1. Overview
The Makers respects your privacy. This policy explains what personal data we collect, how we use it, and your rights to control your information.
Our commitment: We never sell your data to third parties. We never share your information for advertising. Your data is used only to operate the marketplace and improve your experience.
2. Data We Collect
Account Information
- Name: Your full name for account creation and order fulfillment
- Email address: For account login, order confirmations, and communication
- Password: Hashed and encrypted (we never store plaintext passwords)
Payment Information
- Payment details: Processed securely through Stripe (our payment provider)
- We do NOT store card numbers: Full credit card details never touch our servers — Stripe handles all sensitive payment data
- Billing address: Collected at checkout for payment verification
Shipping Information
- Shipping address: Collected at checkout and shared with sellers to fulfill orders
- Phone number: Optional, used by sellers or carriers for delivery coordination
Browsing & Usage Data
- Browsing behavior: Pages viewed, searches performed, products clicked
- Order history: Products purchased, order dates, transaction amounts
- Device information: Browser type, operating system, IP address (hashed for privacy)
- Session data: Login sessions, cart contents (stored locally in your browser)
Shop Content (Sellers Only)
- Shop name, description, and location: Displayed publicly on your storefront
- Product listings: Titles, descriptions, prices, photos
- Shop images: Profile photos, banner images, product photos
3. How We Use Your Data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
Operating the Marketplace
- Process orders: Connect buyers and sellers, facilitate transactions, send order confirmations
- Account management: Create and manage your buyer or seller account
- Customer support: Respond to inquiries, resolve disputes, provide help
Communication
- Transactional emails: Order confirmations, shipping updates, account notifications
- Policy updates: Notify you of changes to Terms of Service or Privacy Policy
- Dispute resolution: Contact you regarding order issues or marketplace policy violations
Platform Improvement
- Analytics: Understand how people use the marketplace (most viewed products, popular categories, etc.)
- Search optimization: Improve product discovery and search relevance
- Feature development: Build new tools based on aggregated, anonymized usage patterns
Legal Compliance
- Enforce policies: Investigate policy violations, fraudulent activity, or prohibited items
- Comply with legal requests: Respond to subpoenas, court orders, or government investigations (only when legally required)
4. Third-Party Sharing
We do NOT sell your data to third parties. Ever. We only share data with trusted service providers necessary to operate the marketplace:
Payment Processing
- Stripe: Handles all payment transactions, subscription billing, and refunds
- Data shared: Name, email, billing address, payment method (card data goes directly to Stripe, never to us)
Hosting & Infrastructure
- Render: Hosts our web application and database
- Data shared: All data necessary to operate the platform (accounts, listings, orders)
Media Storage
- Cloudflare R2: Stores product images, shop photos, and user-uploaded content
- Data shared: Images and files uploaded by sellers and buyers
What We DON'T Share
- No advertising networks: We don't sell data to Facebook, Google Ads, or any ad platforms
- No data brokers: Your information is never sold or shared with third-party data resellers
- No marketing partners: We don't share your email for external marketing campaigns
5. Cookies & Tracking
The Makers uses cookies to improve your experience and understand how the marketplace is used.
Session Cookies
- Purpose: Keep you logged in, remember your cart contents
- Required: Yes — the marketplace won't function without these
Analytics Cookies
- Purpose: Track page views, product clicks, and search queries to improve the platform
- Third-party tracking: None — we use our own analytics (no Google Analytics, no Facebook Pixel)
- Required: No — you can disable these in your browser settings
What We DON'T Use
- No third-party tracking cookies: We don't use Facebook Pixel, Google Ads tracking, or other invasive ad tech
- No cross-site tracking: We don't follow you around the internet
6. Data Retention
We retain your personal data only as long as necessary to operate the marketplace and comply with legal obligations.
Active Accounts
- Your account data is kept as long as your account is active
- Order history is retained indefinitely for your records and customer support
Account Deletion
- You can request account deletion at any time by contacting support
- Upon deletion, your account and personal data will be removed within 30 days
- Legal retention: We may retain certain financial records (transaction history, tax documents) for up to 7 years to comply with accounting and legal requirements
Inactive Accounts
- Buyer accounts with no activity for 3+ years may be automatically deleted after email notification
- Seller accounts with unpaid memberships or policy violations may be deleted after 6 months of inactivity
7. Your Rights (GDPR & CCPA)
Depending on your location, you have the following rights under privacy laws like GDPR (Europe) and CCPA (California):
Right to Access
- You can request a copy of all personal data we have about you
- We'll provide this in a machine-readable format (CSV or JSON) within 30 days
Right to Correction
- You can update your account information at any time through your dashboard
- If you find inaccurate data, contact us to have it corrected
Right to Deletion
- You can request permanent deletion of your account and associated data
- Note: Legal/financial records may be retained for compliance (see Data Retention)
Right to Data Portability
- You can request a portable copy of your data to transfer to another service
- This includes your shop content, product listings, and order history
Right to Opt Out
- Opt out of non-essential emails (marketing, feature announcements) via unsubscribe links
- Note: You cannot opt out of transactional emails (order confirmations, policy updates) as they're necessary to use the marketplace
To exercise these rights: Contact us at privacy@themakers.boutique with your request.
8. International Data Transfers
The Makers is a global marketplace serving sellers and buyers worldwide. Your data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside your own.
Data Hosting
- Our primary servers are located in the United States (via Render and Cloudflare)
- We use industry-standard encryption and security measures to protect data during transfer
GDPR Compliance
- For European users, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission
- All third-party processors (Stripe, Render, Cloudflare) are GDPR-compliant with appropriate safeguards
9. Children's Privacy
The Makers is not intended for users under 18 years old. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.
- You must be 18+ to create a buyer or seller account
- If we discover a child's data was collected, we'll delete it immediately
- Parents who believe their child's data was collected can contact us at privacy@themakers.boutique