Draft - pending legal reviewThis document is a working draft. It hasn't been reviewed by a lawyer yet, and highlighted items in brackets are placeholders that still need to be filled in.

Privacy Policy

Effective date: [EFFECTIVE DATE] · Last updated: [LAST UPDATED]

The short version

You bring the listing. We analyze only the text or screenshot you send us. We don't scrape or crawl any marketplace.
We keep your check history so you can look back at deals. You can delete it anytime.
We don't sell your personal information, and we don't share it for targeted advertising.
We use a few service providers (like Cloudflare, Stripe and Twilio) to run the site, take payments and send texts.
Questions or deletion requests: hello@flipcanary.com.

1. Who we are

Flip Canary (“Flip Canary,” “we,” “us”) is operated by [LEGAL ENTITY NAME, currently: Nick Quigley d/b/a Flip Canary], [MAILING ADDRESS]. This policy covers flipcanary.com, the Flip Canary web app, and our Telegram, Discord, SMS and email channels (together, the “Service”). It works together with our Terms of Service.

2. What we collect

Things you give us

Waitlist sign-ups: your email address, the plan you're interested in (if you picked one), which form you used, and when you signed up.
Listings you submit: the listing text you paste, and the text we read from a screenshot you upload. Screenshots are processed in memory to read the text and are not saved to disk by the current version of the Service.
Links you include: if you paste a listing link, we store it only as a reference so you can find the listing again. We don't visit marketplace links. Automatic link previews are turned off by default; if we ever turn them on, we'll update this policy first.
Analysis results: the verdict, price estimates, scam flags and other output we generate for each check, saved to your history.
Watchlists: the keywords, category, price limits, minimum profit, ZIP code and radius you choose to save. Watchlists only tag listings you paste in. They don't trigger any searching.
Channel identifiers, when you connect a channel: your Telegram chat ID, Discord user ID, mobile phone number (SMS), or email address (email-in), plus the messages and images you send to the bot.
Messages to us: anything you send to hello@flipcanary.com.

Things collected automatically

A session cookie that holds a random ID, so the web app can tie your check history and daily free-check count to your browser. There are no passwords or accounts yet.
Usage counts: how many checks you've run today, so we can apply plan limits.
Technical data: like any website, our hosting and security provider (Cloudflare) processes your IP address, browser type and request details to deliver pages and block abuse.
Privacy-friendly analytics: see Cookies and analytics.

Payment information

When paid plans launch, payments will be handled by Stripe. Your card details go directly to Stripe. We don't see or store your full card number. We keep your plan, subscription status and the Stripe customer and subscription IDs.

3. How we use it

To run the checks you ask for and show you your history and watchlist matches.
To reply to you on the channel you used (web, Telegram, Discord, SMS or email).
To apply free-plan limits, manage subscriptions and process payments.
To email waitlist members about launch and early access. You can unsubscribe anytime.
To keep the Service secure, prevent abuse, fix bugs and understand which pages are used, in aggregate.
To answer your questions and handle your privacy requests.
To follow the law and enforce our Terms.

4. What we don't do

We don't sell your personal information. We also don't “share” it for cross-context behavioral (targeted) advertising, as California law defines those terms.
We don't scrape, crawl or automatically fetch Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp, eBay listing pages or any other marketplace.
We don't publish the listings you submit or use them to build a public listings database.
We don't use advertising cookies or tracking pixels.

5. Cookies and analytics

We use one essential cookie: the signed session cookie described above. The Service doesn't work properly without it, and it isn't used for advertising.

We may use Cloudflare Web Analytics to count page views and measure page speed. Cloudflare says this product doesn't use cookies or local storage to track visitors and doesn't fingerprint them. We see only aggregate numbers, like page views, referring sites and country, not individual profiles.

We share personal information only with service providers that help us run Flip Canary, only for that purpose, or when the law requires it. Some of these are planned for launch and aren't active yet.

Provider	What they do for us	What they may receive
Cloudflare	Hosting, DNS, security, email forwarding for hello@flipcanary.com, Web Analytics	Technical request data, emails you send us, aggregate analytics
Stripe [planned]	Payments and subscriptions	Name, email, card and billing details you enter at checkout
Twilio [planned]	Sending and receiving text messages (Pro plan)	Your phone number and the messages and images you text us
[EMAIL PROVIDER] [planned]	Sending launch emails and email-in replies	Your email address and message content
Telegram, Discord	Messaging platforms you choose to use with our bot	Your messages pass through their platforms under their own privacy policies
eBay [planned]	Price comparisons (comps)	Item search terms, such as “Honda EU3000 generator.” Not your name, email or phone number

Text recognition (OCR) for screenshots runs on our own server. We don't send your screenshots to an outside OCR service.

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, to protect people's safety or our rights, or as part of a merger, sale or reorganization of the business. In that last case, this policy would keep applying to the information we transfer.

7. How long we keep it

Check history and watchlists: until you delete them, or [RETENTION PERIOD, e.g. 12 months] after your last use, whichever comes first.
Waitlist emails: until launch plus [RETENTION PERIOD], or until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them.
Billing records: as long as tax and accounting laws require.
Backups and logs: deleted on a rolling schedule of [BACKUP/LOG RETENTION].

8. Your choices and deletion

Delete your history yourself: open History in the web app and choose “Delete my history.”
Ask us to access, correct or delete your data: email hello@flipcanary.com from the address you used, or tell us the chat ID or phone number you connected. We may need to confirm the request is really from you before we act on it.
Unsubscribe from emails: use the link in any email, or write to us.
Stop texts: reply STOP. See Text messages.

We aim to respond within [RESPONSE TIME, e.g. 30 days], and no later than any deadline the law sets.

9. California and other state rights

Depending on where you live, including California and other states with privacy laws, you may have the right to:

know what personal information we collect, use and disclose, and get a copy of it;
correct inaccurate personal information;
delete personal information;
opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We don't sell or share it, so there's nothing to opt out of;
not be treated differently for using these rights.

In the last 12 months, the categories of personal information we may have collected are: identifiers (email address, phone number, chat and user IDs, session ID), commercial information (plan and subscription status), internet activity (how you use the Service), approximate location (a ZIP code you save, or a location in a listing you paste), and the content you submit. We collect these from you and your device, for the purposes in How we use it. We disclose them only to the providers in Who we share it with. We don't knowingly collect sensitive personal information as defined by California law, and we don't use personal information to make decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.

To make a request, email hello@flipcanary.com. You can use an authorized agent. We may ask the agent for proof of authorization and ask you to confirm your identity. Whether or not a particular state law applies to us, we'll honor these requests from any user.

10. Text messages (SMS)

The Pro plan lets you text a listing or screenshot to Flip Canary and get a verdict by text. We'll only text you after you opt in, for example by texting our number first or turning on SMS in your account. Message frequency varies with how many listings you send. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to stop receiving messages, and HELP for help. You can also email hello@flipcanary.com.

We don't share or sell your mobile number or SMS opt-in information to third parties or affiliates for their marketing or promotional purposes. We share it only with the providers that deliver the messages, such as Twilio and wireless carriers. See the SMS terms for more.

11. Children

Flip Canary is for adults 18 and older. We don't knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18, and the Service isn't directed to children under 13. If you think a child has given us information, email hello@flipcanary.com and we'll delete it.

12. Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your information. For example, we limit what we collect, don't store screenshots or card numbers, and sign session cookies so they can't be forged. Once the site is live, all traffic will use HTTPS. No system is perfectly secure, though, so we can't guarantee absolute security. Please don't paste passwords, payment details or other sensitive information into a check.

The Service is run from the United States, and our providers may process data in other countries.

13. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If a change is significant, we'll also tell you on the site or by email before it takes effect.

14. Contact us

Email hello@flipcanary.com, or write to [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], [MAILING ADDRESS].