Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to NeighborWire ("we," "our," or "us"). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our neighborhood community platform. Please read this policy carefully. If you disagree with its terms, please discontinue use of the platform.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in the following ways:

Information You Provide Directly

• Account information (full name, email address)
• Profile details, neighborhood name, and address verification data
• Posts, comments, direct messages, and group chat content
• Marketplace listings, event information, and community issue reports
• Seasonal display submissions, including the public display location you choose to publish
• Photos and other media you upload
• Payment information processed via Stripe (we do not store raw card data)

Information Collected Automatically

• Precise or approximate location data (GPS coordinates), when you grant permission
• Device type, browser, operating system, and IP address
• Usage data such as pages visited, features used, and time spent
• Log data and crash reports to diagnose technical issues

Information from Third Parties

• Address verification data from public records or postal services
• Payment and transaction data from Stripe

Content Removal, Retention, and Legal Preservation

When you delete or remove substantive user-generated content, NeighborWire generally removes it from ordinary public and member-facing surfaces rather than immediately destroying the underlying record. Retained content may include posts, comments and replies, messages and group-chat content, marketplace listings, event content, publisher content, uploaded media references, moderation reports, and associated account and timestamp metadata.

We retain such records when reasonably necessary for platform safety, fraud and abuse prevention, moderation, dispute resolution, protection of users, enforcement of our Terms, compliance with legal obligations, and response to lawful government or legal process. A request to delete content from view therefore does not necessarily erase all copies from our systems.

Records may be placed under a legal or evidence hold when relevant to a safety report, credible complaint, dispute, investigation, preservation request, subpoena, court order, anticipated or pending litigation, or other legal obligation. Content subject to a hold is protected from ordinary deletion or automated cleanup for the duration of the hold.

Where applicable law imposes special reporting and preservation duties for serious illegal content, we preserve and restrict access to relevant material and contextual records as required by law. Such material is not made available through ordinary member-facing features.

We do not apply indefinite retention to every technical record. Temporary caches, derived technical data, and records no longer needed for a legitimate business, safety, security, or legal purpose may be deleted under our retention practices. Personal information that is disposed of is handled using reasonable measures intended to prevent unauthorized access or reconstruction.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, operate, maintain, and improve our services
• Connect you with verified neighbors in your local community
• Display location-relevant posts, events, and alerts on your feed
• Process marketplace transactions and facilitate payments
• Send transactional notifications (safety alerts, messages, event updates)
• Respond to your inquiries, comments, and support requests
• Detect, prevent, and address fraud, spam, abuse, or illegal activity
• Comply with legal obligations
• Analyze usage trends to enhance the platform experience

We do not use your data to serve third-party advertising or sell your information to data brokers.

4. Sharing of Information

We may share your information in the following limited circumstances:

• With other users: Your posts, profile name, and neighborhood are visible to other authenticated NeighborWire members. Ordinary community posts are visible to authenticated members across the platform. A limited selection of ordinary community content may also be displayed on NeighborWire's public, guest-facing surfaces (such as the logged-out home page) to demonstrate community activity and promote NeighborWire. Direct messages and group chats are private and visible only to their participants. Address verification data and precise location coordinates are never shared with other users — only neighborhood-level labels are displayed publicly. One exception is a Seasonal Display you deliberately submit: the display location you type into that form is published on the map if approved, because you are choosing to make it public. That location is never taken from your private address-verification record.
• With service providers: We share data with trusted vendors (e.g., Stripe for payments, cloud hosting providers) who process it only on our behalf and under strict confidentiality agreements.
• For legal compliance: We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or to protect the rights and safety of NeighborWire, its users, or the public.
• Business transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, user data may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before your data becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

We never sell your personal information to third parties.

5. Location Data

NeighborWire is a location-based service. We request access to your device's GPS to show you relevant local content, filter posts by distance, and display community maps. Location access is optional — you may use a manually entered neighborhood name instead. You can revoke location permissions at any time through your device settings. We do not share your precise coordinates with other users; only neighborhood-level labels are displayed publicly.

6. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Keep you logged in and maintain session state
• Remember your preferences (e.g., dark mode, notification settings)
• Understand how users interact with the platform (analytics)

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect platform functionality. See our Cookie Policy for full details.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as necessary to provide our services, and we do not keep personal information indefinitely without a purpose. If you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal data within 30 days, except where we are required or permitted to retain it for legal, tax, fraud-prevention, safety, moderation, or evidence purposes, or where a legal or evidence hold applies. Anonymized aggregate data may be retained indefinitely.

Removing content from public or member-facing view is not the same as destroying the underlying record. Retained records, the categories involved, and the reasons we keep them are described above under "Content Removal, Retention, and Legal Preservation." Retained records are kept only for those purposes.

NeighborWire is not a storage, archival, or backup service. We do not guarantee the permanent availability, preservation, recovery, or accessibility of user-generated content. Please keep your own copies of anything you wish to preserve.

8. Data Security

We implement industry-standard technical and organizational safeguards including encryption in transit (TLS), access controls, and regular security reviews. However, no system is 100% secure. We will notify you promptly in the event of a data breach that materially affects your personal information, as required by applicable law.

9. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction: Request that inaccurate or incomplete data be updated.
• Deletion ("right to be forgotten"): Request deletion of your personal data.
• Portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection / Restriction: Object to or restrict certain types of processing.
• Withdraw Consent: Withdraw any consent you previously provided at any time.

California residents (CCPA/CPRA): You have the right to know what personal information is collected, the right to opt out of the "sale" of personal information (we do not sell your data), and the right to non-discrimination for exercising your rights.

EEA/UK residents (GDPR): You have the rights listed above and may lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@neighborwire.com or use the account deletion option in your Profile settings. We will respond within 30 days.

10. Children's Privacy

NeighborWire is intended for users aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or under 16 where required by local law). We do not collect your date of birth or government identification to verify age; age eligibility is confirmed by self-attestation. Certain features (selling, receiving payments, advertising, and claiming or managing a business) require users to confirm they are at least 18 years old. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child under 13 (or under 16 where required by local law), please contact us immediately at privacy@neighborwire.com and we will promptly delete it.

11. Third-Party Links & Services

Our platform may contain links to third-party websites or integrate with third-party services (e.g., mapping providers, payment processors). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those services and encourage you to review their privacy policies.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. When we make material changes, we will notify you via an in-app notice or email at least 14 days before the changes take effect. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision. Your continued use of NeighborWire after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact Us

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