Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 23, 2024

This Privacy Policy explains how information about you is collected, used, and shared by Hero Stuff, Inc. (hereafter "Hero," "our," "we," or "us"). This Privacy Policy applies to information we collect when you use our website, mobile applications, when you interact with us, and when you use other online services (collectively, the "Hero Service").

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of this Privacy Policy and, in some cases, we may provide you with more prominent notice (such as adding a statement to our homepage or sending you an email notification). We encourage you to review the Privacy Policy whenever you access the Hero Service to stay informed about our information practices and the ways you can help protect your privacy.  

If you are a resident of a state in which a consumer privacy law has been enacted, please see the State Specific Disclosures section below.

I. Information We Collect and How We Collect It

A. Information You Provide to Us.

Hero collects information that you provide directly to us when you sign up and use the Hero service including:

• Information when you register or update the details of your account, 

• Participate in identification badge programs such as TruYou,

• Post items for sale,

• Enroll in third-party payment processing services offered in connection with the Hero Service, 

• Communicate with other users, provide reviews or other comments, purchase services from Hero,

• Request customer support, or otherwise communicate with us.

The types of information we may collect include:

• Your name,

• Email address, 

• Hero account password (encrypted),

• Telephone number,

• Postal address including city, state, and zip code,

• Photographs you upload of items you post for sale,

• Written descriptions of your posted items,

• Bids you make on items,

• Reviews or comments you make on the Hero Service,

• All messages with other users or with us sent through the Hero messaging service or to Hero directly,

• Government-issued identification documents (such as a driver's license),

• Any other information you choose to provide.

B. Information We Collect Automatically.

When you access or use the Hero Service, we automatically collect information about you, including:

• We log information about your use of the Hero Service, including the type of browser you use, access times, pages viewed, your IP address, and the page you visited before navigating to our Hero Service.  

• We collect information about the computer or mobile device you use to access the Hero Service, including the hardware model, operating system and version, unique device identifiers, and mobile network information.

• If you consent to the collection of location information from your computer or mobile device, we may collect this information when you access the Hero Service or when you otherwise consent to the collection of this information. We may also use your IP address to infer an approximate geographic location for your computer or device. For more details, please see the Your Choices section below.

• We use various technologies to collect some of the information listed above, and this may include sending cookies to your computer or mobile device. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that helps us to improve the Hero Service and your experience, see which areas and features of the Hero Service are popular and count visits. We may also collect information using web beacons (also known as "gifs," "pixel tags" and "tracking pixels"). Web beacons are electronic images that may be used in the Hero Service or emails and help deliver cookies, count visits, understand usage, advertising campaign effectiveness, and determine whether an email has been opened and acted upon. For more information about cookies, and how to disable them, please see the Choices section below.

C. Information from Third Parties.

Hero may, from time to time, obtain the above-listed information from other sources and combine that with information we collect through the Hero Service in order to enhance our ability to serve you, prevent fraudulent transactions, tailor our content to you, deliver relevant advertising to you, offer you opportunities to purchase products or services that we believe may be of interest to you, and for any other purposes described in this Privacy Policy. For example, if you create or log into your account through a social media site, we will have access to certain information from that site, such as your name, account information and friends lists, in accordance with the authorization procedures determined by such social media site. We may also receive transaction information from Stripe Inc. when you purchase or sell items using the Hero payment solution, including the date and time of sale and the amount of the sale.

D. Payment Information Collected by Stripe.

Hero is integrated with Stripe, Inc.'s ("Stripe") services to allow sellers to accept credit card and other electronic payment methods for goods they list for sale on the Hero Service. Stripe provides these services directly to sellers pursuant to its own terms and privacy policy. When signing up to receive funds electronically, Stripe, and not Hero, collects the information provided by sellers via the Hero Service, including debit card numbers, Social Security numbers, government IDs, and bank account information. For more information about the third-party payment processing services integrated with the Hero Service, please contact us at support@hero.st.

E. Information Collected via Sign in with Apple (SIWA)

When you choose to sign in to the Hero Service using Sign in with Apple, we collect the information authorized by you through your Apple ID. This may include your name and email address. Apple provides users with the option to share their actual email address or use Apple’s private email relay service. In the case of the latter, we will receive a unique, random email address that forwards to your personal email, allowing for communication without exposing your real email address.

The use of SIWA is governed by Apple’s privacy policies and terms. We use the information obtained via SIWA solely to create or log into your account, and it will not be used for any other purposes without your explicit consent.

We do not collect or store your Apple ID password. Authentication is managed by Apple, and we only receive the information necessary to support the sign-in process as permitted by you. Please refer to Apple’s privacy policy for further details on how Apple handles your data in relation to SIWA.

By using SIWA to access the Hero Service, you agree to Apple’s terms and conditions and acknowledge that you have the option to review and manage the data shared with us through your Apple ID settings.

For more information about how we use, share, and protect your data, please refer to the respective sections of this Privacy Policy.

II. How We Use Your Information.

A. Hero uses information about you for various purposes, including to:

• Verify your login information to allow you to access and use the Hero Service, to personalize the Hero Service, and to optimize the location and type of offers presented to you when you use the Hero Service;

• Connect you to other users on the Hero Service via friends lists when authorized by you;

• Create and maintain a trusted and safer environment on the Hero Service, including through detection and prevention of fraud, unauthorized access, intrusion, and service interruption;

• Conduct investigations and to respond to disputes between users, error resolution, and other similar customer support service;

• Enable any identification programs we may institute and in which you elect (e.g., TruYou) or are required to participate, such as verifying your identity and address, and conduct checks against various publicly available databases;

• Operate, protect, improve and optimize the Hero Service, our business, and our users' experience;

• Perform analytics, conduct research, and monitor and analyze trends, usage and activities in connection with the Hero Service;

• Communicate with you about products, services, offers, promotions, rewards, and events offered by Hero and others;

• Provide advertisements, news, and information to match user profiles or interests that we think will be of interest to you;

• Send you service, support and administrative messages, reminders, technical notices, updates, security alerts, and information requested by you;

• Comply with our legal obligations or requests from law enforcement agencies, resolve any disputes that we may have with any of our users, and enforce our agreements with third parties;

• Link or combine with information we get from others to help understand your needs and provide you with better service; 

• Assist third-party payment processors with transaction processing, error, chargeback and disputed transaction resolution, and similar payment processing functions; and

• Carry out any other purpose for which the information was collected.

B. Hero is based in the United States.

Hero is based in the United States and the information we collect is governed by U.S. law. By accessing or using the Hero Service or otherwise providing information to us, you consent to the processing and transfer of information in and to the U.S. and other countries, where you may not have the same rights and protections as you do under local law.

III. Why We May Share Your Information and When.

A. We may share the information we collect about you in the following situations:

• With the public when you post on the Hero Service.

• When you register through the Hero Service to receive electronic payments via Stripe's services, we will share certain information about you with Stripe, including name, address (if provided by you) and IP address, as directed by you to sign up for Stripe's services. This information is in addition to the information collected directly by Stripe (as described above in "Payment Information Collected by Stripe"). Stripe may use this information for the purposes described in its privacy policy, including for fraud prevention.

• With vendors, consultants, and other service providers who need access to such information to carry out work on our behalf (including, without limitation, with third-party service providers that may use the information we share to help us and other companies detect inaccurate personal information and prevent fraudulent transactions).

• With advertisers to help us deliver relevant advertising to you on the Hero Service and across the internet.

• In response to a request for information if we believe disclosure is in accordance with any applicable law, regulation, or legal process, or as otherwise required by any applicable law, rule, or regulation.

• If we believe your actions are inconsistent with the spirit or language of our user agreements or policies, or to protect the rights, property, and safety of Hero or others.

• In connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.

• Between and among Hero, and its current and future parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and other companies under common control and ownership.

• With your consent or at your direction, including as mentioned in the Social Sharing Features section below or if we otherwise notify you through the Hero Service that the information you provide will be shared in a particular manner and you provide such information.

• We may also share aggregated or de-identified information, which cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

B. When You Choose to Share Outside of Hero.

The Hero Service offers social sharing features and other integrated tools (such as the Facebook "Like" button), which let you share actions you take on the Hero Service with other media, and vice versa. The use of such features enables you to share your information with your friends or the public, depending on your selected settings on those platforms. For more information about the purpose and scope of data collection and processing in connection with social sharing features, please visit the privacy policies of the entities that provide those features.

C. Advertising and Analytics Services Provided by Others

We may allow partners like Microsoft and Google to serve advertisements on the Hero Service, on our behalf across the Internet, and to provide us with analytics services. These entities may use cookies, ad tags, web beacons, and other technologies to collect information about your use of the Hero Service and other websites and online services, including your IP address, device identifier, web browser, pages viewed, time spent on pages, links clicked and conversion information.  

Information collected by these service providers may be used by Hero and others to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, deliver advertising and content targeted to your interests on the Hero Service and other websites and online services, and better understand your online activity.

For more information about interest-based ads, or to opt out of having your web browsing information used for behavioral advertising purposes, please visit https://youradchoices.com/control.

Your mobile device operating system may also include a feature that allows you to opt out of having certain information collected through apps used for behavioral advertising purposes.

D. Security

Hero will not share any information collected from your mobile device, including device identifiers, mobile network information, or location data, with third parties or affiliates for their direct marketing or promotional purposes.

IV. Your Choices

A. Account Information.

• You may update, correct, or remove account profile information at any time by logging into your account.

• You can deactivate your account by contacting us at support@hero.st. We will make your account inactive until the time you decide you would like to return to using the Hero Services. To reactivate your account, contact us again.

• If you are a resident of a state in which a consumer privacy rights law has been enacted and you would like to exercise your rights under your state's applicable law, please see State Specific Disclosures below.

• Please note that we may retain certain information as required by law or for legitimate business purposes. We will also retain certain information such as reviews, forum postings, and similar materials posted by you may continue to be publicly available (but not associated with your personal information) on the Hero Service after your Hero account is canceled.

B. Location Information.

• When you first download our mobile app or the first time you attempt to use any features that use location information, you will be asked to consent to our collection of this information. You may revoke your consent to our tracking location information at any time by changing your preferences in the settings menu on your mobile device or by following the standard uninstall process to remove our mobile application from your device.

• Even if you do not consent to collect the precise location from your mobile device, we may use your IP address to infer an approximation of your location when using certain features of the Hero Services, such as the Hero payments solution.

C. Cookies.

• Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove or reject browser cookies. Please note that removing or rejecting certain cookies may affect the functionality of the Hero Service.

D. Promotional Communications.

• You may opt out of receiving promotional emails, text messages, and other communications from Hero by following the instructions in those emails, text messages, or other communications or by making changes in your Hero account Settings menu.

V. State Specific Disclosures

These disclosures are applicable to residents of the states listed below. Please refer to Section I through Section III above for the categories of information we collect, the purpose for such collection, and when we share information. We retain the information we collect so long as you have an account with Hero, and in some cases a longer period of time so long as such information is the subject of trust and safety matters, to comply with valid legal requests, or applicable law.

• To opt out of sharing or selling to third parties, you can change your settings in the account settings menu in your mobile app or on the web or by contacting us at privacy@hero.st. We do not knowingly sell personal information about consumers under the age of 16.

• To submit a request to know about your personal information that has been collected, sold, or shared, to correct inaccurate information, or a request to delete your account, please send an email to privacy@hero.st. We will verify your request by asking you to provide information that matches information we have on file about you. You may designate another person as your authorized agent to act on your behalf with regard to your requests. If you have designated an authorized agent to submit requests on your behalf, we will require proof that the person is authorized to act on your behalf and will still ask you to verify your identity with us directly.

The below sections provide additional disclosures required by specific state privacy laws:

A. Information for California Residents

If you are a California resident, California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA"), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA") gives you the right to:

• Know what categories of personal information we may collect about you, the categories of sources from which we collect the personal information, the business purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing personal information, the categories of third parties to whom we disclose personal information, and the specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you.

• Delete personal information we have collected from or about you, subject to certain permitted limitations or exceptions.

• Correct inaccurate information we maintain about you.

• Opt-Out of selling or sharing your personal information.

• Limit the use or disclosure of sensitive personal information.

• The Right Against Discrimination as a result of your exercising your privacy rights conferred by California state law.

CCPA requires that we provide transparency about personal information we share and sell. If you have not opted out, we allow Google's online advertising service to collect identifiers (such as cookies and other device identifiers) and internet or other electronic network information (such as the webpage you visited) through the Hero Service for the purpose of sending personalized ads to you. This activity may be considered a sale under California law.

B. Information for Connecticut Residents

If you are a Connecticut resident, the Connecticut Data Privacy Act gives you the right to:

• Confirm whether we are processing your personal data and to access that information.

• Correct inaccuracies in your personal data.

• Delete personal information you have given us or that we may have collected about you.

• Obtain a copy of your personal data we processed, and where technically feasible, in a readily usable format that would allow you to transmit the data to another controller.

• Opt-out of processing your personal data for the purposes of targeted advertising, selling your personal data, or profiling in furtherance of solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning you.

C. Information for Colorado Residents

If you are a Colorado resident, the Colorado Privacy Act gives you the right to:

• Confirm whether we are processing your personal data and to access that information.

• Correct inaccuracies in your personal data.

• Delete personal information you have given us or that we may have collected about you.

• Obtain a copy of your personal data we processed, and where technically feasible, in a readily usable format that would allow you to transmit the data to another controller.

• Opt-out of processing your personal data for the purposes of targeted advertising, selling your personal data, or profiling in furtherance of solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning you.

D. Information for Virginia Residents

If you are a Virginia resident, the Virginia Consumer Data Privacy Act gives you the right to:

• Confirm whether we have collected personal information about you and to access that information. You have the right to ask to receive a copy of the information you provided to us, and where technically feasible, in a readily usable format that would allow you to transmit the data to another controller.

• Delete personal information we have collected from or about you, subject to certain permitted limitations or exceptions.

• Correct inaccurate information we maintain about you.

• Opt-Out of selling personal information and the right to opt-out of targeted advertising.

Questions and Comments.

If you'd like to provide feedback to us about this Privacy Policy, or if you have any questions, please contact us at support@hero.st.