Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy describes how LocalSquare ("LocalSquare," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and shares information about you when you use our website, web app, and related services (the "Service").

LocalSquare is a digital community bulletin board for every neighborhood, where local businesses and community members can pin visual ads to connect with their neighbors. By using the Service, you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

We collect information you provide directly, such as:

• Account information: Name, email address, password (if you create a LocalSquare login).
• Profile details: Hometown / town selection, and other profile info you choose to add.
• Content you submit (User Content): Images, logos, flyers, photos, titles, labels, text, links, and town and category choices for your posts.
• Payment and billing info: We use Stripe or similar payment processors. They receive your payment card details; we may receive transaction IDs, payment status, last 4 digits of your card, billing name, and similar limited info.
• Communications: Messages you send us (support, feedback), your email preferences and notification settings.

2.2 Information We Collect Automatically

When you access or use the Service, we may automatically collect:

• Usage information: Pages viewed, clicks, interactions with boards and posts, time spent, features used.
• Device and technical information: IP address, browser type, operating system, device identifiers and approximate location (based on IP).
• Cookies and similar technologies: Used to remember you (e.g., staying logged in), store preferences (e.g., favorite town), and measure and analyze traffic and usage.

We may use third-party analytics services (e.g., Google Analytics) to help us understand how people use the Service.

2.3 Information from Third Parties

If you choose to sign up or log in using a third-party account (such as Google, Apple, or Facebook), we may receive your name, email address, and profile picture or other basic profile info.

We use this to create or connect your LocalSquare account.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

1. Provide and operate the Service: Create and manage user accounts and community boards, display User Content on the appropriate community board(s), and process payments, subscriptions, and donations via Stripe.
2. Personalize your experience: Show your homecommunity board by default, highlight your posts in your profile ("My pixels"), and suggest relevant towns or categories.
3. Communicate with you:
   • Send transactional messages: account confirmations, password resets, billing notifications.
   • Send Service-related messages: pin expiration reminders (if enabled), important updates, security alerts, or policy changes.
   • Send marketing or promotional messages if you've opted in (you can unsubscribe).
4. Improve and protect the Service: Monitor usage to understand what features are working, fix bugs, improve performance, test new features, and detect, prevent, and respond to fraud, abuse, or security incidents.
5. Legal and compliance: Comply with legal obligations, enforce our Terms of Service and other policies, and respond to legal process and law enforcement requests where required.

4. How We Share Information

We may share information in these situations:

4.1 With Service Providers

We use third parties to help us run the Service, such as:

• Payment processors (e.g., Stripe)
• Web hosting and cloud services
• Email and notification providers
• Analytics providers

These service providers may access your information only to perform services on our behalf and must protect it as required by applicable law and contracts.

4.2 With Other Users and the Public

Some information you provide is public by design, including:

• Content posted on community boards (images, titles, links, categories).
• Display name or first name associated with posts.
• Any public statistics showing top contributors, top posts, or similar.

If you choose to share or promote your board posts on social media, those posts may become visible outside LocalSquare as well.

4.3 For Legal Reasons

We may disclose information if we believe in good faith that it is reasonably necessary to:

• Comply with applicable laws, regulations, legal processes, or governmental requests.
• Protect the rights, property, or safety of LocalSquare, our users, or the public.
• Detect, prevent, or address fraud, security issues, or technical problems.

4.4 Business Transfers

If LocalSquare (or substantially all of its assets) is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will take reasonable steps to ensure the recipient continues to protect your information consistent with this Policy.

We do not sell your personal information as a separate, standalone product.

5. Cookies & Similar Technologies

We and our third-party partners use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to:

• Keep you signed in.
• Remember preferences.
• Measure and analyze usage.
• Improve the Service and support our marketing efforts.

You may control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may limit your ability to use certain features (e.g., staying logged in).

If we use Google Analytics or similar, they may collect certain usage data according to their own policies and settings.

6. Data Retention

We keep your information for as long as reasonably necessary to:

• Provide and maintain the Service.
• Meet legal, tax, or accounting requirements.
• Resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, and protect our rights.

When we no longer need personal information, we will delete or anonymize it, unless we are legally required or allowed to retain it longer.

If you request account deletion, we will remove or anonymize your data where possible, subject to any legal retention requirements.

7. Data Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including:

• Using reputable payment processors for handling payment card data.
• Applying access controls and security practices to our systems.

No online service can be guaranteed 100% secure, but we work to protect your information and respond to incidents if they occur.

8. Your Choices & Rights

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

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction: Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Deletion: Request that we delete certain information, subject to legal limits.
• Restriction or objection: In some cases, object to or restrict certain processing.
• Data portability: Request certain data in a portable format.

You can also:

• Opt out of marketing emails by using the unsubscribe link in our emails or contacting us. (We may still send necessary transactional or service-related emails.)

To exercise rights or ask questions about your data, contact us at [email protected]. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

9. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under 13 years of age.

• We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
• If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will take steps to delete it.
• If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, please contact us at [email protected].

10. International Users

If you access the Service from outside the United States:

• Your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States or other countries where we or our service providers operate.
• Data protection laws in these countries may differ from those in your country.

We will protect your information as described in this Policy and in accordance with applicable laws.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically.

• We will update the "Last updated" date at the top when we do.
• For significant changes, we may provide additional notice (e.g., via email or a prominent notice on the Service).

Your continued use of the Service after changes become effective means you accept the updated Privacy Policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions, requests, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us: