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Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 5, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what Manual Marketplace, Inc. ("Manual Marketplace," "we," "us"), operating out of Ontario, Canada, collects through the Service, why, and what you can do about it. It's written to match what the product actually does today — it is not legal advice. As a Canada-based business, this Policy is meant to line up with PIPEDA (Canada's federal private-sector privacy law) — but if you also have users in the EU/UK (GDPR), California (CCPA/CPRA), or other jurisdictions with their own data-protection requirements, have a privacy attorney confirm this Policy (and your actual data practices) meet those requirements too before launch — this draft does not include jurisdiction-specific mechanisms like a Data Processing Addendum, an EU representative, or a "Do Not Sell My Info" flow.

1. Information we collect

Information you give us directly:

  • Account information: name, email address, password (stored as a salted hash, never in plain text), and role (Expert, Company Admin, or Technician).
  • Company information: company name, and the domain of the email used to sign up (used only to flag likely-duplicate company signups, not shared publicly).
  • Profile information you choose to add: a bio/description and an avatar or logo image.
  • Guide content: video files (sent directly to Mux, our video host), titles, descriptions, tags, prices, and any step-by-step text or photos you add.
  • Messages you send to other users through the in-app messaging feature.
  • Anything you submit in a support request.

Information collected automatically:

  • A session cookie set by our authentication system (NextAuth) so you stay logged in. This is a functional cookie required for the Service to work — it is not used for advertising, and we do not currently use third-party advertising or analytics trackers.
  • Standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested, timestamps) for security and debugging.

Information we do not collect or store ourselves:

  • Full payment card numbers — these go directly to Stripe, our payment processor, and we never see or store them.

2. How we use information

  • To provide the Service: create and manage your account, process subscriptions and payouts, host and stream Guide videos, and power features like Groups, trial/preview requests, notifications, and messaging.
  • To communicate with you: transactional notifications (e.g., a trial request, a new message), and — if we add email in the future — service updates and support responses.
  • To keep the platform safe: detect fraud, abuse, or violations of our Terms of Service, including the duplicate-company check described above.
  • To improve the Service: understand usage patterns and fix problems.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

3. Who we share information with

  • Stripe — processes payments and payouts, and, for sellers, may collect additional identity/tax information directly from you as part of its own Know-Your-Customer requirements. Stripe's use of that data is governed by Stripe's own privacy policy.
  • Mux — hosts and streams Guide video content.
  • Our hosting and database providers — store application data and infrastructure logs.
  • Other users, where the product is designed to show it: a technician's name to their Company Admin and group; a Company's name to a seller when it subscribes, requests access, or sends a message; a seller's display name/bio and guide catalog publicly on their profile.
  • Law enforcement or other parties, if required by law, subpoena, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Manual Marketplace or others.

4. Data retention

We keep account and transaction data for as long as your account is active and as needed to comply with legal, tax, and accounting obligations (subscription and payout records in particular may need to be retained for several years for tax purposes). If you close your account, we'll delete or anonymize personal information that we're not otherwise required to keep, within a reasonable time.

5. Your choices and rights

  • You can review and update your profile information from your account settings at any time.
  • You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you, or request that we delete it (subject to what we're legally required to retain), by contacting us below.
  • If you're a Company Admin, removing a technician from your team removes their access to every group immediately.

Under PIPEDA, you have the right to know why we collect your information, to access the personal information we hold about you, and to challenge its accuracy — the request process above covers this. If you're not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Depending on where you live, you may also have additional rights under laws like the GDPR or CCPA/CPRA (e.g., a right to data portability, or to opt out of certain processing). [Placeholder: the specific mechanisms to honor those rights — a self-serve export/delete tool, a "Do Not Sell/Share" link, a designated EU/UK representative — aren't built yet and should be added based on where your users are located, with legal input.]

6. Security

We use industry-standard measures to protect your information, including password hashing and encrypted connections. No system is perfectly secure, though, and we can't guarantee absolute security.

7. Children's privacy

Manual Marketplace is a business-to-business service intended for people 18 and older. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children.

8. International data transfers

Our infrastructure providers may process and store data in the United States or other countries. [Placeholder: if you have users in the EU/UK/other regions with data-transfer restrictions, you'll need appropriate transfer mechanisms (e.g., Standard Contractual Clauses) — confirm with counsel.]

A note on cookies: today, the only cookie the Service sets is the functional session cookie that keeps you logged in. If you later add analytics, advertising, or other non-essential tracking, update this section and add a cookie-consent banner where required by law (e.g., for EU/UK visitors).

9. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We'll update the "Last updated" date above when we do, and, for material changes, try to notify you in-app.

10. Contact

Questions about this Policy, or a request about your data: privacy@manualmarketplace.com (placeholder — replace with your real contact).