Privacy policy

The Transfer is a members-only directory of businesses, food trucks, events and City notices for Decatur, Illinois and the towns around it. This page explains what information we keep, why, who else handles it, and how to have it deleted. Short version: we keep what the app needs to work, we don't sell it, and we don't show ads.

What we keep

• Your account: name, email, and your password stored scrambled (hashed) so nobody can read it, us included.
• Membership and subscriptions: whether you're paid up and until when. Card payments are handled by Stripe; we never see or store card numbers. Stripe gives us a card "fingerprint" (a code, not the number) so one card can't claim a member perk twice.
• Business listings: what a business enters (name, category, description, address, phone, email, website, hours, social links, WhatsApp number, map pin) and the details used to verify it is real (legal name, EIN and/or Illinois Account ID, Illinois exemption number for churches and nonprofits).
• What you do in the app: events posted, businesses taking part in events, questions you ask event coordinators and their answers, perks you use, businesses you follow, and your notification settings.
• Notifications: your notification inbox, and, if you turn on phone notifications, the delivery address your phone or browser gives for them.
• Cookies: a sign-in cookie that keeps you logged in, and one that remembers which of your businesses you're working on. No advertising or tracking cookies.

Facebook

A business can choose to Connect Facebook so the events it creates on its Facebook Page show up on The Transfer automatically. When it does:

• We ask Facebook only for permission to see the Pages you manage and read those Pages' content (pages_show_list, pages_read_engagement).
• We store the connected Page's name and ID, your Facebook user ID (so a deletion request from Facebook reaches the right connection), and a Page access token, encrypted.
• We copy the Page's upcoming events (name, description, time, place, ticket link) and keep them in step: changes follow and cancelled events are removed.
• We do not read your personal profile, friends, messages or personal posts, and we don't post anything to Facebook.
• You can disconnect anytime from My business → Facebook → Disconnect, or remove The Transfer in Facebook under Settings → Business integrations. When Facebook tells us you removed it, we delete the connection and the stored token automatically and give you a confirmation code. Events already copied in stay on your listing until you delete them.

Why we use it

• To run the app: sign-in, showing businesses, events and perks to members, notifications you asked for.
• To keep listings honest: every business is checked against public records before it's listed.
• To take payments and keep perks fair (one use per member).

Who else handles it

We don't sell or rent your information. These services handle parts of it for us, only to run The Transfer:

• Vercel (hosting) and Turso (database).
• Stripe (payments).
• Meta / Facebook, only for businesses that connect their Page.
• Illinois Department of Revenue (MyTax Illinois) and the IRS exempt-organization list (via ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer), to verify businesses, churches and nonprofits.
• Apple, Google and Mozilla push services, to deliver phone notifications you turned on.
• OpenFreeMap / OpenStreetMap map tiles: your browser loads map pictures from them, as with any web map.

Some things are public by design: a business's listing and events are shown to members, and an event's share link (/e/…) can be opened by anyone.

How long we keep it

We keep your information while your account is open. Past events stay as history. Notifications and stored phone addresses are removed when they stop working or when you turn them off. When you ask us to delete your account, we delete it and what's tied to it, except records we must keep for taxes or payment disputes.

Your choices

• Change what you're notified about, or turn phone notifications off, in Notifications → Settings.
• Edit or remove your business's details on My business; unfollow businesses anytime.
• To see, correct or delete your information, or close your account, email thetransferapp@rivercoffee.co. We'll answer within 30 days.

Children

The Transfer is for adults. We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll update the date above and let members know in the app.

Questions? Email thetransferapp@rivercoffee.co. · Back to The Transfer