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Privacy Policy

Version 1.2

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: January 15, 2025
Version: 1.2

1. Introduction

Welcome to Neighbheard ("we," "our," or "us"). We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your data when you use our website and services.

By using Neighbheard, you agree to this Privacy Policy.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

Account Information:

  • Username
  • Email address
  • Encrypted password
  • Profile information

User-Generated Content:

  • Reviews and ratings
  • Comments and text content
  • Photos and videos you upload
  • Address information you search or review

2.2 Automatically Collected Information

Usage Data:

  • IP address
  • Browser type and version
  • Device information
  • Pages visited and time spent
  • Referral URLs
  • Operating system

Location Data:

  • GPS coordinates (only when you enable location verification)
  • Approximate location based on IP address
  • Addresses you search or review

Cookies and Tracking:

  • Session cookies for authentication
  • Analytics cookies (to understand site usage — only set after consent)
  • Preference cookies (to remember settings)

3. How We Use Your Information

| Purpose | Examples | Legal Basis | |-------------|--------------|-----------------| | Account management | Create and maintain accounts | Contract performance | | Review display | Publish ratings, comments | Contract performance | | GPS verification | Confirm on-site reviews | Consent | | Analytics and UX | Analyze usage patterns | Consent | | Security & moderation | Fraud prevention, content filtering | Legitimate interest | | Legal compliance | Respond to lawful requests | Legal obligation |

4. How We Share Your Information

4.1 Public Information

The following information is publicly visible on our platform:

  • Your username
  • Your reviews, ratings, and comments
  • Photos and videos you upload (after moderation)
  • Star ratings you assign

Note: Your email address, GPS coordinates, and personal profile information are NEVER made public.

4.2 Third-Party Service Providers

We share information with trusted service providers who help us operate our platform:

Clerk (Authentication):

  • Manages user accounts and authentication
  • Privacy Policy: https://clerk.com/privacy

Supabase (Database & Storage):

  • Stores user data, reviews, and media
  • Privacy Policy: https://supabase.com/privacy

Mapbox (Mapping):

  • Provides map visualization and geocoding
  • Privacy Policy: https://www.mapbox.com/legal/privacy

Mux (Video Processing):

  • Processes and hosts user-uploaded videos
  • Privacy Policy: https://www.mux.com/privacy

AWS (Content Moderation):

  • Rekognition for image content analysis
  • Comprehend for text analysis
  • Privacy Policy: https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/

Vercel (Hosting):

  • Hosts our website and application
  • Privacy Policy: https://vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy

4.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required to:

  • Comply with legal obligations or court orders
  • Protect our rights, property, or safety
  • Prevent fraud or security issues
  • Respond to government requests

4.4 Business Transfers

If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred. We will notify you before your information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

5. Data Retention and Review

Account Data: Retained while your account is active and for 90 days after deletion

Reviews and Ratings: Retained indefinitely as public record unless deleted by you or removed by moderation

Media Files: Retained while associated reviews exist; deleted within 30 days of review deletion

Logs and Analytics: Retained for 12 months for security and analytics purposes

Moderation Records: Retained for 2 years for policy enforcement

We regularly review retained data to confirm it is still necessary and delete or anonymize data that is no longer needed.

5.1 Content Retention and Deletion

When you delete or unpublish a review, it will no longer be visible to other users or appear publicly on Neighbheard.

However, we may retain a copy of the content and associated data (such as timestamps, moderation actions, or user IDs) in our internal systems for a limited period for purposes such as:

  • investigating abuse or fraud,
  • complying with legal obligations,
  • enforcing our Terms of Service, or
  • maintaining service integrity and security.

We periodically review retained data and delete it when it is no longer needed for these purposes.

6. Anonymization After Deletion

When an account is deleted, reviews remain visible but are disassociated from all identifiers (username, email, IP address, or account linkage). Such reviews can no longer be reasonably linked to you.

7. Your Rights and Choices

7.1 Account Management

  • Access: View and download your data through your account settings
  • Edit: Update your username, profile, and account information
  • Delete: Request account deletion (reviews may remain anonymized)

7.2 Content Control

  • Edit Reviews: Modify your reviews and ratings at any time
  • Delete Reviews: Remove your reviews (subject to cooldown periods)
  • Media Control: Delete photos and videos you've uploaded

7.3 Privacy Controls

  • Location Services: Disable GPS verification (may affect review credibility)
  • Email Preferences: Opt out of non-essential communications
  • Cookie Preferences: Manage cookies through our cookie settings

7.4 Data Portability

You can request a copy of your data in CSV or JSON format by visiting your account settings or contacting support@neighbheard.com.

Export Formats: CSV, JSON

7.5 Consent Withdrawal

You may revoke GPS or cookie consent at any time without affecting lawful processing that occurred before withdrawal. Use the "Cookie Settings" link in our footer to manage preferences.

7.6 Proof of Consent

We maintain records of consent for GPS, cookies, and marketing preferences to demonstrate compliance with privacy regulations.

8. GPS and Location Data

How We Use GPS:

  • Verify that reviews are written on-site at the reviewed address
  • Calculate distance between your location and the address
  • Display "GPS Verified" badge for on-site reviews

What We Don't Do:

  • We do NOT store your precise GPS coordinates
  • We do NOT track your location history
  • We do NOT share your location with other users
  • We only use GPS for one-time verification at the time of review submission

Your Control:

  • GPS verification is optional (though recommended)
  • You must explicitly grant permission for each verification
  • You can deny location access at any time
  • We log your consent with timestamp for GDPR compliance

9. Cookies and Consent

We use a cookie banner to collect explicit opt-in consent for non-essential cookies.

Essential Cookies:

  • Authentication and session management (required)
  • Security features (required)

Analytics Cookies:

  • Usage statistics and site performance
  • Only enabled after you consent

Third-Party Cookies:

  • Clerk for authentication
  • Mapbox for mapping features

Managing Cookies: You can control cookies through the "Cookie Settings" link in our footer. Essential cookies enable core functionality and cannot be disabled. You may change preferences at any time.

10. Children's Privacy

Neighbheard is not intended for users under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we discover we have collected information from a child under 13, we will delete it immediately.

If you believe we have collected information from a child under 13, please contact us at support@neighbheard.com.

11. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information:

Technical Measures:

  • Encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS)
  • Encryption at rest for sensitive data
  • Secure authentication via Clerk
  • Regular security audits
  • Access controls and monitoring

Organizational Measures:

  • Limited access to personal data
  • Staff training on privacy practices
  • Incident response procedures

Note: No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

12. Data Breach Notification

In the unlikely event of a data breach affecting your personal information, we will:

  • Notify you via email within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach
  • Inform relevant data protection authorities as required by law
  • Provide details about the nature of the breach and steps we're taking
  • Advise you on protective measures you can take to safeguard your information

13. International Data Transfers

Our services are hosted in the United States. If you access our services from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States.

By using our services, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States and other countries where our service providers operate.

14. Automated Moderation and AI

Automated Moderation: We use automated systems to detect prohibited content:

  • AWS Rekognition scans images for inappropriate content, personal information, and policy violations
  • AWS Comprehend analyzes text for personal information (PII), profanity, and hate speech
  • Mux video moderation checks for policy violations

Human Review: Flagged content may be reviewed by human moderators.

Your Content: By uploading content, you consent to automated and manual review for policy compliance.

15. California and EEA Rights

California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to:

  • Know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose
  • Request deletion of your personal information
  • Opt out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell your information)
  • Non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights

To exercise these rights, contact us at support@neighbheard.com.

European Privacy Rights (GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have the right to:

  • Access your personal data
  • Rectify inaccurate data
  • Request erasure of your data
  • Restrict processing of your data
  • Object to processing
  • Data portability
  • Withdraw consent

To exercise these rights, contact us at support@neighbheard.com.

Legal Basis for Processing:

  • Contract performance (providing our services)
  • Legitimate interests (improving services, preventing fraud)
  • Consent (for optional features like GPS verification and analytics)
  • Legal obligations (complying with laws)

16. Supervisory Authority Contact

EEA users may lodge a complaint with their local data protection authority.

A directory is available at: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_en

17. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by:

  • Posting the new policy with an updated "Effective Date"
  • Sending an email notification (for material changes)
  • Displaying a notice on our website

Your continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

18. Third-Party Links

Our service may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these sites. We encourage you to read their privacy policies.

19. Contact Information

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information, please contact us:

Email: support@neighbheard.com or privacy@neighbheard.com

Response Time: We will respond to privacy inquiries within 30 days.

20. Data Protection Officer

For GDPR-related inquiries, you may contact our Data Protection Officer at: privacy@neighbheard.com


Last Updated: January 15, 2025

By using Neighbheard, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.