your store name, bio, cover photo, ZIP code, and review notes;
• hide your listings from everyone and remove their descriptions, pins, and photo files;
• disconnect your Apple or Google sign-in, end your sessions, and block sign-in.

To protect the people you dealt with, some shared records are kept: chats and messages, handoff records (an open handoff can still complete automatically), the titles, categories, tags, and prices of your hidden listings, ratings in both directions, reports (including saved copies of reported messages), consent records, and moderation and suspension records. These stay linked to an internal account ID that no longer carries your name or email, but the text of messages and reports is kept as written, so anything you typed about yourself stays unless you ask us to remove it. Our sign-in provider's log may still hold your email and IP address.

9. Children

Patchstand is not for anyone under 18. We don't knowingly collect data from children. We don't verify age, so if you believe a child has an account, email us and we will close it as described in Section 8.

10. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we publish it as a new version with a new label and ask you to accept it the next time you use Patchstand while signed in. Until you accept, the website shows you the new version first, and you can't apply to sell, start a new chat, or confirm a handoff; you can also sign out and keep browsing listings without an account. The versions you accepted stay in your consent record.

11. Contact

For any privacy question, or to close your account, email [email protected].