Privacy Policy

YardHub is a marketplace and booking app for verified college students, built for any campus and currently most active at NC A&T, UNCG, and Winston-Salem State, plus admin-approved local businesses and student organizations. Because you're trading real items, tickets, and services with other real people, we collect enough information to verify who you are, keep transactions safe, and make the app work — nothing more. We don't sell your personal information to third parties.

We collect the following, directly from you or generated by using the app:

• Account info: your email address, username, campus, and password (stored as a one-way hash — we never see or store your actual password).
• Profile info you add: profile photo, phone number (if you choose to add one for bookings), and any bio/description you write.
• Content you post: listings, listing photos, provider portfolios, reviews, promotions, and messages you send other users.
• Transaction & booking activity: what you buy, sell, list, or book, and the status of those (pending, completed, cancelled).
• Payment info: handled by Stripe, not stored by us — see the Payments section below.
• Device & usage data: basic technical data (device type, app version, crash logs) and security logs (login/signup attempts, IP address) used to keep accounts safe and prevent abuse.
• Rewards & referral activity: your YardPoints balance and history, referral relationships (who referred you / who you referred), your seller/provider tier status, and YardHub Pass subscription status, used to run those programs and detect abuse.
• Push notification token: if you enable notifications on the mobile app, a device token used only to deliver notifications to that device — not shared outside the notification service that delivers it (Expo).
• Business application info: if you apply to list a local business, the business name, contact info, and description you submit for admin review.

The YardHub website uses a session cookie to keep you signed in — that's it. We don't use third-party advertising or tracking cookies. The mobile app uses local device storage for the same purpose (keeping you signed in) rather than cookies. If that changes as YardHub grows (for example, adding product analytics tools), this section will be updated first.

• To verify you're a real student (or an approved business/organization) and run your account
• To show your listings, profile, and bookings to other users
• To connect buyers and sellers, and customers and providers, through messaging
• To process payments, payouts, and platform fees through Stripe
• To run YardPoints, referrals, seller tiers, and promotions
• To send you account, order, booking, and notification updates (in-app and push)
• To detect fraud, enforce our Terms, and keep the platform safe

We don't use your data to train AI models or sell it to advertisers.

We share the minimum necessary information with:

• Other users, by design: your username, profile photo, listings, provider profile (if any), and reviews are visible to other students on the platform — that's how a marketplace works. Your email and phone number are never shown to other users unless you choose to share them directly in a message.
• Service providers we use to run YardHub: Stripe (payments and payouts), Resend (email delivery), Vercel (hosting), Expo (push notifications), and our database provider. These providers only receive what they need to do their job and are contractually restricted from using it for anything else.
• Legal reasons: if required by law, to enforce our Terms, or to protect the safety of our users.
• A business transfer: if YardHub is acquired, merges, or sells substantially all of its assets, your information may transfer as part of that deal — you'd be notified if that changes how your information is handled.

We do not sell your personal information.

YardHub tracks basic product analytics on its own servers — not through a third-party analytics company — such as signups, listings posted, purchases, and bookings, along with which campus they're associated with. This is used only to understand how YardHub is used and improve it; it's not shared or sold, and it's not used for advertising.

All payment processing is handled by Stripe, a PCI-compliant payment processor. YardHub never sees or stores your full card number, bank account number, or other raw payment credentials — those go directly to Stripe. If you sell items or provide services on YardHub, Stripe collects identity verification information from you directly (as required by law for anyone receiving payouts) — YardHub only receives confirmation that verification is complete, not the underlying documents.

Messages you send other users through YardHub are stored so both people in the conversation can see message history. We may review message content if it's reported to us for a safety or Terms violation. Don't share sensitive personal information (passwords, full card numbers, SSNs) in chat.

YardHub does not currently use your device's precise GPS location. We use the campus you select at signup and any pickup location text you choose to add to a listing or provider profile.

• You can edit or delete your profile photo, bio, and listings at any time
• You can control who can message you, and whether you receive push notifications, in Settings
• You can delete individual listings, bookings you've posted, or your account
• To request a copy of your data or full account deletion, contact us using the info in the Contact section below

If you're a resident of California or another state with a comprehensive privacy law, you may have additional rights over your personal information, which generally include the right to: know what personal information we've collected about you; request deletion of your personal information; correct inaccurate personal information; and opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information. YardHub does not sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, so there's nothing to opt out of on that front today. To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the info in the Contact section below — we won't discriminate against you for exercising them. This section is a good-faith summary, not a finalized state-by-state compliance policy; that needs a lawyer's review as YardHub's user base grows outside North Carolina.

Some browsers offer a “Do Not Track” signal. Because there's no industry-standard way to respond to it yet, YardHub's website does not currently change its behavior based on that signal.

YardHub may contain links to third-party sites or services (for example, a seller's Instagram, or a payment page hosted by Stripe). We're not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties — check their own privacy policy before sharing information with them.

YardHub requires a valid .edu email address (or admin-approved business application) to sign up and is intended for college-age students and local businesses/organizations. We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13. If we learn we've collected information from a child under 13, we'll delete it.

Passwords are hashed, not stored in plain text. Payment data is handled entirely by Stripe. We rate-limit login and signup attempts to prevent automated abuse. No system is perfectly secure, and we can't guarantee absolute security of information you transmit to us.

We keep your information for as long as your account is active, plus a reasonable period afterward for legal, security, tax, and dispute-resolution purposes (for example, records of a completed transaction, or a payout requiring a tax record). If you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal information, except where we're required to keep it (for example, transaction records needed for tax or legal compliance).

YardHub is built for students and businesses in North Carolina, and our servers and service providers are located in the United States. If that changes, this section will be updated to describe how any cross-border transfer is handled.

We may update this policy as YardHub adds features or as our legal obligations change. Material changes will be reflected here with an updated date at the top of the page.

Questions about this policy, or a request to access or delete your data? Reach out through the Support page in the app, or the contact method listed in our Terms & Community Guidelines.