Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 2026 · DRAFT — pending legal review

This policy is a plain-language draft describing our planned data practices. Final wording, state-specific disclosures, and processor terms must be confirmed by counsel and matched to the systems actually in production before launch.

1. Who We Are

The Black Exchange is operated by Golden Ratio Holdings, LLC (“we,” “us”). This policy explains what we collect and why.

2. Information We Collect

Account & waitlist — email address, and (for members) name and login credentials.
Merchant registration — business name, category, address, and owner contact details.
Payment — processed by Stripe; and, for bank (ACH) payments, bank-account verification via Plaid. We do not store full bank or card numbers on our servers.
Usage & scans — records of QR-code scans (member, business, timestamp) used to operate discounts and the rewards program, and basic device/analytics data.

3. How We Use It

To provide membership and discounts, operate the rewards program, verify merchants, process payments, prevent fraud and abuse, communicate with you, and comply with law.

4. How We Share It

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with service providers who process it on our behalf — including Supabase (database/auth), Stripe (payments), Plaid (bank verification), and Vercel (hosting) — and where required by law. Aggregated, non-identifying network metrics may be shared publicly.

5. Retention & Security

We keep information only as long as needed for the purposes above or as law requires, and use administrative and technical safeguards (including database row-level security) to protect it. No system is perfectly secure.

6. Your Choices & Rights

You may access, correct, or delete your account information, and opt out of marketing email. Depending on your location, you may have additional rights; contact us to exercise them.

7. Children

The service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their information.

8. Changes & Contact

We may update this policy; material changes will be posted here with a new date. Questions or requests: privacy@theblkexchange.com.