Privacy Policy

Big Bear Pros is a product of SAUERAPPLE LLC, a California limited liability company. This Privacy Policy explains how SAUERAPPLE LLC (“we,” “us”) collects, uses, and shares information when you use Big Bear Pros and related services (the “Service”). It applies to Pros who publish listings, Seekers who browse or message, and visitors to public pages.

Our Terms of Service describe the rules for using the Service. If you do not agree with this Policy, do not use the Service.

Account information. When you sign up, we collect your email address and authentication credentials. Authentication is handled by our auth provider (Supabase). We store a linked user record in our database (including your auth user id and email).

Profile and listing information. If you create a Pro page, we collect what you provide—such as display name, page URL slug, bio, profile photo, phone, listing email, website, Google Business URL, Yelp URL, listing type (Independent or Shop), offerings, prices, service areas, categories, tags, theme settings, and attestation timestamps for certain categories. Profile photos and optional work photos you attach to offerings are stored in our cloud storage so they can be shown on your public page.

Public-records listings. Some Pro pages start as unclaimed listings built from public records rather than from an account holder. For those we store the business name, phone number, website, one social link (a Facebook Page link), a Google Maps link built from the map identifier for the business, service area, and category, plus a source record identifier. The source is Overture Maps, with data from Meta, Microsoft, and Foursquare. These pages carry a “not yet claimed” notice and ask search engines not to index them. If it is your business, use the Claim button on the page to take it over or to ask us to remove it, or email hello@bigbearpros.com.

Seeker identity. If you create a free seeker profile to contact Pros, recommend listings, or leave reviews, we store your seeker display name, home area (from our mountain area list), and optional seeker photo. Home area is used for future local relevance and is not shown on Pro review, recommend, or message surfaces. Seeker photos may appear with reviews you publish. Dedicated Pro phone and email fields are shown only after you sign in with a complete seeker profile (and email confirmation where required)—not on open guest pages or public structured data.

Messages, reviews, and recommendations. We store messages sent through the Service, review text and ratings, review-invite tokens you generate or redeem, peer recommendations of Pro listings (who recommended whom and when), related thread metadata (for example who messaged whom and when), and first-party contact-click events used for Pro dashboard proof and soft rate limits.

Review-invite recipients. When a Pro invites a customer to leave a review, the Pro gives us that customer’s email address, and we store it (lowercased) with the invite along with who issued it and when. This can be personal information about someone who does not have an account and did not give it to us directly. We use it only to email that one invite, to make sure the invite can be redeemed only by the person holding that address, and to prevent repeat invites to the same address. We do not add invite recipients to marketing lists. Every invite email says who invited you and includes a way to report it; you can also email us at the address below to have your address removed from pending invites.

Billing information. Paid subscriptions are processed by Stripe. We receive and store subscription status, Stripe customer/subscription identifiers, price identifiers, period end dates, cancellation flags, and related billing metadata. Payment card numbers and full payment credentials are handled by Stripe and are not stored on our servers.

Usage, device, and diagnostics. We may collect first-party page view, share-click, and contact-click counts (shown to Pros on their dashboard), product analytics events (such as publish, share, browse filters, contact clicks, messaging, and checkout), approximate technical logs (such as IP address, user agent, browser type, and timestamps), cookies or similar technologies needed for sessions and security, and error/performance diagnostics. We use PostHog for product analytics when you accept analytics cookies. We use Sentry for error monitoring; on errors, Session Replay may capture a masked recording of the session (text, inputs, and media are masked where configured).

Reports and moderation. If you or we report content or behavior, we store the report reason, related identifiers, and moderation actions (such as suspending a listing or hiding a review or recommendation). Hidden recommendation records may be retained after you clear seeker identity so moderation suppressions stay effective.

Product feedback. If you are signed in and submit in-app feedback, we store the feedback type, message, the page path you were on, and account identifiers (such as your user id and email). We may also email a short preview of that feedback to our operations inbox via our email provider so we can review it. After you confirm your email, we send one welcome message inviting you to reply with bugs, ideas, or missing coverage.

Communications. If you email us, we receive the content of that message and your contact details. We may also send transactional and product emails as described below.

We collect information from:

• You, when you create an account, edit a profile, message, review, or contact us
• Your device and browser, automatically when you use the Service
• Pros, when they enter a customer’s email address to send a review invite
• Public records, for unclaimed listings seeded from Overture Maps (with data from Meta, Microsoft, and Foursquare)
• Service providers that help us operate the Service (for example Stripe billing events, auth confirmations, and error monitoring)

We use information to:

• Operate and improve the directory, profiles, search, messaging, and reviews
• Authenticate accounts and secure the Service
• Process subscriptions, show billing status, and manage trial/paid access
• Send transactional email (for example account confirmation via our auth provider, a one-time welcome after you confirm your email, new-message notifications, and product-feedback notifications to our operations inbox)
• Send product emails related to your Pro account when configured (for example onboarding or trial reminders). These are not third-party advertising emails
• Show public listing content you choose to publish, including in search and share links
• Respond to reports, enforce our Terms, and prevent abuse
• Diagnose errors and improve reliability
• Analyze product usage (with analytics consent) so we can improve the Service
• Comply with law and protect rights, safety, and property

We do not use personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not sell personal information for money.

Public listings. Information you choose to display on a Pro page (including contact details you enable) is visible to anyone with the link or who finds you in browse, category, or area results. We may also include listing details in structured data for search engines.

Other users. Messages are shared with the other party in the thread. Reviews you submit may appear on the Pro’s public page (with a limited author label). If you recommend a Pro, your seeker display name is shown to signed-in visitors on that Pro’s page and to the Pro on their dashboard—home area stays private and is not shown with recommendations. Guests see a recommend count only, not names. Account emails used for notifications are not shown as the public review or recommend author label.

Service providers. We use vendors who process data on our behalf, including:

• Supabase — authentication, database, and file storage
• Stripe — payment and subscription processing
• Resend — transactional and product email delivery (when configured)
• Sentry — error monitoring, performance traces, and error Session Replay
• PostHog — product analytics (page views, custom events, and related usage data) when analytics cookies are accepted
• Hosting and infrastructure providers for the application

These providers process information under their own terms and privacy policies, subject to our agreements with them where applicable.

Legal and safety. We may disclose information if required by law or legal process, or to protect users, the public, or the Service.

Business transfers. If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or asset sale, information may transfer as part of that transaction, subject to ongoing privacy commitments.

We use cookies and similar technologies for sign-in sessions, security, and basic operation of the site. When you accept analytics cookies via our consent banner, we also set PostHog analytics cookies (or similar storage) to measure how the Service is used. Declining analytics cookies does not affect sign-in or core directory features; first-party view, share-click, and contact-click counts used as Pro dashboard proof may still update. We do not use third-party advertising cookies or ad pixels on the Service today. You can control cookies through your browser settings; disabling essential cookies may prevent sign-in or other features from working.

We keep information as long as needed to provide the Service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce agreements. Account and listing data generally remain until you delete it or we complete a deletion request, subject to backups and legal retention needs. Message and review history may persist so Pros and Seekers can refer to past interactions, unless removal is required or we agree to delete it. Clearing your seeker identity removes your visible recommendations from public and Pro lists; moderation may still retain suppressed recommendation records (identifiers and timestamps) after that clear. Review-invite records (including the recipient address) are kept after the invite is used or expires so we can tell which reviews came from which invite; ask us and we will remove a recipient address. Billing records and security logs may be kept longer where needed for accounting, fraud prevention, or legal compliance.

You can:

• Update profile and public contact fields in your dashboard
• Unpublish or stop maintaining a listing, and request subscription cancellation by contacting us (see our Terms)
• Claim an unclaimed public-records listing for your business, or ask us to remove it, with the Claim button on that page or by email
• Request access, correction, deletion, or a copy of personal information by emailing us at the address below
• Opt out of non-essential product emails by replying to the email or contacting us; transactional messages needed to operate the Service (such as security or billing-related notices) may still be sent

We do not currently offer a fully automated in-app account deletion or data-export button. Email requests are the primary path; we will verify your identity as needed and respond within the time required by applicable law.

If you are a California resident, you may have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the CPRA, including to know, access, delete, and correct certain personal information, and to opt out of “sale” or “sharing” of personal information as those terms are defined by law. We will not discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights.

Categories we may collect. Depending on how you use the Service, this can include identifiers (email, account ids, IP address); customer records (name, phone, billing-related identifiers); commercial information (subscription status); internet or electronic activity (page views, share clicks, contact clicks, diagnostics); and user content you submit (profile, messages, reviews, photos).

Sale / sharing. We do not sell personal information for money. We do not “share” personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. If that changes, we will update this Policy and provide required opt-out mechanisms.

Sensitive personal information. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information for purposes that require a right to limit under CPRA beyond what is needed to provide the Service you request.

To exercise rights, email hello@bigbearpros.com. Authorized agents may submit requests as permitted by law; we may require proof of authorization and identity verification.

The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. You must be at least 18 (or the age of majority where you live) to create an account or publish a listing, as described in our Terms. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

We use reasonable administrative and technical measures to protect information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please use a strong unique password and notify us if you suspect unauthorized access to your account.

We and our providers may process information in the United States and other countries. If you use the Service from elsewhere, you understand that information may be transferred to jurisdictions with different data-protection laws.

The Service may link to third-party sites (for example a Pro’s website or Stripe Checkout). Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies, not this one.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the revised policy with a new effective date. For material changes, we may also provide additional notice (for example by email or in-product notice). Continued use of the Service after changes means you acknowledge the updated policy.

Privacy questions or requests: hello@bigbearpros.com.

Controller: SAUERAPPLE LLC, a California limited liability company, operating Big Bear Pros.