⚠️ DRAFT — Pending attorney review. Not yet in effect.
The short version: We collect only what we need to run CapeFearLocal. We never sell your data. We never serve ads. Your birthday is shared with local businesses only to send you surprises — never for marketing databases. You can delete your account and all your data at any time.
1. Who We Are
CapeFearLocal ("CFL," "we," "us," or "our") is a community platform operated by [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], based in Wilmington, North Carolina. We connect residents and visitors with locally owned businesses across the Cape Fear region.
This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you use our website at capefearlocal.com and related services.
2. Information We Collect
Information You Provide
- Account registration: First name, last name, email address, and password when you create an account.
- Birthday: Month and day only (we do not require or store your birth year). This is optional but required to receive birthday specials from local businesses.
- Business registration: Business name, address, category, contact information, business hours, photos, and payment information (processed securely through Stripe — we do not store card numbers).
- Contact form submissions: Name, email, and message content.
- Photo submissions: Photos you submit to the Cape Fear Through Your Lens gallery, along with any caption and name credit you provide.
Information Collected Automatically
- Usage data: Pages visited, features used, and general interaction patterns — used only to improve the platform.
- Device information: Browser type, device type, and operating system — used for compatibility and mobile optimization.
- IP address: Logged temporarily for security purposes and general geographic region detection (city level only).
Information We Explicitly Do Not Collect
- We do not collect your birth year or full date of birth.
- We do not collect payment card numbers (handled entirely by Stripe).
- We do not collect location data beyond what you voluntarily provide in your profile.
- We do not use tracking pixels, third-party advertising cookies, or behavioral advertising tools.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect only for the following purposes:
- To create and maintain your account and provide platform features.
- To send birthday special notifications from local businesses you have not opted out of.
- To process business membership payments through Stripe.
- To send platform-related emails (account confirmation, password reset, deal notifications if opted in).
- To respond to contact form submissions and support requests.
- To detect and prevent fraud or abuse of the platform.
- To improve the platform based on aggregate, anonymized usage patterns.
We do not use your information for advertising, profiling, or sale to any third party — ever.
4. Birthday Data — Special Notice
This section is important. Please read it carefully.
Your birthday (month and day only) is used for one purpose: to enable locally owned businesses on the CapeFearLocal platform to send you a special offer or greeting during your birthday month.
Specifically, this means:
- Businesses are notified that a member has a birthday in the current month — they are not given your specific birth date or any other personal identifying information unless you visit their business and identify yourself.
- Your birthday is never shared with any party outside the CapeFearLocal platform.
- Your birthday is never used for advertising, sold to data brokers, or shared with national marketing databases.
- You may remove your birthday from your profile at any time in your account settings, which will stop birthday notifications.
5. SMS Invitations — Special Notice
CapeFearLocal includes an optional feature that allows registered members to invite friends via SMS text message. If you use this feature:
- The phone numbers you enter are used only to send a single SMS invitation message.
- Phone numbers entered in the invitation form are never written to our database. They are passed directly to our SMS provider, the message is sent, and the numbers are immediately discarded.
- Invited contacts are never added to any list, never contacted again by CFL, and never have a profile created for them unless they voluntarily register themselves.
- You represent that you have a personal relationship with the contacts you invite and that they would welcome receiving this message.
6. Information Sharing
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We share information only in the following limited circumstances:
- Service providers: We use Supabase (database hosting), Stripe (payment processing), Twilio (SMS), and Resend or SendGrid (email delivery). Each of these providers is bound by their own privacy policies and contractual obligations to protect your data.
- Legal requirements: We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or valid governmental request.
- Business transfer: In the unlikely event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, user data may be transferred. We will notify registered users before any such transfer and provide options to delete their accounts.
- With your consent: We will share your information for any other purpose only with your explicit consent.
7. Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will delete your personal data within 30 days, except where we are required to retain certain records for legal or financial compliance purposes (such as payment records, which Stripe retains per their own policies).
Anonymized, aggregate data — such as total community spending statistics — may be retained indefinitely as it contains no personally identifying information.
8. Security
We implement industry-standard security measures including encrypted connections (HTTPS), secure authentication through Supabase, and row-level security policies that ensure users can only access their own data. Passwords are hashed and never stored in plain text.
No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we work to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
9. Your Rights
You have the right to:
- Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Correct: Update or correct inaccurate information through your account settings or by contacting us.
- Delete: Request deletion of your account and all associated personal data.
- Opt out: Opt out of birthday notifications, deal alerts, or any non-essential communication through your account settings.
- Portability: Request your data in a portable format.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@capefearlocal.com or use the account settings within your profile.
10. Children's Privacy
CapeFearLocal is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete that information immediately. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@capefearlocal.com.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify registered users by email at least 14 days before the changes take effect and update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the platform after that date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.