Privacy Policy

Effective Date: July 2026

Valley Sparks ("we," "our," "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our dating platform.

1. Information We Collect

Information You Provide

Data Type	Purpose
Email address	Account authentication, communications
Name, age, gender	Profile display, matching algorithm
Sexual orientation (interested_in)	Matching algorithm — classified as sensitive personal information under CCPA
County, city	Local matching within Fresno/Madera counties
Bio, profile photo	Profile display to potential matches
Chat messages	Communication between matched users
Date preferences (tags)	Interest-based matching and venue suggestions

Information Collected Automatically

Data Type	Purpose	Retained
IP address	Rate limiting, abuse prevention	Held in memory for rate limiting. If an account is banned for policy violations, the associated IP address is stored persistently in our ban list until an administrator removes it.
GPS coordinates (at registration)	California residency verification	Coordinates are transmitted to our server for the check but are not stored — only the verification result ("in-state" / "out-of-state" / "denied") is saved

Payment Information

Payment card details are processed exclusively by Square, Inc. We never receive, store, or have access to your card number, CVV, or billing address. We only receive a confirmation of successful payment.

2. How We Use Your Information

To create and manage your account
To match you with compatible users based on location, gender preferences, and interests
To facilitate communication between matched users
To suggest local date venues and experiences
To process virtual currency and voucher purchases
To detect and prevent spam, scams, and abusive behavior
To comply with legal obligations

3. Information Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only in these limited circumstances:

Other users: Your profile (name, age, bio, photo, tags) is visible to other users through the discovery feed and matches.
Square, Inc.: Payment processing only — no dating profile data is shared with Square.
Venue partners: Anonymized foot traffic data (e.g., "37 couples visited this month"). Partners never receive your personal information.
Law enforcement: Only when required by law, subpoena, or court order.

4. Your California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

As a California resident, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

Right to Know

You may request details about what personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources, and the purposes for collection.

Right to Delete

You may delete your account at any time through the Profile > Delete My Account option. This permanently erases all your data, including: profile, messages, matches, transactions, vouchers, receipt uploads, and reports. This action is irreversible.

Right to Opt-Out of Sale

We do not sell personal information. No opt-out is necessary.

Right to Non-Discrimination

We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights.

Sensitive Personal Information

We collect sexual orientation data ("interested_in" field) for the sole purpose of matching. This is classified as sensitive personal information under CCPA. We limit our use of this data strictly to the matching algorithm and do not share it with third parties.

5. Data Retention

Active accounts: Data is retained for the lifetime of the account.
Deleted accounts: All data is permanently erased immediately upon account deletion.
Banned accounts: The ban record (user ID, reason) is retained for abuse prevention. The IP address ban is retained independently.

6. Data Security

Passwords are hashed using bcrypt (never stored in plaintext).
All data in transit is encrypted via HTTPS/TLS.
JWT authentication tokens expire after 24 hours.
Rate limiting protects against brute-force attacks on login and registration.

7. Children's Privacy

Valley Sparks is intended for users aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from individuals under 18. If we discover that a minor has created an account, we will promptly delete it.

8. Third-Party Services

Square, Inc. — Payment processing. Square Privacy Policy
Google Fonts — Typography. Google Privacy Policy
Font Awesome — Icons (loaded via CDN).
api.qrserver.com (QR Server) — Generates the QR code image for voucher redemption. Your voucher code (but no personal information) is sent to this service when a voucher QR code is displayed.
unpkg.com / cdnjs.cloudflare.com — Content delivery networks used to load open-source libraries on the partner and admin dashboards.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify registered users of material changes via email or in-app notification. The "Effective Date" at the top reflects the latest revision.

10. Contact Us

For privacy-related questions or to exercise your CCPA rights, contact us at:

Email: privacy@valleysparks.com

Mailing Address: Valley Sparks, Fresno, CA 93704