Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Information You Provide

When you use Gouge Hub, you may provide:

• Submission Information: When submitting gouge through our platform, you may provide your name, email, and the content you submit
• Contact Information: When you email us or submit inquiries
• Voluntary Information: Any other information you choose to provide

Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect:

• Usage Data: Pages viewed, time spent on site, navigation patterns
• Device Information: Browser type, operating system, device type
• IP Address: General location information (not precise geolocation)

Third-Party Services

We use Firebase for data management and storage. Google may collect information according to their privacy policy when you interact with these services.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use collected information to:

• Operate and maintain the Gouge Hub website
• Process and display submitted gouge
• Respond to your inquiries and requests
• Improve our website and services
• Communicate with users about updates or issues
• Monitor and analyze website usage and trends
• Ensure compliance with our Terms of Service

3. Information Sharing and Disclosure

Public Information

Gouge content you submit may be publicly displayed on our website. Do not submit information you want to keep private.

We Do Not Sell Your Information for Money

We do not sell your personal information to third parties in exchange for money, and we do not rent or trade it.

However, like most websites that advertise online, we share limited online identifiers with advertising partners so we can measure our ads and reach people similar to our users. Specifically, we share cookie identifiers, IP address, device information, and page activity with Meta (Facebook), along with a one-way hashed version of your email address for account signups and completed deposits, as described in the Third-Party Services section below. California law may treat this kind of disclosure as "sharing" (and in some cases "selling") of personal information even though no money changes hands. You can opt out at any time on our Your Privacy Choices page.

Limited Sharing

We may share information:

• With Service Providers: Third-party services that help us operate the website (e.g., Firebase, hosting providers)
• With Advertising Partners: The limited identifiers described above, for ad measurement and audience building — opt out here
• For Legal Reasons: If required by law, court order, or to protect our rights
• With Your Consent: When you explicitly agree to sharing

4. Data Storage and Security

Data Storage

Your submitted gouge and information are stored securely using Firebase. Data is retained as long as necessary to provide our services.

Security Measures

We implement reasonable security measures to protect your information, including:

• Secure data transmission (HTTPS)
• Access controls and authentication
• Regular security reviews

No Guarantee

While we strive to protect your information, no internet transmission or electronic storage method is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

5. Cookies and Tracking

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Remember your preferences
• Analyze website traffic and usage
• Improve user experience

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may limit some website functionality.

To opt out of the sharing of your information with advertising partners, visit Your Privacy Choices. We also honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signal as an opt-out of sale/sharing. We do not respond to legacy "Do Not Track" browser signals, for which no industry standard was ever adopted.

6. Third-Party Links

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

7. Children's Privacy

Gouge Hub is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If we discover we have inadvertently collected such information, we will delete it promptly.

8. Your Privacy Rights

You have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of your personal information
• Correction: Request corrections to inaccurate information
• Deletion: Request deletion of your information (subject to legal obligations)
• Opt-Out: Unsubscribe from communications
• Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing: Stop the sharing of your information with advertising partners via Your Privacy Choices

To exercise these rights, contact us at info@gougehub.com. California residents have additional rights described in the next section.

9. California Privacy Rights (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), may give you the following rights:

• Right to Know: Request the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, where we got it, why we use it, and the third parties with whom we share it
• Right to Delete: Request deletion of your personal information, subject to legal exceptions
• Right to Correct: Request correction of inaccurate personal information
• Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing: Direct us not to sell or share your personal information, including sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not deny you services, charge you different prices, or provide a different level of service because you exercised any of these rights

Categories We Collect and Share

In the last 12 months we have collected: identifiers (name, email address, IP address, cookie IDs), commercial information (deposits and content you unlock), and internet activity (pages viewed and interactions with our site). We share identifiers and internet activity with our advertising partner (Meta) for ad measurement and audience building, and we disclose information to service providers (hosting, payments, email, analytics, and error monitoring) for business purposes. Instructor certificate numbers collected during instructor verification are used only to verify instructor status and are never shared with advertising partners. We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of anyone under 16.

How to Exercise Your California Rights

• Opt out of sale/sharing: Use the Your Privacy Choices page — no account or verification required
• Know, delete, or correct: Email info@gougehub.com. We will verify your identity (typically by confirming you control the email address on the account) and respond within 45 days
• Authorized agents may submit requests on your behalf with proof of your authorization

Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track

We honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal: if your browser sends GPC, we treat it as a request to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information for that browser. We do not respond to legacy "Do Not Track" signals, for which no standard has been adopted.

10. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as necessary to:

• Provide our services
• Comply with legal obligations
• Resolve disputes
• Enforce our agreements

You may request deletion of your submitted content by contacting us.

11. International Users

Gouge Hub is operated in the United States. If you access our website from outside the U.S., your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States, which may have different data protection laws.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. We encourage you to review this policy regularly.

Notification of Changes

For significant changes, we may provide additional notice through:

• Email notification (if we have your email)
• Website announcement

13. Your Consent

By using Gouge Hub, you consent to this Privacy Policy and our collection and use of information as described.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us:

Email: info@gougehub.com

We will respond to privacy-related inquiries within a reasonable timeframe.

15. Third-Party Services

Our website uses Firebase (Google) for authentication and data storage. These services are governed by Google's Privacy Policy. For information about how Google collects and uses data, visit:

https://policies.google.com/privacy

We also use the following third-party services for analytics, performance monitoring, payments, and advertising measurement:

• Google Analytics — website usage analytics
• Microsoft Clarity — session analytics and heatmaps
• Sentry — error and performance monitoring
• Stripe — payment processing
• Resend — transactional email delivery (receipts, account notices)
• Customer.io — account and marketing email communications
• Meta (Facebook) Pixel & Conversions API — measures the effectiveness of our advertising. The Meta Pixel may set cookies and collect information such as your IP address and the pages you view, in order to attribute visits and conversions that originate from our ads. We also use Meta's server-side Conversions API, which sends a record of certain actions (such as creating an account or completing a deposit) from our servers to Meta. To help Meta match these actions to the right account and to build audiences of people similar to our customers, we include a one-way hashed (irreversible, SHA-256) version of your email address with these high-intent events; we do not send your email address, name, or phone number to Meta in plain readable form. You can review Meta's Privacy Policy, and you can manage ad personalization in your Facebook ad settings.