Last updated: October 18, 2026 · Effective immediately
South Bay Area Directory (“we,” “our,” or “us”) is committed to protecting the privacy of our visitors, business owners, and community reviewers across Santa Clara County and Silicon Valley. This Privacy Policy details how we collect, handle, store, and disclose your personal and commercial data when you visit our website, submit business listings, write customer reviews, or subscribe to our local updates.
1. Information We Collect
We only collect data necessary to provide our regional directory services, maintain trust in customer ratings, and verify local merchant claims:
Account Information: When you register an account as a visitor or business owner, we collect your full name, email address, encrypted password hash (via bcrypt), and designated role (VISITOR, OWNER, or ADMIN).
Business Listings & Claims: When submitting or claiming a business listing, we collect merchant name, category, city, physical address, business phone, website URL, public email, operating hours, geolocation coordinates, showcase photos, and verification documents submitted during claim requests.
Reviews & Ratings: We collect ratings (1 to 5 stars), written reviews, timestamp data, and the author's identity. Reviews undergo moderation to prevent spam, coercion, and artificial ratings.
Newsletter Subscriptions: When subscribing to the South Bay newsletter, we collect your email address and generate a cryptographic double opt-in confirmation token.
Contact Inquiries: Messages submitted through our contact form collect your name, email address, subject, and message content.
2. Cookies & Local Storage
We believe in privacy by default. We do not use third-party tracking cookies, cross-site behavioral advertising cookies, or fingerprinting scripts.
Our application solely utilizes an essential, secure httpOnly session cookie named auth_token to manage authenticated sessions. This cookie is protected with SameSite=Lax and Secure flags, ensuring it cannot be accessed via client-side JavaScript or unauthorized cross-site requests.
3. How We Use Your Data
We use the collected information for the following legitimate business purposes:
Publishing and indexing verified local business details throughout the South Bay area.
Authenticating users and verifying owner management permissions for claimed listings.
Calculating honest, true customer ratings without fake score inflations.
Delivering requested communications, double opt-in newsletters, and account security notices.
Preventing malicious submissions, fraudulent claims, and denial-of-service abuse via rate limiting.
4. Third-Party Service Providers
We never sell, rent, or monetize your personal data. We partner only with vetted technical infrastructure providers required to operate this directory:
Transactional & Newsletter Emails (Resend): We utilize Resend to dispatch account notifications, claim statuses, and double opt-in verification emails.
Media & Photo Storage (Cloudinary & Supabase Storage): Business cover photos and gallery showcases are hosted securely via cloud content distribution networks.
Interactive Map Tiles (OpenStreetMap & Leaflet): Geographic directory maps load open tile imagery directly from OpenStreetMap servers without tracking your individual identity.
Under applicable California privacy laws (CCPA/CPRA) and best privacy practices, you have comprehensive rights regarding your personal information:
Right of Access & Portability: You may request a copy of the personal information stored in your user profile.
Right to Deletion: You may request the deletion of your user account, submitted reviews, or personal contact submissions at any time.
Right to Unsubscribe: Every newsletter email includes a one-click unsubscribe link. You can also visit our Unsubscribe Portal directly.
Correction of Business Information: Authorized business representatives can edit listing details directly through the Owner Dashboard or submit updates.
6. Contact Our Privacy Team
If you have questions, inquiries, or data deletion requests regarding this Privacy Policy, please reach out directly:
