Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Barbless.co, doing business as Barbless.co ("Barbless," "we," "us," or "our"), collects, uses, discloses, and retains personal information when you use Barbless.co and our related websites, applications, maps, accounts, memberships, community features, communications, and other services (collectively, the "Service").

It also explains choices you may have regarding your information.

1. Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to personal information we process through the Service.

It does not apply to websites, apps, services, or businesses operated by third parties, even when Barbless links to or integrates with them. Those third parties have their own privacy practices.

2. Information We Collect

The information we collect depends on how you use Barbless.

A. Information you provide

We may collect information you provide directly, including:

• name, username, display name, and profile information;
• email address, phone number, and other contact information;
• account credentials or authentication information;
• profile photo, biography, home region, fishing interests, saved waters, and preferences;
• membership and transaction information;
• customer-support messages and other communications with us;
• survey, feedback, correction, and research responses;
• guide, outfitter, business, or provider information you submit or claim; and
• information you choose to include in User Content.

B. User Content and community activity

If you use community features, we may collect the content and associated metadata you submit, such as:

• fishing reports and condition reports;
• river, lake, access, hatch, species, or regulation corrections;
• comments, replies, ratings, and reviews;
• photographs, video, captions, and descriptions;
• guide, outfitter, shop, shuttle, lodging, or provider information;
• map pins, access points, routes, locations, or geographic references; and
• information about when and how you interact with other content.

Some User Content is intended to be public. If you publish information publicly, other people may view, copy, screenshot, share, or otherwise use it outside Barbless.

C. Location and map information

Barbless is a location-oriented fishing service. Depending on the features you use and permissions you grant, we may process:

• approximate location inferred from your IP address;
• locations you search, view, save, follow, report on, or interact with on the map;
• map viewport, selected river reaches, access points, and other geographic interactions; and
• precise device location only if a feature requests it and you grant device or browser permission.

You can generally control precise-location permissions through your browser or device settings. Some location-based features may not work if you disable location access.

Unless a feature clearly says otherwise, Barbless does not intend your private real-time device location to be publicly displayed merely because you granted device-location permission.

D. Device, network, and usage information

When you use the Service, we and our service providers may automatically collect information such as:

• IP address;
• browser type and version;
• device type, operating system, and device characteristics;
• language and time zone;
• referring and exit pages;
• pages, screens, features, and content you view or interact with;
• dates, times, duration, clicks, navigation paths, and session information;
• crash reports, diagnostics, performance information, and security events; and
• identifiers stored in cookies, local storage, SDKs, or similar technologies.

E. Analytics

We may use analytics tools to understand how people use Barbless, measure performance, diagnose problems, improve features, and understand acquisition and engagement.

Analytics providers may receive device, browser, network, usage, and identifier information as described in this Policy.

Current analytics providers: Google

F. Email and communications

If you provide an email address or phone number, we may use it for:

• account verification;
• password or security notices;
• membership and billing communications;
• saved-water alerts and other requested notifications;
• service announcements;
• support responses; and
• marketing communications where permitted by law.

You can unsubscribe from promotional email using the unsubscribe link in the message. Transactional, security, account, and legally required communications may continue even if you opt out of marketing.

Current email provider: Google

G. Payments

If you purchase a membership or paid feature, payment information is processed by Stripe.

Barbless may receive transaction information such as your name, email, billing status, payment method type, last four digits or tokenized payment identifiers, transaction amount, currency, tax information, renewal date, and payment status.

Barbless does not intend to store full payment-card numbers or card security codes on its own systems when those details are handled directly by our payment processor.

H. Information from third parties

We may receive information from third parties, including:

• authentication or identity providers you choose to use;
• payment processors;
• map and geolocation providers;
• analytics and infrastructure providers;
• government and public-data sources;
• guide, outfitter, licensing, or business-data sources;
• partners that provide fishing, hydrology, weather, access, regulatory, or environmental data; and
• other users who submit information about a business, provider, location, or community interaction.

3. Sources of Personal Information

We collect personal information from:

1. you, when you provide it directly;
2. your device or browser, through normal use of the Service;
3. other users, when they interact with you or submit information involving you;
4. service providers and integrated partners, such as payment, authentication, email, mapping, analytics, and infrastructure providers; and
5. public or licensed sources, where permitted by law.

4. How We Use Information

We may use personal information to:

• provide, operate, maintain, and personalize the Service;
• create and manage accounts;
• provide maps, fishing reports, saved waters, alerts, and location-related features;
• power My Spots, your private list of saved waters and access points;
• publish and organize User Content according to your settings and the feature you used;
• process memberships, payments, renewals, cancellations, and refunds;
• communicate with you;
• provide customer support;
• verify providers or account claims;
• improve data quality, features, recommendations, and usability;
• understand usage, engagement, traffic, and product performance;
• detect, prevent, investigate, and address fraud, spam, abuse, security incidents, and violations of our policies;
• moderate content and enforce our Terms and Community Guidelines;
• comply with law, lawful requests, and legal process;
• establish, exercise, or defend legal claims;
• protect users, Barbless, third parties, fish and wildlife resources, and the public where legally appropriate; and
• create aggregated or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify an individual.

My Spots is private, and stays private. The waters and access points you save to My Spots are visible only to you. We do not publish them, show them to other users, sell them, share them with advertisers, or include them in any public feature, ranking, or aggregate that could reveal where you fish. We access saved-spot data only to operate the feature for you, to keep it working, or where the law requires it of us.

Spot burning does real damage to fisheries and to the people who share water access in good faith. We take it seriously, and your saved locations are treated accordingly. Location information you choose to publish yourself, such as in a fishing report, is governed by the settings on that feature and not by this paragraph.

5. How We Disclose Information

We may disclose personal information in the following circumstances.

A. Public and community sharing

Information you intentionally publish through public features may be visible to other users and the public.

For example, a public fishing report may display the report content, date, approximate or precise location you chose to include, your public profile information, photographs, or other details associated with the post.

B. Service providers

We may disclose information to vendors and service providers that help us operate Barbless, such as providers of:

• cloud hosting and databases;
• authentication and account services;
• maps and geolocation;
• analytics;
• email and messaging;
• payments and billing;
• customer support;
• security, fraud prevention, and abuse detection; and
• software development, monitoring, and infrastructure.

These providers may process information for us under contracts or terms governing their services.

C. Business and provider interactions

If you contact, review, book, claim, or otherwise interact with a guide, outfitter, shop, lodging provider, shuttle provider, or other third party through Barbless, information necessary for that interaction may be shared with that party.

We will not intentionally disclose private account information to a listed provider merely because you viewed its listing.

D. Legal, safety, and security purposes

We may preserve, access, or disclose information when we reasonably believe it is necessary to:

• comply with applicable law, regulation, subpoena, court order, or other valid legal process;
• respond to lawful requests from government authorities;
• investigate fraud, security incidents, threats, or abuse;
• protect the rights, property, or safety of Barbless, our users, third parties, or the public; or
• enforce our Terms and policies.

E. Business transfers

If Barbless is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, sale of assets, or similar transaction, information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to applicable law.

F. With your direction or consent

We may disclose information when you direct us to do so or give us consent.

6. Sale, Sharing, and Targeted Advertising

Barbless does not sell personal information for money and does not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are defined under the California Consumer Privacy Act.

We do not use advertising networks, retargeting pixels, or third-party behavioral analytics. Because we do not sell or share personal information, we do not offer a "Your Privacy Choices" opt-out. We still honor legally required opt-out preference signals, including Global Privacy Control, where applicable law requires it.

7. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Barbless and our service providers may use cookies, local storage, pixels, SDKs, and similar technologies to:

• keep you signed in;
• remember preferences;
• maintain security;
• prevent abuse;
• understand site usage;
• measure performance; and
• support other features described in this Policy.

Some cookies or storage technologies are necessary for the Service to function. Others may be optional depending on our implementation and applicable law.

You can control many cookies through your browser settings. Blocking cookies may affect Service functionality.

Current cookie or consent-management tool: https://www.npmjs.com/package/react-cookie-consent

8. California Do Not Track Disclosure

Some browsers offer a Do Not Track (DNT) setting. Because there is no universally accepted technical standard for interpreting DNT signals, Barbless does not respond to legacy DNT signals as a request to change data collection practices.

Where applicable law requires us to recognize a legally valid browser-based opt-out preference signal, such as Global Privacy Control (GPC) for covered sale or sharing activity, we will process that signal as required by law.

Third parties that provide analytics, embedded content, maps, or other features may collect information about your online activity over time and across different websites or services, subject to their own technologies and privacy practices.

9. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, including to:

• provide the Service;
• maintain your account;
• fulfill memberships and transactions;
• preserve public community contributions where appropriate;
• comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations;
• resolve disputes;
• prevent fraud and abuse;
• enforce agreements; and
• maintain backups and security records.

Retention periods vary by type of information and context.

When information is no longer reasonably needed, we may delete, anonymize, or de-identify it, subject to legal and technical limitations.

10. Account and Data Deletion

You may request deletion of your account or certain personal information by:

• using available account settings; or
• contacting chad@barbless.co.

We may need to verify your identity before completing a request.

Deleting an account does not always remove every copy of information immediately. We may retain information where reasonably necessary for legal obligations, fraud prevention, security, dispute resolution, payment records, enforcement, backups, or other lawful purposes.

Public User Content may also remain where:

• another user has independently shared or quoted it;
• removal would compromise the integrity of a discussion or record and we can instead de-identify it;
• the information has been aggregated or de-identified; or
• applicable law permits or requires retention.

11. Your Choices

Depending on your account and location, you may be able to:

• update profile and account information;
• change notification preferences;
• unsubscribe from promotional email;
• change device or browser location permissions;
• delete certain User Content;
• request access, correction, or deletion of personal information; and
• exercise privacy rights provided by applicable law.

Requests may be sent to chad@barbless.co.

We may deny or limit a request where permitted by law, including when we cannot verify the requester, the request would adversely affect another person's rights, or retention is legally permitted or required.

12. California Privacy Rights

A. California Online Privacy Protection Act

If you are a California resident using a commercial website or online service, this Policy describes the categories of personal information Barbless collects, how we use it, categories of third parties with whom it may be disclosed, our online-tracking practices, and how to contact us about your information.

You may contact chad@barbless.co to request review or correction of personal information you have provided to us. We may verify your identity before acting on a request.

B. California Consumer Privacy Act

The California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended (CCPA), applies only to businesses that meet statutory requirements.

If the CCPA applies to Barbless, California residents may have rights including the right to:

• know categories and specific pieces of personal information collected;
• know sources, purposes, and categories of recipients;
• request deletion, subject to exceptions;
• request correction of inaccurate personal information;
• opt out of sale or sharing of personal information, if applicable;
• limit certain uses or disclosures of sensitive personal information, if applicable; and
• receive equal service and pricing without unlawful discrimination for exercising privacy rights.

Covered requests may be submitted through chad@barbless.co or chad@barbless.co.

If Barbless becomes subject to additional CCPA notice requirements, we will update this Policy and provide required notices and controls.

13. Security

We use administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect personal information appropriate to the nature of the information and the Service.

No online service can guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for protecting your account credentials and should notify us if you believe your account or personal information has been compromised.

14. Children

Barbless is not directed to children under 13, and children under 13 may not create accounts or use account-based community features.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 in a manner subject to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act without legally valid parental consent.

If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information to Barbless, contact chad@barbless.co so we can review and take appropriate action.

15. International Users

Barbless is operated from the United States. If you use the Service from another country, your information may be processed in the United States and other countries where our service providers operate.

If we expand materially into jurisdictions with additional privacy requirements, we may provide supplemental notices or rights specific to those jurisdictions.

16. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as our Service, practices, vendors, or legal obligations change.

We will update the effective date above and provide additional notice when required by law or when a change is material.

17. Contact Us

Questions or requests about privacy may be sent to:

Barbless.co
Privacy Email: chad@barbless.co
Mail: 187 E. 11th St., Chico, CA 95928