Privacy Policy

1. What we collect

When you create an account, we store your email address and a hashed password. When you search an address or generate a report, we store the address and coordinates you searched. When you use the Garden Builder, we store your saved garden plans and bed configurations.

We collect basic server logs (IP address, request timestamps, user agent) for security and debugging purposes. These logs are retained for no more than 90 days.

What may feed product improvement. Anonymized fragments of the data above — your hardiness zone, soil drainage class, sun exposure category, plant searches and selections, and report metadata such as state and county — may be used to refine plant matching, improve classifier accuracy, and tune our recommendation logic. See Section 6 for the full enumeration and the consent toggle. What we never use for improvement: your payment details, your name, your email address, your phone number, or precise coordinates tied to your identity.

2. What we do not do

• We do not sell your data to anyone.
• We do not track you across other websites.
• We do not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.
• We do not use third-party advertising or tracking pixels.

3. Third-party services

We use the following third-party services in the operation of Growable Ground:

• Stripe processes payments. We do not store credit card numbers. Stripe's privacy policy governs payment data.
• Google Places provides address autocomplete in the search bar. Google's privacy policy governs data entered into the autocomplete field.
• Render hosts our application servers and database. Your data is stored on Render's infrastructure in the US-West (Oregon) region.
• Anthropic powers our AI Growing Advisor chat feature. When you use the chat, your parcel data (derived from federal sources) and your messages are sent to Anthropic's Claude API. Anthropic does not use API inputs for model training.
• Federal data APIs (USDA, USGS, FEMA, EPA, NOAA) receive coordinates for the parcels you analyze. These are public government services. We do not send your email, name, or account information to these APIs.

4. Cookies

We use a single authentication token stored in your browser's local storage to keep you signed in. We do not use third-party cookies or tracking cookies.

5. Data retention and deletion

Your reports and garden plans are retained as long as your account exists. To delete your account and all associated data, email info@growableground.com and we will process your request within 30 days.

6. Data contribution & aggregate use

What behavioral data we collect

When you use Growable Ground — generating a site report, searching for plants, building a garden layout, or browsing the platform — we log activity events that describe what happened, not who you are. Specifically, we collect:

• Report events: The type of report generated (grower or land buyer), the state and county where the parcel is located, your subscription tier, and a timestamp. We do not log your name, email address, or precise coordinates in this record.
• Plant selection events: Which plants you search for, select, or place in a garden bed, along with the USDA hardiness zone, soil drainage category, and sun exposure category associated with your parcel. We do not log PII alongside plant selections.
• Session activity: General platform usage patterns for product improvement purposes, equivalent to standard product analytics.

All behavioral logs use anonymized or non-identifying parcel references. A parcel identifier (a county assessor parcel ID) is not personal information — it identifies a piece of land, not a person.

What we do with this data

Behavioral event data is used for three purposes: (1) product improvement, (2) understanding aggregate grower demand patterns at regional scale, and (3) potential third-party licensing in anonymized form. Aggregate licensing looks like: “In USDA Zone 6b, the five most-searched vegetable crops in 2026 were tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, kale, and cucumbers.” Not: “Jane Smith searched for tomatoes.” We will never sell or license data that identifies you.

User-contributed data

If you upload a soil test, log a plant outcome, or contribute agronomic data, your contribution may enter our anonymized aggregate pool subject to your consent. Your personal record (linked to your account) is separate from the contributed record (anonymized, non-reversible parcel reference). Your personal record can be deleted. The anonymized contributed record is retained permanently because it is no longer linked to you.

Your consent choices

Behavioral logging is standard platform analytics disclosed here for transparency. Data contribution (soil tests, plant outcomes, user-uploaded agronomic data) defaults to opt-in at account creation. You may withdraw at any time in Account Settings → Data & Privacy → Data Contribution. Withdrawal stops future contributions; it does not remove already-anonymized data.

We will never: sell your name or contact information, link your personal identity to parcel or plant event records in any third-party disclosure, or serve third-party advertising within the platform.

Your rights (CCPA and GDPR)

Right to know, right to access, right to deletion (of personal data — anonymized contributed records are not personal data under either framework), right to data portability (you may request a machine-readable export of your reports and garden plans), right to opt out of data sale (we do not sell personal data — aggregate licensing is not a “sale” under CCPA), and right to non-discrimination. Contact privacy@growableground.com to exercise any of these rights. We respond within 45 days. California residents may submit a verifiable consumer request via the same address.

7. Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify registered users by email. The effective date at the top of this page will be updated.

8. Contact

Questions about this policy: info@growableground.com