Privacy Policy

Introduction

At The Thrift Spot, we're committed to helping you discover amazing secondhand treasures while respecting and protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website, use our mobile application, or engage with our services.

We value transparency and want you to understand exactly how your information helps us create a better thrifting experience. Please read this policy carefully. By using our services, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide to Us

We collect information you provide directly to us, such as when you:

Create an account or user profile
Submit store recommendations or reviews
Participate in surveys, contests, or promotions
Contact our customer service team
Sign up for our newsletter
Post content in our forums or comment sections

This information may include your name, email address, postal address, phone number, username, password, profile information, thrifting preferences, and any other information you choose to provide.

Information We Collect Automatically

When you access or use our services, we may automatically collect information about you, including:

Location Information: With your consent, we may collect information about your precise location to provide location-based services such as finding nearby thrift stores. Even if you don't enable precise location tracking, we may derive your approximate location from your IP address.
Device and Usage Information: We collect information about how you access our services, including your browser type, IP address, device identifiers, operating system, and mobile network information. We also collect information about your activities on our services, such as the stores you view, searches you conduct, and other actions you take.
Cookies and Similar Technologies: We and our service providers use various technologies to collect information, including cookies and web beacons. See our "Cookies and Tracking Technologies" section for more details.

Information We Collect From Other Sources

We may obtain information from other sources, such as:

Third-party social media services if you choose to connect your social media accounts to our services
Public databases and business partners when adding store listings or verifying information
Other users who may provide information about you when they submit content or invite you to use our services

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

Provide, maintain, and improve our services
Create and maintain your account and profile
Process transactions and send related information
Send you technical notices, updates, security alerts, and support messages
Respond to your comments, questions, and requests
Communicate with you about products, services, offers, promotions, and events
Provide personalized content and recommendations
Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our services
Detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent transactions and other illegal activities
Comply with legal obligations
Personalize your experience with location-based services (such as finding nearby thrift stores)
Link or combine information we collect to better understand your needs and provide you with better service

We may share information about you as follows or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy:

With service providers: We share information with vendors, consultants, and other service providers who need access to such information to carry out work on our behalf.
With thrift stores: When you submit reviews, ratings, or other content about specific thrift stores, this information may be shared with the respective store owners or managers.
With other users: When you post content in public areas of our services, such as reviews, comments, or forum posts, this information is visible to other users.
For legal reasons: We may disclose information if we believe that disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request.
With your consent: We may share information with your consent or at your direction.
In connection with a transfer of business: If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of our assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

We may also share aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We and our service providers use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to track information about your use of our services.

Cookies

Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that help us improve our services and your experience, see which areas and features of our services are popular, and count visits. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove or reject browser cookies. Please note that if you choose to remove or reject cookies, this could affect the availability and functionality of our services.

Web Beacons

Web beacons (also known as "pixel tags" or "clear GIFs") are electronic images that may be used in our services or emails to help deliver cookies, count visits, understand usage and campaign effectiveness, and determine if an email has been opened and acted upon.

Analytics

We may use third-party analytics services like Google Analytics to help understand your usage of our services. These services collect information sent by your device or our services, including the web pages you visit, add-ons, and other information that assists us in improving our services.

Your Privacy Choices and Rights

Account Information

You may update, correct, or delete information about you at any time by logging into your online account or emailing us at privacy@thethriftspot.com. Note that we may retain certain information as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.

Location Information

When you first access location-based features of our services, you will be asked to consent to the collection of location information. You can later change your preferences through your device settings.

Promotional Communications

You may opt out of receiving promotional emails from us by following the instructions in those emails or by adjusting your communication preferences in your account settings. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional emails, such as those about your account or our ongoing business relations.

Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, such as:

The right to access personal information we hold about you
The right to request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete information
The right to request that we delete your data under certain circumstances
The right to restrict or object to our processing of your data
The right to data portability
The right to withdraw consent

To exercise these rights, please contact us at privacy@thethriftspot.com.

Data Security

We take reasonable measures to help protect information about you from loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. However, no security system is impenetrable, and we cannot guarantee the security of our systems 100%. We encourage you to use strong passwords and to keep them confidential.

Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete this information as quickly as possible. If you believe that a child under 13 may have provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@thethriftspot.com.

International Users

Our services are hosted in Canada and are intended for users located in Canada. If you are accessing our services from outside Canada, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in Canada, where our servers are located. By using our services, you consent to the transfer of your information to Canada, which may have different data protection rules than those of your country.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email (sent to the email address specified in your account) or by means of a notice on our services prior to the change becoming effective. The date the privacy policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting this Privacy Policy to check for any changes.